The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a premium travel rewards credit card that has gotten very popular due to its useful rewards structure and flexible Ultimate Rewards points that can be redeemed for cash, travel credits, or transferred to airline miles and hotel points. I’ve had it for years. Here are the highlights:
- 60,000 bonus Ultimate Rewards points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s worth $750 when redeemed through Chase TravelSM.
- 5X total points on all travel purchased through Chase TravelSM.
- 3X points on on dining, including eligible delivery services, takeout and dining out.
- 3X points on select streaming services. Includes Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, Netflix, Sling, Vudu, Fubo TV, Apple Music, SiriusXM, Pandora, Spotify and YouTube TV.
- 3X points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs).
- 2X points on all other travel purchases.
- 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
- $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased through Chase TravelSM. New cardmembers will start earning towards the credit immediately and existing cardmembers will start earning after their next account anniversary.
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase TravelSM. For example, 80,000 points are worth $1,000 toward travel.
- 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs.
- 10% Anniversary Point Bonus. Each account anniversary, cardmembers will earn bonus points equal to 10% of total purchases made the previous year. That means, $25,000 in spend will earn an additional 2,500 bonus points.
- No foreign transaction fees.
- Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
- $95 annual fee.
Note the following text:
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.
Chase has an unofficial rule that they will automatically deny approval on new credit cards if you have 5 or more new credit cards from any issuer on your credit report within the past 2 years (aka the 5/24 rule). This rule is designed to discourage folks that apply for high numbers of sign-up bonuses. This rule applies on a per-person basis, so in our household one applies to Chase while the other applies at other card issuers.
Ultimate Rewards points. This card offers a special 25% bonus on travel redemptions made through the Chase TravelSM site. For example, 60,000 Ultimate Rewards = $750 in travel. 75,000 Ultimate Rewards = $937.50 in travel. Similar to Expedia or Travelocity, you can book flights on most major airlines and hotel chains. This makes it much more flexible to spend your points. You can even buy something more expensive than your points can cover and pay the difference in cash.
If you have other Chase cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points like the Freedom Flex, Freedom Unlimited, Ink Business Cash or Ink Business Unlimited, you can transfer points into this card account and take advantage of the this higher premium. In other words, your existing Ultimate Rewards points balance could be increased in value by getting this card.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve Card is the “ultra-premium” rewards card that offers a bigger 50% bonus on travel redemptions, along with more perks and a higher annual fee.
Prefer airline and/or hotel points? This card also allows you to transfer Ultimate Rewards points into hotel and/or airline miles. Transfer to United Airlines, British Airways, Air Canada, Singapore Airlines, Korean Air, Southwest, Hyatt Hotels, IHG Hotels, and Marriott Hotels at a ratio of 1 Ultimate Rewards point = 1 mile/hotel point. Miles redemption continue to offer great value for savvy travelers, especially for last-minute travel and business class seats. I personally use the transfers to “top off” my account to reach a free coach ticket or free hotel night when I don’t have enough points otherwise. My favorite options are United miles, Southwest miles, and Hyatt hotel points. I usually try to save up my points for a Hyatt hotel stay that gets me over 2 cents per point value.
Cash redemptions are a simple and easy option at straight conversion of 100 points = $1.
Sharing points. Ultimate Rewards points are instantly transferable to other accounts including family members, as long as they have their own Chase card with Ultimate Rewards as an authorized user. This way, you can pool points together for transfers and redemptions if you like.
Additional card benefits:
- Primary car rental collision damage waiver insurance. Decline the rental company’s collision insurance and charge the entire rental cost to your card. Coverage is primary and provides reimbursement up to $75,000 for theft and collision damage for most rental cars in the U.S. and abroad. Most other cards only offer secondary coverage that kicks in only after the deductible of your individual insurance policy is used.
- Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance. If your trip is canceled or cut short by sickness, severe weather and other covered situations, you can be reimbursed up to $10,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses, including passenger fares, tours, and hotels.
- Trip Delay Reimbursement. If your common carrier travel is delayed more than 6 hours or requires an overnight stay, you and your family are covered for unreimbursed expenses, such as meals and lodging, up to $500 per ticket
Bottom line. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a popular premium travel rewards card with 3X points on dining out and 2X points on travel. Ultimate Rewards points are very flexible, either transferrable to several airline/hotel programs or directly redeemable to offset a hotel/airfare purchase through Chase TravelSM.
Compare with the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card, which offers a bigger 50% bonus on travel redemptions, along with more perks and a higher annual fee.
This offer is on my list of Top 10 Best Credit Card Bonus Offers.
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WOW. Very good deal. I’ve done this one several times before for 25K … 50K makes this double sweet.
Thanks dude!
Hello Jonathon
I have read many of your articles about credit card sign-up bonuses. I was wondering if one should limit themselves on the number of credits cards they open in a year. What do you do with those credit cards after you have earned the bonus?
I have the same question regarding bank accounts. How long do you keep your bank account open before closing it.
Thanks
Rizwan
@Rizwan – I don’t think there is a single correct answer. Personally, I try to limit myself to 3 cards per rolling six-month period. Each credit inquiry will drop your credit score about 5-10 points for a temporary amount of time, depending on how long your credit history is, how many cards you have already, and how much of the credit line you use. The effect wears off after 6-months to a year.
