Update: DEAD! Don’t miss it if this becomes alive again. Sign up for deal notification alerts here!
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Sapphire Reserve cards are an essential tool for all credit card users. They offer bonus points on dining and travel in addition to the ability to transfer points from all Chase Ultimate Rewards cards into miles or to use points towards paid flights.
Unfortunately, Chase keeps on making it harder to qualify for the cards.
First, Chase added 5/24 restrictions that made it hard to get approved for most Chase cards if you have been approved for 5 consumer cards in the past 24 months.
Then, Chase added a 24 month restriction on all Sapphire cards. If you have received a bonus on any Sapphire card in the past 24 months, Preferred or Reserve, you can’t get a new Sapphire card.
Now, Chase is changing that 24 month Sapphire restriction to 48 months. With the new rule, if you have received a bonus on any Sapphire card in the past 48 months, Preferred or Reserve, you can’t get a new Sapphire card.
The Sapphire Reserve card launched 24 months ago, so I guess it’s not a surprise that Chase is increasing the restriction from 24 months to 48 months to stop people from cancelling their card and opening a new one.
If you go to the Chase homepage, both card applications now have this 48 month restriction when you click on offer details:
However via the link below, you can view a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offer with a 24 month restriction that can be seen when you click on offer details. It comes with 50K points for spending $4K in 3 months plus another 5K points for adding a free additional user card. The $95 annual fee is waived for the first year.
If you haven’t received a bonus on a Sapphire card in the past 24 months then now is the time to apply for this card before the 48 months restriction is added to all application links.
You can always upgrade the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card to Sapphire Reserve later on to take advantage of the many amazing benefits that come with that card. Or you can downgrade it to either the no-annual fee Freedom or Freedom Unlimited card. Both of those cards are incredible tools as well for earning points.
Having the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Sapphire Reserve card is practically a requirement to maximize your miles, but there’s no reason to have both cards. Which card is right for you?
Here’s a comparison chart that illustrates their strengths and weaknesses.
| Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card | Sapphire Reserve | |
|---|---|---|
| Signup bonus | 50K points for spending $4,000 in 3 months, plus 5K points for adding an additional user | 50K points for spending $4,000 in 3 months |
| Annual Fee | $0 for the first year, then $95 | $450 |
| Allows you to transfer Chase points from any card to airline miles | Yes | Yes |
| Value of points towards paid airfare, hotels, car rentals, cruises, and activities | 1.25 cents | 1.5 cents |
| Additional Cardholder Fee | $0 | $75 |
| Annual Travel Credit (Airfare, hotels, car rentals, Uber, etc) | $0 | $300 |
| Points earned on travel (Airfare, hotels, car rentals, Uber, etc) | 2 per dollar | 3 per dollar |
| Points earned on dining | 2 per dollar | 3 per dollar |
| Priority Pass membership | None | Primary and secondary cardholders can bring themselves and 2 free guests into a lounge |
| $100 Global Entry/Pre-Check Fee Refund | None | Once every 4 years for Primary cardholder |
| Foreign transaction fee | None | None |
| Worldwide Car Rental CDW Coverage | Primary coverage | Primary coverage |
| Roadside Assistance | Available for a $59.95 charge | Free battery boost, flat tire service, 2 gallons of fuel delivery, towing, or lockout assistance |
| Purchase Protection for items damaged or stolen within 120 days | $500 per item | $10,000 per item |
| Extended Warranty Protection | 1 extra year for items up to $10,000 | 1 extra year for items up to $10,000 |
| Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance | $10,000 per trip or $20,000 per trip with multiple travelers | $10,000 per trip or $20,000 per trip with multiple travelers |
| Return Protection | None. | $500/item up to $1,000/year |
| Lost Luggage Insurance | $3,000 per person per trip (limit of $500 per person for jewelry, watches, and electronics) | $3,000 per person per trip (limit of $500 per person for jewelry, watches, and electronics) |
| Trip Delay Reimbursement | $500 per person for reasonable expenses (Hotel, food, toiletries, medicine, etc) required for delays more than 12 hours. | $500 per person for reasonable expenses (Hotel, food, medicine, etc) required for delays more than 6 hours. |
| Baggage Delay Reimbursement | $100 per day per person (max of 5 days) for essential items needed (Clothing, toiletries, cell phone charger, etc) required for delays more than 6 hours. | $100 per day per person (max of 5 days) for essential items needed (Clothing, toiletries, cell phone charger, etc) required for delays more than 6 hours. |
| Travel Accident Insurance | $500,000 per person | $1,000,000 per person |
| Emergency Evacuation and Transportation due to injury or illness on a trip | None | $100,000 for trips between 5-60 days, more than 100 miles from your home |
| Repatriation of Remains Insurance | None | $1,000 for a coffin and to return your body to your home country if you die on a vacation |
| Emergency Medical and Dental Benefit | None | $2,500 for medical expenses on trips between 5-60 days, more than 100 miles from your home |
Will you signup for a Sapphire card before the 48 months rule goes into effect for all Sapphire application links?
