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Chase has a number of different credit cards available, and Chase even allows you to change from 1 credit card to another within the same family, as long as you meet certain (easy) criteria.
That way, you can easily stay with Chase and enjoy the benefits of different Chase credit cards without having to open an entirely new account.
In this guide, we’ll be walking you through all of the different ways you can upgrade your Chase cards to a more premium card option. By doing so, you’ll be able to access superior benefits and rewards.
How To Upgrade Your Chase Card
Upgrading your Chase credit card is super easy. First, it’s recommended that your card has been open for at least 1 year before you’re able to upgrade (or downgrade) any credit card.
To get started, all you need to do is call the number on the back of your card and explain to the agent that you’d like to upgrade your credit card.
From there, the agent should inform you of what upgrade options are available. Simply select the upgrade option you’d prefer, and the agent may read a few quick disclosures and process your upgrade. You may be assessed a prorated annual fee based on your original card’s anniversary date, which will carry over to your new card.
You’ll then receive your new card in the mail and you’ll be good to go! As long as your card type (Visa versus Mastercard) does not change, your credit card number should stay the same.
Hot Tip:
You can’t change your personal card to a business card and vice-versa. So you’ll need to upgrade any personal cards to other personal cards, and you’ll need to upgrade any business cards to other business card products.
Reasons To Upgrade Your Chase Card
There are generally 2 major reasons why you may want to upgrade your Chase card.
There’s a Specific Benefit You Want
When you upgrade your Chase card, you’ll typically get access to improved benefits. After all, that’s why it’s called an upgrade instead of a downgrade.
For example, if you currently have a United℠ Explorer Card that you’ve been using for purchases but you want a United Club membership, you may want to consider an upgrade to the United Club℠ Infinite Card, which offers a complimentary United Club membership for you as the primary cardholder.
Another great reason to consider upgrading your Chase credit card is to capture additional rewards if your spending habits change.
For example, if you have the Chase Freedom Flex℠ but see yourself spending a lot more money on travel, you might want to consider upgrading to the Chase Sapphire Preferred card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®, since those cards earn bonus points on travel purchases.
As another example, if you tend to make a lot of general travel purchases using your existing Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you might want to upgrade to the Chase Sapphire Reserve card so you can earn 3x points on travel instead of 2x points. Say you spend $10,000 per year on travel — by upgrading to the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you could increase your earnings by 10,000 Ultimate Rewards points. You’d go from earning 20,000 points to 30,000 points per year just by upgrading your credit card!
Chase Ultimate Rewards Cards
Image Credit: Upgraded Points
Chase’s flagship credit cards belong to the family of products that earn Ultimate Rewards points (although a few of these cards do not have the ability to transfer points to airline and hotel partners):
Freedom Flex card
Freedom Unlimited card
Chase Sapphire Preferred card
Chase Sapphire Reserve card
In general, 3 of these cards can theoretically be upgraded all the way to the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, but it’s recommended to have a minimum credit limit of $10,000 for that card specifically as it’s a Visa Infinite card.
Also, if you have the Chase Slate Edge℠, you may be able to upgrade that card to the Chase Sapphire Preferred card or Chase Sapphire Reserve card.
Another popular series of Chase credit cards are the United co-branded credit cards. There are 4 options for personal United credit cards:
United Club Infinite card
United Quest℠ Card
United Explorer card
United Gateway℠ Card
You can generally upgrade to any card within the same family, but you’ll want to keep in mind that the United Club Infinite card comes with a minimum credit limit of $10,000 as it’s a Visa Infinite card, while the United Quest card and United Explorer card require a minimum credit limit of $5,000 as they’re Visa Signature cards.
