Several longtime former Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders have recently cleared the welcome offer of 100,000 bonus points after meeting the $5,000 spending requirement in three months. The development marks a shift from earlier assumptions that prior bonus recipients would remain permanently barred. Approvals have surfaced among people who first opened the card more than a decade ago and later closed or downgraded it.
Recent Approvals Form a Pattern
The first reported case involved a cardholder who originally received the Sapphire Preferred bonus nearly 15 years earlier. Additional approvals followed among others with nearly identical timelines. These individuals opened the card between 2010 and 2012, shortly after its launch, and most closed or downgraded it around 2016 or 2017 when the Sapphire Reserve appeared and Chase restricted dual Sapphire ownership. None of the successful applicants currently hold an open Sapphire Preferred, consistent with the card’s explicit rule against multiple accounts of the same product. They also avoided the ineligibility notice that Chase now shows some applicants during the online process. In contrast, people who opened the card more recently continue to encounter that notice and are told they cannot receive the bonus again.
Eligibility Checks Before Submission
Applicants can often learn their bonus status before a hard credit pull occurs. Chase displays a pop-up message when prior cardholders or bonus recipients are deemed ineligible. Those who receive the message can abandon the application without further impact. Successful applicants in the recent group received no such warning. Their accounts later showed the 100,000-point tracker, confirming the offer was active. Before applying, individuals should confirm they do not already hold the Sapphire Preferred and that they fall under Chase’s unofficial 5/24 guideline on recent card openings.
Pending Applications and Reconsideration
Some applications enter review rather than receiving immediate approval or denial. In one documented case, the applicant contacted Chase’s lending department the next day. A representative noted that available credit across existing accounts had reached internal limits. The applicant then shifted roughly $15,000 of credit from another Chase card to the new Sapphire Preferred account. Approval followed immediately. Others facing a pending status can call Chase reconsideration at 1-888-270-2127 to explore similar credit reallocation options.
Current Terms and Practical Outlook
Chase’s updated language states the bonus “may not be available” to those who previously held the card or earned its offer. The phrasing leaves room for case-by-case decisions rather than a strict lifetime ban. Longtime former holders who closed the card years ago appear more likely to qualify than those with more recent histories. The pattern remains limited to a small number of data points. No official policy change has been announced, and eligibility continues to rest with Chase’s internal review. Individuals whose histories match the successful cases may test their status through the application flow, which reveals bonus eligibility before any hard inquiry in many instances.
