One of all-around most popular credit cards in the US is probably Chase’s Sapphire family of credit cards. It’s certainly one of my favorites, and I wrote about it before. These travel-oriented premium credit cards pack a mighty punch in terms of their points-earning categories and additional benefits. Two weeks ago, Chase introduced a new, best-ever welcome bonus on this popular and very useful card, so this is absolutely the time to (re)apply.

In this post I want to briefly cover the benefits of this card, and then explain how you apply for it. Or, if you currently have the card, here’s how you can RE-apply for it! I just did this with success, so that even though I had the Chase Sapphire Reserve less than a week ago, I was able to reapply and benefit from this best-ever 100k welcome bonus. Here’s how…

Follow my referral link to apply for the Chase Sapphire credit card online now!

1. Introducing the Chase Sapphire family of cards
2. Basics of the Chase Sapphire Preferred
3. What are the application eligibility criteria for the card and the welcome bonus?
4. What to do if you currently already have a Chase sapphire card
5. Summary

Introducing the Chase Sapphire family of cards

The Chase Sapphire family may be one of the most popular family of premium credit cards around. There are two cards in this family: the Preferred and the Reserve. My favorite of the two is the Reserve, but before I get to that one, there are some differences between the two cards that are worth pointing out.

First of all, the Preferred is vastly cheaper, coming in with an annual fee of $95. That also means it’s less lucrative then the Reserve in terms of its perks. For example, unlike the Reserve, it doesn’t give you 3x return on travel, only 2x. It doesn’t come with any travel credits per se, though it does have a $50 hotel credit, however this needs to be used to book a hotel through Chase’s travel portal, so it is not particularly flexible. Also, if you want to redeem the points through the Chase travel portal, the value of your points will be 1.25 cents per point – 0.25 cents per point lower than the Reserve, which allows redemptions at 1.5 cents per point. In a previous post I mentioned how for economy redemptions, Chase Sapphire Reserve holders can use the Chase travel portal to get 1.5 cent/point, and this may turn out to be a great redemption path – so note that the Sapphire Preferred wouldn’t give you the same kind of return. Finally, it doesn’t come with any lounge access, such as Priority Pass, Air Canada Maple Leaf or Sapphire lounge access.

All that said, this post stars the Chase Sapphire Preferred, as that’s the card that gives the best-ever, elevated 100k welcome bonus right now. While it has less benefits than the Reserve, it is decidedly cheaper as well.

Basics of the Chase Sapphire Preferred

• Current elevated welcome bonus: 100,000 points when spending $5000 in the first 3 months of card ownership
• Annual fee: $95
• Bonus categories:
  • 5x points on flights booked through Chase Travel portal
  • 3x points on dining
  • 2x points on travel (when not booked through Chase Travel)
  • 1x points on everything else
• Other perks:
  • $50 annual travel credit, valid for any kind of travel, including local transit.
  • 1.25x worth for points redemptions through Chase Travel portal.
  • One year free DashPass subscription.
  • No foreign transaction fees.

What are the application eligibility criteria for the card and the welcome bonus?

To apply for a Chase sapphire card and get the welcome bonus there’s really only three important criteria that decide whether you actually can or cannot apply for it. Importantly: even if you are eligible to apply, that doesn’t mean you’ll get approved! In this section, I only want to outline the basic criteria for application eligibility. Whether you get approved depends on a load of other factors that for the purposes of this post I’m not taking into account.

• First, you can NOT currently have a Chase Sapphire card. It doesn’t matter which one you have. Even if you have the Sapphire reserve, Chase won’t typically allow you to then apply for a second Sapphire card, regardless of whether it’s the Preferred or Reserve.
• Second, you cannot have received a welcome bonus within the last 48 months before credit card account opening. For example, if you opened your last Sapphire card 49 months ago, but received the welcome bonus 47 months ago, you are NOT eligible for a new welcome bonus. So carefully do the math to figure out when you got your last welcome bonus.
• Third, Chase has the so-called 5/24 rule: you cannot have opened more than 5 personal (as opposed to business) credit cards in the last 24 months. That includes any credit card, also those from other (not Chase) issuers. For example, if you opened 3 Chase card, 1 Citi card and 1 Capital One card, it’s not likely that Chase will approve your application. However, if one of those 3 Chase cards was a business credit card, you’d be okay: that’s because business credit cards are not tied to your personal credit report.

What to do if you currently already have a Chase sapphire card

So, if you read the previous section and found that (1) you got your last welcome bonus on a sapphire card more than 48 months ago, and (2) you didn’t open 5 or more credit cards in the last 24 months, BUT you do currently have a Sapphire card, then here is what you should do:

1. Call Chase TODAY using the phone number on the back of your Sapphire card, and ask the agent to downgrade your card (do not close it!). They will likely give you several options, depending on whether you have points associated with the credit card account.
   • If you do, you can only downgrade your card to a card that can earn such points, such as the Freedom family of cards. In my case, since I already have the Freedom Ultimate, the agent offered me a downgrade to a Freedom card that has actually been discontinued for new applicants.
   • However, if you don’t have any points associated with the credit card, you may be able to downgrade to a card that earns straight up cash back, such as the Slate Edge.
2. Once the agent downgrades your card, it will take a few days for this change to be reflected in your credit card account, and in your mobile phone’s wallet. I noticed that after the downgrade, the credit card account in my Chase app reflected the downgrade within an hour or so. Then, after 4-5 days, the icon of the card had changed in my Apple Wallet as well.
3. Once you see the card changed in your Apple wallet, OR once you receive your ‘new’ card in the mail, it’s likely that you’re ready to apply for the new Sapphire card. The reason for that is you need to wait to ‘stop’ being a sapphire card member. This seems to happen within a few days. In my case, I downgraded Monday, and successfully re-applied on Friday of the same week.
4. At this point, you can re-apply either online, over the phone, or by going to a branch. Personally, I went to a branch, and worked with the lovely Priscilla, who confirmed I did not currently have the card, plus that I would get the 100k bonus. However, you should be fine doing it online as well. You can follow my referral link at the bottom of this post.
5. For the actual application, whether you apply online or in the branch, the process is essentially the same and you’ll get all the same questions, including current salary and the mortgage or rent that you pay. Importantly: provide your individual payment! If you pay your rent together with somebody else, only give YOUR portion of the rent, NOT the combined amount! This was confirmed by Priscilla as being the correct answer (so it’s not just a trick).
6. Now, you go spend $5000 to get the 100k points, within the first 3 months of account opening. Note that the clock starts when the account opens, rather then when you receive the card. So, if they don’t offer it already, ask the agent to expedite your card’s shipping. Plus, if you add the card into your Apple Wallet, you can start using it essentially immediately.

Following this list of steps, I was able to downgrade my card and apply for a new sapphire card AND receive the offer for the 100k welcome bonus all within the space of 5 business days.

Summary

In this post I describe the path to re-applying for the Chase sapphire Preferred in the event that you already have this card, or it’s ‘big sibling’ the Sapphire Reserve. Importantly, first ensure that your received your last welcome bonus on any Sapphire card more than 48 months ago, and ensure you’re within the 5/24 rule. Then, call Chase to downgrade your card (e.g. to the Chase Freedom family), wait a few days, ideally until your see the downgrade reflected in your Apple Wallet or you receive your new card, and then go to a branch (or follow my referral link below) to re-apply for the chase sapphire Preferred. using these steps, I successfully applied for a new Sapphire Preferred, to get the 100k welcome bonus.

Follow my referral link to apply for the Chase Sapphire credit card online now!