Am I eligible for a new Chase Sapphire welcome bonus?

Advertiser disclosure: Cards and Points has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Cards and Points and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers. Compensation may affect how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies or all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. Terms apply to all credit card benefits.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve® offer a welcome bonus. But if you’ve had either card before, you should know the Chase Sapphire welcome bonus rules. These rules determine if you can get a welcome bonus on a new Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve card.

Here’s what you need to know.

Even if you aren’t eligible for a new Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve® welcome bonus, you can earn a massive amount of Ultimate Rewards® points with a welcome bonus on another card. Read on for details.

Quick guide: How to tell if you are eligible for a Chase Sapphire welcome bonus

Use this table to determine if you are eligible for a new cardmember welcome bonus and the action you should take.

Criteria	Are you eligible?	Recommended action
You earned a welcome bonus on a Sapphire-branded card within the last 48 months.	No	You can not currently earn a welcome bonus on any Chase Sapphire-branded card. If you want to get the card and have another Chase card that has been open for a year or more, you can request a product change by calling the number on the back of your card. Chase Freedom, Chase Freedom Unlimited® and Chase Freedom Flex℠ cards may be able to be product-changed. If you want to earn a welcome bonus, take a peek at our list of best Ultimate Rewards welcome bonuses. Chase Ink-branded cards offer the best welcome bonuses and both the Chase Freedom Unlimited® and Chase Freedom Flex℠ are highly useful cards that earn Ultimate Rewards®.
You currently hold a Sapphire-branded card. (Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, or Chase Sapphire)	No	Chase will not let you open a Sapphire-branded card if you currently hold a Sapphire-branded card. If you want to earn a new Chase Sapphire welcome bonus, request a product change of your Chase Sapphire card to a Chase Freedom Unlimited® or Chase Freedom Flex℠. Once your product change goes through, apply for a Chase Sapphire-branded card. Alternatively, you can take a look at our list of the best Ultimate Rewards® welcome bonuses. The Ultimate Rewards® you earn with a new cardmember bonus on another card can be transferred to your Chase Sapphire-branded card.
Neither of the above apply.	Yes	Apply for either the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and earn a welcome bonus.

The best current Chase Sapphire welcome bonuses.

Here are the best current welcome bonuses we know about on the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve®.

A bit more on Chase Sapphire new cardmember eligibility

Here’s a bit more detail on what we present in the table above.

Chase’s new cardmember eligibility terms

First, it’s important to understand Chase’s terms of the welcome bonus on Sapphire-branded cards. The following are the terms of the welcome offer available on the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. The welcome offer on the Chase Sapphire Reserve® contains similar language.

“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. If you are an existing Sapphire customer and would like this product, please call the number on the back of your card to see if you are eligible for a product change. You will not receive the new cardmember bonus if you change products.”

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Offer Details

First question: Have you earned a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve® welcome bonus in the last 48 months?

If you have received a bonus for a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve® within the past 48 months, you cannot earn a new cardmember welcome bonus on a new Sapphire card. Period. Further, you cannot get a Chase Sapphire-branded card as a new cardmember—your only option for getting the card is a product change.

It’s important to know that the 48 month clock starts from the date that you earned the welcome bonus, not the date you opened your card. So, if you opened a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card in January of 2023 and met the spending requirements for the bonus in March of 2023, you wouldn’t be eligible to earn another welcome bonus until March of 2027.

Second question: Do you have any Chase Sapphire card?

If you currently have any Chase Sapphire-branded credit card, you wont be able to get an additional Chase Sapphire card. Chase only allows one Sapphire-branded card per cardholder. Here are the cards that Chase considers Chase Sapphire cards:

• Chase Sapphire (only available as a card downgrade)
• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
• Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Your options for getting a Chase Sapphire card

If you are ineligible to get a Chase Sapphire-branded card, either because you currently have a card or because it’s been 48 months since you earned the welcome bonus, here are your options.

