Can You Get Chase Sapphire Reserve and Preferred Credit Cards?

Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card hasn’t had a good high sign-up bonus for quite a while, but it now offers . 

If you are looking to apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card, it’s vital to understand a few application rules and sign-up bonus eligibility information that you should know before applying for the card. I hope to help answer some frequently asked questions below through this post.

Table of Contents  [show/hide]

Yes. Chase will not approve your Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card application if you’ve opened five (5) or more credit cards (including Amex charge cards) with any banks in the past 24 months or two years. This is known as the Chase 5/24 Rule. 

The best way to count how many credit cards you’ve opened in the past 24 months is to sign up for a free credit report such as Credit Karma and Credit Sesame. Once you join the service, you can view your credit report for free and start counting cards you’ve opened in the past 24 months. 

Yes. If you are an authorized user on a card, that card is also shown on your credit report. Therefore, Chase can see and count that card towards its Chase 5/24 Rule. However, if your application’s denial is due to the 5/24 rule, you can call the reconsideration line to explain that card is an authorized user’s card, and Chase will not count that card.

Yes. Chase will not approve you if you have already opened and been approved for two Chase credit cards in a month. 

According to the Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card sign-up bonus offer terms: 

• Current cardmembers of any Sapphire credit card, or 
• Previous card members of any Sapphire credit card received a new card member bonus within the last 48 months. 
• 48 months starts from when you last received the card’s sign-up bonus, not the time you open the card or close the card.
• 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 card member bonus if you change products. 

No, you cannot. If you are currently a card member of the Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card, your application for the Sapphire Reserve card will not be approved. 

Chase only allows you to have one Sapphire-branded card at a time. Chase’s card application system automatically detects that you are already a Saphire card member, so it will not approve you for another Sapphire-branded card. The reason for the denial states that: You already have a Sapphire-branded card account with us. The good news is Chase does not pull your credit report when that happens. 

Downgrading your Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card can be better than closing it because you will retain all your credit history. The recommended Chase card to downgrade your Preferred card to is one of the Chase Freedom credit cards below:

• Chase Freedom Flex Credit Card
• Chase Freedom Unlimited Credit Card

The Freedom cards are cashback cards, but they complement well with a Sapphire card because they all earn Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) points that can be combined and redeemed for more rewards than just cashback. 

Moreover, while you can downgrade or product change the Preferred card, you may not be eligible for the sign-up bonus on the Sapphire Reserve card due to the 48 months term. Therefore, it is very important to know the date when you last received the sign-up bonus on the Preferred card and not the time that you opened the Preferred card. The easiest way to figure that out is to look through your Preferred card’s statements and see when you received the card’s sign-up bonus points. 

Can I downgrade my Sapphire Reserve card and apply for a new Sapphire Reserve card? 

It’s worth reminding again that Chase only allows you to have one Sapphire-branded card account at a time. 

There’s no written rule on how many days you have to wait to apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card after you close or downgrade the Preferred card, known as product change. 

You first need to ensure the date you will be eligible again for the Sapphire Reserve card’s new sign-up bonus. If you qualify right away, it’s recommended that after you product change your Preferred card, you do not apply within the first couple of days as the Chase system may still think you are a Sapphire card member. Unless it is the last minute that you must sign up for the Sapphire card, waiting three business days may work. Otherwise, it’s better if you wait for a week or two (up to 30 days) before applying for the Sapphire card after you product change the Preferred card. 

Yes. While Chase limits you to only one Sapphire-branded card at a time, it does not consider you as the Sapphire Preferred card’s account holder if you are just an authorized user on that card. Similarly, anyone authorized on your Sapphire Preferred card can apply for the Sapphire Reserve card on their own and get the sign-up bonus if s/he meets all the offer’s eligibility. See the checklist below. 

Can a Sapphire Reserve card’s authorized user apply for the Sapphire Reserve card and earn the sign-up bonus? 

• Your credit report does not show you’ve opened at least five credit cards with any bank in the past 24 months in your credit report. 
• If you are an authorized user on a credit card, Chase’s computer system automatically counts that card towards its 5/24 rule. See the above section Does the authorized user card count towards Chase 5/24? on how to overturn this. 
• You have not applied and been approved for two Chase credit cards within 30 days. 
• You are not currently a card member of the Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card. 
• Being an authorized user (AU) of the card is not considered a current card member. 
• Suppose you currently have a Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card, and you really want Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card. In that case, you can close or downgrade the Preferred card to one of the Chase Freedom credit cards first, then apply for the Sapphire Reserve card under the following conditions: 
• The date you received the Preferred card’s sign-up bonus was 48 months ago. 
• You’ve waited for at least a week or two (up to 30 days) after product changing your Preferred card before applying for the Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card. 

Support The Site:

We know you have a choice when applying for a credit card. Please consider using our Chase Sapphire Reserve Card’s referral link below to apply and supports this site My Points Life at no extra cost to you.