The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card welcome offer has long been a holy grail for points enthusiasts. 100,000 points. $5,000 in spending. Three months to earn it.
It used to be simple. You applied. You spent. You got points.
Then Chase changed the rules. Twice.
For a while, the answer to whether former cardholders could get the bonus again was a hard “no.” Then came the confusion. Now, a pattern is emerging that suggests the bank is being far more lenient than we thought.
If you held the Sapphire Preferred nearly 15 years ago, you might be able to get the 100,00100,000 point welcome offer all over again.
The New Reality of 100,00-Point Bonus Eligibility
Last week, Nick Ewen, the editor-in-chief of TPG, did the unthinkable. He qualified for the Chase Sapphire Preferred bonus.
The kicker? He’d earned that exact same bonus nearly 15 years prior.
It seemed like an anomaly. A glitch in the matrix. Then, others started reporting the same thing. Me included.
We had all assumed we were locked out. Chase had tightened its eligibility rules significantly over the past year. First, they replaced the vague 48-month rule with harsher language implying that previous cardholders generally couldn’t get the bonus twice. Then, they loosened it up, allowing people to hold both Sapphire cards if they hadn’t earned the specific bonus for each yet.
But that didn’t account for people who held the Preferred way back when.
Now, we’re seeing a group of longtime former cardholders getting approved for the 100,00-point bonus. The message isn’t clear-cut, but it’s hopeful.
Before you click “Apply,” check these four things.
- You don’t currently hold the card. The terms are explicit. You can’t have two Sapphire Preferred cards. If you have it open, close it. Then apply.
- You’re under Chase’s 5/24 rule. This unofficial rule matters. If you’ve opened five or more personal credit cards in the last 24 months, your odds drop. It applies to all issuers, not just Chase.
- You’re an OG. Every approval we’ve seen so far involves people who opened the card in its early days. Roughly 2010 to 21012. If you got it in 2020, you probably don’t qualify for the “former” bonus loophole.
- You accept the gamble. Eligibility is still up to Chase’s internal algorithms. Just because Nick got approved doesn’t mean you will. But it’s a low-risk gamble.
How to Check Eligibility Without a Hard Credit Hit
Chase makes this easier than most issuers.
During the online application, you can often see your eligibility for the welcome offer before Chase pulls your credit report.
A pop-up usually appears if you’re ineligible. It says something like: “You’ve previously received this bonus.”
If you see that, stop. You can cancel the application without a hard inquiry. No damage to your credit score.
But for those of us who applied recently with old accounts, the pop-up never came.
Instead, we got immediate approvals. Or, we got placed under “pending” review. And critically, our online dashboards started tracking the 100,0-point offer progress.
That’s the green light.
What to Do If Your Application Goes “Pending”
A pending application isn’t a rejection.
Nick Ewen’s application went pending. Instead of panicking, he called Chase.
The rep told him the issue was credit limits. Chase wouldn’t extend enough total credit to approve the new card alongside his existing ones.
His solution? He moved about $15,000 in available credit from his Chase Freedom Unlimited card to the new Sapphire account.
The rep re-evaluated him. He was approved immediately.
If your application hangs in limbo, call the reconsideration line: 1-888-250-2127. Ask if reallocating credit from another Chase card can help. It’s worth a shot.
Who Qualifies for the Reopened Bonus?
We’re piecing together a profile of the successful applicants.
- Timeline: Opened the Sapphire Preferred between 2010 and 2012.
- Exit Strategy: Many downgraded or closed the card around 2016–2017 when the Sapphire Reserve launched. Back then, you couldn’t hold multiple Sapphires, so many enthusiasts flipped.
- Status: No current open Sapphire Preferred account.
- Experience: Did not receive the “ineligible for bonus” pop-up during application.
Conversely, people who got the card more recently are still seeing the red flags.
It suggests a nuanced system. Chase might be using a “lookback” period that extends beyond the previous two years for this specific bonus, or they’re grandfathering in long-term customers who stayed loyal before the Reserve launched.
Is It Worth Applying?
Chase’s terms now say the bonus “may not be available” if you’ve held the card before.
“May not.”
That’s different from “will not.”
Many former cardholders are still ineligible. But a growing number are getting in.
The downside of applying is minimal. You check your eligibility. If you’re ineligible, you don’t pay the annual fee and you don’t take the hard inquiry.
If you are eligible, you get 100,0 points. That’s easily $1,000 to $1,250 in travel value.
If you first opened the Sapphire Preferred nearly 15 ago and haven’t touched it since, it’s worth testing.
The rules are shifting. The door might be cracked open for you.