Product change if you hold another eligible Chase card

Certain Chase cards may be eligible for a product change, or a conversion from one product to another. Generally, the rules for product changes to either the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card are as follows:

• The card must have been open for at least 1 year and
• The card must be a personal card that earns Ultimate Rewards®. These cards include:
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
  • Chase Sapphire Reserve®
  • Chase Sapphire (no longer available to new cardmembers)
  • Chase Freedom Flex℠
  • Chase Freedom Unlimited®
  • Chase Freedom (no longer available to new cardmembers)

For example, let’s say you want a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, but aren’t eligible to get the card. But you have a Chase Freedom Flex℠ card that you haven’t been using and you’ve had the card open for more than a year. That card is likely eligible to be converted to a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

Maybe you already have the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card but want the better rewards and benefits of the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. If you’ve had the Sapphire Preferred card for more than a year, you are likely eligible to convert the account to a Chase Sapphire Reserve® card.

To request a product change, call the number on the back of your card. Chase customer service should be able to determine whether you are eligible and will help you complete your product change.

Consider the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card if you want travel redemptions and point transfers

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve® aren’t the only cards that offer point transfers and the ability to redeem Ultimate Rewards® for travel redemptions with increased value.

The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card allows you to transfer points to the same partners as the Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve cards and book travel through Chase Travel at 1.25 cents per point. Even if you work a salaried job, you probably have a small business that qualifies you to get a small business credit card.

Close or convert your card and apply for a new one

If it has been 48 months or more since you last earned a welcome bonus on a Sapphire product, another option for getting a new cardmember welcome bonus is to either close your current Chase Sapphire card or product change it.

Closing your current card is probably the less-appealing option. You won’t retain your account number, credit line, or account age. And when you apply for a new Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you’ll get an inquiry on your credit report and be subject to Chase’s 5/24 rule. But if you find yourself feeling like you are collecting too many Chase cards, this can be a reasonable solution.

The better option is probably to request a product change to either a Chase Freedom Flex℠ or Chase Freedom Unlimited®. You’ll keep your account age and credit line. You may even keep your account number. You won’t get an inquiry on your credit report and once the change is fully processed, you can apply for a new Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®.

Getting a new Chase Sapphire credit card without a welcome bonus

Although this won’t be an attractive option for most, you could always get a new Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve® even if you’re ineligible for the welcome bonus.

Earning Ultimate Rewards® with a welcome bonus on a different card

If your primary interest in getting a new card is earning Ultimate Rewards® points with a new cardmember welcome bonus, you don’t need to close your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®. There are plenty of other cards that earn Ultimate Rewards®.

The Chase Freedom Flex℠, Chase Freedom Unlimited®, Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card, Ink Business Cash® Credit Card, and Ink Business Preferred® all earn Ultimate Rewards®. These cards offer welcome bonuses to new customers and are featured on our list of best Ultimate Rewards welcome bonuses. And the Ultimate Rewards® points you earn can all be transferred to your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®.

A few notes on applying for Chase cards

• 5/24 rule. Chase generally won’t approve you if your credit report is showing 5 or more new credit card accounts opened in the last 24 months. This rule is knows as the 5/24 rule. If you’re unsure if you are “under 5/24” you should check your 5/24 status before applying for a Chase card. Note that recently this rule seems to have softened, especially for Ink cards. See our coverage about Chase 5/24 for more.
• Only one Sapphire-branded card. You can only hold one Chase Sapphire-branded card at a time. This means you can have either a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or a Chase Sapphire Reserve®, but not both.
• You can get a welcome bonus on a Chase card, even if you’ve had the card previously. How often you can earn a welcome bonus on a Chase card varies by card family.
  • Most cards allow you to earn a welcome bonus if it has been at least 24 months since your last received a welcome bonus on the same card.
  • Chase Sapphire-branded cards, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you can only earn a welcome bonus once every 48 months. (We published a separate article to help you determine if you can get a Sapphire welcome bonus.)
  • Marriott cards have their own special rules.
• Chase will match an increased bonus. If you apply for a Chase card and the bank offers a higher bonus within 90 days, you can send Chase a secure message or call them to have your welcome offer matched.
• In-branch offers are sometimes better. Chase sometimes has better credit card welcome offers in-branch than it will publish on its own website or through affiliate networks. Check all channels to make sure you’re getting the best bonus.
• Chase business cards do not report to personal credit reports and do not impact your 5/24 status as long as they are current.

Advertiser disclosure: Cards and Points has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Cards and Points and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers. Compensation may affect how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies or all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. Terms apply to all credit card benefits.