Trip cancellation and interruption insurance, primary rental car insurance, and more
No foreign transaction fees
2 5,000-mile anniversary award flight credits after you take a United or United Express-operated award flight booked with miles (up to 2 times per anniversary year)
Earn up to 6,000 Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) per year (500 PQPs for every $12,000 in purchases per calendar year)
Complimentary first and second checked bags for yourself and 1 companion traveling on the same reservation (terms apply)
Premier upgrades on United-operated award tickets (when available)
Trip cancellation and interruption insurance, primary rental car insurance, and more
No foreign transaction fees
2 United Club one-time passes each anniversary
Complimentary first checked bags for yourself and 1 companion traveling on the same reservation (terms apply)
Priority boarding
Premier upgrades on United-operated award tickets
Access to The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection
Trip cancellation and interruption insurance, primary rental car insurance, and more
No foreign transaction fees
Access to The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection
Trip cancellation and interruption insurance, secondary rental car insurance, and more
No foreign transaction fees
Statement Credits
$75 in annual statement credits as reimbursement for IHG Hotels and Resorts purchases from January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023
Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS application fee credit
25% statement credit on United inflight purchases
$125 annual United purchase credit
Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS application fee credit
25% statement credit on United inflight purchases and Club premium drink purchases
Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS application fee credit
25% statement credit on United inflight purchases and Club premium drink purchases
25% statement credit on United inflight purchases and Club premium drink purchases
Annual Fee
$525
$250
$0 intro for the first year, then $95
$0
Authorized Users
No additional annual fee for authorized users
No additional annual fee for authorized users
No additional annual fee for authorized users
No additional annual fee for authorized users
On the business side of cards, you have 2 choices for United cards: United℠ Business Card and United Club℠ Business Card. In order to upgrade from the United Business card to the United Club Business card, it’s recommended that your card has been open for at least 12 months and has a credit limit of $10,000 or more.
Chase Southwest Cards
Image Credit: Chase
Chase is also well-known for its Southwest credit card offerings. On the personal side, there are 3 options:
Southwest Priority card
Southwest Premier card
Southwest Plus card
You can upgrade from the Southwest Plus card to the Southwest Premier card or Southwest Priority card, and you can also upgrade from the Southwest Premier card to the Southwest Priority card.
Chase’s IHG credit cards have undergone quite a few changes, and the result is 2 different card possibilities on the personal side and 1 card on the business side:
Unfortunately, the IHG Premier Business card does not have an upgrade option due to the fact that it’s the sole business credit card in the IHG One Rewards family.
However, you should be able to upgrade from the IHG Traveler card to the IHG Premier card.
Up to 26x total points at IHG Hotels and Resorts (10x from this card, 10x from being an IHG Rewards member, and 6x from Platinum Elite Status, a benefit of this card)
5x points on travel, dining, and gas stations
3x points on all other purchases
Up to 17x total points at IHG Hotels and Resorts (5x from this card, 10x from being an IHG Rewards member, and 2x from Silver Elite Status, a benefit of this card)
3x points on utilities, dining, select streaming services, and gas stations
2x points on all other purchases
Travel Benefits
20% discount on points purchases
Automatic IHG One Rewards Platinum Elite status
Anniversary free night after each account anniversary year
Redeem 3 nights, get the fourth night free
Trip cancellation and interruption insurance, baggage delay insurance, and more
No foreign transaction fees
20% discount on points purchases
Automatic IHG One Rewards Silver Elite status (and the ability to earn Gold Elite status after you spend $20,000 on purchases per year)
Redeem 3 nights, get the fourth night free
Trip cancellation and interruption insurance, baggage delay insurance, and more
No foreign transaction fees
Statement Credits
Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS application fee credit
None
Annual Fees
$99
$0
Authorized Users
No additional annual fee for authorized users
No additional annual fee for authorized users
Chase Disney Cards
Image Credit: Chase
The last series of credit cards we’ll be discussing in this upgrade guide is the Disney co-branded credit cards, which include:
Disney® Premier Visa® card
Disney® Visa® Card
If you’re interested, you should be able to upgrade from the Disney card to the Disney Premier card.
5% in Disney Rewards Dollars on purchases made directly at DisneyPlus.com, Hulu.com, or ESPNPlus.com
2% in Disney Rewards Dollars at gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, and most Disney U.S. locations
1% in Disney Rewards Dollars on all other purchases
10% off select purchases at shopDisney.com
10% off select merchandise purchases of $50 or more at select locations at the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts
1% in Disney Rewards Dollars on all purchases
10% off select purchases at shopDisney.com
10% off select merchandise purchases of $50 or more at select locations at the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts
Disney Vacation Benefits
0% promo APR for 6 months on select Disney vacation packages from the date of purchase, after that a variable APR of 19.24% – 28.24%
15% off the non-discounted price for select guided tours at the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts
Special photos at private Cardmember locations at the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts, plus complimentary downloads of your photos
Enjoy 0% promotional APR for 6 months on select Disney vacation packages from the date of purchase, after that a variable APR of 18.99%-27.99%.
