Link: Apply now for the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card or Sapphire Reserve for BusinessSM
It’s quite a busy time for Chase news, as we’re seeing a refresh of the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card, and the introduction of the Sapphire Reserve for BusinessSM. We’ve known that there would be changes to the eligibility requirements for the Chase Sapphire portfolio, and we now have the full details.
In this post:
Chase Sapphire bonus & approval rules updated
For several years, eligibility for the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Sapphire Preferred has been mutually exclusive, including for the welcome offer. For example, here’s what the verbiage used to be when you opened up the application of either card:
The product is not available to either (i) current cardmembers of any Sapphire credit card, or (ii) previous cardmembers of any Sapphire credit card who received a new cardmember bonus within the last 48 months. If you are an existing Sapphire customer and would like this product, please call the number on the back of your card to see if you are eligible for a product change. You will not receive the new cardmember bonus if you change products.
However, with the relaunch of the Chase Sapphire Reserve (as of today, June 23, 2025), we’re also seeing changes to the eligibility requirements of these cards. Specifically, here’s the new verbiage when applying for the refreshed Chase Sapphire Reserve:
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.
So, what are the implications of this? As of June 23, 2025:
- You’re not eligible for the welcome offer on a Chase Sapphire card if you currently have any personal Chase Sapphire card open, previously held that exact card, or received a new cardmember bonus on that exact card
- However, aside from the welcome bonus, eligibility for the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Sapphire Preferred is no longer mutually exclusive, so it’s now 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
- The 48-month family card rule no longer applies, so it’s no longer possible to get the welcome offer on a card just based on having not received another bonus on that exact card within the past 48 months; however, in some cases, people will be able to pick up the other card in under 48 months
- As you can see, the language for bonus eligibility is less absolute than in the past; 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”
- When you apply for a Chase Sapphire card, the application will indicate whether you’re eligible for the bonus or not; this notice will be provided without the need for a hard or soft pull
For those curious, here’s what the new 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)
Note that these restrictions are specific to the personal versions of the Chase Sapphire. The newly launched Chase Sapphire Reserve Business doesn’t have these restrictions.
Another thing to note is that the above seem to be the “worst case scenario” restrictions. As you’ll see in the terms, the offer “may not be available” if you’ve had the card before, which is different than definitely not being available.
Some people are reporting getting approved for the Chase Sapphire Reserve (including the bonus) in spite of having the card in the past, and even in spite of having received a Chase Sapphire Preferred bonus within the past 48 months. That suggests to me that there’s a heavy emphasis on the “may” part of these rules.
So just to spell things out, if you’re considering applying for the Chase Sapphire Reserve:
- You should be eligible for the bonus if you’ve had the Sapphire Preferred in the past
- You probably won’t be eligible for the bonus if you currently have any Sapphire card
- You probably won’t be eligible for the bonus if you’ve had the Sapphire Reserve in the past (though anecdotally, people report that’s not consistently enforced)
This represents a major policy shift for Chase
It’s not unusual to see credit card issuers adjust their eligibility policies over time, in order to encourage profitable consumer behavior. When we learned that Chase would be making changes to eligibility requirements for cards, it initially sounded like it could be positive.
Yes, we’re seeing the elimination of the 48-month family card rule, and we’re also seeing the Sapphire Reserve and Sapphire Preferred no longer be mutually exclusive, in terms of the ability to hold onto them, and in some cases, even in terms of being able to earn the bonuses.
However, we’re also basically seeing the introduction of a “once in a lifetime” rule for each of these cards, or at least the possibility of a “once in a lifetime” rule (based on the use of “maybe”).
To Chase’s credit, we’re seeing the decoupling of card eligibility and bonus eligibility, which is fair enough, and perhaps logical (from Chase’s perspective). The idea is that you absolutely can pick up a card you’ve had in the past, you just can’t earn the bonus again.
On the plus side, this policy doesn’t apply to the new business card, so that also opens up a great opportunity to score a huge bonus. Furthermore, you’re eligible for the bonus on one type of Sapphire card even if you had the other type of Sapphire card in the past, as long as you no longer have that card. Furthermore, it seems that actual enforcement of this new rule isn’t consistent, per data points so far.
Bottom line
We’ve just seen new eligibility requirements rolled out for Chase Sapphire products, coinciding with the relaunch of the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Chase Sapphire cards now have “once in a lifetime” language for welcome offers, meaning you can only earn the bonus on any individual Chase Sapphire card once.
The good news is that you can now get approved for a card (without the bonus) even if you’ve had it in the past, and you can also pick up the Sapphire Preferred if you have the Sapphire Reserve, and vice versa (again, possibly without the bonus).
Most people will be notified of eligibility during the application process, so they can cancel their application with no impact on their credit score, if not eligible for a bonus.
On the surface, it sounds like these new rules are stricter than the old ones. However, the language about how an offer “may not be available” under certain circumstances suggests that enforcement isn’t consistent.
What do you make of these changes to Chase Sapphire eligibility requirements?
Six Chase Sapphire posts on the home page currently... not a great look.
I'd like to be more positive about this, but even Ben's engagement on the comments section has been markedly higher on the Chase posts than unrelated posts. Just feels icky.
