Chase No Longer Matching Some Higher Sign Up Bonuses

For as long as I remember Chase has had an unofficial policy of matching to a higher credit card sign up bonus as long as you applied within 90 days, the offer you’re matching to is public and if the offers had the same annual fee (e.g they won’t match to an annual fee waived first year offer if your original offer didn’t state that. This wasn’t always enforced).

When the Chase Sapphire Preferred launched to a new bonus of 80,000 points a lot of readers reported not being successful getting matched. At the time I was confident that they just needed to wait a day or two so the front line customer service representatives could be trained. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case and Chase is still not matching this offer.

Chase is also denying matching bonuses on the Chase IHG 140,000 + $50 bonus (although there is a report of a successful match on the Chase IHG 100,000 no annual fee offer) and Marriott 5 free night certificate offer. It’s a shame that Chase has made a change to this unofficial policy, I suspect it’s a sign of more increased bonuses coming and also a small cost cutting measure. Unfortunately it leads to applicants with a bad taste in their mouth if they sign up for an inferior offer and I wonder what effect it has long term on application rates due to analysis paralysis.

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luckyishamrock
luckyishamrock (@guest_1221085)
July 11, 2021 19:36

I applied for the CSP card on 5/24/2021 with a bonus of 80,000 points. A few days later they had the public offer of 100,000 points. I tried calling the customer service.line, visiting a banker in branch, and also sending secure message to get matched with the higher bonus offer. None of these methods worked and they declined my request. Here is a data point that Chase is no longer matching the higher bonus offer.

Jerry
Jerry (@guest_1067221)
October 3, 2020 13:04

Just this week, I was able to get my IHG premier matched (Prev was 140k with AF) to 140K without AF, but they did not match the $50 due to some reason they mentioned that I remember sounded reasonable. I also got my IHG Traveler matched from 70K to 100K.

Was also able to get my Citi Premier matched from 60K to 65K on Sep 24th.

maybe I used up all my good luck with these

Dima
Dima (@guest_1067532)
October 4, 2020 08:39

Can confirm, after being initially turned away Chase did offer AF refund on a follow-up. $50 is not really a part of the public offer, so I didn’t try.

Zack
Zack (@guest_1066967)
October 2, 2020 20:10

I just got the united biz card last week at 60k with 3k spend, they raised to 75k with 5k spend this week. Was able to SM and was told that once I meet the minimum spend I can match and to message back.

Wondering if there is a different policy between biz and personal cards?

Miki
Miki (@guest_1066791)
October 2, 2020 15:44

I was pleasantly surprised to read everyone’s thoughts on this so far- must just be the moderates chiming in. I feel the same, you win some, you lose some. It would be nice to have some consistency, but also realize that most people applying/reapplying are doing so to game the system. Can’t be mad that rules change because of behavior. It’s a vicious circle.

Brandon
Brandon (@guest_1066789)
October 2, 2020 15:40

Maybe the answer is to have a 2 week rule on the card bonus. Basically, you have enough time for the card to arrive for you to use and a few extra days for a bonus match. After that, no matches. Add it in to the terms with a requirement for the person having to contact Chase for the match. Having it in the terms allows them to outright refuse after the time expires, while being reasonable.

East of Eden
East of Eden (@guest_1066784)
October 2, 2020 15:36

I can honestly say I am not mad. I missed the 80K by a couple of weeks and it is what it is.

If Chase would match up to 90 days, the person who applied 91 days prior would still be SOL. Someone will have to miss out and we all have to accept that.

exShoYoGuy
exShoYoGuy (@guest_1066775)
October 2, 2020 15:13

I have to agree with Chase on this one. That’s almost like calling up your broker and saying hey, I sold Google stock for $1,400 and now it’s $1,600. Can you match that? Okay maybe not quite the same but you get my drift.

DTCGuy
DTCGuy (@guest_1067011)
October 2, 2020 21:44

Not the same at all as the market changes hourly on stock price.

A credit card SUB is like a promotion/sale on an item. If the price drops most retailers will match it. Chase should match it as a goodwill gesture. I think the 90 days is a bit ridiculous but 30 days is a middle ground policy that works for both sides. I’m going to be less pissed if I would’ve had to wait a month to apply for an increased bonus. 2 weeks and I’ve got a bad taste in my mouth that they will not match it

Jeremy
Jeremy (@guest_1066749)
October 2, 2020 14:30

I was denied csp and ihg matches recently.

Also wanted to add dp to an old thread since i dont have an account on reddit or ft. Called retention on boundless after annual fee hit. No offers until I asked to cancel and got $50 statement credit which I took. Sorry if this is off topic but I like adding dps when I can.

Chauney
Chauney (@guest_1066696)
October 2, 2020 13:40

A friend was approved for the Preferred Sapphire the day before the bonus jumped to 80K. He spoke to multiple reps and a supervisor and was shot down when requesting a match.

SamL
SamL (@guest_1066692)
October 2, 2020 13:32

I prefer clear-cut rules. I hate the idea of calling in to beg for some extra that you’re not clearly entitled to. The bank has to waste resources dealing with squeaky wheels, and that takes away from other customers and bonuses.

Actually Chase is good at honoring their promises (unlike AmEx), so I don’t think they should give extra to people who regret their timing. Just accept the deal you signed up for, and move on.

Dima
Dima (@guest_1066701)
October 2, 2020 13:48

That does sound reasonable, but it also sucks when a better offer is released when you don’t even have the new card in your hands. Asking for a match to the current public offer while you’re still in the SUB qualification period is a reasonable request IMO.

C
C (@guest_1066734)
October 2, 2020 14:13

Yeah – consistency is nice, but then they could easily and consistently implement a rule that includes everyone who obtained the card within x weeks of the new offer.