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There is little argument that the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is one of the best travel cards available. Practically every traveler could benefit from holding this card or its more expensive counterpart, the Chase Sapphire Reserve®.
One question on many people's minds is can you get the Sapphire Preferred if you're already an authorized user on someone else's account — or if you already received the bonus in the past? The short answer is: yes!
However, there are several other factors you'll need to consider before submitting your application. Let's dive into what you need to know.
Chase's 5/24 Status
The main thing you need to consider before applying for the Sapphire Preferred — or any Chase card, for that matter — is your 5/24 status. Chase infamously limits its customers to five new consumer accounts per rolling 24-month period.
That means if you've opened five or more personal credit cards in the last two years from any bank, it's likely that Chase will not approve you for a new card.
Note: Most business cards, including Chase business cards, do not add to your 5/24 count. They are subject to 5/24, however, meaning if you're over 5/24, Chase will not likely approve you for a personal or business card.
So, how does this apply to authorized users? Well…that's a little complicated. To determine your 5/24 status, Chase checks your personal credit report. This report includes accounts that you're an authorized user of. That can cause some issues in the application process. If your authorized user account(s) put you at or over 5/24, your application will likely be denied.
Thankfully, that's not necessarily the end of the story. If you think your authorized user accounts caused a Chase application denial, you can call Chase's reconsideration line at 1-888-270-2127 for personal cards and 800-453-9719 for business cards. Explain your situation to the customer service rep, and they can reconsider your application using your real 5/24 status.
- Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
- Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3x on dining, and 2x on all other travel purchases, and $50 annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit, plus more.
- Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. For example, 60,000 points are worth $750 toward travel.
- Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
- 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, 2024.
- Member FDIC
- 5X points on Lyft rides through March 2025
- 5X points on travel purchased through Chase
- 3X points on dining at restaurants worldwide
- 3X points on eligible streaming services
- 3X points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
- 2X points on all other travel
- 1X point per dollar spent on all other purchases
Chase Sapphire Approval Conditions
Chase's Sapphire cards have undergone several rounds of updates over the years. The good news is that Chase makes it pretty clear when an applicant is eligible for a new card and sign-up bonus.
Related: Updated Terms for Approvals & Signup Bonuses with Sapphire Credit Cards
One Sapphire Card Per Customer
The first significant update to the Sapphire family's T's & C's came in 2017. At that time, Chase added verbiage prohibiting customers from opening more than one Sapphire card.
Before this, customers could apply and receive sign-up bonuses for both the Sapphire Preferred and the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. Now, if you have one of these cards, you can't get the other.
If you hold a Sapphire Reserve, Chase won't approve you for a Sapphire Preferred. You'll need to downgrade your Sapphire Reserve to a non-Sapphire product first, then apply. That is, of course, provided you qualify under the next stipulation.
One New Sapphire Account Per 48 Months
The second major update came in 2018, much to the chagrin of Ultimate Rewards enthusiasts everywhere. At this point, Chase changed the terms limiting how often customers could receive signup bonuses for Sapphire products. Now, you're ineligible for a new Sapphire credit card (and, thus, the signup bonus) if you've received a signup bonus for another Sapphire card within the previous 48 months.
It's important to point out that this 48-month clock starts when you receive the signup bonus — not when you apply for the card. Say you applied for a Sapphire Reserve in March 2019 and received the signup bonus on May 12, 2019. That means you can't apply for another Sapphire credit card until at least May 12, 2023.
When you combine these two conditions, you get Chase's all-encompassing policy on Sapphire applications:
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.
So, if you received a Sapphire signup bonus within the last 48 months, you can't get a Sapphire Preferred now. That's regardless if you're a current Sapphire Preferred authorized user or not. Canceling the card won't reset the clock either, so make sure to keep it active if you want to have access to the many benefits it offers, like transfer partners and travel protections.
Bottom Line
Timing your application for the Sapphire Preferred can make all the difference with rules like 5/24 and 48 months between bonuses. If you're an authorized user on someone else's Sapphire Preferred, getting your own is still possible. In fact, with its current 60,000-point sign-up bonus, now could be the perfect time to do so.