I have had so many cards, that as long as I keep the old ones, I am fine cancelling whatever cards I no longer use. It doesn’t really affect my score, the canceling of cards. I definitely wouldn’t pay an annual fee unless you think the card is worth it on its own merits. Read more:
https://www.mymoneyblog.com/tips-on-how-to-cancel-a-credit-card-profitably.html
https://www.mymoneyblog.com/can-having-too-many-credit-cards-hurt-your-credit-score.html
As for banks, if I decide I don’t like the bank, then I just close it
after I satisfy the requirements for the bonus. If the bank has no fees, then I might wait a while to see if I change my mind. Closing a bank account doesn’t affect your credit score. Opening a bank sometimes affects your score since a few of them check your credit score when you open (annoyingly).
Can you sign up for this if you have had a Sapphire card in the past? I noticed a previous poster said he had, but the terms seems to state that you cannot.
@nikki: Good catch. I just read the terms & conditions again, and it looks like they’ve added a clause to monitor “promotion junkies” 🙂
I know I’ve personally taken advantage of a 25K offer multiple times for this same card. Hopefully this isn’t the end!
Snippet attached below from terms & conditions:
Replying to this offer: If you omit any information on the form, we may deny your request for an account. If applicable, Chase cardmembers who currently have or have had a Chase credit card in any Rewards Program associated with this offer or have received a similar bonus offer, may not be eligible for a second Chase credit card in the same Rewards Program, or for any bonus offer. Chase cardmembers currently receiving promotional pricing, or Chase cardmembers with a history of only using their current or prior Chase card for promotional pricing offers, are not eligible for a second Chase credit card with promotional pricing. You must have a valid permanent home address within the 50 United States or the District of Columbia. The information about the costs of the card described in this form is accurate as of 2/22/2010. This information may have changed after that date. To find out what may have changed, write to us at Cardmember Service, P.O. Box 15043, Wilmington, DE 19850-5043.
Besides the obvious credit score impact of opening and closing an account rather quickly, are there any negative impacts to obtaining the $500 statement credit and then canceling before the year is up? I want the rewards, but don’t feel like the card is worth $95/year, especially when my other Chase rewards card (non-sapphire) is doing me just fine.
I didn’t see anything in the fine print about cancelling after the first year to avoid the yearly charge, but am I missing something?
The 7% bonus is a nice perk, especially since I put most expenses on my card and then pay it off in full each month. In a year if I charged, for example, $10k, a 7% bonus would seem to equal $70. It’s not quite making up the yearly fee, but would surely be close.
D’OH. I just got the Sapphire card a couple months ago when the bonus was only $250. Guess I’ll get the Mrs. to sign up for this one!
Thanks again for the awesome tip, Jonathan!
Great offer! Don’t know too much about it except for the commercials but do you get to pick Visa or MasterCard or are they their own thing?
So, is this a Visa or Master Card? Or is it a totally different breed of card called “Saphire”?? Is “Saphire” accepted everywhere like Visa or Master Card?
WOW!
I’ve already applied.
My personal favorite is still my citi forward card. 5% from restaurants and amazon is HUGE. I recently changed jobs to a place with a cafeteria that takes credit cards, so the 3-4 bucks I spend on lunch each day is a nice little bump in points. It seems like I’ve been getting a $100 gift card every month or two for the last 6 months (I’ve had a few big amazon purchases on there, not all restaurant spending). The CVS gift cards are pretty much as good as cash for me, since I do a lot of random grocery shopping there on a regular basis.
Does anybody know about getting the plane tickets? If I have $312 to spend towards tickets, do I need to buy them from THEIR vendor at an inflated price or can I pay priceline prices?
I applied for this credit card online and I got the response from Chase that I will receive the approval decision by mail within next 10 days.
Did you guys get an instant approval or were you notified the decision through mail?
I already have a chase freedom credit card and I pay all my balances every month, wondering why I was not approved instantly on this one by Chase?
@Mike Z – You can buy your tickets anywhere – Expedia, Orbitz, direct from the airline, etc. You just go back to the website, pick the travel purchase (they can tell if it’s travel) and redeem your points. Your statement will then be credited. The benefit of booking a flight through their specific booking tool is that you get double points for the purchase.
Correction: On another part of the website, it states that the 25% travel bonus is only for when you book hotel or airfare through Ultimate Rewards. So it looks like I was wrong about this. I don’t know if the Ultimate Rewards site is more expensive than what is available on Orbitz, etc.
@Srikks – I think most people get the delayed response, even if they already have Chase cards.
The Sapphire card can be either a Visa or Mastercard. It is not its own card, Chase is just trying to make it look sleek and sophisticated. 🙂 I believe you can pick which one you want.
I had taken the Sapphire card sign on promotion in the past (such as the $250). Can I still qualify for this promotion? Thank you.
I just signed up and received an Amex Preferred card this week – are my chances or being approved/denied significantly worse if i go for this deal at this time? Would waiting 7, 10, or 30 days make a difference?
I need to find out if I have had this card in the past sadly I do not even know anymore.
