Are You Eligible For The Chase Sapphire Preferred?

Link: Apply now for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

There are so many reasons to get the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (review). However, there’s often confusion about who is eligible for this card, so I wanted to go over that in this post.

Chase Sapphire Preferred eligibility requirements

There are often questions about what it takes to get approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred, so in this post I wanted to share the four main things to consider before applying for the Chase Sapphire Preferred, 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 the Sapphire Preferred?

There’s not a consistent rule as to what credit score you need to be approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred, 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 this card.

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?

Chase has what’s known as the 5/24 rule, whereby you typically won’t be approved for a Chase card if you’ve opened five or more new card accounts in the past 24 months. So make sure you’re under that, and this is also all the more reason to pick up the Chase Sapphire Preferred early in your credit card journey.

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

Are you eligible for the welcome bonus (48 month rule)?

The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers a welcome bonus of 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 within three months. Eligible for this bonus follows a 48 month rule. You’re not eligible for the bonus on the card if:

• You currently have any Chase Sapphire credit card (this includes the Preferred and the Reserve)
• You are a previous cardmember who has received a bonus on a Chase Sapphire credit card in the past 48 months (this includes the Preferred and Reserve)

In other words, you are potentially eligible for the Chase Sapphire Preferred if you’ve had one of the Chase Sapphire cards in the past, you just can’t currently have one of the cards, and can’t have received a new cardmember bonus on one of the cards in the past 48 months. Reports suggest that you’re considered a previous cardmember a few days after canceling an account.

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 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 make sure you haven’t applied for more than one Chase card in the past 30 days before applying for the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

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

Chase Sapphire Preferred approval FAQs

To answer a few more of the frequently asked questions when it comes to Chase Sapphire Preferred approval…

Is it hard to get approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred?

Yes and no. There’s nothing that makes the Chase Sapphire Preferred 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.

How long does it take to get approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred?

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 reply. That doesn’t at all mean you’re likely to be rejected.

What is the minimum credit line for the Chase Sapphire Preferred?

If you’re approved, the Chase Sapphire Preferred will have a minimum credit line of $5,000. That’s because the card is a Visa Signature, and that’s the minimum credit line extended on Visa Signature products.

Which credit bureau does Chase pull from?

If you apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred, 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 the Chase Sapphire Preferred?

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 the Chase Sapphire Preferred, can you apply again?

You sure can. If you’ve gotten denied for the Chase Sapphire Preferred 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® Card (review). The Sapphire Preferred is one of the best low annual fee cards, while the Sapphire Reserve is one of the best premium credit cards.

Many people find the Sapphire Reserve to be worth it, thanks to the $300 annual travel credit, Priority Pass membership, and 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, like the 5/24 rule, being able to get approved for at most two Chase cards every 30 days, etc.

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 is offering a welcome bonus of 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points upon completing minimum spending. If you don’t yet have the card, there are so many great long-term reasons to keep this card, including bonus points on all kinds of purchases, excellent travel coverage, and awesome points redemption opportunities.

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

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