New Chase Sapphire Eligibility Rules, Including Vague Lifetime Language

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

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 Business^SM. We’ve known that there would be changes to the eligibility requirements for the Chase Sapphire portfolio, and we now have the full details.

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?