Chase Sapphire Preferred has a really good attractive Ultimate Rewards Points rate to hook you. They just finished re-branding their Chase Freedom Cards into the new Chase Freedom Flex card and Chase Freedom unlimited card into the new Chase Freedom Unlimited card with higher benefits. If their no fee cards get such boost, it’s a no-brainer to expect premium cards to get a face lift.
Chase plays another trick with the Sapphire Preferred. Instead of advancing the card benefits, JP Morgan Chase has increased the Chase Sapphire Preferred signup bonus. Now, you gain 80,000 Ultimate Rewards points after the initial $4,000 spend in the first three months. As a result, this stands to be a huge increase from the previous live offer of 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points.
80,000 UR points is approximately worth $1K when you redeem for eligible purchases like grocery purchases through Chase Pay Yourself Back program. Or, you can redeem it for travel via the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal to get the same $1K reward. Either way, you get 1.25 cents per point for your Ultimate Rewards.
You can maximize the value of your Ultimate Rewards if you or your spouse has the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. You can move and combine points to the Chase Sapphire Reserve account to in order to get 1.5 cents per point value. The 80,000 points bonus from Sapphire Preferred combined with the Chase Reserve is now worth $1.2K via Chase Travel Portal or Pay Yourself Back program.
First Things First
To get the Sapphire Preferred card, you must not have another card from Chase Sapphire family of cards.
To get the welcome bonus, you must have not got any new cardholder bonus from Chase Sapphire family of cards in the last 48 months. Also, don’t forget Chase 5/24 rule to even be eligible to apply for the card.
What Is Chase 5/24 Rule?
If you want to apply for Chase credit cards, you shall not have more than 5 new accounts in the last 24 months. If you have more, Chase will reject your application citing too many new credit applications.
Any closed card, opened within the last 24 months, do count towards the 5/24 rule. Also, all Authorized user credit cards count towards 5/24 rule by default. But, Chase will subtract AU card if you call reconsideration line after initial denial.
Store credit cards count towards 5/24 cards, if only the card can be in use elsewhere. For example, when the store card is a Visa, Amex or Mastercard to use in another store.
But, don’t worry, your loans and non credit card accounts will not count against 5 cards in last 24 months.
Chase just uses your personal credit report to estimate the 5/24 status. So, any business card that doesn’t report to personal credit bureau, does not count towards 5/24 rule.
Also, this excludes Chase business cards. You still need to be under 5/24 while applying for Chase Business card but they don’t count to 5/24 for further cards application.
If you count 5 credit cards or more in the last 24 months, you are above 5/24. In this case, do not apply for further cards. Otherwise, Chase will deny your credit card application.
How To Apply For Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card?
You can apply for the card by going to Chase Credit Cards website. If you already have a Chase account, sign in to make the process faster by pre-filling account information. Otherwise, apply for the card as a guest.
Then, go ahead and fill your personal information and apply for the card. If all of your information matches with public information that Chase can obtain, you will get instant result. It can be an approval or denial.
If Chase feels some information is not matching (assume change of address), they will ask you to fax the latest information supporting your information. Alternatively, you can step into a Chase Branch and ask the banker to fax your documents.
Application Status
In case you get a different status than instant approval, you can call an automated line. This helps to check the status of your credit card application. As a result, you may call +1-888-338-2586 to investigate the application status.
Call Reconsideration Line
If your application goes into denial, you may want to call reconsideration line. To reach reconsideration representative, call +1-888-270-2127. There are so many denials that change into approvals by just calling reconsideration. Especially for Personal credit card, it is easier to get approval for your credit card application.
What Is The Normal Welcome Bonus On Chase Sapphire Preferred?
Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card generally has a 60000 Ultimate rewards welcome bonus. At 1.25 cents per point, this comes out to be $750 in value through booking travel in Chase Travel Portal. Or, you can also redeem against eligible purchases through Pay Yourself Back program.
Edit : The 80000 Ultimate Rewards offer for Chase Sapphire Preferred has expired. Please check the latest rewards by using the Chase Credit Cards website.
How Good Is The Increased Chase Sapphire Preferred 80000 Ultimate Rewards Welcome Bonus?