Is any better way to spend $3000 in 3-month (buy coins?)? Thanks!
Is any a better way to spend $3000 in 3-month (buy coins)? Thanks!
You can buy coins from the US Mint and deposit them in your bank account, purchase gift certificates from places you will shop at eventually through PlasticJungle at a discount (Home Depot, Target, etc.), buy American Express gift cards that don’t expire and then spend them gradually, prepay your auto insurance bills, prepay some utilities or cable bill in advance, but grocery store gift cards (Safeway cards at Safeway)…
https://www.mymoneyblog.com/practical-uses-for-american-express-gift-cards.html
https://www.mymoneyblog.com/selling-unwanted-gift-cards-for-cash-website-pricecomparison.html
i called the reconsideration line, but they rejected me even though i tried to be polite. they cited that the balance on my chase amazon card was low, so they had to refuse my request to close the chase amazon so that they might approve my rejected application for the worldplus mastercard or whatever it was called.
@Srikks – I got the same reply. But I Always do – there is a fraud alert on my credit bureau account. So they will verify my identity (with a phone call and weird questions) before I am approved.
Can you explain this?
You can buy coins from the US Mint and deposit them in your bank account
Does this cost you any extra money? I don’t want to spend 3000 on gift cards.
Thanks!
Nice deal! Unfortunately I applied before noticing the new clause excluding current Chase cardholders. I thought it was strange that I didn’t get an email confirmation right away after applying, Chase used to do this. I only know because I’m one of those promotion junkies that you speak of. Anyway, thanks Jonathan for another great deal a lot of people will benefit by it!
Re: the clause in the T&C’s about existing Chase cardholders and history of taking advantage of promotional offers.
I currently have 2 active Chase cards (Freedom and Southwest), and have taken advantage of the many Chase card promotions .. including numerous 25k promotions for this Sapphire card (thanks to Jonathan).
I submitted the application for this Sapphire 50k promotion. I received the notice that my app would need further review. I logged into my Chase online acct 2 days later, and saw the Sapphire card appear in my acct … which I am pretty sure means that I qualified. Still waiting for the letter to come in the mail, but I’m 99% sure I qualified.
So .. for anyone hesitant to apply for this card given the new T&C’s .. there is still chance you can qualify.
The “new” cardholder reference is definitely just for Sapphire cardholders, it does not exclude everyone with any Chase card. I can verify that, because I got approved for a Sapphire and I have lots of other Chase cards.
In addition, I have read reports that it’s only specific to a type of Sapphire card. A regular Sapphire card means you can’t have another Sapphire card. A Sapphire *Preferred* card means you can’t have another Sapphire *Preferred* card. I can’t verify this, but it makes sense only because they seem to treat these cards separately and won’t let you downgrade from Preferred to Regular.
Finally, if you closed your last Sapphire card at least 6 months ago, people have reported being able to sign up again as “new” cardholders. I can’t verify this except it worked on other Chase non-Sapphire cards before.
Finally finally, if you applied for a Sapphire card and got the 25k bonus earlier in the year, then try logging into your online account and sending a message to customer service asking for the additional 25k. You may get some sort of courtesy bonus.
I just had canceled the Sapphire Preferred card a few months ago before the annual fee for the second year was due and opened a Chase Freedom account.
After seeing this offer I signed up for the Sapphire Preferred card again and, to my surprise, was accepted! I didn’t receive any confirmation emails, the new account information just showed up when I logged onto my Chase account. The card should arrive in the mail soon.
Thanks for the information on the offer!
Can I book a single ticket worth $625 with rewards points from this offer? or does it have to be $312.5 each?
Glad I got on here today. I was getting antsy to find out if I’d been approved. After seeing other’s experiences I just logged into my Chase account and saw a shiny new account posted there for me that I hadn’t noticed previously. Decent credit limit too. Thanks for the tip on this offer Jonathan. This will be the single best sign up bonus I’ve personally taken advantage of. I love cash back.
I closed a CHASE Sapphire Preferred card 3 weeks ago (promo from last year). I applied again for this offer and was approved just like Eric…)
Can someone comment on whether or not Chase Ultimate Rewards ups the number of points required to purchase tickets as compared to Orbitz/Expedia, etc. If so, is this really a good deal or just worthless?
Hey Jonathan this may be useful to your readers. You may have gotten wind of this already at the FWF forums but people seem to be getting Chase to successfully add another 50,000 points to the original offer. The OP posted the offer code, S6V, of his targeted 100,000 offer.
I was just able to successfully get 50K applied to mine and my wife’s accounts (just applied this past Sat. night in fact) and it was really painless, took 5 minutes. 200,000 total!
Here’s the link to the thread:
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/1105825/
This is the message I sent to Chase:
Dear Chase Representative,
I just this past weekend applied for my new Chase Sapphire Preferred card with a 50,000 sign up bonus of 50,000 points after spending $3,000.
Today, I learned of a new offer S6V which promises 100,000 bonus points. I would be very grateful if you would extend the 100,000 bonus point offer S6V to me as well since I just applied for the Chase Sapphire card.
I have been a long time customer of Chase, and have had my primary checking and credit card accounts with Chase for many years and hope to maintain them for many more years to come!
