Chase ends 48-month bonus rule for Sapphire cards — are you still eligible for a Chase Sapphire sign-up bonus?

Yahoo

6 hours ago

The travel credit cards world is abuzz with activity as Chase launches the updated Chase Sapphire Reserve® and the all-new Sapphire Reserve for Business℠.
However, it's not all business as usual if you're hoping to earn a shiny new credit card welcome offer. Chase has new eligibility requirements with its Chase Sapphire consumer cards, affecting both the non-business Sapphire Reserve and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
Previously, you could get approved for a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Sapphire Preferred welcome bonus once every 48 months. In most cases, you could not hold a Sapphire Reserve and a Sapphire Preferred at the same time. These rules are changing.
Eligibility language is confusing, but here are the key points:
Lifetime limit: You are not eligible for a sign-up bonus on any Sapphire product (Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, or Sapphire Reserve for Business) on which you've earned a bonus before.
Current cardholder: If you are a current Sapphire member that's already earned a welcome bonus, you are not eligible for a sign-up bonus on any other Sapphire card.
Past cardholder: If you are a past Sapphire member but no longer have that card, you are eligible for a sign-up bonus on a new Sapphire card you've never had before.
Multiple Sapphire cards: While you aren't eligible for a sign-up bonus on another Sapphire card as a current cardholder, you can hold both a Sapphire Preferred and Reserve at the same time. You can even go for the trifecta and get the Sapphire Reserve for Business card, too.
Product changes: Current Sapphire members can downgrade to a non-Sapphire card and then apply for a new Sapphire card to earn its welcome bonus (as long as it's a Sapphire card they've never earned a bonus on before). It could take a week or two for Chase to no longer recognize you as a Sapphire cardholder after a product change.
Sapphire Reserve for Business: These guidelines don't affect your eligibility for earning a welcome bonus on the Sapphire Reserve for Business.
In place of the previous rules for receiving a Sapphire welcome bonus once every 48 months, there's now a once-per-lifetime limit. You can earn the bonus on the Sapphire Preferred once, for example, and you can earn the bonus on the Sapphire Reserve once. Ever.
This is similar to the American Express lifetime limits on Amex credit cards.
This is a negative outcome for consumers who were accustomed to earning multiple welcome bonuses on the same Sapphire product over many years.
According to the new guidelines, there is nothing explicit stating that you can't hold both a Sapphire Preferred and a Sapphire Reserve at the same time. Rather, you can't earn a welcome bonus on another Sapphire product if you're a current Sapphire customer.
This is a neutral outcome because there's likely little reason to have both the Sapphire Preferred and Reserve at the same time — especially if you can't earn a welcome bonus on a second Sapphire product.
These new guidelines are mostly for the Sapphire consumer cards, meaning the Sapphire Reserve for Business is exempt from a lot of them. You don't have to worry about having the Sapphire Reserve for Business if you're applying for one of the personal Sapphire products. However, it's still a once-per-lifetime limit on the bonus for the Sapphire Reserve for Business.
This is a positive outcome because it means existing or past personal Sapphire cardholders don't have to worry about the new eligibility requirements if applying for the Sapphire Reserve for Business.
In general, you can earn a Sapphire bonus if you have never received a bonus for that card in the past and you are currently not holding either of the Chase Sapphire consumer cards. If you've ever had a Chase Sapphire Preferred card before, you aren't eligible for another Chase Sapphire Preferred bonus. The same goes for receiving a Chase Sapphire Reserve bonus before if you've ever had that before.
Bummed about the new Chase Sapphire welcome bonus rules? Check out other credit card sign-up bonuses.
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