New Lower Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Spending Requirement - Now $2,000 in 3 Months

Aug. 20, 2012

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3 min read

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Update: As of July 20, 2014, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card no longer offers the 7% annual points dividend. View the current sign up offer here.

As I wrote on Friday, Chase has made a change to its Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offer, and as I predicted, it's for the better. The spending requirement in order to earn the entire 40,000 point sign-up bonus has been reduced from $3,000 in three months to $2,000 in three months, which should make it easier for more points-savvy consumers to get in on this card. Note: If you've gotten this card recently, you may want to ask Chase if you can get the lower spend requirement- they will often match current promotions if you've applied within the past ~60 days. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is one of my favorite travel credit cards because several key benefits including: -You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to a variety of partners United (Star Alliance), British Airways (Oneworld), Korean Air (SkyTeam) and Southwest, Hyatt, Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Priority Club and Amtrak. Check out this post for more info on why I love Ultimate Rewards. -

You earn a 7% annual dividend on all the points you accrue every year, regardless of if you've transferred or redeemed any of them in the meantime (note: this dividend no longer includes the 40,000-point sign-up bonus) -2x category spending bonuses on dining (from ballpark franks to 3-star Michelin restaurants) and travel (including taxis, parking, flights, hotels and even subways) -No foreign transaction fees -$95 annual fee waived for the first year This just makes getting it even easier - which is a nice change from the current trend of steadily higher sign-up spending requirements. Chase makes it possible to rack up tons of bonus points by using the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card in combination with the Freedom (No longer open to new applicants) and Ink Bold / Plus cards and a Chase checking account through Chase Exclusives. While this isn't an earth shattering change to the offer, it's definitely a positive change. I would have liked to see the sign-up bonus increase, but I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon- especially since it's major competitor the Premier Rewards Gold Card from American Express, has a 25,000 point welcome bonus.