Chase Sapphire Preferred & Reserve Card Eligibility Explained

Link: Apply now for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card, or Sapphire Reserve for Business^SM

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (review) and Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (review) are among the most popular travel rewards cards, while the Sapphire Reserve for Business^SM (review) is new to the market, and also potentially compelling.

With the recent changes that we’ve seen to this card portfolio, we’ve also seen some changes to the eligibility requirements for these cards. In this post, I’d like to go over all the details you need to know, if you’re interested in applying for one of these cards.

I don’t want to bury the lede, so let me just mention this in advance — if you’re looking to earn a welcome bonus, you have to decide between the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve to some extent, while Sapphire Reserve Business eligibility is totally independent.

Chase Sapphire card eligibility requirements

There are often questions about what it takes to get approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, and Sapphire Reserve Business, so in this post, I want to share the main things to consider before applying for one or more of these cards, to try and figure out if you’re eligible. The below considerations are the main reasons you may be denied for the card, so let’s go over each of those.

What credit score do you need for a Chase Sapphire card?

There’s not a consistent rule as to what credit score you need to be approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, or Sapphire Reserve Business, as credit score is one of only many considerations when being approved for a card. In general, I’d recommend having a credit score in the “good” to “excellent” category if you’re going to apply for one of these cards.

Personally, I probably wouldn’t apply if my credit score were under 700, and ideally, I’d hope to have a credit score of 740 or higher. That being said, people with scores lower than that have been approved, and conversely, people with scores higher than that have been rejected. There are lots of factors that go into approval — your income, your credit history, how much credit Chase has already extended you, etc.

See this post for more on how credit scores work, and how they’re calculated.

Are you under Chase’s 5/24 limit? It may not matter…

Chase has what’s known as the 5/24 rule, whereby you may not be approved for a Chase card if you’ve opened five or more new card accounts in the past 24 months. This is also all the more reason to pick up the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, or Sapphire Reserve Business, early in your credit card journey.

However, do note that many data points suggest that this rule is no longer consistently enforced. So it’s something to be aware of, but it’s not necessarily going to be a dealbreaker. There are lots of reports of people being approved despite having exceeded that limit (and also reports of people not having such luck).

See this post for the details on the 5/24 rule, including how to check your “status.”

Are you eligible for the welcome bonus, based on vague rules?

There are terms associated with qualifying for the welcome offers on these cards, which are important to understand. Let’s get the easy card out of the way first.

When it comes to eligibility for the welcome offer, the Sapphire Reserve Business is considered totally independently from other Chase cards. So whether you have a Chase personal card or another Chase business card has no direct impact on whether you qualify for the bonus on the Sapphire Reserve Business. Easy-peasy, as there’s nothing else you have to consider.

It starts to get a bit more complicated when we talk about the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve. If you look at the offer terms for either card, you’ll see the following verbiage:

This credit card is unavailable to you if you currently have one open. 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. We may also consider the number of cards you have opened and closed, as well as other factors in determining your bonus eligibility.

What does this actually mean, in plain English?

• You may not be eligible for the welcome offer on a personal Chase Sapphire (Preferred or Reserve) if you currently have any personal Chase Sapphire (Preferred or Reserve) open
• You may not be eligible for the welcome offer on the Chase Sapphire Preferred if you’ve had the Chase Sapphire Preferred in the past, and you may not be eligible for the welcome offer on the Chase Sapphire Reserve if you’ve had the Chase Sapphire Reserve in the past
• However, aside from the welcome bonus, eligibility for the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Sapphire Preferred isn’t mutually exclusive, so it’s possible to apply for the Sapphire Reserve if you have the Sapphire Preferred; however, you’d only be eligible for the bonus if you don’t currently have either card
• As you can see, the language for bonus eligibility is a bit open-ended; the terms state a bonus “may not be available for you” under certain circumstances, which is different than saying that it “will not be available”

Note that if you’re the authorized user on someone else’s Sapphire credit card, you’re still eligible to get it for yourself. Eligibility is determined based on whether you’re the primary cardmember.

Do you receive a pop-up during the application process?

As you can see based on the published terms, it’s a bit open-ended whether you’re eligible for the welcome offer on the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve. One good thing is that when you apply for the card, the application will indicate whether you’re eligible for the welcome bonus or not. This notice will be provided without the need for a hard or soft pull.