15% off the non-discounted price for select guided tours at the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts
Special photos at private Cardmember locations at the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts, plus complimentary downloads of your photos
Statement Credits
Up to $13.99 per month for 3 consecutive months in statement credits on a qualifying Disney Bundle Trio subscription or other qualifying subscriptions or add-ons purchased directly at DisneyPlus.com, Hulu.com, or ESPNPlus.com that total $12.99 or more when paying with the card
None
Annual Fees
$49
$0
Authorized Users
No additional annual fee for authorized users
No additional annual fee for authorized users
Final Thoughts
Broadly speaking, Chase has 5 different families of credit cards that have upgrade possibilities:
Chase Ultimate Rewards cards
Chase United cards
Chase Southwest cards
Chase IHG cards
Chase Disney cards
Remember that this doesn’t necessarily represent all of Chase’s card families. For example, there are the World of Hyatt credit cards, but only 1 personal card and 1 business card are available which eliminates any upgrade possibilities.
If you find yourself needing a specific Chase card benefit and see yourself upgrading to a new Chase card, you should generally be allowed to do so, so long as you meet a few criteria. For example, your card must have been open for at least 12 months, have the minimum credit limit for the card you want to upgrade to, be within the same card family, and be from personal card to personal card or business card to business card.
If you meet these requirements, call the number on the back of your card and simply let the agent know that you’d like to upgrade your credit card!
The information regarding the Chase Freedom Flex℠ was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. The information regarding the Chase Slate Edge℠ Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. The information regarding the United Club℠ Business Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. The information regarding the Chase Disney Premier Visa® Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. The information regarding the Disney® Visa® Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. The information regarding the Chase Freedom® Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
Featured Image Credit: Upgraded Points
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! Generally, Chase allows you to upgrade your credit card as long as you meet the following criteria:
Your card has been open for a minimum of 12 months
Your card has at least the minimum credit limit for the new card
Your card is in the same family as the new card
Your card is the same type as the new card (personal vs. business)
Yes, but this is known more as a product change instead of an upgrade, as they are similar card products.
You might, as long as you verify when calling the number on the back of your card. The agent should be able to tell you if you’re eligible for a card upgrade as well as the different upgrade options available.
Stephen is an established voice in the credit card space, with over 70 to his name. His work has been in publications like The Washington Post, and his Au Points and Awards Consulting Services is used by hundreds of clients.
Disclaimer: Any comments listed below are not from the bank advertiser, nor have they been reviewed or approved by them. No responsibility will be taken by the bank advertiser for these comments.
2 comments
Nadine
June 08, 2023
What about the Marriott cards up to and including the Ritz Carlton card which is not currently available but I heard that you can upgrade to it.
Yes, if you have one of the Chase issued Marriott cards you can call to upgrade it to the Ritz Carlton card as long as you’ve had it open for at least 1 year.
Any thoughts or questions? Comment below!
Email needed if you'd like comment updates. It will NOT be published.
This bonus value is an estimated valuation calculated by UP after analyzing redemption options, transfer partners, award availability and how much UP would pay to buy these points.
![How To Upgrade a Chase Card: A Complete Guide [2023]](https://upgradedpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Chase-Credit-Cards-Upgraded-Points-LLC-Large.jpg?auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=1420&height=650&fit=crop)
2 comments
Nadine
June 08, 2023
What about the Marriott cards up to and including the Ritz Carlton card which is not currently available but I heard that you can upgrade to it.
Jarrod West
June 09, 2023
Hi Nadine,
Yes, if you have one of the Chase issued Marriott cards you can call to upgrade it to the Ritz Carlton card as long as you’ve had it open for at least 1 year.
Any thoughts or questions? Comment below!
Email needed if you'd like comment updates. It will NOT be published.
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