Last Call for Chase Sapphire Reserve, New Hope

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CSR

As you may recall, the Chase Sapphire Reserve set the credit card world on fire this past fall with it’s colossal 100K Ultimate Rewards sign-up bonus and slew of valuable benefits.  The online offer for that card has since decreased to only 50K bonus points, but the 100K point offer has still been available when applying in-branch directly with a banker.  That in-branch offer ends this week (either March 11th or 12th, it may vary by branch) and there may be new hope for those who were previously denied.

The 5/24 rule and pre-approvals

Unfortunately for many, the Sapphire Reserve has been subject to Chase’s 5/24 rule, meaning that those who have opened 5 or more new accounts in the past 24 months would typically be denied. No amount of sweet-talking on a reconsideration call could reverse that decision. However, as Frequent Miler wrote about in the guide to getting approved for the Sapphire Reserve, some people were able to get approved despite having opened more than 5 new accounts if Chase’s computer system showed a pre-approval for the card.  Unfortunately, many people found that they were not pre-approved.

A new glimmer of hope

For those who were previously denied or have not seen a pre-approval offer, there may be a glimmer of new hope: Adam, from Point me to the Plane, reports that he was approved yesterday despite being over 5/24, having been denied for the Sapphire Reserve this past December, and not technically having a pre-approval offer for the Sapphire Reserve

As you can read about in his post, it seems that pre-approval links for this card may have disappeared from the Chase system.  The key may be to check the way pre-approval offers are displayed.  Cards shaded in green may indicate pre-approval.  Adam reports that while there was not a pre-approval link for the Sapphire Reserve (as there had been for other pre-approved offers), the card was shaded green like those that did have pre-approval links. Based on that, he applied and was approved despite the system not technically showing a pre-approval.

Based on his conversation with a banker, it seems that the green shading on the offer may indicate a likelihood of approval.  Hence, if you make the trip to a branch (or get a banker to talk to you about it over the phone), you may want to push further to see if the card is shaded in green.  If it is, it may be worth a gamble even if you are over 5/24 — though that decision is ultimate yours and your results may vary.

 

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