Upgrading Cards With Chase

[Anonymous]

Hey folks, good afternoon! 

  I just got off the phone with Chase and they upgraded my Freedom Unlimited (FU) to a Chase Sapphire Reserve(CSR)! Ok, here is the tricky part:

  I got the Chase Sapphire Preffered (CSP) in August 18' and, because of the CARD act, I couldn't upgrade it to the Reserve but I just realized that, as I have a Freedom Unlimited that I got years ago, I could upgrade that to the CSR. 

  I gave them a call and said that I wanted to upgrade the FU to the CSR and downgrade the CSP to a FU and they were like: "sure!"

  I had to transfer some limit between cards to open the CSR but it worked and it was approved. Right after that, the lady that was helping me said that I could now downgrade the CSP to a FU because of the annual fee but they could downgrade it to the basic Sapphire card (no metal card).

  I said: "sure". I only wanted the CSR and FU but if I have to wait another 6 months until I'm able to downgrade the original CSP to a FU, that's fine. I (acutally don't remember why haha) mentioned something about closing the account then as I had already gotten the CSR - that's when she transferred me to a tier 2 associate.

  This guy jumped on the line and he was straight forward. "Sir, if you don't close the account right now, we'll give you a retention offer of $60 to keep the account open then, after August 21 (account anniversary), you can downgrade to the Freedom Unlimited". I was like: "Sure! That way my AF (as I had it waived for the first year for the CSP) is less than $40.

  I asked them about having two Sapphire cards ( I didn't think we could do that) but this tier 2 associate was like "you're good".

  On my online account it shows my CSR and my CSP - I already signed up for priority pass and all that so all good! 

  Just wanted to share my experience in case someone's thinking about doing the same thing! Cheers!

[Anonymous]

Your scenario was very nice.

I am curious whether it were even nicer than how you listed it.

Was the CSR annual fee pro-rated?

Will the travel credit be pro-rated.

[marcforza1]

There's a basic Sapphire card that they offer???

[Anonymous]

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@marcforza1 wrote:

There's a basic Sapphire card that they offer???

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Base Sapphire can only be downgraded to, not applied for directly.

[K-in-Boston]

Nice job!  Yes, you can have as many Sapphire cards as you want, but you cannot apply for CSP or CSR if you already have a Chase Sapphire, CSP, or CSR.  You are also ineligible for a signup bonus on CSP or CSR if you have received a bonus on one in the past 48 months.  Plain vanilla Sapphire card misses out on some of the perks of its big brothers, unfortunately, but has been a good placeholder for some people.

[Anonymous]

Hi, just answering some questions here!

I did not have to downgrade to the plain sapphire card, they let me keep the Sapphire Preferred even though now my credit line is only $800 (minimum is $5K for this card).

I honestly didn’t ask about the AF, I thought it would be applied towards my first statement but I kinda think that they won’t charge me for this first year, I don’t know. I wouldn’t mind paying the annual fee as I thought I would have to pay anyway.

Yes, I was extra nice all the time and they helped me out and also offered a retation offer which is not great ($60) but hey, it covers over 50% of the AF of the Sapphire Preferred that they asked me to keep. I got a lot of value out of that card specially with the SUB so it’s fair, haha!

I was aware that I wasn’t going to get the sign up bonus but it’s ok, I wasn’t going to wait 24 months anyway to apply for the CSR anyways.

I’m excited, I’ve been looking for a “premium” credit card because I know that I could take advantage of all the benefits that they offer and it’s awesome that it worked out the way I wanted, haha! This forum is great and very helpful!

[Anonymous]

I am most expressly not the system of record, but you might get a prorated annual fee with a full $300 travel credit.

[Anonymous]

Then I'm guessing if SUBs are even still a thing in 3 more years. I could essentally downgrade the CSP to base Sapphire, then reapply for the CSP agin after the 48 months mark and still qualify for a SUB? Furthermore could I then cancel the new CSP after one year, and upgrade the basic Sapphire to a CSP again retaining my older aged account?