Just make sure you qualify for the card under the rest of Chase's terms and conditions.
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How about the scenario where I hold a Sapphire Reserve and want to be added to my mother in law’s Sapphire preferred as an authorized user to help with spend. Can I get added as an authorized user or would it throw any flags?
I don’t think that should be an issue. If there is a flag thrown, it is an error, and it should be possible to resolve with a phone call. Please let us know if you do have any issues.
Too bad, I am not qualified. Definitely a good deal don’t want to miss.
If I have the Preferred now and downgrade the card to say a Freedom Unlimited, could I then apply for this new Preferred and receive the sign-up bonus? The current Preferred I have had for over 5 years and have not received a sign-up bonus in over 2 years. Also, I have no other Sapphire cards via Authorized user and am not bound by 5/24. Also, if I took this approach, is there a way to protect the points I currently have in my Sapphire account before downgrading the card? Thanks
Hey Andy, unfortunately I don’t think that will work. I’ve read that downgrading doesn’t impact your status as “not having a Sapphire card” for a little while. I could be wrong, but we’ve received comments that eligibility for a Sapphire card took several months.
In terms of protecting points, you can keep them by converting to a Freedom Unlimited. They would only have cash back value until you get a Sapphire or Ink card. Lastly, I’d also warn you that Chase probably wouldn’t look positively on downgrading a card to get the same card with another bonus soon afterward. My rule of thumb: Could I explain this activity without taking a SUB into account?
Downgrading a CSR and months/years later deciding you want a CSP makes sense in that context. Downgrading a CSP and getting a CSP soon—not so much.
I understand the 48 months since you received a prior bonus but have a question. My wife received one about that long ago but no longer has an ultimate rewards points account. I know how to check the 5/24 calculation. And I know it has been over 48 months since she last OPENED a Sapphire card. But is there any way to determine when you received the last Sapphire bonus? OR, will they simply decline the card when you request it through the bonus offer if their computer knows you aren’t eligible?
I’d hate to get approved for the card, do the spend, and then find out that they won’t give me the bonus because I opened the card to soon.
Oof. I’m not sure about this situation. Perhaps you can try calling Chase and see if they can retrieve that info? Also, technically the T&C say “The product is not available to … previous cardmembers of any Sapphire credit card who received a new cardmember bonus within the last 48 months.” So, Chase should decline the application if she’s not eligible. But, it’s worth trying to get Chase to confirm that she’s eligible first.
Can my husband get his own RESERVE if he’s an authorized user on my PREFERRED? Or would he have to give up the preferred first?
From our research for this post, it seems that he can get the CSR if he is an authorized user on your CSP. Chase’s restriction of only having one Sapphire card seems to only factor in primary cardholder cards, not authorized user cards.
there is an referral bonus link email of 15,000 going around, so that would make the bonus 95,000.
Yes, you can earn referral bonuses by referring a friend or family member to rack up points on top of the sign-up bonus!
Ooh, I nominate this post for most valuable comment. Commencing a search!
Seems like a careless way of doing business on the part of Chase. From the article, I surmise Chase is merely taking a cursory look at a potential cardholder’s credit report and routinely denying a credit line without considering the full merits & faults of each possible new client.
Seems self defeating for the bank to routinely brush aside a future customer without a proper credit inquiry. That is some business model – shoo off otherwise eligible customers assuming (you know what they say) they “may be” over 5/24. They forgo making an honest effort to fully investigate their creditworthiness (checking for instances of authorized user) and will only look deeper if/when the customer comes back a second time by calling the reconsideration desk.
One would assume that many of the rejected applicants don’t call back and instead reach out to the competition.
I definitely understand your frustration. I was locked out of getting Chase cards due to the 5/24 rule for a few years. However, I get Chase’s desire to avoid signing on new customers that seem to be hopping from one card to the next. It seems that they are OK with losing some potentially valuable customers to focus on cardholders that are (at least) slower to open new cards.
I think the 5/24 comment is the most important. Though for myself, with Covid, I haven’t been opening as many cards as before.
Me too!