Leave a Reply
109 Comments On "Chase Sapphire Cards Are Moving To A 48 Month Signup Restriction; Signup Now With A 24 Month Link While You Still Can!"
All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.
Due to 5/24 I kinda just ignore Chase these days like background noise.
Still the best for spending.
I can’t get the cards for the quadfecta because of 5/24.
A. If I have currently have a regular sahpirre card but haven’t received the bonus in the past 24 months will I get approved for a preferred?
B. From what date does the 24 months clock count ? From the day of approval? The date the bonus points posted to my account ?
If that , how I can know which date the bonus points posted to my account 2 years ago ?
A. You would first have to downgrade that card to a Freedom or Freedom Unlimited and then wait a day or 2 until it changes over in the system to a new card.
B. From the date the bonus points posted. You can call or SM to learn the exact date of the last bonus.
Thanks Dan for posting this important announcement.
I can upgrade a Freedom card to Sapphire Reserve?
Yes.
Re bringing guests to lounge, I think that is changing soon/now
Yup, just changed yesterday 🙁
Dan what happens if I get the preffered signup bonus then I change to reserve will I get all the benefits and how often can I switch cards
You will get the benefits when you switch. There isn’t a limit.
Can you switch to get better rate on points redemption and then switch back to avoid the CSR fee?
It stinks because I got my sapphire preffered 18 months ago and I was gonna wait another six months to get the reserve, but i guess that’s no longer possible.
Nope, though you can upgrade your card to Reserve.
Are you sure? I specifically asked Chase via private messaging to upgrade my Preferred to a Reserve and they said that that isn’t an option?
Call/HUCA.
i’m guessing your csp is less then 13 months old, correct?
Even so it can be done with some HUCA.
how about if I dont have a 10k cl, will Huca work? (dont have other cards to relocate, and dont want hard credit pull to increase cl)
Sure.
I thought its a hard rule the a visa infinite card can’t have cl of under $10k, no?
Nope:
did you get it with this cl, or later on lowered it?
Lowered, but that’s a moot point. It only matters for new approval, not for upgrades.
Ok,tnx for the info!
I just upgraded and they told me I have to move CL from other card to have enough CL.
Can you still bring in unlimited guests to the lounge with the sapphire Reserve?
Nope, just changed to 2 guests 🙁
Is that 2 per visit or 2 per year?
or 2 per decade?
Visit
2 per visit
I had a Sapphire Preferred in the past (more than 2 years ago) and downgraded it to a Freedom when I got my Reserve (will turn 2 years this September).
Am I correct in understanding that I can apply now for a new Preferred and be eligible for the bonus, but I cannot downgrade my reserve today and open another one tomorrow because it has to be 4 years?
What about the line in the fine print about not owning another Sapphire credit card?
Thanks Dan!
You need to wait 24 months from when the bonus posted.
You would also have to downgrade the existing card to a Freedom card.
If my wife is an AU on my Preferred card, can she apply for her own card (Reserve or Preferred)?? TIA
Yes.
Thanks, approved! Just curious- can she add ME as an AU(I already have my own Preferred) to get the extra 5k points?
Yes
Sure.
If i signed up for the Marriott card and chase is refusing the bonus because they claim they didn’t get the application till the 26th,
Can I have them swap my application in process to a sapphire or other chase card,
Or would I need to start a new application?
New application.
I qualify for the sign up bonus September 15 is there anything that can still be done ? Will applying now and wait till the after sep 15 to do the spending $4K in 3 months or no?