Kind Regards,
Paolo
so, I don’t know if every store does this but Home Depot in my area allows you to buy gift cards with a credit card! I could buy a $3000 gift card, sell it on plastic jungle for the 90%, take the $100 hit and still come out with $400 and no money is tied up in any gift cards or nonsense. Win!
I tried to get upgraded to the S6V offer but I was shot down. I talked to somebody on the phone and they forwarded another request to marketing, so we will see but I think that horse is dead.
I called twice and they said it is definitely a Visa card. I had read a lot of different things saying it’s Mastercard, but it looks like it’s Visa. I’m so bummed because we were going to pay my husband’s tuition with it but his school doesn’t accept Visa! So disappointed…
What kind of school doesn’t take visa? Amex/discover I could understand, because there fees are notoriously higher. Sounds like a personal issue between the school and the cardholder, they probably had a bad charge back filed against them and now they just blacklisted visa out of spite.
I tried to get the upgrade both with a telephone & e-mail requests but was rejected both times despite my excellent credit history & current relationship with Chase. It’s just not fair!
“You can buy coins from the US Mint and deposit them in your bank account, purchase gift certificates from places you will shop at eventually through PlasticJungle at a discount (Home Depot, Target, etc.), buy American Express gift cards that don’t expire and then spend them gradually, prepay your auto insurance bills, prepay some utilities or cable bill in advance, but grocery store gift cards (Safeway cards at Safeway)…”
Can you explain how this is done? I do not want to buy the coins as an investment, just simply to hit the 3k spending requirement in a simple way. Thanks so much in advance for your help, time, and effort.
The US Mint has recently stopped accepting credit cards for coin purchases after a big NPR article about them. Please see this post about another credit card for tips on meeting higher spending requirements.
https://www.mymoneyblog.com/free-50000-membership-rewards-points-worth-500-new-business-gold-rewards-card-from-american-express-open.html
Thanks Jonathan. I read the other article.
“use the personal version of Amazon Webpay to send money to your spouse, and I’ve even bought some Forever postage stamps to put me over the top.”
I think this is the best option out of what I read. From what I see there are no fees for doing this, either. Contacted customer service to confirm and am awaiting reply.
There does seem to be a $500/month limit for sending and receiving:
“Personal Accounts may receive up to $500 per month. The receiving limit may be raised or removed entirely once a credit card and verified bank account have been registered in the account.
Personal Accounts may send up to $500 per month once a credit card or verified bank account is registered in the account. Once both are registered, the sending limit may be raised or removed entirely.”
Has anyone had the sending/receiving limit removed after verifying a bank account and credit card?
I had the idea to do this 1x per month for 3 months and hit $1500 of the $3000. I have 93 days on the Sapphire Preferred, I assume.
Also, does anyone have any other ideas for hitting the spending limit?
I am going to switch all my auto-bill pays over to the Credit Card and use it for all my purchases over the next 3 months, however, this is more than I normally spend.
Thanks again for any help.
Hi Jonathan,
I had another question upon reading the terms that were mailed with my sapphire preferred card…the terms state:
“Term: Cash-like Transactions
What It Means: The following transactions will be treated as cash advances: ….making a payment using a third party service”
Does this mean that if I use amazon webpay that I am going to incur the fees:
“Cash Advances: Either $10 or 5% of the the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater” ?
Has anyone used Amazon Webpay with their Sapphire Preferred? If so, were you charged as per the terms above?
Thanks so much in advance for your time, effort, and assistance. It is so greatly appreciated.
@JP – It tends to be hit and miss on these types of things. Webpay is normally used to buy items, so it should not be counted as a cash advance. I have not heard of any cases where it has been, but that’s just me.
What you can try to do is to call up Chase and have them set your cash advance limit to zero. That means if something does count as a cash advance, the transaction will be automatically denied.
“What you can try to do is to call up Chase and have them set your cash advance limit to zero. That means if something does count as a cash advance, the transaction will be automatically denied.”
Brilliant. Thank you.
Hi, just called – they won’t set the cash advance limit to zero but if you are not issued a PIN for the card then any cash advance other than one done at a branch will be denied.
I just called Chase and tried to get my bonus points increased from 25,000 (which was the bonus in April when I applied) to 50,000 like they’re offering now. No go, the rep wouldn’t budge on this. First he tried to tell me the 50k was an “invitation only” deal, but I told him no, this was on your online application web page, which he finally agreed about. Still, he would not give me the extra points. Is anyone getting extra points now, or has Chase just decided to say no to everyone?
I just applied and got that “we’ll contact you within 10 days” thing… I’ve recently improved my credit to a 750 mid score with everything paid… makes me nervous that they’re going to say no.
Is this standard for them… there is a discrepancy about my mailing address since I live without mail service, my credit reports all say the PO Box… which is not acceptable to apply.
The other think is I just paid off 2 old medical bills over a month ago… those were the only bad things… what do you think they’re usual attitude is on credit?
I just qualified to buy a house, so I would think I should be good… that response just really worried me though…
Thanks for any advise or past experience you may know regarding this.
I got the “we’ll contact you within 10 days” as well and was approved with no additional information requested or anything. I wouldn’t worry about it at this point.
