How Quickly Can You Earn Chase's 100k Welcome Bonus? Faster Than You'd Think!

Forbes

14-05-2025

There's a huge bonus for new cardholders available on the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: Earn 100,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
If you've been considering applying, Chase announced that Thursday, May 15, at 9 a.m. EST, is the last day to apply for the 100,000-point welcome offer on the Sapphire Preferred via the application link on our website.
Are you looking for an award right away? If so, you'll need those points to post as quickly as possible. How long will it take you to access your Sapphire Preferred bonus? Get the timeline, tips to speed it up and strategies to maximize this massive travel rewards offer.
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account ... More opening.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card - See Rates & Fees
To earn the current Sapphire Preferred offer, you'll be time-bound to meet the minimum spending requirements. Specifically, you'll need to complete your total spending in the first three months after being approved for the card. That includes an important distinction: The clock starts ticking the day you're approved, even though you won't receive the actual card in the mail for another week.
One other thing to keep in mind is that transactions don't always post to your credit card account the day you make them—there can be a lag of a few days. This is especially true with online shopping. Many retailers won't charge your card until the order is fully processed and the item is shipped, regardless of when you placed the order. Because of this, it's best to finish your spending a week or two in advance, just in case something gets held up.
Bonus Chase Ultimate Rewards® are issued in a lump sum once you've hit the full spending amount—there's no way to get some of the points in advance, even if you've completed 99% of the spending. Officially, Chase Bank states that customers will receive their welcome bonus points six to eight weeks after completing their qualifying spending. Unofficially, though, it could be faster.
Chase typically deposits all pending Ultimate Rewards points into your rewards account on the date your credit card statement closes. So, once you've completed your minimum spending requirement, you could see your bonus as early as your next statement closing date, which should be within the next 30 days.
If eight weeks have passed and you haven't yet received your bonus, you can follow up with Chase to see if there was a reason for the delay. However, most bonuses post automatically.
Once the bonus points are credited to your account, you are free to redeem them however you wish.
The speed at which you receive your credit card bonus is impacted by a number of factors, including:
If you have a redemption in mind for your expected bonus, you might be motivated to earn those points as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, you can't speed up Chase's standard backend operations to access your bonus points sooner, but there are a few things you can do to hit your spending requirement quickly and get the process started.
Pro Tip: Although meeting the full spending requirement in a short amount of time is a fast way to earn your credit card bonus, be sure not to charge more than you can pay off by your bill date. There's no introductory APR on the Sapphire Preferred, so standard interest rates will apply immediately.
The promise of 100,000 Ultimate Rewards could be burning a hole in your pocket, but the Sapphire Preferred's bonus won't be available immediately. You'll need to meet the minimum spending first and then wait for Chase to credit the points to your account, which is a process that could take several months even in a best-case scenario, though there are a few steps you can take to help this happen as quickly as possible.
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