Chase is now offering a wonderful welcome bonus for the Chase Preferred card. It is a great welcome bonus considering the 80000 Ultimate Rewards which gives additional $200 in value. If you qualify to apply for the credit card, you may want to apply.
This immediately follows beefing up their no annual fee credit cards, which is a no-brainer. If the no fee credit card becomes so good, then this premium card need to become better to command the $95 annual fee. Thus, this move to increase 80000 Ultimate Rewards makes the premium card worth to apply.
But, my personal move is to wait and see if Chase Sapphire Reserve has improvement in its welcome bonus. Chase Sapphire Reserve was initially launched with a 100000 Ultimate Rewards upon its arrival. But, after that the rewards are down to 50000 UR points.
My hunch is that Chase will follow up with a Chase Sapphire Reserve 100000 Ultimate Rewards welcome bonus. This is just my guess and it may or may not happen. Don’t hold your breath. But, it makes sense for me since you can only get one bonus every four years from a Chase Sapphire card.
What Is My Recommendation?
If you sign up for the Sapphire Preferred card, you won’t be eligible to get welcome bonus for the Chase Sapphire Reserve. You can only get one signup bonus for every 4 years from a Sapphire card.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve is hard to get qualified than the Chase Sapphire Preferred. You need to have a high income and good credit score. Chase Sapphire Preferred credit score requirement is also high but it is relatively lower than the Reserve card.
There is a minimum requirement of $10000 as credit line for the Chase Sapphire Reserve. In contrast, Sapphire Preferred cards needs only $5000 minimum credit line. If you have no confidence in approval for Sapphire Preserve, then go for this current good offer.
- If you have Confidence in approval for Chase Sapphire Reserve, then wait for an increase in welcome bonus for the best travel card ever. The new 80000 offer is going to last until November 8. So, if you don’t see an increase in bonus for the Chase Sapphire Reserve by November 5th, then jump on the current offer for 80000 Ultimate Rewards points.
- If you think you may not get approval for Chase Sapphire Reserve, you should grab the current amazing offer. Don’t even have a second thought.
Is Sapphire Preferred Valuable For Long Term?
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a perfect companion to fee free Chase cards earning Ultimate Rewards. Ink and Freedom cards help accumulate Ultimate Rewards points and then maximize the value by moving points to hotel and airline partners.
So, many may be better with Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Ink Business Preferred, both serving the same purpose. The Sapphire Reserve card is expensive with $450 annual fee, but it also has $300 travel credit and also helps you redeem Ultimate Rewards points for 1.5 cents per point. This comes against the 1.25 cents in the other premium cards with $95 annual fee. Also, you have Primary rental car insurance and various other travel protection benefits and lounge access in Reserve card.
Clearly, Sapphire Reserve is better. But, the 80000 Ultimate Rewards bonus is tempting and is worth signing up, close to November 8th if Reserve bonus is not coming back to 100000. The best move may be to sign up for Sapphire Preferred now and then upgrade to Chase Sapphire Reserve after a year.
Did You Just Get Chase Sapphire Preferred At 60000 Ultimate Rewards Offer?
If you got the Chase Sapphire Preferred 60000 Ultimate Rewards offer in the past 90 days, you can contact Chase. Chase generally has a policy to match the higher offer within 3 months.
So, try your luck to get the 80000 Ultimate Rewards offer. You may want to call or send secure message to Chase and ask for the 80000 Ultimate Rewards match.
Parting Thought
Just to summarize, this is an amazing welcome bonus and highest for Chase Sapphire Preferred card. 80,000 Ultimate Rewards points are worth $800 when you redeem for statement credit or cash.
But, you can maximize the points value by opting for Pay Yourself Back to get $1,000 value. Or, go for redeeming travel in Chase Travel Portal for $1000 value as well. Finally, you can transfer to hotel or airline partners for more value or cents per UR point.
I will personally wait for the next few weeks until November 8 deadline for Chase Sapphire Preferred application. I will be looking for an improvement in Chase Sapphire Reserve card. I am personally thinking Chase will increase Sapphire Reserve welcome bonus to 100000 Ultimate Rewards points. Just make sure to have an excellent credit score and a good annual income before applying.
If it doesn’t happen, I may go for it close to Nov 8. Then, the plan is to downgrade to the new Freedom Flex or Unlimited cards, which have no annual fee.
