The Chase Sapphire Preferred card, long widely regarded as one of the best starter rewards cards on the market, has increased its welcome offer to 100,000 points after $5,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. That’s exciting news for anyone eligible for the bonus. This is an increase of 40,000 points over the previous offer and those who can maximize the use of Ultimate Rewards points can really leverage this points haul to terrific value.
The Offer & Key Card Details
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
 ⓘ $1360 1st Yr Value Estimate$50 prepaid hotel credit valued at $35 Click to learn about first year value estimates 100K Points ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer 100K after $5K spend in 3 months$95 Annual Fee FM Mini Review: Great welcome offer. Unlocks ability to transfer points to hotel & airline partners. Solid option to pair with no annual fee Ultimate Rewards cards such as the Freedom cards, Ink Business Cash, and Ink Business Unlimited. Earning rate: 5X Travel booked through Chase Travel℠ (2X all other travel) ✦ 5X Lyft through 9/30/27 ✦3X Dining ✦ 3X Select streaming services ✦ 3X Online grocery ✦ 10% annual point bonus Card Info: Visa Signature issued by Chase. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: Primary auto rental collision damage waiver ✦ Free DoorDash DashPass through 2027 ✦ $10 off each month on one non-restaurant orders from DoorDash ✦ Transfer points to airline & hotel partners ✦ $50 back for hotel stays booked through Chase per cardmember year in the form of a statement credit |
Quick Thoughts
This is a terrific offer given the value and flexibility of the points.
At a base level, Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be redeemed for a statement credit at a value of $0.01 per point, which means that the bonus is worth at least $1,000. However, there are a bunch of ways to do quite a bit better.
The Sapphire Preferred offers a 25% boost in the value of points when using them to book travel through Chase Travel, so you could redeem points for $1,250 in travel booked through the Chase Travel portal.
Alternatively, learning to master Chase transfer partners can get you far more value for your points. Ultimate Rewards points transfer 1:1 to many different airline and hotel partners.
Among travel rewards enthusiasts, Hyatt is a perennial favorite Chase transfer partner thanks to its excellent hotel award chart. It is possible to book Category 1 hotels from just 3,500 points per night during off-peak season. Top-tier Category 8 properties cost up to 45,000 points per night, though in many cases those properties otherwise charge a thousand dollars a night or more. In other words, this bonus could get you as many as 20 nights or more at a Category 1 property or a couple of nights at a top-tier high-end hotel with points left over.
Chase also has some excellent airline transfer partners that can yield strong value in the right circumstances. While Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred to familiar domestic airlines like United and Southwest for decent value, there are instances where other partners can be even more compelling. For instance, those located in the northeast can book business class awards to Europe via Air Canada Aeroplan for as few as 60,000 points one-way for travel on airlines like Lufthansa, SWISS, Brussels Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, and even the Singapore Airlines route from New York JFK to Frankfurt, Germany.
It’s worth noting that we’ve seen the chance to pick up up as many as 100,000 points via new small business credit cards, we hadn’t yet seen an offer to earn 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points on a consumer card this year.
The Sapphire Preferred card is widely regarded as being among the best starter travel rewards cards if not being the best. That’s because the card offers excellent return on dining and online grocery spend, good rewards on travel spend, and a suite of valuable benefits. Trip protections are solid for a card with a $95 annual fee and the Sapphire Preferred card offers a $50 annual credit for prepaid hotel stays booked through Chase Travel. This is a solid core card to have and hold.
Keep in mind though that most purchases only earn 1 point per dollar spent, so this isn’t a good card for ongoing unbonused spend since you could get a card like the Chase Freedom Unlimited and earn more points on otherwise unbonused purchases and then combine your points. Still, you’ll need the Sapphire Preferred (or a Sapphire Reserve or Ink Business Preferred) in order to be able to transfer to airline and hotel partners.
Keep in mind that you are not eligible for the welcome bonus if you are a current cardmember of any Sapphire credit card or if you received a new cardmember bonus on a Sapphire card within the past 48 months. You’ll also likely need to be under 5/24 to qualify.
Still, if you qualify for the card and bonus, this is a great opportunity to stack up an excellent welcome bonus on a solid card.
