Does Upgrading To Chase Sapphire Reserve Restart My 48-Month Signup Bonus Clock?

A lot of people have asked this question, so I thought it worthy of a post:

If I upgrade to the Sapphire Reserve card, does that restart my 48-month clock when I’ll be eligible again? For example, suppose I got a Sapphire Preferred bonus in January 2017, which means I’ll be eligible for a new Sapphire signup bonus in January 2021. If I now upgrade my Preferred to a Sapphire Reserve, will I need to wait 48 months from now to get a new Sapphire bonus or will I still be eligible for a new bonus in January 2021?

The terms specify that you get one Sapphire bonus each 48 months; there’s nothing mentioned about not having the card.

This product is available to you if you do not have any Sapphire card and have not received a new cardmember bonus for any Sapphire card in the past 48 months

Indeed, if you currently have a Sapphire Preferred card which you’ve held for 4 years straight, you should be able to close the card (or downgrade it to a Freedom card) and then immediately apply for a new Sapphire Preferred or Reserve card.

Likewise, upgrading and downgrading should not reset the clock since you still “have not received a new cardmember bonus for any Sapphire card in the past 48 months”.

I’m fairly confident of this being accurate, but if anyone has a solid data point to confirm this (or if it’s wrong, of course), please leave a comment below.

The only thing to beware of is that when you do want to apply for a new Sapphire card in the future, you won’t be able to be holding any Sapphire card, so be sure to get rid of the Sapphire card, or downgrade it, before applying for the new one.

In our example, you want to apply for a new Sapphire card in January 2021; that’s less than one year from when you upgraded in June 2020. You’ll have to close the card, thus potentially losing a nice amount of money on the annual fee. You might be able to downgrade to Freedom in mid-year and get an annual fee prorate (last I know they do prorate 1), but they don’t typically allow downgrades during the first year, and this might be treated as ‘first year’ since your upgrade.

[Tangentially, reader rocky_NNC notes that the Sapphire bonus clock starts ticking based on the date bonus is received, not the date you first applied.]

In short, so long as you don’t plan to apply anytime within the next 12 months, you should be fine. Just remember to get rid of the existing Sapphire card before applying for a new one.

Related:
    Chuck
  • On June 2, 2020, 16:14
Tags: chaseChase credit cardschase sapphirechase sapphire reserve

View Comments (40)

  • I have a very old CS no fee that shows in my account. Chase actually canceled the card and removed my available credit since October 2013. I never really thought about it until now when I would like to apply for the CSP card. Do you think I will have an issue even though the account says that it is closed in my online account?

  • pulled the trigger and upgraded my freedom to CSR ( only had 1 year to wait to be out of the 48 months window)

    question : do you know if I ll be eligible to earn 5x on grocery ?

  • Does it make sense to pay the citi premier annual fee then? Better to hit the MSR, get the bonus and cancel the card to rest the 24 months clock sooner than later. Any problem?

    • Citi doesn’t care if you close your card soon after opening it, so yeah, it’s a solid plan. You can also call to downgrade it to a Rewards+ which should work, but if they tell you the card number will change, you restart your 24-month clock.

    • I'm pretty sure that NO issuer likes it when you sign up for a card, get the bonus, and immediately cancel. This is seen as a big no-no, I believe. You should always keep a card for a year after getting it.

  • Is the CSR and CSP the same product and does it exclude me from another sign up bonus?
    for e xample if i got the CSR bonus on jan 2017 and then apply for CSR again after downgrading in jan 2021. can i sign up for the CSP bonus in May 2021 and also receive the CSP bonus?

  • I have a CFU that is 11 months old. It has 15 months interest free. I have a small balance on it. If I upgrade to a CSR will I lose the interest free period ?

    • If you have an interest free offer on the card that is being used, they may not allow you to upgrade the card at all. They usually site a federal law that doesn't allow them to PC a card with a zero balance offer in place.

    • Probably not, as credit terms don't usually change while PC-ing, best to confirm with the CSR while upgrading.

    • most likely yes, the 15 month interest free is tied to the CFU account, it isn't tied to the fact that you have a card with chase. and CSR doesn't have any interest fee period.

  • planning on having P2 apply in Jan after the 48 months...assuming they don't make it 96 months lol :(

  • I tried upgrading CSP to CSR last fall and was told that's not an upgrade path. I have had my CSP for 5+ years. Anyone recently been able to upgrade?

  • Any data points on gift cards bought at grocery stores (whether that store card or otherwise) coding correctly for the 1.5x point value?

  • So if I've never had the CSR but I PC my Freedom Unlimited to CSR will I be eligible to get the CSR sign on bonus if I apply at a later date? Assuming I have PC'ed my CSR back to the Freedom Unlimited.

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