@Christina
I applied and received the same message “we will notify you etc.”
I called them after 2 days and got approved for $12k! 🙂
Call chase be nice and polite and play dumb 😉
You will make it! Good luck! 🙂
My parents and my niece both ran through this card… $1500 … I can’t believe this offer is still alive. They prepaid our ATT mobile phone bill to meet the required $3k spend.
Can anybody here confirm to me the 1st 6 digits of Chase Sapphire Preferred card.Im sure I received a different card from chase .
I applied for and received a Chase Preferred Card several months ago and got an instant acceptance (we do have very good CR so maybe there is a threshold for instant acceptance). One question I have is I put my wife on my Chase account and am now wondering what will happen if I apply for a card for her separately (always worth trying I suppose).
same question here
As a general rule, credit cards are issued to individuals. Thus, even if your wife is an authorized user, she is not considered a “cardmember” and can thus apply for her own card and own bonus. Hope that helps.
Looks like it is already reduced down to 40,000 points… according to chase’s website.
Mike, it still shows 50,000 points for me … guess I better apply right now!
The design of the card does indeed have a certain “premium” feeling to it. It’s heavier and thicker than most other cards, and you don’t see the number in the front of hte card
I just applied for the chase sapphire with the 50,000 point bonus…find the links for the 50,000 point bonus, some are still out there.
If you go to chase.com direct and click credit cards, it shows as only 40,000 points. Buy, if you click on his banner on this page it still shows 50,000. I signed up, so we will see if I get 40k or 50k points.
Yes, the 50k offer is still available for affiliates that have an advertising relationship with Chase. If you click through my link or another affiliate’s link and apply via that link after seeing the 50k offer, you should get the 50k points. (If you apply through my link, I will get a referral bounty, so thank you.) If you go to Chase.com, it is only 40k. As always, I recommend either printing out the offer page or saving a copy to PDF file for your records.
Sweet deal! I currently have the AMEX rewards card. 1 % on everything, 2 % on groceries and 3% on gas. I get the reward once a year though and cannot get it as I accumulate it which I do not necessarily like…
What’s your opinion on the two cards when compared?
Did the Chase Sapphire always have no foreign transaction fees?
I signed up and was approved immediately. Thanks MMB. @Johnathan: I was wondering what your referral fee is for a credit card link like this. I am happy for you to get it, as I feel I benefit immensely from your blog and am happy for your to get something in return. Just wondering if you wouldn’t mind sharing that info.
Cool – took advantage of this great offer and hope it materializes. Application said I would be considered over the next thirty dats. Thanks for the input.
I did it and got the delayed response. My wife did it and got the instant approval. All of our debt is carried in my name (0% Best Buy for 36 months, paid off my truck with a balance transfer for $18,000 at 2.99% for the life of the balance transfer) and none is in my wife’s name (other than the mortgage on our house). So my utilization looks like shit while her’s looks rosy as can be. We are in the process of a refi (set to close next week), and her CS is 775 and mine is 737 so we both have great credit, but my utilization is high. I wouldn’t be surprised if they denied me just based on the utilization alone (and the fact that the Best Buy and balance transfer are both with chase so they see it as I owe them $20k.
I don’t usually do credit card offers for the bonus, but $500 is a lot and the card just looks sexy.
Anyone get 1099’d for their $$$ or since it is ‘points’ it is considered a rebate and falls outside of 1099 rules?
This offer seems pretty good. Jon/Others, can you comment on how stringent/lenient Chase Sapphire is with accepting new members? I went through a period of time where I was trying to game AmEx CC signup bonuses, but they kept denying me for cards. I’m sure my credit score took some hit because of this. I’m a little worried that I will attempt to sign up for this one and get denied, and a vicious cycle will ensue.
i’d like to apply but i already have 3 CHASE credit cards and i recently just got approved for the Hyatt visa – with 2 free nights stay. Not sure if it will work if i convert one of the CHASE cards to Sapphire and still get the 50K bonus points.
No need for the word on the street if you apply for this card directly from Chase. Now showing only a 40,000 point bonus. Have you been asked to pull your links for this card as yet?
@Mac – We talked about this on 3/25. If you do it on chase.com you only get 40k bonus points, but if you use one of the affiliate links, you can still get the 50k bonus points. Jonathan gave the ‘word on the street’ warning, because he has heard the affiliate links for 50k are going away soon.
I was reading through some of the posts, not all of them, and thought I would share my story about applying for this card. I found this site when thinking about applying for the CitiBank Visa card. I signed up for it and about a month later I thought I would sign up for this one too. I figured I could handle the spending minimums and I knew I had some large expenses coming my way. I was disappointed when I learned that the Chase Sapphire does not give you instant notification of whether or not you are approved. I was not sure what was going to happen so I also applied, successfully, for the Amex card also mentioned on this site. Within a week of this action, I received notice from Chase stating that the card was on its way. I mention all of this because someone was curious about credit inquiries. I do not think they are too troublesome seeing as I got three credit cards within a six week period. I did already have a Chase and Amex card so that may have helped, but it I am not sure.
