CHASE SAPPHIRE PREFERRED® CREDIT CARD - LIMITED 100K WELCOME BONUS
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My favorite travel credit card, the Chase Sapphire® Preferred Credit Card has a new limited, increased welcome bonus of 100k points (in branch offer). Let’s take a look at what makes this one of the best cards to have in your wallet, how to earn the welcome bonus and what you can do with 100k Chase Ultimate Rewards® points.
If you decide to apply for this card through my referral link, please do not log in to your account during the application process or I will not get the credit. Thank you so much for your support of what I do.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (CSP) is one of my favorite credit cards because of its flexible points and multiple travel transfer partners. It’s the one card I have had in my wallet since 2015. I think this is a great beginner card because the minimum spend requirement is fairly easy to meet, it has a great sign-up bonus that translates to big travel with its transfer partners, and it has a low annual fee. Not only is this the first card you should get if you are an award travel newbie, but it’s also the card you should keep year after year because of the benefits that come with it.
All information about the Chase Freedom Unlimited, Chase Freedom® Flex, Ink Business Preferred® has been collected independently by Points for Family Travel. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
LIMITED INCREASED CARD BONUS OFFER: (IN BRANCH OFFER ONLY)
Earn 100,000 Ultimate Rewards® points after making $5,000 in purchases in the first three months of account opening. Annual fee: $95.
WHAT MAKES IT A GREAT TRAVEL REWARDS CARD
Earns 3x points per dollar on dining, streaming services and online grocery purchases
Earns 2x points per dollar on travel related purchases (airfare, hotels, trains and taxis)
$50 annual statement credit on hotel stays purchased through Chase Travel℠
Primary Auto Rental car insurance (now you can decline insurance at the car rental counter)
Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance
Extended Warranty Protection and Purchase Protection
No foreign transaction fees when traveling (this card always travels overseas with me)
AM I ELIGIBLE?
To be eligible for this offer you:
Must be under 5/24
Cannot currently hold a Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card or a Chase Sapphire Reserve® Credit Card
Must be 48 months since the last time you received a welcome bonus on the CSP or the CSR
You are an authorized user, but have not received the welcome bonus in over 48 months.
WHAT IF IT’S BEEN OVER 48 MONTHS SINCE I LAST RECEIVED THE BONUS?
If it has been over 48 months since you last got the welcome bonus, you are eligible to apply and receive the bonus if approved. You must still follow the eligibility rules above.
If you still hold the CSP card (or a CSR), I recommend the following:
Call Chase and request to downgrade your CSP to a no-annual fee card like the Chase Freedom® Unlimited or the Chase Freedom® Flex. Keep in mind that you will not receive a sign-up bonus for these cards when you downgrade.
Downgrading your card means that you retain your credit limit and your length of credit history because you keep the same account number, it just gets moved to a new card, so your credit score won’t take a ding like closing the card will. Downgrading a card does not add to your 5/24 - the date of approval and account number remains the same, so it doesn’t appear like a new credit card.
If you have points on your CSP, you can either transfer them to your partner (if they hold an Ultimate Rewards earning card AND live in the same household as you) or keep them there and they will move to the annual fee cards and will be safe. Just remember, you won’t have the ability to transfer those points to a transfer partner without the CSP or CIP.
Wait 3-4 weeks and reapply again from the link above.
All information about the Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card, Chase Freedom Unlimited and the Chase Freedom Flex has been collected independently by Points for Family Travel. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
HOW MY SPOUSE AND I ARE GOING TO EARN THE BONUS FOR A THIRD TIME
Dan and I both earned the welcome bonus on our CSP in 2020, so we are both eligible to receive the welcome bonus again. We have both kept our cards open since then, so this is our plan:
Player 1:
Call Chase and transfer his points to my CSP (you don’t have to transfer your points before downgrading, but in the event that he does not get approved, then we don’t have to call back later and transfer them to me).
Then request to downgrade his CSP to a no-annual fee Chase Freedom card
Wait 2-3 weeks, then
Apply from my referral link
This should earn him 100k points from the welcome offer and I’ll earn 10k referral bonus points
Player 2: As my spouse comes close to meeting his minimum spend on his new CSP, I will:
Call Chase and request to transfer all my CSP points to his card (remember, this is optional) then:
Request to downgrade my CSP to a no-annual fee Chase Freedom® card
Wait 2-3 weeks, then
Apply from his referral link
This should earn me 100k points from the welcome offer. He’ll earn 10k referral points. We’ll have a total of 220k points + 10k points from earning the minimum spend = 230k points.