You probably won’t be approved now, but you should be able to apply now and have your application reconsidered after 9/15 to get approved.
We were in that situation (close to 2 years ago) & didn’t get approved bec. we were just a few days short of the 24 months, however we waited till after the 24 months & went back (to the bank) to being considered to overturn the decision, but even after the 24 months they told us that we still have to wait for those in charge to update that info which they said is only at the end of every month. luckily we were still in the time frame & got approved! Take that into consideration.
Thanks Dan for all the work in this great site!
Is this true if you already had have business card 2 of 3 and planning to get third ink one?
No, there are no restrictions on those.
Thanks. i finally pulled the trigger on this. my prob is i’m not that big of a spender and with MS getting harder by the day, 4k in 3 months will be hard for me.
So the 24 months began when the points posted? Ie if I applied and got the CSR right when it came out in 8/2016, but the 100K bonus didn’t post for a month or two, I still need to wait?
Yes.
Dan thank you for your great work. One suggestion in the comparison chart you can take off the return protection if I’m correct chase no longer has this insurance
CSR still has it.
Hi Dan. I opened the CSR on 8/1/16 so 24 months have passed. Last statement close date was 8/24. I’d like to product change to FU, wait 2 days, then open CSP. Am I cutting it too close to get the bonus based on my original open date (in other words, do I have to wait longer for the 24 months to reset or the statement close date)? Thank you.
It goes based on when the bonus posted.
So what’s the actual benefit of an au on the preffered to make it worth the $75 fee. Is it 9nly the lounge access? How about road side assistance for authorised users?
There is no fee on the Preferred.
On the Reserve it’s the lounge access and other benefits like roadside assistance.
Be careful, there’s a new team they added starting April/may time that will shut all your chase cards if they see multiple recent applications even in other cards. Know a friend it happened to, just letting u know – google it u’ll see…
chase has had this team for years
they are known for shutting down cc, checking and all sorts of accounts WITHOUT notice
not just when people apply for many cards… it acually makes sense in today’s blog and forums world where info spreads so quickly and its costing them millions… i think the number chase said it cost was some 250 million dollar loss on new reserve accounts
so they cramping down on people abusing the system. all prudent business owners would do the same… like ll bean return policy as another example… take advantage without abuse
Two questions: Can I sign up my high school kid for a Chase Preferred? Also, if I can, am I able to transfer the miles to my card before year’s end when I’d have to pay the $95?
Sure as long as hes 18+ , and same last name household you should have no problem transferring.
Ronald Reagan told a joke about how long it takes from the time you order a Tesla until it is delivered. He said, so this guy comes in to the Tesla sales office and puts down his deposit for a Model W and they tell him OK come back in 4 years and get your car. So he asks, morning or afternoon? The sales rep looks at him funny and says, well that’s 4 years from now, what difference does it make? So he replies, because my 48 months restriction on Sapphire cards is ending in the morning.
https://youtu.be/3I9AdLnjP0M
😀 😀 😀 😀 😀
Dan I just spoke to them they are saying that if my points posted on sep. 19 I will have to wait till oct.1 to apply and be able to get the bonus
You should be able to reconsider any time after october 1 in that case, so you can apply from September 2 and have 30 days to call and reconsider.
And I would get the bonus even if the system detected that at time of the application i was before 24 months ?
Yes.
Looks like I opened and partially closed 9 credit card accounts in last 24 month. Any suggestions how to get Sapphire cards? I used to have Sapphire Prefered, downgraded it to a Freedom 3 years ago.
You would have to wait until they fall off.
Are they all primary consumer cards from banks valid everywhere?
Yes, all primary. So many good offers around…
If I have an ink card will I not get approval for this? Meaning is the Ink card considered a “sapphire” card
No. Ink is Ink. Sapphire is Sapphire.
To get the 24 month deal do I have to download the app where it says Start now? What company is that?
No need to download any app.
As it happens, coincidentally, I just downgraded my CSP to FU this morning. My account already reflects the change. Can I already apply for a new CSP? My signup bonus for the original CSP was 9/2015 and I’m not at 5/24 yet.
You should be good. Might want to give it a day, though who knows when they’ll update the link to 48 months…
Chase closed all my accounts including my checking account about 2 years ago no reason was given.
Should I try applying for a card now?