Fast forward to present day. The Chase Sapphire is a funny card as it is much different than most credit cards in its physical stature. It has a noticeable weight to it and it is much stronger than your average credit card. I get comments on a regular basis when handing it to cashiers or the sorts. Many of them have trouble finding the Visa logo since it is on the back of the card.
I wish I could tell you how it works once you have completed the $3k spending in 3 months, but I am still about a month away from that. The card seems cool, but it is definitely not worth the annual fee. No card is in my opinion.
@Jonathan: I laughed when I saw your picture of the card as mine looks just like it, when I put my finger over the middle initial and last name.
@Cody – Yes, I believe the Chase Sapphire always had no foreign transaction fees.
@Mike – Credit card rewards as a category are considered rebates on purchases and thus don’t generate a 1009 form.
@J Bunch – This card is for those with good to excellent credit. I don’t know exactly what that means, but I haven’t seen a flurry of comments about denials or anything. Also remember the Chase credit reconsideration line at 1-888-245-0625 if you do get an initial rejection. Also see Jp’s comment above.
Update – Affiliate links are still 50k but are to be taken down first thing on 4/3. I fully expect the offer to change to 40k, as all of Chase’s other TV and print ads have been altered already.
Jonathan,
You mentioned that you recently received the 7% annual dividend on your rewards. Does that mean you decided to keep the card past 1 year? Did you decide that the annual fee is worth it for you?
@Jesse – Actually I think the dividend is given to you after the calendar year ends, on the statement that includes 1/31. It was for me. You don’t need to pay the annual fee to get 7% dividend. 🙂 I’m still undecided about keeping the card.
@Jonathan – Awesome. Thanks for the explanation. I didn’t realize that the dividend rewards posted at the end of January. I just checked my rewards balance, and I see I got the dividend, too!
Jonathan – point of clarification can it be used for more than 2 tickets if the tickets are cheaper than 330 a piece? We fly FL to VA alot and usually get tickets for 180 roundtrip? Wondering if we could stretch this to 3 free round trip tickets?
I was hoping this was a MasterCard, because I can pay rent with MasterCard ($40 fee but I’d just do it to fill in the gaps for the bonus) but not a Visa. With a Visa I just don’t see myself charging enough on it for the bonus.
@Howard_roark – Yes. You can split it up however you like into multiple tickets, and pay the difference in cash (well, charged on your card).
@David – I believe that you can convert this card to a Mastercard by calling in to Chase after you get it. I haven’t had any issues with it being a Visa so I’m not sure how long it takes.
I got in just under the wire! I have a credit score in the upper 700’s but was turned down for this offer just a few months ago. The reason I was given was because I was already a Chase Freedom cardholder. I called the reconsideration line and they wouldn’t budge. This time I was instantly approved! Thanks, Jonathan!
Eric, that happened to me last year too and given the same reason (I had 2 Chase credit accounts). I recently got approved for the Hyatt Chase (wd 2 nights free) – so that makes it 3 Chase accounts and Discover for 0% APR & no fee balance transfers. I want to apply for this for the bonus points but not very confident of getting approval.
nevermind, i just missed the affiliate promo deadline. let’s hope this comes back. thanks jonathan!
Deal is dead now. If you click on the banner ad it just takes you to a page with all of Chase’s card offerings. Sapphire Preferred is still available but the bonus is only 40,000 points now.
I used points to offset a plane ticket and I can safely say that the Ultimate Rewards travel site has comparable (if not a bit cheaper) ticket price rates. You can use as much or as little of your $625 you want toward the purchase. Great deal. Now it just has to have chip and PIN functionality so you can actually use your card in Europe.
Thank you!!! I got the approval today from Chase. She said that I should receive the new card in 7 business day.
I’m confused. It’s April 6,2012, and the picture image to the article and your banners’ still say “Earn 50,000 bonus points. That’s $625 toward your next trip!”?!? Is it 40,000 or 50,000? ?
Hey Jonathan, I clicked on your banner and applied for the Sapphire with 50,000 bonus points when I read your update about Chase reducing it to 40,000 points soon. I was not immediately approved and it said that I would get a decision in the mail. I got an email last night that they are sending me my Sapphire card. Do you think I should still get the 50,000 points or were they stalling so I would only get the reduced amount? Thanks!
can you use the points to fly with any airline and which card is better between the two Sapphire cards (the regular vs the preferred)
Thanks for the link, just applied and instantly approved. We are headed to Paris & London in the fall so was looking for a card with no forex fees. The $400 cash bonus will just be gravy.
Hi Jonathan, Would buying gift cards to your grocery store (i.e. Publix) count towards the $3k needed to qualify for the bonus? Thanks!
Thanks Jonathan for letting us know of this great offer. I currently have the regular Chase Sapphire Card for almost a year. Am I still able to apply for this card and eligible the sign up bonus promotion? Thanks in advance.
Is there still a $95 annual fee with this card after the first year? How hard is it to cancel near the end of the first year?
Looks like the deal may have changed again? Now saying $3k in purchases in three months?
@Karen – Yes, gift cards would definitely qualify.
@Xavier – That’s a good question, I’m not exactly sure so I’ll have to get back to you on that.
@Angela – Yes, there is an annual fee after the first year. You can cancel quite easily with a phone call, even after you see it charged. There are no hold trees on this card, so no waiting!
