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Chase Update on Sapphire Preferred Bonus and United’s Entry into Ultimate Rewards

by on September 30, 2011 · 36 comments

in Chase, Credit Cards, Sapphire Preferred, United

Update: Sapphire Preferred spending requirement is now $2000 in 3 months instead of $3000 in 3 months.

Update: Sapphire Preferred sign-up bonus offer is now reduced to 40,000 points.

Recently I’ve received a lot of interest and feedback about the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Ink Bold credit cards (specifically whether the 50,000 point Ultimate Rewards sign-up bonus is included in the 7% annual bonus) from TPG readers so I reached out to some of my Chase contacts to gain some clarification.

Basically here is a rundown of the information I received;

The good news it that the 50,000 sign-up points when you spend $3,000 within 3 months on the Sapphire Preferred card do count towards the 7% annual bonus. This essentially brings the Sapphire Preferred bonus to 53,500 points (even though you’ll have to wait until year end to get the 3,500 dividend). Regardless, that’s still a great sign-up bonus for a solid (figuratively and literally) card that has no annual fee the first year. Plus, the wording is clear that any points earned via any other promotions (like our friends at Stamps.com and Pitney Bowes) will also count towards the yearly 7% bonus.

My second main question was whether United will be a transfer partner with the Ultimate Rewards program once the Continental Onepass program officially ceases to exist as a separate program starting January 1, 2012.  The official response is that there is, “no information at this time.” Which leads me to believe they are still in the process of negotiating the addition. My gut tells me that United will indeed join (it would be a huge blow to the Ultimate Rewards program if not), but they may be trying to plan some great marketing around the announcement and not tip off a lowly blogger like me :-)

I also hope that Southwest gets added as a transfer partner since Chase manages their credit card portfolio as well.

For more information check out my posts; My Experience Getting the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Why I Love Chase Ultimate Rewards, Amazing Deal: Chase Sapphire Preferred 50,000 Point Bonus and First Year Fee Waived, and Chase Launches 50,000 Point Sign-Up Bonus for Ink Bold.

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer. Opinions expressed here are author.s alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This site may be compensated through the credit card issuer Affiliate Program.

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  • StM

    Just to confirm – The annual dividend is for time period Dec to Dec and does not carry over between years?

  • toomanybooks

    If they added WN as a transfer partner, they’d get all my CC business, just about, except for 6% cashback at supermarkets with the Amex Blue Preferred.

    The WN Companion Pass is the best domestic FF perk there is IMO, if you can make use of it. Unlimited free companion tickets every time you fly for up to 2 years.

    It gets ignored by single people for the most part, so you don’t hear much about it.

  • http://theherohandbook.com Matt Langdon (@theherocc)

    How exactly can you transfer Ultimate Rewards to airline mileage programs? I looked at the site, but couldn’t see where to do it.

  • Anonymous

    Just got my card in the mail yesterday =D
    Was hoping to run into you at the OUBC, but I suppose you’re busy jet setting around the world now. What a life!

  • Brian

    The terms and conditions say that the 7% annual bonus is applied after the December statement regardless of when you opened the card. Since I opened my card in April, this gives me the option to get the 7% bonus and then cancel before having to pay the annual fee.

    My question is, is this a good idea? Would applying for a Chase card, getting and using the rewards points, and then cancelling the card hurt my chances of being approved for another Chase card with a nice bonus promotion in the future?

  • Brian

    The terms and conditions say that the 7% annual bonus is applied after the December statement regardless of when you opened the card. Since I opened my card in April, this gives me the option to get the 7% bonus and then cancel before having to pay the annual fee.

    My question is, is this a good idea? Would applying for a Chase card, getting and using the rewards points, and then cancelling the card hurt my chances of being approved for another Chase card with a nice bonus promotion in the future?

  • JTI

    Does anyone know if points earned on the Chase Amazon Visa can be transferred to a Sapphire Preferred Ultimate Rewards account?

  • Brianb032

    I sent them a secure message and they told me they could only do a one-time 2500 point transfer. Better than nothing, and it seems like a great way to liquidate unused Amazon points.

  • Nick E

    I could not agree more. I qualified for the companion pass in September 2010 and used the CC bonus to keep it through December 2012. We are from FL and have used the pass to fly to Providence, Nashville, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Chicago, Baltimore, and Manchester. All of those were award flights for me, so literally thousands of dollars in free flights.

    My only question would be whether transferred points would count towards Companion Pass qualification. My guess would be no so as not to dilute the benefits of the RR Visa.

  • Goosh

    Gary @ freefrequentflyermiles.com reported on 9/23/11 that United will indeed be added as a transfer partner:

    “Good news: The Chase reps are saying that after the merger of Continental Airlines into United Airlines in December, Ultimate Rewards points will be tranferrable to United Airlines. Details will be available January 1, 2012.”

  • calbear77

    I was able to do this recently because Amazon’s card used to have a British Airways transfer option and they removed it. I was able to get them to change all my points (80K+) to Ultimate Rewards so that I could take advantage of the BA to South America deal that everyone’s been hog wild about. It took some persistence through Chase’s secure message channels (phone was a waste of time), but after about a week, they did it for me. Your results may vary, obviously, but it can’t hurt. Ultimate Rewards points are simply better, so it was definitely worth the effort for me. On Amazon, I wasn’t happy with any of the big rewards.