Same happened to me. I recently applied for Freedom and was denied because of previously unsatisfactory relationship with bank (or something similar to that). I called reconsideration, and was told that I would have to start the relationship from the ground up and I should try applying for the Freedom card. I was like….huh… They then told me to write an apologetic letter asking for forgiveness and asking to renew our relationship. I never received any confirmation from anyone. One day a new Freedom card arrived.
I would say go for it, but in the worst case call reconsideration and write a letter if necessary.
Hey Dan, what card do You recommend doing a 2 BM with the reserve?
Anything in the Quadfecta.
https://www.dansdeals.com/credit-cards/chase-quadfecta-least-23-arent-rightbut/
For someone who never had a sapphire card before this is not much news doesnt make a difference.
Yes he would now have to wait 48 months to get the other product or the same card with a sign up bonus.
Curios if i should wait it out for a bigger sign up bonus which I suspect after this update and ppl scrambling to sign up? Or nothing in the forecast for these cards?
It starts the clock from now.
I wouldn’t count on bigger bonuses.
What about the paragraph before the last one on the image attached.
This product is not available to either current cardmembers of any Sapphire credit card, or previous cardmembers who received a new cardmember bonus for any Sapphire credit card within the last 24 months.
Finally pulled the trigger! So after 24months, I can upgrade to CSR and still get the 50k bonus? Thanks!
How many Chase cards can you have at one time? Will it be a red flag (denial / shut down) if you already have 5 or 6 and apply for more? Does it matter if some are business and some personal?
So I should be able to upgrade a freedom to a CSR? I had downgraded in preparation to receive the bonus.
If I had a Saphire Preferred and downgraded it to a plain Saphire about 5 years ago, can I apply for the Preferred now and receive the bonus?
You would have to downgrade current sapphire to Freedom/freedom unlimited and then apply for preferred, since you cannot apply when you already have a card in the Sapphire “family”. You would receive the bonus because it has been more 24 months.
can you upgrade from freedom to CSP or CSR? when the does AF hit?
I’m going with the reserve since it has the “$1,000 for a coffin and to return your body to your home country if you die on a vacation” benefit…
I opened my Sapphire preferred about 3 years ago and downgraded to Freedom 2 months ago. Anyway to get the 50k bonus for opening reserve now?
You can apply for the Preferred and get the 55K bonus and upgrade to Reserve.
cool, thanks!
Dan I received Reserve Bonus Dec 2016 any options for me?
Dan- Chase PMed me that you can only receive the card once and that it lasted posted a bonus in 2014. Is it worth trying to get the Sapphire Preferred again now?
You were misinformed. You can get it as long as you don’t have an active Sapphire card and didn’t get the bonus in the past 24 months with the application that still says 24 months.
Hey Dan,
Thanks for all, If I currently have a business ink I should cancel (got the bonus 3 yrs ago), wait a day and do a 2bm with the reserve? Thank you
if I got a sapphire preferred over two years ago and did not get the bonus can I downgrade to a freedom and then apply for the sapphire preferred again and get the bonus ?
Hey dan I’m a bochur with a credit score in the mid 700s and it’s a year old do you think I will qualify for the preffered and how much should my salary be to get accepted
i see the in your link’s terms 48 months.
The Sapphire Preferred link in this post still says 24 months.
If I just got an email from Chase that I should sign up for the Sapphire preffered card and in the email it says in the past 24 months does that mean it will work
The link in this post still says 24 months.
is there stll a way to get the reserve with the 24 months language?
Upgrade from the Preferred?
Better bonus and lower fee that way.
@dan
I got the reserve card 2 yrs ago and already have the freedom. So should I downgrade my reserve to the freedom unlimited and then apply for the preferred ? Can I have the reserve and preferred it only 1 ?
You can.
No.
Hello Dan, Ihave the Preferred and applied for the Reserve after your ent post. Was told that I wasn’t approved because I already have a Sapphire-branded credit card with them. Told I could possibly upgrade, but that a product change is not eligible for a new cardmember bonus. Any suggestions? And is it worthwhile to upgrade under that constraint? Thanks.
Dead!!
Chase updated the referral links as well to 48 months..
How can I get the reserve fee waved? Just by lowering my credit limit? Will I still get my 300$ travel credit?
Hi. I checked the link and don’t see a way to still receive the points before 48 months? Is there any way?