Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information and offers.
Last month, Chase launched one of the highest sign-up bonuses it has ever offered on the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. New cardholders can earn 80,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. TPG values Chase Ultimate Rewards points at 2 cents each, which means this bonus is worth an incredible $1,600 — and potentially more, depending on how you redeem those Ultimate Rewards points.
Since this is one of the most lucrative sign-up bonuses on the market right now, you might be interested in applying. Before you do, though, you should make sure you’re eligible for this offer. Here’s a quick rundown of the eligibility requirements and restrictions for the Chase Sapphire Preferred welcome bonus.
Who’s eligible to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred?
This is what Chase states on its website regarding Chase Sapphire Preferred bonus eligibility:
The product is not available to either (i) current cardmembers of any Sapphire credit card, or (ii) previous cardmembers of any Sapphire credit card who received a new cardmember bonus within the last 48 months. If you are an existing Sapphire customer and would like this product, please call the number on the back of your card to see if you are eligible for a product change. You will not receive the new cardmember bonus if you change products.
If you’ve never held a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve, you’re in the clear to apply for the card and work toward meeting the minimum spend requirement for the welcome bonus. However, things get a little more complicated if you currently have the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve — or if you’ve had one in the past.
Chase has a 48-month rule for customers to receive new cardmember bonuses within the Chase Sapphire card family.
If you’ve earned a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve sign-up bonus in the past four years, you’re out of luck to earn this bonus until you’ve passed the 48-month mark since the last bonus. And keep in mind that the 48-month rule applies to when you received the bonus, not when you applied for the card.
Additionally, you can only have one Sapphire credit card open at a time, which means those who are current cardmembers of the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve or the no-annual-fee Chase Sapphire Card (no longer open to new applications) cannot apply for this card or receive the bonus.
Related: What credit score do you need to get the Chase Sapphire Preferred card?
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Chase’s 5/24 rule
Something else to consider when thinking about whether to apply for the Sapphire Preferred is Chase’s 5/24 rule.
Even if you meet the above requirements to be eligible for this bonus, you’ll still need to fall under Chase’s infamous — though unpublished — 5/24 rule. If you’ve opened five or more new personal credit card accounts (including authorized user accounts and some business accounts) across all issuers in the past two years, Chase is almost certainly going to deny your application.
You may be able to have Chase not count authorized user accounts against your maximum of five new accounts in the last two years if you call in after you are denied, but note that it’s not going to be an automatic approval.
Related: How to calculate your 5/24 standing
Moving around credit lines
There’s one final note regarding Sapphire Preferred applications. If you currently have multiple Chase credit cards with large credit limits, there’s a chance you’ve hit the maximum (total) amount of money that the issuer is willing to loan you.
If this happens, you most likely won’t be rejected for the card when you apply. Instead, your application will go into “pending” status.
You could wait for Chase to make a decision, but you might be better off calling the reconsideration line. You could proactively offer to move credit lines from an existing card to the Sapphire Preferred, which can help the agent push your application through.
Bottom line
Elevated welcome offers this high on the Chase Sapphire cards are rare, so those eligible should consider applying for the Chase Sapphire Preferred’s current 80,000–point sign-up bonus.
Even if you know you’ll eventually want to upgrade to the Chase Sapphire Reserve (which currently has a sign-up bonus of 60,000 points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening), it makes a lot of sense to sign up for the Sapphire Preferred now and then upgrade to the Sapphire Reserve after a year of card membership if you want the latter’s additional perks.
Official application link: The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card with 80,000 points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months.
Read our full Chase Sapphire Preferred review to learn more about the card.
Additional reporting by Emily Thompson, Stella Shon and Eric Rosen.