For those curious, here’s what the pop-up looks like, if you’re not eligible for the welcome offer on a card:

A quick update about your application

It looks like you’re not eligible for a bonus for a Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. This can happen if you’ve already held or received a bonus for this credit card. Current holders of personal Chase Sapphire cards are also ineligible. We haven’t done a credit check yet, so there will be no impact to your score if you don’t continue.

How would you like to proceed?

• Continue without the bonus
• Cancel my application (no impact to credit score)

Do you meet Chase’s other card application restrictions?

While the above are the most significant restrictions to be aware of, there are some other general Chase card application rules to be familiar with. Most significantly, you can be approved for at most two Chase cards every 30 days, so I’d limit your overall Chase applications before trying to pick up a Sapphire card.

See this post for Chase’s general credit card application rules.

Chase Sapphire card application & approval FAQs

To answer some of the frequently asked questions when it comes to applying for the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, and Sapphire Reserve Business…

Is it hard to get approved for a Chase Sapphire card?

Yes and no. There’s nothing that makes the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve in particular hard to be approved for, but rather Chase is among the tougher issues to get an approval from. However, that’s mainly just because of the 5/24 rule, and that Chase anecdotally seems to prefer customers with established credit.

If you have a good credit score, a fair amount of credit history, and you’re under the 5/24 limit, you have good odds of getting approved for the card. Even if you’re over 5/24, you may still have good odds.

How long does it take to get approved for a Chase Sapphire card?

Approvals on Chase credit cards could be instant, they could take a few days, or they could take a couple of weeks. In general I find that Chase doesn’t issue too many instant approvals, so don’t be worried if you get a pending decision answer when you apply. That doesn’t at all mean you’re likely to be rejected.

What is the minimum credit line for a Chase Sapphire card?

If you’re approved, the Chase Sapphire Preferred will have a minimum credit line of $5,000, and the Chase Sapphire Reserve will have a minimum credit line of $10,000. That’s because the former is a Visa Signature while the latter is a Visa Infinite, and those are the minimum credit lines extended to those products.

Which credit bureau does Chase pull from?

If you apply for a Chase Sapphire product, there’s not a single credit bureau that Chase always pulls from. It could be Equifax, Experian, or Transunion, depending on a variety of factors.

Is it bad for your credit score if you get denied for a card?

What are the negative impacts of applying for a credit card and getting denied? The only downside is that there’s a new inquiry on your credit file, which could temporarily ding your score by a few points. While everyone’s situation is different, personally I wouldn’t consider that to be a big issue, as losing a few points temporarily shouldn’t have major implications.

Meanwhile getting approved for the card and using it responsibly could have a very positive impact on your credit score, by improving your total available credit, history of on-time payments, credit utilization, etc.

If you get denied for a Chase Sapphire card, can you apply again?

You sure can. If you’ve gotten denied for any Chase Sapphire product in the past, you could apply again. Just because you get denied once doesn’t mean you’ll be denied again, especially if aspects of your credit worthiness have improved (for example, if your credit score went up, the number of cards you opened in the past two years went down, etc.).

Should you get the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve?

Many people try to decide between the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve. The Sapphire Preferred is one of the best low annual fee cards, while the Sapphire Reserve is one of the best premium credit cards.

There are pros and cons to both cards. The Sapphire Preferred is great for its reasonable annual, generous rewards structure, and travel and rental car coverage. The Sapphire Reserve is valuable for its perks, including the $300 annual travel credit, Priority Pass membership, Chase Sapphire Lounge access, and much more. See this post for a comparison of the Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve.

Are other Chase cards easier to be approved for?

All Chase credit cards are subjected to the same general rules. That being said, Chase does seem to have slightly different approval standards for different cards.

For example, anecdotally I find that the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card (review) is among the easier Chase travel credit cards to be approved for. Why is that? On co-brand cards, Chase works with partners to analyze the customer base they’re going after, and that could impact requirements to get approved.

Bottom line

The Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, and Sapphire Reserve Business, are all lucrative cards. It’s worth understanding the eligibility requirements associated with each of these cards, including the welcome bonuses.

Qualifying for the Sapphire Reserve Business is straightforward, as you’re eligible for the welcome offer regardless of which other cards you have or have had.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve are a bit trickier. If you’re looking to earn the welcome bonus on either card, then you typically can’t currently have either of the two cards, and can’t have earned a welcome bonus on that exact card in the past.

Hopefully the above answers the question of who is eligible for Chase Sapphire cards. If anyone has any other questions on Chase Sapphire card approval, please let me know.

What has your experience been with being approved for the Chase Sapphire cards?