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Hi FM Team, thanks for all you do. I am currently under 5/24, and have the CSR that I received the bonus back in 2019 (longer than 48 months). I would like to downgrade to one of the Freedom cards so I can apply for the CSP. I have a couple hotel stays currently booked with points through the Chase Travel portal. Will downgrading to the a Freedom card impact any existing bookings? Any experience with this? TY
I want to apply for Chase Sapphire preferred 100,000 points promo. I currently have Chase Sapphire reserve for over 48 months. I have freedom, flex, and freedom unlimited. I know you cannot have both Sapphire cards at once. What are my options to downgrade? Preserve my ultimate reward points that I have with the Chase of Vaia reserve?
Product change to Freedom Flex. You can have an unlimited number of Freedom cards of any variety. (I currently have three Freedom Flex cards.) You will keep all your UR points. Once you’re approved for the new CSP, transfer the points from your other cards to that one so you can transfer to travel partners.
Thank you
The FM team is awesome. CSP referral bonus headed your way.
I just signed up for United biz card last week, would I still be eligible to apply for CSP if I’m under 5/24 and never had a sapphire?
No that’s illegal.
Wait 1 month from approval on the Chase United Business card (or at least that’s the advice on Southwest business cards).
You can be approved for a Chase personal and Chase business card in the same day. I’ve done this myself and there are tons of DPs of others who have done it. Chase treats business and personal lines of credit as completely separate. No reason you can’t apply for the CSP right now.
Hi FM Team, when is application deadline for this 100k offer expire? I read through the t&c but can’t find anything (I’m asking because I’m about to leave 5/24 in a few weeks and want to know how long I can wait before missing this offer)
Unfortunately, nobody knows. Offer end dates are not commonly announced in advance (and when they are, it is even rarer that they get announced more than a few days in advance). I imagine that sometimes the bank might not even know when they are going to end an offer. Some offers last for weeks, some for months.
Some are seeing May 19th. Hope not!
Please remember that referral links are scheduled to be released in the next 5 days… so hold off applying till those come out to double dip!
Thanks for this! I immediately went to share with family members but saw it was only 60k. This helps 🙂
Thank you (on behalf of P2 since I have Reserve). Little bit of referral cash should be coming your way. There is a branch of the bank-that-shall-not-be-named about five minutes from my house, but I waited since I wanted you to get the referral as partial payment for the outstanding analysis that you provide us every day!
Would my P2 be precluded from getting the 100k sub if they are an AU on my CSR (opened 8/2023)
No. I’m not aware of any card in America from any issuer where being an AU precludes someone from getting the welcome bonus as a primary cardholder.
I have been rejected multiple times for the Chase Sapphire due to being an AU on my wife’s card. I was sitting right next to my banker when they were told on the phone that I wasn’t eligible because my wife had got the bonus within the last 48 months. Maybe they are just picking on people from Wisconsin.
I’m not sure why someone told you that. I’ve been in this hobby for more than a decade and this is the first time I’ve ever heard anyone even be told that – and we’ve had many, many, many, many people who have been approved despite being an AU. There would be a huge number of similar data points if that were the case.
That has been my experience with other credit cards too. It’s really strange because I have done most of my banking there for the past 30 years.
Yeah, that does sound strange.
Generally speaking, a positive data point is more useful than a negative data point when it comes to credit card application rules.
For instance, if Bob has opened for 3 accounts in the past 2 years but gets declined and the bank says it is because they have “too many new accounts”, but then Susan has opened 4 accounts in the past 2 years and she gets approved, then we know that “too may new accounts” isn’t actually the reason Bob got declined — or at least it isn’t a hard rule that he was declined because 3 is too many. I guess it’s possible that his new accounts were a contributing factor when taken in conjunction with other things, but Susan being approved with 4 new accounts tells me that 3 isn’t too many to get approved. There’s something else at play. Speaking generally, that’s how many bank application rules have been determined out over time – based on the positive data points. And I should note that it isn’t uncommon for the reason given for being declined to not make complete sense. I have often shared the story that we once heard from a reader who was told by a bank that she was declined for “too many new accounts” despite having opened zero accounts in the past two years. People often want a concise “reason”, but I imagine it is awfully tough to find a person at the institution who actually knows exactly why the computer algorithm said “no” in many instances.
I would tend to think a similar thing is at play here. Many other people have been approved despite being an AU on someone else’s account, so it doesn’t make sense that being an AU is the reason someone could be declined (and like I said, yours is the first data point I’ve ever heard of that). I obviously can’t possibly know why you got declined, but if “Bob” got approved despite being an AU on his spouse’s account, then I know that the AU thing isn’t some sort of rule. There must be more to it.
