Earn 21x at StubHub Today: The Chase StubHub Credit Stack for September 14

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The Chase StubHub credit is worth $300 a year to Sapphire Reserve holders, but today the bigger story is that you do not need the Reserve at all. Rakuten is paying 10x on StubHub as of August 31, and the Chase Paze offer pays another 10x. That is 20 points per dollar on any Paze-eligible Chase card, before your card’s own earning rate.

If you do have the Reserve, you get the extra layer. Your $150 semiannual statement credit means Chase pays for the first $150 and you keep every point the stack earned.

Earn 20x at StubHub With Any Paze-Eligible Chase Card

Rakuten is running 10x on StubHub today. The Chase Paze offer pays an additional 10 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar at participating merchants through December 31, 2026. Run both together and you are at 20 points per dollar before your card’s own earning rate is counted.

Five Chase personal cards currently carry the Paze benefit: the Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Freedom Flex, Chase Freedom Unlimited, and the older Chase Freedom that is closed to new applicants. Business cards are excluded, and so are authorized users. Check under Benefits and Travel in your Chase account to confirm the offer is showing on your card before you plan any spending around it.

Here’s exactly how to set it up:

  1. Create a Rakuten account using this link to earn 5,000 bonus points, then switch your payout to Amex Membership Rewards or Bilt points in your Rakuten account settings*. If you have already earned the Rakuten sign up bonus, you cannot earn it again, but the rest of the points on this guide will still apply.
  2. Set up Paze and link all your eligible Chase credit card (full instructions here)
  3. Today only, click through Rakuten to StubHub and spend $150 or more on tickets
  4. Select Paze as your payment method at checkout to trigger the extra 10x Ultimate Rewards

Where the Sapphire Reserve pulls ahead: the $150 statement credit stacks the points and refunds $150 to your CSR statement.

*One important thing to know about Rakuten: it pays in cash back by default. If you hold an Amex Membership Rewards earning card or the Bilt card, you can switch your payout to points in your Rakuten account settings, which turns the 10% rate into 10x points and the signup bonus into 5,000 points. If you don’t have either of those cards, no problem. You’ll simply receive cash instead: a $50 new member bonus plus $15 back on your $150 purchase, for $65 total. Either way, the 1,500 Ultimate Rewards from the Paze offer and your base card earn still post, because those come from Chase, not Rakuten.

That’s it. Chase reimburses the $150 automatically as long as you’ve activated the credit (instructions below), and every layer of the stack pays out on top. The full breakdown of what you’ll earn is in the table below.

Example Math: Running the Full $1,500 Cap

The Paze cap is $1,500 per month per eligible card, and that last part is where this gets interesting. If you hold a Sapphire Reserve and a Freedom Unlimited, you have $3,000 of Paze capacity this month, not $1,500. Each card carries its own cap.

Here is the full-cap example on a Chase Sapphire Reserve. Spend $1,500 at StubHub through Rakuten and check out with Paze, and Paze pays 15,000 Ultimate Rewards points at 10x. Rakuten pays another 15,000 at 10x, assuming you have elected an Amex Membership Rewards or Bilt payout in your Rakuten settings. Chase credits back $150 through the StubHub benefit, which leaves $1,350 of actual out of pocket spend earning your card’s normal 1x, or 1,350 points. Add the 5,000 point Rakuten new member bonus and the total is 36,350 points on $1,350 net.

That works out to roughly 26.9 points per dollar actually spent. At a conservative 1.7 cents per point for transferable currencies, the points alone are worth about $618 on $1,350 out of pocket, before you count the $150 Chase handed back.

One honest note on that base earn line. Because Chase refunds the first $150 of the purchase, that portion earns no card points at all, which is why the 1x applies to $1,350 rather than the full $1,500.

Worked Example

$1,500 at StubHub on a Sapphire Reserve

Maxing the monthly Paze cap on August 17 with Rakuten at 10x.

Earning Layer The Math You Earn
Chase Paze offer $1,500 × 10 15,000 pts
Rakuten portal $1,500 × 10 15,000 pts
Card base earnOn $1,350 only $1,350 × 1 1,350 pts
Rakuten signup bonus New members 5,000 pts
StubHub statement credit Chase refund $150 back
Total On $1,350 net 36,350 pts
$1,350 Net Spend
26.9x Per Net Dollar
~$618 Point Value

Base earn applies to $1,350 rather than $1,500 because Chase refunds the first $150 and reimbursed spend earns no card points. Point value uses an estimated 1.7 cents per point for transferable currencies and is not a guaranteed redemption rate.

Same Spend, Other Cards

If You Do Not Have the Reserve

$1,500 through Rakuten and Paze, including the 5,000 point signup bonus.

Chase Card Base Earn Total Points
Sapphire Reserve 1x on $1,350 36,350 + $150
Sapphire Preferred 1x on $1,500 36,500 pts
Freedom Unlimited 1.5x on $1,500 37,250 pts
Freedom Flex 1x on $1,500 36,500 pts

Non-Reserve cards show a higher raw point total because the full $1,500 earns base points, but you pay the entire $1,500 yourself. The Reserve gives up 150 points and gets $150 back. Freedom points transfer to airline partners only if you also hold a Sapphire card, otherwise value them at one cent each. The $1,500 Paze cap resets monthly and applies per eligible card, so holding two eligible cards doubles your capacity.

If you do not have the Reserve, the stack is nearly identical and the point total is actually slightly higher, because your full $1,500 earns base points instead of $1,350. You just pay the whole $1,500 yourself. The Reserve trades 150 points for $150 in cash, which is not a close call.

