If you hadn’t heard, there’s a great sign-up offer going on for the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Since April 3, Chase has offered 100,000 bonus points for spending $5,000 in the first 3 months. That’s a big jump from the 60,000 points we’ve seen for this card in recent years.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is currently offering a rare 100,000 point sign-up bonus.
Last week, word started spreading online that the offer would be “ending soon,” and it was eventually confirmed that the offer will officially shut down on May 15, 2025, at 9 a.m. EDT.
Some rules about getting the bonus
Many websites have already gone over the rules, but here’s the TL;DR version:
- You cannot currently have an open Sapphire Card (Reserve, Preferred, or the free version, only available by downgrade).
- It must be at least 48 months since you last received a sign-up bonus for a Sapphire card.
- You must be eligible under Chase’s 5/24 rule
Other useful resources for understanding the offer:
My plan to get the bonus
I met most of the requirements: it’s been over 4 years since I earned a Sapphire sign-up bonus, and I’m currently at 3/24.
The only obstacle? I still had my Sapphire Reserve card.
I debated taking advantage of the offer, but in the end, I couldn’t pass up 100,000 Ultimate Rewards, which could pay for a good chunk of a Hawaii trip.
Most blogs recommend downgrading your Sapphire card to a Chase Freedom card (Unlimited, Flex, or the OG Freedom, only available via product change). Greg from Frequent Miler documented his experience of downgrading and tracking how long it took for Chase’s system to recognize he no longer had a Sapphire card.
But my Sapphire Reserve was already on my 2025 chopping block as part of my plan to cancel 25% of my annual fee cards. The renewal wasn’t due yet, but I figured I’d get a head start. I paid off the balance, transferred out my remaining points, and closed my Sapphire Reserve via secure message with Chase.
Chase replied, confirming my account was closed, and it now shows up as closed in my online profile.
How I might have screwed this up
In Greg’s case, he applied repeatedly over a few days to test when Chase would consider him eligible. However, comments on his post and Reddit showed a disturbing trend: people were now getting denied for too many applications after repeated attempts.
I received my account closure notice on May 8, waited until May 10 to apply, and still got the message that I had an open Sapphire card.
Not wanting to trigger a denial for “excessive applications,” I started digging for people who had simply canceled, not downgraded.
The news wasn’t good
I should have researched better before canceling. While most articles lump downgrade and cancel into the same bucket, it turns out they’re very different.
A 2021 Doctor of Credit post says Chase may take up to 30 days to remove a closed account from their system. A Reddit guide backs this up:
If you close your Sapphire, you should wait 30 days before reapplying.
Downgrading is quicker:
The recommendation is to wait 4 calendar days after product changing out of a Sapphire before reapplying. Some have reported success after 2 days, but 4 days seems safest. Repeated applications can later get you locked out even after you’ve become eligible.
Is there any hope?
I know hammering Chase with applications won’t help. But with the May 15 deadline looming, I figure I have two more shots before risking a lockout. I plan to try again on May 13, and if that fails, my last-ditch attempt will be early on the 15th.
If neither works, I’ll chalk it up to a lesson learned. Data points have to come from somewhere, right?
Final thoughts
Over the years, I’ve learned: when you see a good offer, don’t wait too long. I didn’t wait until the last second, but my decision to cancel instead of downgrade may have cost me a once-in-a-blue-moon Chase Sapphire offer.
Hawaii sunset views like this are what I had in mind when I chased (pun intended) 100K Ultimate Rewards points.
The bright side? I was going to close the Reserve anyway, so it’s not a total loss. And I’ve missed out on “best offer of the year” before. There’s always another one, eventually.
I’m still hopeful I’ll sneak through. If not, I’ll lick my wounds and prepare for the next round. In the meantime, if you’re thinking of applying for the 100K Sapphire Preferred offer yourself, I’d really appreciate it if you used my referral link. At least I can get a few miles out of this ordeal!
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