@Kelly – Yes, for some reason Chase changed it to $2k for a few days and then went back up to $3k again.
I wanted to update because a few months ago I called about this card and asked if it was Visa or Mastercard. I was told it was definitely a Visa card, but I just applied for the card last week and was approved. I called and asked if they could make it a MC and she was able to switch it for me! So I should get the Mastercards in the mail this week.
Hi Jonathan,
Do you have any innovative ways to spend 3k in 3 months ? I saw buying us mint coins, can we pay credit card dues with this credit card ?
Thanks
@priya – Check out the tips in this post, copied below but links are in the post:
https://www.mymoneyblog.com/free-50000-membership-rewards-points-worth-500-new-business-gold-rewards-card-from-american-express-open.html
Can you pay your hospital bill and use it towards the 3K in 3 months? How about mortgages?
I have & earned a bonus for getting the Chase Sapphire several years ago. Am I eligible for this 40,000 point bonus (1st year fee waived) offer if I a get the SApphire preferred? thx
Did anyone else already have a chase card when they applied? I’m worried they won’t let me sign up for an additional card since I already have one from Chase.
I actually got the Sapphire Preferred a few months ago, but I’m a newb to EMV. Other than looking kind of cool, what benefits does it provide? I’ll probably request an upgrade regardless, but I’m just curious.
@Kevin
I had the Chase Freedom for a little over a year before applying for the Sapphire and was accepted no problem. The two actually work great in conjunction with each other since you can transfer points!
EMV will really only help you in Europe. Then again, they can just as easily swipe the mag stripe on your card too. The only time I’ve noticed you need an EMV Chip & PIN card (this is only a Chip & Signature) is the unmanned kiosks like subway ticket vending machines.
@Kevin,
I once had five Chase cards at the same time… I am down to four now, so I think Chase has a pretty generous policy when it comes to number of cards one has with them…
@Jonathan,
How many Chase credit cards did you hold when you applied and got approved for Sapphire card? And, how many Chase do you hold now?
I was rejected a year ago because Chase said I already had 4 cards. I cancelled one card (BA card) and got approved this time. Chase becomes a bottleneck for travel credit cards — Hyatt, Priority Club, Marriott (Ritz), Southwest, British Airways, Amtrak, etc. in addition to Ink Bold and Sapphire. How come so many hotels and airlines choose Chase? Terrible for their business and customers.
What is your experience in dealing with Chase when/if you get multiple cards? Any trick to get 5th Chase card?
@Andy – Yes I think the max for Chase is 4 consumer cards open at one time. I would close the least useful one and before applying for another one, or just apply and call reconsideration line and they’ll close one for you to get you approved for the new card. Small business cards I think have a separate limit. Closing an account is not nearly as bad as some personal finance media articles make it out to be. I do it all the time, you pretty much have to if you want to try out all the new goodies they are offering. 😉
@Jonathan,
Thanks for quick response. One more question: how to redeem points toward travel expense? Shall we charge airline tickets or hotel reservations on Sapphire card and, then, do we need to call Chase to ask convert points into statement credit towards the travel expense (and they will give 25% bonus)?
@Andy – You have to book the travel directions from the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal. It works just like Expedia and Travelocity and the like, and the prices are mostly identical in my experience. Redeeming is easy, just pick the hotel or airfare or whatever that you want, and choose the number of Ultimate Rewards points you want to use up. You can split between UR points and cash.
@Jonathan,
Thanks for detailed explanation. One more question: can I book a trip (flight or hotels or both) for my family members (if I do not go with them) on Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal using the ultimate reward points?
@jonathan,
Which option presents a better value: book airplane tickets through Chase Ultimate Travel portal using Ultimate Points or transfer points into United or Southwest Airlines mileage to fly award flights?
Data point: I was able to call and have the CSR match the current promotion (40000 + 5000 auth user) to our existing promotion (40000).
If you apply for the card in a Chase bank branch, the spending requirement is only $2000.
Jonathan, what happens if I apply for the card, get the 50, 000 points but don’t get to use them within the first year and decide to cancel the card at the end of the first year in order to avoid the second year annual fee. Will I lose the 50,000 points or do I get to keep them and use them the second year although I already canceled the card? Thanks for clarifying!
@ Jana: Points never expire as long as you have the card. If you cancel the card you lose any unused points. So the key is to use your points before you cancel the card. You can transfer points to other programs. You can buy anything on Amazon.com with an exchange rate of 100 points per $1. You can also buy gift cards with points.
I took advantage of the offer about 6 months ago and just cancelled my sapphire card a few days ago. That was my third time getting a card and the bonus points. I’d like to sign up again, is there a certain length of time I need to wait before reapplying? Thanks!
Approved again for the 4th time!
Eric – When you keep reapplying after canceling are you getting the sign up bonus each time?
Howard- Yes, I’ve cashed in the rewards three times. I don’t have any indication that they won’t allow it again this time. I’m almost to my $3,000 requirement now so I should know very soon. I’ve heard others talk about the new fine print in the agreement which states you can only do this once but this hasn’t been my experience. I’ve waited one billing cycle after cancelling before reapplying.
