Am I Eligible For The Chase Sapphire Preferred Bonus? How To Find Out
Wondering if you are eligible for the Chase Sapphire Preferred‘s increased welcome offer? There are some particularities to consider here, so we’ll go through them. We’ll look at what the welcome offer is, what it’s worth, and then how to determine whether or not you’re eligible for the Chase Sapphire Preferred elevated welcome offer.
Some Of These Offers May Have Ended Or Changed
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card
Launched in 2009, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is arguably the best starter card in this hobby. You can read our full analysis of the card, its many perks, and why people love it in our credit card review here.
The card has an annual fee of $95.
Also, the Chase Sapphire Preferred has the following earning structure:
- 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 3X points on dining at restaurants worldwide and on select streaming services and online grocery purchases
- 2X points on travel purchases
- 1X point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
- Learn More
This card earns Ultimate Rewards points which can be transferred to travel partners, used to book travel through the Ultimate Rewards portal (1.25 cents) or cashed in at 1 cent each. Generally it is not a good value to cash in your Ultimate Rewards points. Many people transfer their points to travel partners, and you can see the options for those here. You can also cash out the points via Pay Yourself Back at 1.25 cents each with the Sapphire Preferred.
All-Time Highest Welcome Offer
The reason you’re probably trying to figure out if you are eligible for the Chase Sapphire Preferred bonus right now is because the welcome offer is at an all-time high. Here’s a look at the offer:
Receive 60,000 points if you spend $4,000 on the card within 3 months of account opening
The card has an annual fee if $95. If you visit your local Chase branch, you may be able to get this offer PLUS get the annual fee waived for the first year. Info on that is here.
The value of Chase Ultimate Rewards points varies, depending on how you’re using them. According to our research, you should expect $1,400 or more in value from this welcome offer! That will increase if you can get the offer with a waived fee in the first year.
Who Is Eligible For the Chase Sapphire Preferred Bonus?
Piqued your interest with this offer? Want to know if you are eligible to get it? There are 3 key rules that we need to consider here.
Chase 5/24 Rule
The Chase 5/24 rule means that you cannot get any Chase credit cards if you have 5 or more new credit card accounts showing on your credit report from the last 24 months. In the last 2 years, if you’ve opened 5 or more new credit cards, and Chase can see those on your credit report, you aren’t eligible for credit cards with them (this one or others, as well).
4 Years Sapphire Rule
Chase also has a rule on cards within the “Sapphire” card family. The rule is this:
- This product is available to you if you have not received a new cardmember bonus for any Sapphire card in the past 48 months.
Essentially, if you received a new cardmember welcome offer on the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Sapphire Reserve within 48 months, you aren’t eligible here. Data suggests it’s from the time the bonus points posted, not when you originally opened the card.
One Sapphire Card Rule
The last rule to consider is that you cannot currently have another Sapphire card.
- This product is available to you if you do not currently have any Sapphire card.
If you have any other card with “Sapphire” in the name from Chase, you need to close it or downgrade it to another type of card. Once that’s closed, you should be eligible for this welcome offer.
What If You Currently Hold A Sapphire Preferred Or Reserve?
One of the most common questions we get is from people that currently have a Sapphire Reserve card. They ask if they can downgrade into a Freedom and then apply. As long as it has been 48 months since you earned the welcome offer on the card that will work. I would give it a week or so to register with Chase.
Then once you earn the 60,000 point welcome off on the Chase Sapphire Preferred you could then upgrade the Freedom card back to a Sapphire Reserve if you so choose. You can not sign up for one while carrying the other but you can actually have both cards if you play it right.
Final Thoughts
Most people in this hobby should start with the Chase Sapphire Preferred as their first card. The all-time-high on this welcome offer further reinforces this view. In this article, we talked about the card, the value of the welcome offer, and then how to know if you are eligible for the Chase Sapphire Preferred bonus that’s currently available. If you’re eligible, definitely go for it.
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Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
How does Chase handle annual fees when downgrading a card? I recently (2-3 months) paid the annual fee for the Reserve. If I were to downgrade to a no-fee card, does Chase refund the annual fee on a pro-rated basis or are you SOL?
Dominik – it’s pro-rated if you downgrade after 30 days. If you cancel after 30 days, you get nothing.
Noob question re: 5/24, I see applications for mortgage loans and car leases as part of my credit history in the past 24 months. Do these revolving credit accounts count as ‘credit card applications’?
Steve-no. These are installment accounts. The Chase 5/24 rule applies to revolving credit accounts like credit cards and charge cards only. Hope that helps!
Excellent! Many thanks!