Chase Sapphire Preferred Requirements

Chase Sapphire Preferred® usually requires great credit, which means 720 or more. However, many users can be approved with a lower score. Find out the credit requirements needed.

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Chase Sapphire Preferred is one of the most popular travel rewards cards for its huge bonus and flexible travel rewards. It's a worthwhile card for both occasional and frequent travelers.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

Terms Apply

Chase is known for being one of the tougher issuers. Besides the credit score, there are other restrictions for approval as well.

So just how hard is it to get the Sapphire Preferred? We'll go over all the requirements below. Read on.

Is It Hard to Get Approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred?

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a mid-tier travel rewards card for those with excellent credit. Approval is on the stricter side, but you have a good chance if you have a strong credit history and are within Chase's 5/24 rule.

There is no set credit score requirement. Most cardholders have credit scores of 720 and above. However, users have reported being approved with scores around 650 as well.

You may be able to be approved with a lower credit score (under 700) if you have other strong qualifications, such as:

• A long history of on-time payments
  
• High income and steady job history
  
• A positive existing relationship with Chase
  
• Not too many new accounts and inquiries

How to Get Approved

For your best chances of approval, it's best if you:

• Keep balances on your other credit cards low (ideally under 30% credit utilization)

• Have at least 1 year of on-time payments on your other credit cards and loans

• Have at least 1–3 years of credit history

• Refrain from making hard credit inquiries for 3–6 months before applying

• Haven't opened more than 5 credit card accounts in the past 2 years (Chase 5/24 rule)

Sapphire Preferred Income Requirement

There is no required minimum income for Chase Sapphire Preferred. However, it's an important factor that Chase will consider. Cardholders generally have a higher income above $50,000.

The minimum credit limit for the Sapphire Preferred is $5,000. If your income is too low, Chase may not be comfortable extending that much credit. We'd recommend an income of at least $40,000 for a better chance of being approved.

Remember that when applying for credit cards, you can add in your spouse's or partner's income as well. This may help your approval odds.

Other Approval Restrictions

Chase has a few restrictions that make it one of the tougher issuers. It's important to know these rules so you don't get an automatic rejection.

• Chase's 5/24 rule:
  This rule says that if you've opened 5 credit card accounts in the past 24 months, you will not be approved for a new Chase card—even if your credit score is perfect.

  Read more about the 5/24 policy in detail.

• Chase's 2/30 rule:
  You can only be approved for 2 Chase personal cards within 30 days. You can apply to 2 Chase cards at once (to avoid multiple hard inquiries), but no more than that.

• Sapphire 48-month rule:
  You cannot own more than one card in the Sapphire family. In addition, you can only receive ONE welcome bonus for a Sapphire card every 48 months (even if you closed the old account).

Approval Time for Chase Sapphire Preferred

If you have excellent credit and strong qualifications, you may get an instant approval. In this case, your new Chase Sapphire Preferred card will be sent to you within 2 weeks.

If you didn't get the instant approval, you may get a message saying a decision will be made in 7–10 business days. In most reported cases, this means a rejection. But sometimes, this simply means that Chase needs some additional verification information.

Another popular response is the 30 days message. This most likely means your application hasn't yet been processed. Keep an eye out on whether this turns into an approval or the 7–10 day message.

Is Chase Sapphire Preferred Worth It?

For frequent (or even occasional) travelers, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card will be worth the $95 annual fee. The sign-up bonus alone is amazing. Points are also worth a lot. Points can be redeemed for 25% more value on the Chase Travel℠ portal or transferred 1:1 to airline and hotel partners. This offers an extremely strong and flexible redemption value.

For more frequent international travelers, check out whether Chase Sapphire Reserve is better for you instead.

Bottom Line

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is not the easiest card to get, but not impossible. You have a good chance if you have a positive credit history, reasonable income, and are within the 5/24 rule. If you're not quite there yet, work on paying off your balances and paying on time. You'll soon be welcoming the Preferred into your wallet.