“I’m sitting there waiting every night, waiting for everything to come out,” Michael Nachman-Adelson tells me during the Miami Grand Prix F1 Track Preview and Paddock Tour at the Miami International Autodrome, arranged courtesy of Chase Sapphire. Earlier that week, the Chase Sapphire team had strapped me into a McLaren 720S to race on a different track after learning about my rebellious youth as an illegal street racer. Once I matured into a law-abiding citizen, I traded fast and furious for structured driving academies, each hosted by Porsche, BMW and Lexus. Getting behind a McLaren, however, downshifted me back to a younger self who lived for the thrill of the moment.
Nachman-Adelson was describing his nightly ritual of obsessively refreshing Chase Sapphire’s event portal so he could be first to register for every exclusive offering. This habit pays off during immersions like Miami F1 week, when Chase Sapphire offers six days of programming across multiple venues—from the aforementioned McLaren driving experience to this exclusive paddock tour to closing concerts at Faena Theater. Each event requires advance booking. Each slot vanishes quickly. He already has his tickets for next year’s Miami Grand Prix and has recruited his mother to get a Chase Sapphire Reserve card.
This is exactly the kind of customer passion Chase was banking on with the June announcement of a $245 hike to the Sapphire Reserve annual fee. Now at $795, it’s the highest annual fee among U.S. premium credit cards, although rumors suggest American Express plans to reclaim that crown.
Most brands would brace for backlash over such a steep price increase. Chase, however, shows no signs of concern. The bank’s nonchalance is likely warranted. While there’s the usual grumblings from online forums, the plausible outcome is that any who leave will be quickly replaced by new aspirants, lured in by a 100,000-point welcome bonus and a $500 Chase Travel promo credit.
When it comes to the consumer’s passionate pursuit of luxury, Chase Sapphire has had years to perfect the playbook. The Reserve card offers little a rational consumer would say justifies the new $795 fee—and that’s the point. If you must ask why it costs so much, well then, it isn’t for you.
How Chase Sapphire Engineered a New Kind of Addiction
When the Chase Sapphire Reserve launched in 2016, it rewired consumer expectations from being less about points and perks and more about the emotional rush of ownership. Unboxing videos flooded YouTube as owning the metal card became the ultimate flex. Demand was so frenzied, Chase ran out of its signature packaging and metal to produce the cards within ten days. The initial inventory was meant to last a year.
“We started this journey in 2016,” Sam Palmer, general manager for Chase Sapphire, told me just before we got into our respective McLarens on The Concours Club Miami track. “We feel this is the best time we’ve had with the card. We are investing in the card, in the benefits, in the experiences, in the customer experience.”
Palmer describes their strategy as “portfolio thinking:” a framework that doesn’t obsess over ROI on individual events, but rather the cumulative power of their entire ecosystem. “For some people, it might be some of the partner benefits we have. For some people, it might be the confidence when you travel, you have no foreign transaction fees. For other people, it might be the fact they’re able to come to Formula One events.”
That holistic view helps explain Chase’s McLaren partnership. Originally launched through Chase Auto’s 2020 financing agreement with the carmaker, the relationship evolved into an experience-centric collaboration. McLaren delivered elite automotive thrills; Chase delivered access to customers with the means—and the curiosity—to try them.
“McLaren is a partner of the firm and we work with McLaren in our Chase Auto business,” Palmer explained. “It became quite an organic conversation around, ‘hey, we see McLaren has these phenomenal experiences. We see Reserve is bringing phenomenal experiences.’”
Andy Thomas, McLaren’s VP of marketing and communications, echoed this symbiosis on our Zoom call. “Within the Chase sphere they have this incredible group of untapped customers. If you think about the JP Morgan Private Wealth Group, they may not have been exposed to McLaren. And then there’s the Chase Sapphire group with the means to buy a McLaren.”
Through Reserve-sponsored track events, JP Morgan Private Wealth clients who might finance a McLaren with Chase Auto fulfill fantasies of being a race car driver, which inevitably leads to ownership paperwork. For McLaren, it’s access to Porsche-fatigued owners looking for their next rush. For Chase, it’s fodder for their addictive experiential platform.
“Most people who own a McLaren have never put their cars on the track,” Thomas noted. “This program enables not only people who might own the car, but we’re exposing people who have never driven one of our cars.”
Like me, who got off the Zoom wondering which of my Swiss, Dubai or Singapore contacts might be interested in commissioning a McLaren: Lilian Edition. Apparently, if you can find 25 deep-pocketed individuals, McLaren’s Special Operations will design an entirely custom vehicle for a group of committed customers willing to pay anywhere from the high seven figures to tens of millions. A past project transformed their Solus GT featured in PlayStation’s Gran Turismo Sport game into 25 real $4.5 million cars.
Despite a racing heritage dating back to 1964, when founder Bruce McLaren became the first person to own a team, engineer cars, and drive them to victory, the automaker only began selling its consumer cars in late 2011. The retail division is younger than Tesla as a brand. To gain traction, the company needed consumer automotive industry relevance with high net worth visibility. Chase Sapphire needed “money can’t buy” moments. The partnership delivered both.
“We’re the youngest brand on the marketplace,” Roger Ormisher, VP of communications and PR for McLaren said over Zoom. “We’re the new kid on the block with the challenger brand. So we do things differently because it attracts an audience.”
McLaren’s primary target audience is Porsche owners seeking something beyond their third or fourth 911 Turbo or Turbo S. “Porsche owners are very much into driving and they’re very much into cars. They have very similar thoughts and demographics as a McLaren owner,” Thomas explained. “The McLaren demographics are a bit younger generally, but the mindset is completely the same.”