Thanks Eric. It has not been a full billing cycle but I applied anyways and was approved so I’ll find out after 3000 spending limit to. Thanks!
This card’s benefits have been significantly been reduced in value by Chase. This week I received notification that the travel rewards can only be transferred to another person if they are an authorized user on the card. In addition your travel rewards program must have the exact same name as the name on the credit card to transfer them.
After the end of this year the 7% points bonus ends.
Considering the $95 annual fee the card is no longer competitive. I will likely cancel the card near my anniversary date.
I actually think the authorized user requirement was a good compromise. Chase didn’t like that people were selling their points to online brokers, which was always against their terms but people did it anyway. It may not be in my best interest, but I can understand their point of view. With the new program, I can still transfer points to my wife or immediate family including my parents, which keeps the core flexibility. Those are people I would be willing to add as authorized users, even if I didn’t give them the physical card.
Any thoughts on a comparison of this card to the AmEx Premier Gold card? They are offering 50,000 points, on $1000 spending in 3 mos. I am considering one of the two, but the lower spending requirement for AmEx is enticing…
I have the basic Chase Sapphire card but not the Preferred version. If I applied for the Sapphire Preferred card I wonder if I would be eligible for the 50,000 point bonus?
To my most recent knowledge, yes you can apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred and get the bonus if you already hold the regular Chase Sapphire. They are considered two separate cards. Indeed, the no annual fee “regular” Sapphire card has been discontinued by Chase and is no longer taking applications.
The Bonus Points Offer Detail states: “Purchases do not include balance transfers, cash advances, cash-like charges such as travelers checks, foreign currency, and money orders, any checks that access your account, overdraft advances, interest, unauthorized or fraudulent charges, or fees of any kind, including an annual fee, if applicable”. Question – Would Chase consider a charge by Plastiq to be any of the above and therefore not qualify for the bonus points?
My wife and I each got our own cards and added each other as authorized users. She just received her $593 cash back bonus after $4303 in spending and I’ve racked up $591 cash back after $4092 in spending. Much of that spending was via Plastiq (for year-end property tax and hoa bills) which did qualify for the bonus points. Even after the the Plastiq fees we cleared over $1000 ! What a deal!
Jonathan, so declined cards count towards the 5/24 rule? For eg one has 4 approved cards and 1 declined card in the last 24 months. Will chase count it is 4 or 5 cards in the last 24 months?
I do not believe that declined cards count towards the 5/24 rule.
New for 2021-08 – I’m thinking about ditching my “Reserve” due to the bump in annual fee to $550 (still not a horrible card, since $300 of that is always reimbursed on the “travel” credit (groceries for 2020-2021…), but it’s getting expensive.
So – scanning through all this old comments is hard to piece a cohesive story.
Can I:
– call and downgrade my Sapphire Reserve to a Freedom Flex
– keep my (rather large balance of) points on the now downgraded Freedom Flex card
– sign up or a new Sapphire Preferred and get this bonus
– ultimately transfer those points from the Flex back to a new Sapphire
?
*mainly* concerned about downgrading and keeping my points, but being able to get a new bonus would be nice – I haven’t Chased (hah) any Chase card in a long time, so I should be fine on the 5/24 – I’ve also had my Sapphire for years, so downgrade should be doable, right?
Hi Jonathan,
I read somewhere that there is a referral link to still get the 100k promotion. Would you know if that is true or not?
I don’t think so; I have a Chase Sapphire Preferred card and this is my referral link below that I just generated. When I click on it myself, I don’t see the 100k bonus, but perhaps different people see different things?
https://www.referyourchasecard.com/6m/I9J8XHMN76
Any idea if being an authorized user on a spouse’s CSP makes you a “current cardmember” of a Sapphire card? I guess I can apply and find out, although I don’t really want/need the card without the bonus.
I think I found the answer, which is that Chase considers you a current Sapphire cardmember if you’re the primary account owner. Being an authorized user on another account shouldn’t prevent you from getting the bonus (if approved)
I agree with your conclusion as well. As a general rule, credit cards are only issued to individuals. Thus, even if your wife is an authorized user, she is not considered a “cardmember” and can thus apply for her own card and own bonus. Hope that helps.
Starting today – April 28, 2024 – you can go into a branch and get up to 85,000 points for the Preferred card. Makes a good card even better.
More details?
Starting April 28 in branch only:
Chase Sapphire Preferred:
75,000 points after $4,000 in spend in the first three months
An additional 10,000 bonus points after spending $6,000 total on purchases made in the first six months after account opening
Chase Sapphire Reserve:
75,000 points after $4,000 in spend within the first three months after account opening
Went into a Long Island branch today (4/30) and was told these enhanced offers would appear on Chase.com on May 2nd. No end date was given.
The extra 10K points for signing up in branch combined with the $300 travel credit makes this a really compelling offer. Combining this with a Capital One Venture card gets you into two very useful credit card ecosystems for a relatively low price.
And the price gets even lower if you are able to take advantage of the Chase $50 hotel credit. Capital One also has there Lifestyle collection of hotels where you get a $50 experience credit with every stay.
This combination isn’t for everyone but it can work well for a lot of people.