For a couple of years, Chase had a so-called “family rule” for the Sapphire Preferred® and Sapphire Reserve® cards, specifying that you weren’t eligible for the welcome offer on one if you already had the other.
When Chase nerfed “refreshed” the Sapphire Reserve card last year, it announced that this would no longer be the policy, and you could now get a welcome offer and hold both Sapphire cards simultaneously. In practice, however, the family rule still seemed to hang around for the next couple of months and finally seemed to fade away towards the end of 2025, as evidenced by a memo Chase sent to bankers in January.
Strangely, the terms in the welcome offers of both cards still carried a reference to the family rule after all that, despite the fact that it wasn’t being enforced:
The new cardmember bonus may not be available to you if you currently have any other personal Sapphire cards open, previously held this card or received a new cardmember bonus for this card.
However, as of early May, that language has been removed and replaced by terms that reflect the current policy that keeps you from getting the same card twice:
This credit card is unavailable to you if you currently have one open.
Quick Thoughts
This really isn’t indicative of a policy change; the Sapphire cards’ previous family rule hasn’t been in effect for some time now. I’m baffled by why it took Chase so long to update the T&Cs for the cards’ welcome offers, but good on them for getting around to it…eventually.
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When Chase nerfed, no “refreshed”… bah!
No, no… we all wanted higher AF for… a semi-annual StubHub credit…
With the drumbeat of devaluation by Chase, compounded by the devaluation of Chase partners…this program is deader than fried chicken. I moved my financial relationships off of Chase to a straightforward 2% cash back card, and my deposit account is actually paying me interest. It’s a sucker’s game right now, and every Bank with a rewards card is moving into ‘loyalty’. There will only be more devaluations coming …
oooo! So now I can go get that CSP ASAP!?
Is there a sense for how long chase’s memory is for the once per lifetime rule? In terms of when the previous card was first opened or closed.
AmEx’s lifetime rule amnesia seems to be based on your old card falling off of your credit report, which happen in about 7 years. However, the card has to have been closed for that amount of time. If the card is still open, it will still show on your credit report regardless of how long ago it was opened. The clock doesn’t start until the moment you close your card.
I imagine Chase will work the same way, unless they have some internal mechanism for tracking its lifetime policy.
Considering the CSR has only been out for about 10 years, it is only the early adopters and canceler who could really test the waters of Chase’s lifetime rule at this point.
There’s no family rule any longer. But, there’s the new once-in-a-lifetime rule. Collect your SUB on each card and then move on. Chase is a has-been ecosystem.
Chase following Amex…