All that said, if they’re telling you that being an AU is the reason for being declined, I guess it would make sense for you to have your wife remove you from the account and then try again.
Do you have any of your own cards? Sometimes Chase will reject someone who doesn’t have any credit history as a primary account holder. So its not the being an AU that’s the problem, its the lack of primary credit history that is the problem.
Yes. I currently have the Freedom, Disney and IHG cards and had many others, including the Chase Sapphire in the past 25 years. I think Nick may be right about there being another reason why I was declined but it’s weird that they won’t tell me the “real” reason.
Am I elegible for the CSP if I currently have the no annual fee Chase Sapphire?
You’re not eligible if you currently have a Sapphire card. The Chase Sapphire is a Sapphire card, so you’re not eligible as long as you have that card. You may be able to product change to a Freedom or Freedom Unlimited and then should be eligible.
If I currently have the sapphire preferred, can I downgrade it to a freedom card, and then be eligible for this offer? I got the sapphire preferred 5+ years ago.
As I read the terms, I expect that would be possible. Best practice is to wait a week after product changing before applying. It might work sooner, but there’s definitely some lag between when you product change and when the system recognizes that you no longer have the card.
This is very helpful! I have a CSP as well as a Chase Ink Limited, and Chase Ink Preferred. Is there a particular freedom card you recommend for the downgrade? Apologies if this is a “stupid question”, but will I potentially “lose” my existing URs with the product change (before applying for a new CSP)?
Chase Freedom with Ultimate Rewards is your best bet to downgrade to. No annual fee card no longer offered for new applicants, but able to be downgraded to and you should keep your ultimate rewards points.
Is there a way to check when I last received a CS bonus? I’ve cancelled the CSP card at least 2 years ago.
I assume you didn’t use Travel Freely to track that. Assuming you didn’t, then you could try calling and asking, though I’m not 100% sure that you can be sure that the date they give you is right, particularly if you’re not sure what date you opened it. I assume you can no longer see your old statements online?
I’ve never heard of Travel Freely. Do you recommend it?
Absolutely! Search this site for more details. I use it as well and that helped me find out that I cannot apply for this card with a SUB until September of this year due to 4-year rule.
Check to see when you opened the account on Credit Karma. Then assume that you got the bonus with 3 months of the open date.
I was sad that Chase confirmed I earned my last CSP welcome bonus 8/4/21. Any idea how long this offer might last?
No idea. It’s pretty rare that we know the end date in advance, and out of those rare times when we do know in advance it usually isn’t far in advance.
Hi Nick, is it based on the date you received the card or the date the SUB hit?
The date you received the intro bonus. That’s typically the statement cut date after you’ve met the intro spending requirement. The day you opened the card is irrelevant.
Thanks. Does Chase give you an indication on your eligibility? Maybe call to ask?
Thanks as always, Nick. If I wanted to risk it (I’m not totally confident Chase gave me the right date as it was 4.5 months after I opened the card, and usually I meet SUBs before that), would I just get denied if they determine I’ve earned a Welcome Bonus in the last 48 months? Or would they approve me and just not give the SUB (without telling me)? Thanks!
I’m not aware of data points of people being approved without a bonus on these cards. I obviously can’t guarantee what happens if you’re not eligible, but like I said I’m not aware of people being approved and later told they don’t qualify for the intro bonus.
“That’s typically the statement cut date after you’ve met the intro spending requirement.” This is the exact info I was looking for, might be very useful to include in the main post as well.
Can this offer be combined with a 10k referral bonus? My wife has a CSP, but when I generate the referral link, it says the signup bonus is 60k.
Probably not if that’s what you’re seeing. Sometimes, you can contact the issuer and ask to be matched when a new offer like this becomes available if you’ve recently applied via the previous offer, but it’s not guaranteed. I would either wait until you hear some data points of experience with that. Or sometimes there’s just a lag in the referral offer catching up. We don’t know whether it will be available via referral or not.
There is supposed to be a referral coming per Chase, so definitely wait.
Thank you!
I’d wait. Based on other Chase cards, seems there’s normally a lag in the referral offers.
Yes, I’ve heard within about 5 days from Chase.