HOW TO USE CHASE ULTIMATE REWARDS POINTS
There are three ways to use Chase Ultimate Rewards® Points:
You can book travel through Chase Travel℠. While you can occasionally find a good deal in the portal. You’ll get much more value by transferring your points to a travel partner.
Chase Pay Yourself Back: Chase allows you to use your points to pay yourself back for purchases. Again, not the best use or value from your points
Transfer Chase points to travel partners. Chase has multiple airline and hotel transfer partners (like United, Southwest and Hyatt) and this is where you’re going to maximize the value of your points. With award nights at Hyatt starting at 5k points and flights starting at 7500 points each way, Chase has some of the best travel transfer partners of any transferable points program.
WHAT CAN I DO WITH 100K CHASE ULTIMATE REWARDS POINTS?
Chase has some of my favorite travel transfer partners like Hyatt, United and Air Canada. With award flights to Europe starting at just 18k points each way in economy and 40k for business class, the options are endless.
With 100k points you can:
Book a one-way business class to flight to Europe or Asia from 40k (on Iberia), 60k (via Air Canada, Emirates - 87k points), Singapore Airlines (60k-80k), United (88k)
Book two round trip flights to Europe on Air France or Virgin. If you and your partner each earn the sign-up bonus, that’s enough for FOUR roundtrip flights
Book two round trip domestic flights on Southwest, Virgin (for Delta flights, United via Air Canada as well)
Stay 2-5 free nights in a Hyatt Category 1-5 property around the world. Redeem for 2-3 nights in a Category 5 and up Hyatt property. 100k is enough to stay 4 free nights in Hawaii at a resort that books for over $700 a night.
HERE ARE SOME WAYS WE HAVE REDEEMED CHASE POINTS:
Stayed at the Hyatt Regency Blackfriars London for 20k points a night
Stayed at the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile for 18k-21k points a night
Stayed at the Hyatt Regency Amsterdam for 20k points a night
Redeemed 60k points on Air Canada to fly one-way business class on Singapore Airlines
Redeemed 80k points on United to fly business class to Switzerland
Redeemed 87k points on Emirates to fly business class on the A380 with the on-board bar
Stayed five nights at the Hyatt Regency in Maui
Stayed five nights at the Hyatt Grand Central for 20k points a night in NYC
WHAT IF I GET DENIED?
If you meet all the eligibility requirements list above and you do not get automatically approved, be patient. Often times the approval process takes a little bit of time, and you’ll get approved within a week. Wait to call the reconsideration line for a few days.
If your application is denied, wait for your ‘Letter of Explanation”. This letter will give vague reasons for denial like too many recent inquiries, too much credit, etc. After you receive your letter of explanation, you will want to call the Chase Reconsideration Line at 1-888-270-2127. This is where you will talk to a customer service agent and answer questions about your application. If the denial reason was too much available credit, you can request to move credit from one card to another. Be prepared to answer questions about your credit history and credit card use against all banks and accounts.
Remember: HUCA. This is an acronym for “hang up and call again”. Often times it takes calling 3-4 times to get an agent that can help you.
GOOD TO KNOW
Don’t panic. Typically, when a limited, increased offer comes out it’s out for 1-3 months. So don’t make a rash decision. Take a breath. Make a plan. You have plenty of time.
Keep in mind that if you downgrade your CSP to a no-annual fee card, you lose the ability to transfer your points (unless you hold the Chase Ink Preferred Credit Card) until you are approved again.
It’s 48 months from the time you received your last welcome bonus, not 48 months from the date you were last approved. If you can’t remember when you opened your card, you can request a free copy of your credit report or send a secure message through your account. I count forward three months from the last approval date to estimate the date I received my bonus. Another tip is to go to “Statements” in your account to see when your first statement was issued - then count up three months from that date.
Do not call and ask Chase if you can have the welcome bonus again. It does not work that way. Follow the steps above.
Already have a Chase Freedom credit card? No worries, you can downgrade to any Freedom card regardless of how many Freedom cards you currently hold.
Data points suggest that you can be approved while being an Authorized User on a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card. If you apply as an AU and are denied (while meeting all the other criteria), call the reconsideration line and explain that you are an AU.
You can transfer your points to anyone in your household that also holds a Chase Ultimate Rewards Credit Card. They or you do not have to be an authorized user to transfer points.
Did you recently get approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred at a lower welcome offer? Many times, Chase will match the offer if you’ve been approved within 30 days of a change in welcome offer. You can send a secure message through your account to request to be matched.
Not eligible to get the welcome offer again? This is a great time to earn referral points by referring your friends and family. If you currently hold a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card, you can generate a link here and see your bonus tracker at the bottom.
Happy Travels!
Want more ideas on how to use Chase Ultimate Rewards points?