Yeah a lot of this could've been consolidated imo
It's called a veil threat. They are probably monitoring social media and recent cancelations and seeing a lot more desire than they hoped about canceling and downgrading csr. Why else add this language later rather than sooner.
Hey just a quick heads up, there's current one full post not sponsored by Chase on the first scroll, I'm not sure they'd love to see that.
Love ya!
As data point, I got the CSR in March 2018 and cancelled in June 2022. In March this year, I got the CSP when Chase had the 100K points offer.
I just tried to apply for the CSR and got denied. "We’re unable to approve your application. You'll receive a letter with more information about our decision within 7 to 10 days."
Is there a time limit in regards to the lifetime language? If I previously received a signup bonus for the chase sapphire reserve card in 2016, than closed the chase sapphire reserve in 2017, would I be eligible for the bonus because more than 7 years has passed?
@ Jeff -- Officially no time limit has been shared, so we can just go off data points. You can always try applying and see if you get a pop-up. There are reports of people being approved and being eligible for the bonus despite having had the card before, but it's still not clear what exactly the deciding factor is.
Just wait until they extend this same policy for all Ink cards. Gonna be some howling at the moon very soon.
I had product changed the CSR to a freedom. I then applied for the CSP. Even if I don't get the bonus, at least I would have the card for transferring points for hotels.
The CSP application is in review. I tried calling, but they said I had to wait a couple weeks to receive a letter. Question: If I don't get approved for the CSP, excellent credit and had the CSR for several...
I had product changed the CSR to a freedom. I then applied for the CSP. Even if I don't get the bonus, at least I would have the card for transferring points for hotels.
The CSP application is in review. I tried calling, but they said I had to wait a couple weeks to receive a letter. Question: If I don't get approved for the CSP, excellent credit and had the CSR for several years, what is the next card that is best for transferring points for hotels? Just crazy if I don't have either CSP or CSR card.
@ Liz -- Are you eligible for a business card? If so, I'd probably go that route.
I do have the Ink cash card. I was keeping business separate from personal purchases, but I may need to just combine accounts and move points between.
@ Liz -- Only the Ink Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve Business would give you full access to Ultimate Rewards points. But then you could combine points between accounts and move them all to airline and hotel partners.
I did the same thing and my CSP application also went into review, but within 20 minutes I got an email stating that my CSP got approved. They basically had to rejiggle the credit limits for my other chase cards to accommodate the new CSP.
Not sure I am fully understanding the Bonus rules. I have had the Chase Sapphire Preferred since Dec 2021 and got a 60K bonus at that time. Am I eligible to get the new Reserve and the Bonus?
@ Joe Fullam -- The short answer is that you may be eligible. Is the Chase Sapphire Preferred still open? If so, you're eligible to be approved for the Chase Sapphire Reserve, but "may" not be eligible for the bonus. You'd find out via a pop-up during the application process if not eligible. That's the best information we have so far.
Yes, thanks, that is where I thought things got a bit fuzzy. I would not want to proceed with the new CSR card if I was not eligible for the 100K Bonus.
The way the terms are written, it sounds like you would still be eligible for CSR bonus if you've only held the CSP before, no?
That's also how I would interpret it. Not sure if I'm missing something.
That's how I read it as well.
@ Kendall -- That seems to be the correct take, I think. I've been getting conflicting info, but that's how I read it as well, and I've updated the post to reflect that.
This is catastrophic for the community. Chase has declared war.
The CSR was pretty mediocre compared to the competition for a while now, this comment is a little dramatic
5/24?
@ Christian -- No changes there, as far as I know. Then again, enforcement of the 5/24 rule hasn't exactly been consistent in the past couple of years.
Magic 8 Ball it is! Worth asking anyway.
Finally, it was about time! Non-US travellers were victims of this US credit card points and miles inflation, triggering the decline of loyalty programs for everyone.
Yes blame foreigners for all problems of the world. Here I thought fat Americans had the monopoly on that. It's an easy way out for lazy brains. I get it. No need to justify.
I got the card when it first launched, received the bonus, cancelled it when the AF went up to $550 and had several CSPs in-between. I just applied for the new CSR and received the welcome offer.
Yes, there are already other data points today of people previously receiving the SUB for CSP or CSR and getting the SUB again now. So it sounds like it could be just one factor in the algorithm deciding whether to put one in the new Chase pop up jail. However, every data point so far of someone with an open CSP has been that they are been informed they will not get the SUB for CSR
@ Kemuri -- That's a great data point, thanks! There's obviously some mystery element to this, with a heavy emphasis on "may." I've updated the post to reflect these details.
Churners will hate this, but strict lifetime language seems like a logical step for the big CC issuers after years of massive SUB increases. On the one hand, this could be good news for the points and miles community as fewer points out in the wild should result in more opportunities to redeem. On the other hand, premium cards have been getting worse over time and harder to justify holding (especially true if you can't get the SUB).
Or just the complete opposite. Airlines and hotels are running razor thin margins now so they have to sell in bulk like costco. If the cards reduces subscribers that's less money going to the hotels and airlines so they'll devalue more.
Remember how on the other article, I was saying this was clearly a bad thing, and all the other copium people were saying we needed to "wait for more information"?
It was so obvious this was the direction this was headed towards, which is less ways for people to earn the SUBs for the Sapphire cards.