Two limits to respect. Your Rakuten payout election has to be set before the purchase, not after, or the whole thing pays out as $150 cash back instead of 15,000 points. And the StubHub statement credit only covers $150 per six month period regardless of how much you spend, so the remaining $1,350 is real money on tickets you should actually want.

What Is the Chase StubHub Credit? (Skip if you do not have the Reserve)

It’s a statement credit built into the Chase Sapphire Reserve as a card benefit. You get $150 every six months to spend on StubHub or viagogo, and Chase automatically credits it back to your statement after you make a qualifying purchase.

That breaks down to:

H1 (Jan–Jun): $150

H2 (Jul–Dec): $150

Important: Each $150 credit expires at the end of its six-month period. If you don’t use your H1 credit by June 30, it’s gone. It does not roll over. So set a calendar reminder at the start of each half, or use a tool like CardPointers+ to keep track of all credits across every single card. This benefit is available to cardholders through December 31, 2027.

How to Activate the Chase StubHub Credit

Unlike some Chase benefits that work automatically, this one requires a one-time activation before your first purchase. Purchases made before you activate are not eligible for the credit. Here’s how to turn it on:

Chase Sapphire Reserve benefits portal showing how to activate the Chase StubHub credit
  1. Log into your Chase account (app or website)
  2. Go to Benefits & Travel, then select Benefits
  3. Find the $300 StubHub Credit tile
  4. Click Activate
  5. That’s it. You only need to activate once, and it stays active for all future periods

Once you’re activated, any qualifying StubHub or viagogo purchase will automatically trigger the credit. No codes, no coupons, no extra steps at checkout. If you forget to activate before a purchase, try activating right after. Some cardholders have reported the credit still posting, but don’t count on it.

How to Use the Chase StubHub Credit

This is straightforward once you’ve activated:

Shop on StubHub.com or viagogo.com and pay with your Chase Sapphire Reserve. The credit posts to your statement within one to two billing cycles.

There’s no minimum purchase required beyond the credit amount itself. Spend $150 or more and you’ll get the full credit. Spend less than $150 and you’ll get credited for what you spent, but you won’t get the remainder back later, so aim to use the full $150 each period.

One key detail that makes this credit especially flexible: the credit triggers based on when your purchase posts, not when the event takes place. You can buy tickets in June for a concert in October and still use your H1 credit, as long as the purchase posts before June 30.

Payment methods that work: your physical Chase Sapphire Reserve card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay all trigger the credit. PayPal has been reported to work as well, though it’s slightly riskier if you need Chase to manually adjust a credit that doesn’t post automatically.

What Purchases Qualify (and What Doesn’t)

The Chase StubHub credit works on event tickets purchased directly on StubHub.com and viagogo.com. That includes concerts, sports games, theater, comedy shows, festivals, and pretty much any live event listed on the platform.

What does not work: gift cards. StubHub gift card purchases are explicitly excluded in the terms and confirmed by data points. Don’t try to buy a StubHub gift card thinking you’ll trigger the credit, because it won’t work.

Also worth noting: StubHub is primarily for U.S. and Canadian events, while viagogo covers international events. Both are owned by the same company and both qualify for the credit.

Setting Up Rakuten

If you don’t have a Rakuten account yet, sign up here and you’ll earn 5,000 bonus points after your first $50 purchase. Yes, your StubHub order counts toward that $50 threshold even though Chase reimburses you. That means if you’re new to Rakuten and you spend $150 on StubHub, you’ll get the $150 back from Chase AND earn 5,000 signup bonus points. Free money.

By default, Rakuten pays you in cash back. But in your account settings under “How You Get Paid,” you can switch to earning Amex Membership Rewards points or Bilt Rewards points instead. At that point, your $50 signup bonus becomes 5,000 transferable points, which is a much better deal.

Rakuten’s base rate for StubHub is typically 2%, but it spikes regularly. We’ve seen it hit 10x, 12x, and even 17x on Rakuten Big Deal days. At 10x, that’s 1,500 points on your $150 credit for doing nothing but clicking through a link first.

Is the Chase StubHub Credit Worth It?

If you already have the Chase Sapphire Reserve? Absolutely. It’s $300/year in value sitting there waiting to be used.

If you’re considering the card, the StubHub credit is one piece of a much larger benefits package that includes a $300 annual travel credit, up to $500 in hotel credits through The Edit by Chase Travel, Priority Pass lounge access, Chase Sapphire Lounge access, DoorDash benefits, and more.

The key is treating each six-month window as a deadline. Put these dates in your calendar now:

June 30: H1 deadline

December 31: H2 deadline

And remember: you can buy tickets for future events. If you don’t have anything coming up in June, buy tickets for something in September. The credit triggers on purchase date, not event date.

Quick Recap

What: $150 every 6 months ($300/year) StubHub statement credit

Card: Chase Sapphire Reserve

Where: StubHub.com and viagogo.com

Activate: One-time activation in your Chase Benefits hub

Stacks with: Rakuten, and your regular Chase card rewards

Doesn’t work on: Gift cards

Expires: End of each six-month period (use it or lose it)

Available through: December 31, 2027

Don’t sleep on this one. $300 in free event tickets is one of the easiest credits to use on the Sapphire Reserve, and stacking it with a shopping portal means you’re earning points on money Chase is literally handing back to you. Activate today and buy something fun before the current period ends.

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