  • Terry

    “Transfer Points” at the top of the screen.

  • Tjcabq

    chase keeps advertising that they will have a unique feature that AMEX won’t have, starting Oct 1st. The only logical conclusion is that they will be the sole transfer option to move points to onepass.

    I’m hoping they kick off tomorrow with a transfer bonus

  • Anonymous

    No, people do it often, but it’s a nice enough card that I’m personally keeping it. In fact, I’m cancelling my Amex instead because this has better perks for the same annual fee.

  • toomanybooks

    All CC and hotel transfers so far have counted as CP-qualifying, as far as I know. Hyatt, Choice, Diners, etc. One guy got a CP from Choice transfer alone. I am following this subject, but I seem to be about the only one interested, at least on Flyertalk.

  • http://infamousdx.com infamousdx

    Make sure you have the Sapphire Preferred (or Ink Bold) and not just the regular Sapphire or Freedom. Those lower-tier cards that participate in Ultimate Rewards don’t have the option of transferring to airlines/hotels.

  • http://infamousdx.com infamousdx

    Question about the Blue Preferred, what ‘currency’ does your cashback come in? Statement credit or points? Wondering if there’s a way to turn those ‘points’ into Membership Rewards points somehow.

  • Sheldonbeswift

    I commented on the “My Experience Getting the Chase Sapphire Preferred” post as well, but after seeing this, I decided to try again to get 7% of my enrollment bonus. I was told flat-out by a Senior E-mail Customer Service Representative that “The enrollment bonus offers are not part of the 7% rewards.” Are your contacts in customer service? Perhaps they could help me get the 7%?

  • LisaA

    I signed up for the Chase Continental One Pass Plus card last spring (with 50K bonus), in anticipation of Continental leaving Amex. Now I’m regretting it and really wanting the Sapphire Preferred instead. How much of a mistake would it be to attempt to open that one – - and close the One Pass Plus? Would Chase even allow it?

  • toomanybooks

    Statement credit.

  • PJ

    $95 to enjoy this great Sapphire Preferred for 2 years ( 1st year free) is a no brainer. I would feel embarassing to cancel it especially I pocketed 100K sing on bonus . I am NOT the primary holder on my Sapphire Preferred since I was just got BA card. However I have since trasnferred close to 100K freedom points into the Sapphire Preferred.. That is a treat. comparing to getting 1 penny on each one UR point

  • Anonymous

    You should have no issue getting it as long as your credit is good. Chase allows you to have multiple co-branded cards

  • Anonymous

    I spoke with senior people who run the Ultimate Rewards program. When did you sign up for the card? You won’t get the 7% bonus until your December statement closes so maybe thats why they won’t give it to you yet

  • Anonymous

    The Continental transfer option is probably what they are talking about

  • Anonymous

    Did he say where he got that information? I got my info straight from the source

  • LisaA

    Yes my credit is good, but what do you think about closing the other card? Ot should I just stick it in a drawer for a few years? I hate having so many cards, and paying their annual fees. I’ve alrerady got a Green a Blue Amex plus an AA Citi Card (the Citi card lies idle most of the time unless I need to boost AA miles. Need to get that Starwood Amex card and dump the Citi and the Blue, but that’s another task for another day…)
    thanks TPG!

  • Brian

    Lisa, I got the Chase Continental OnePass Plus in February and the Sapphire Preferred in April. I was approved for both and didn’t even have to call a reconsideration line or anything.

    Personally I think the OnePass Plus is worth keeping since it gets you the free checked bags. Flying round trip with my wife with one bag each will cost me $100 which is more than the annual fee. Since we fly Continental at least twice a year, it’s worth it for us.

  • Sheldonbeswift

    I actually signed up for the card in July 2009. They never gave me ANY 7% dividend (which they fixed earlier this month), but they’ve told me three times now that the enrollment bonus doesn’t quality, most recently: “The enrollment bonus offers are not part of the 7% rewards.”

  • LisaA

    Thanks Brian – you’re absolutely right. And there are a few other perks that may make it worth the while to retain this card.

  • LisaA

    hey I have another question – to Brian or anyone else who got the Sapphire, do you remember if the Sapphire gave you the opportunity to transfer balances from other credit cards? And I wonder if that would count toward the 3K spend if so. I’ve got about 2K on an Amex I’m about to pay off… might hold back a few weeks and shift it to the Sapphire if this is the case.

  • Elizabeth

    United MileagePlus is now listed as a transfer option on the Ultimate Rewards web site. Same 1:1 transfer rate as Continental. Click on Transfer Points -> See All. The link for United is just below the link for Continental. It does not have a logo like the other transfer partners so it is easy to miss.

  • Pingback: United MileagePlus a New Chase Ultimate Rewards Transfer Partner? | The Points Guy

  • Anonymous

    Good detective work! I just posted about this..looks like a good sign!

  • Newnotebook

    i have 300,000 plus UR points. I go to thier site and I dont see an option for trasfering miles to any airline at all? where would i find it?

  • Kmj1969

    I saw that too and have been trying for 4 days to transfer points but received an error message each time that said something like they are temporarily unable to process the transaction. Their customer service had the same issue and suggested I try later. Then today I log in and United MileagePlus is no longer listed. Not sure what is going on.

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