Through Chase Sapphire’s engineered moments, McLaren offers these affluent drivers “something new and different” when they’re ready to experience raw, unfiltered feedback connecting driver to asphalt through pure mechanical precision.
“We are the only car in the world that uses hydraulic steering,” Thomas boasted. “You feel the racetrack when you’re driving. You get all that feedback through the wheel.”
Chase customers like Nachman-Adelson don’t just hear about McLaren’s performance potential – they feel it. That feeling is the true worth of Chase Sapphire card ownership.
Real-World ROI of Chase Sapphire’s Addicted Evangelists
Nachman-Adelson is a case study in the type of experiential addiction Chase Sapphire provokes. With the aid of his nightly ritual, he’s attended every Miami Grand Prix since its 2022 debut, including the inaugural race weekend where fans, VIPs, and media were given a special tour of the brand-new circuit on large 18-wheeler trucks. He methodically documents how organizers incorporate fan feedback year after year.
“Every year, it’s stepped up higher and higher and higher,” he enthused. “The first year, they were a little rocky, but as they went, they listened to what we as the fans said we wanted and the next year it was there.”
His other Chase Sapphier experiences have included track tours with Latin superstar Maluma, one-on-one time with F1 commentators, and racing experiences in Las Vegas alongside celebrities like Michael B. Jordan.
“The Vegas race, getting out there with Michael B. Jordan and racing and doing everything was for me – who loves race cars, loves coming to F1— like a dream. I’m a huge, diehard F1 fan. It could be two in the morning. I don’t care. I’m watching it.”
When I met Nachman-Adelson during the Paddock Tour, I jokingly asked Palmer if this superfan had been strategically planted for my benefit. His enthusiasm for Chase Sapphire was almost too on-brand. But Palmer assured me they’d never met before my introduction between them. He then invited Nachman-Adelson to join him as his personal guest later that weekend at the Martinez Brothers concert, illustrating a point he’d made to me earlier:
“As a client of Chase, we want to make sure you get access to the entire breadth of the firm. We want to make sure that it’s not just that you’re a credit card client, but that you feel it’s a better ecosystem that allows you to have access to the entire network of benefits we have, as Chase and JP Morgan.”
Nachman-Adelson’s passion for Chase Sapphire exceeds what most brands ever organically cultivate. He actively recruits others into the Sapphire ecosystem, convincing Bank of America loyalists and family members to switch over while earning himself even more perks. Chase rewarded his evangelism by featuring photos of him from past events in their promotional materials.
Which brings us back to the increased annual fee and why Chase is confident in the math calculated by its engaged customers. The fee is simply a stagehand in a hypnotic opera where access is the diva.
“With the World Cup coming, I’m hoping they have something or have the ability for tickets,” Nachman-Adelson remarked, already anticipating Chase Sapphire next gilded offering.
What CMOs Could Learn From the Cult of Chase Sapphire
So, can experiential addiction overcome price sensitivity? Early indicators suggest yes. Despite online complaints about the fee increase, customer behavior seems unchanged. Reddit threads are obsessing more over benefit hacks than cancellation. Bloggers and YouTube influencers are posting breakdowns on how to optimize the new credit structure.
Chase Sapphire’s cult-like following is a potent blend of viral launch strategy, genuinely valuable perks, frequent traveler loyalty programs, exclusive VIP access, and a passionately engaged digital community. For CMOs focused on customer retention, Sapphire’s “portfolio thinking” establishes that, while individual touchpoints matter, the ecosystem sandbox is where smart money plays.
1. Think Inclusively Of Your Full Portfolio
Chase Sapphire’s customer loyalty grows from a holistic ecosystem incorporating standalone benefits. The brand’s strategy of layering travel credits, exclusive events, and partner perks creates a level of emotional investment dismissing rational value equations.
2. Turn B2B Partnerships into B2C Magic
The McLaren collaboration is experiential alchemy. What began as a financing partnership was transmuted into a lifestyle play pulling in Chase’s high-net-worth customers looking for something extraordinary. Smart CMOs will look beyond their own product lines to uncover similar leverage within their networks.
3. Experience Addiction Creates Price Insensitivity
Raising the Reserve card fee to $795 without sparking mass attrition is how experiential loyalty works. When cardholders obsessively refresh event portals just to feel included, price isn’t even a consideration.
4. Customer Evangelism Is the Ultimate ROI
Chase Sapphire’s greatest trick is in building a tribe of fervent customers who happily serve as volunteer brand ambassadors. Nachman-Adelson isn’t on payroll, yet he converts competitors’ customers and recruits his own family. That kind of organic advocacy exceeds the ROI of even the most celebrated marketing campaigns.
5. In Luxury Marketing, Access > Price
Chase Sapphire offers belonging. From courtside culinary events with the Golden State Warriors to VIP access at Sundance and Formula 1, the brand wins by turning exclusivity into currency. For brands seeking to replicate, make seductive access central to your strategy.
“When I’m talking about once-in-a-lifetime experiences, it’s about things money can’t buy,” Palmer emphasized. “Like you cannot buy being in the Olympics at the opening ceremony on the water. You cannot buy being in the F1 paddock and pit lane walkthrough. We want this card to be the best card on the market, period.”
But Chase Sapphire isn’t really just a card anymore. It’s a gateway. A membership. A lifestyle status signal. For customers swept up in the psychological stickiness of the experience ecosystem, $795 is merely the price of admission. They’re not paying for a card. They’re paying to always be on the inside.