Chase Sapphire Preferred Card — What Credit Score Do I Need?

The Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card is easily one of the most popular travel rewards cards on the market, and it’s a fantastic starter card for those new to the world of points and miles. If you’re considering opening the Chase Sapphire Preferred card as your newest (or first) travel card, you may wonder whether you’re likely to be accepted.

There are many factors an issuer like Chase takes into consideration when determining eligibility for applicants. Here’s a breakdown of each factor to help determine whether you will or won’t be approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

How To Check Your Credit Score

Before you dive into what credit score you need for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you need to know what your credit score is in the first place. But how do you go about finding out what it is?

You’re probably in luck if you already have a credit card. Most credit card issuers you have an account with will offer a free credit score calculator. Most will show you a score between from 300 to 850, with 300 meaning you have a poor credit score and 850 meaning you have an excellent credit score.

If a service isn’t available to you through a credit card issuer, you can also easily open an account on a site like Credit Karma. Credit Karma is free to use and can help you keep track of your score, tell you what contributing factors led to that score, and alert you to fraudulent activity. You can also check your credit score for free with each of the 3 credit major bureaus.

Contributors to Your Credit Score

Now that you know what your credit score is, it’s essential to have some knowledge of the 5 factors that constitute your score:

• Payment history
• Credit utilization
• Length of credit history
• New credit
• Credit mix

Credit scores can be misleading if you lack all the necessary information. A “great” score in the 700s won’t matter much for approvals if you have little or no credit history.

Payment History

Your payment history is responsible for 35% of your overall score, making it the most important of all 5 factors. To receive a high credit score, you need to show a history of on-time payments month after month. If you have a history of late payments (especially recently), you’re unlikely to get approved for a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

Hot Tip: Want to avoid missing a credit card payment? Most issuers allow you to set up auto pay! This ensures you’ll never miss a payment, and your account will remain in good standing. 

Credit Utilization

Making up 30% of your overall credit score, credit utilization is the percentage of your available credit you have borrowed. For example, if you have a credit card with a $2,000 limit and make $600 in charges, your credit utilization will be 30% when the statement posts.

The lower you keep your credit utilization, the better. It will hurt your credit if you constantly max out your credit cards each month (even if you’re paying off the balance in full).

Hot Tip: One way to help keep your utilization low is to pay off all (or most) of your balance before your credit card’s billing statement posts. This is especially helpful if you’re starting to build your credit and your card has a low credit limit.

Length of Credit History

Your length of credit history, or the average age of your accounts, means how long each account has been open and how long it’s been since the account’s most recent action. This factor makes up 15% of your total credit score. The longer your credit history, the better it generally is for your credit score.

Credit Mix

Your credit mix makes up 10% of your credit score. While this category is generally the most confusing, data indicate that borrowers with a good mix of revolving credit and installment loans generally represent less risk for lenders.

In other words, you appear less risky to credit lenders if you have multiple forms of credit extended to you — credit cards, car notes, student loans, or housing loans.

New Credit

If your credit history is relatively new, it is essential not to open up too many new accounts in a short timeframe. New accounts lower your average account age, which has a larger effect on your score if there isn’t as much data for your other credit score factors.

On the other hand, if you open a new account and use it responsibly, it could actually improve your payment history, credit utilization, and credit mix scores.

The impact of opening a new credit card account is less significant than other categories, though — this factor makes up just 10% of your overall score.

Bottom Line: As you can see, just 3 factors make up 80% of your overall credit score. While it is true that opening a new credit card can bring down the overall age of your accounts, a new account can actually improve the other factors — if you use it responsibly. Staying on top of the factors and knowing the various weights of each can help you identify areas where your score can improve.

What Credit Score Do I Need for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card?

If you’re considering applying for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, wait until your score is at least 670.

Remember, though, that there is no actual minimum requirement — and there’s certainly no score that will guarantee approval, either. Applicants have been approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card with scores in the 600s and denied with scores in the 800s.

That 3-digit number is just 1 factor Chase considers before approving you for a new card. So, what else matters when banks determine whether to approve you?

Other Approval Considerations

Aside from your credit score, several other factors can weigh heavily on whether a bank will approve you for a new credit card.

Income

The stated income you list on your application plays a large role in your odds for Chase Sapphire Preferred card approval, because the minimum credit limit for new cardholders is $5,000.

Chase is not likely to extend that amount of credit to an applicant with a relatively low income. We recommend that your annual income be at least $30,000 before you apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

Length of Credit

One situation that can be pretty confusing if you’re new to credit is getting denied for a new credit card despite having a relatively high score. If this has happened to you, the cause might be your length of credit history.

To put it simply, credit issuers deem people who are new to credit to be riskier than those who have been responsibly using credit for many years. We recommend that you have at least 2 years of good credit history before applying for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

Recent Accounts

If you’re familiar with the world of credit card points and miles (if you’re not, explore our beginner’s guide to points and miles), you may have heard about the Chase 5/24 rule at some point:

• Chase will not approve applications for certain credit cards if the applicant has opened 5 (or more) credit card accounts in the last 24 months.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is one of those cards affected by this rule. So, if you’ve opened at least 5 new credit card accounts in the last 24 months, it’s doubtful you’d be approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

Bottom Line: Your overall credit score is just 1 part of the equation. To get approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you also need a solid income, a good credit history, and fewer than 5 new accounts in the last 24 months.

Tips To Boost Your Credit Score

If your credit score isn’t high enough to get approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, what can you do to improve it?

Well, for starters, don’t lose hope! Like most things, your credit can be improved with the right strategy and time.

Get a Starter Credit Card

If you have a low credit score or have never had a credit card, you’ll likely struggle to get approved for most credit cards.

In this case, opening a secured credit card or a card with a low limit is usually the best option. If you successfully manage the card by making on-time payments, your score will improve relatively quickly.

Hot Tip: Looking to repair or build your credit? The Capital One Platinum Credit Card is a great option that offers fraud coverage, doesn’t charge an annual fee (rates & fees), and gives you access to a higher credit limit after you make your first 5 monthly payments on time. Interested in other options? Explore the best secured credit cards for those with low or no credit.

Get Added as an Authorized User

Being added as an authorized user on someone else’s credit card can greatly affect your score. It can help lower your credit utilization, improve your payment history, and increase the average age of your accounts.

Be mindful, though — you only want to ask someone to add you as an authorized user if they themselves are responsible with their credit. If you’re an authorized user on the account of someone who regularly carries a high balance and misses payments, this can lower your own score (even though you aren’t the primary account holder).

Get Errors Removed

If there are any inaccuracies or potential cases of fraud on your credit report, they can significantly impact your score. This is why you should regularly monitor your credit report (using a free resource) to ensure everything is as it should be.

If you see anything suspicious or inaccurate, you should attempt to dispute the credit error. Depending on the severity of the error, you could see a major change in your credit score.

Final Thoughts

If you’re in the market for a great points and miles credit card, especially one that earns Ultimate Rewards points, you should consider the Chase Sapphire Preferred card to see if it’s worth it for you.

You stand a solid chance of approval if your credit score, income, and credit history are all in check and you’ve opened fewer than 5 Chase new accounts in the last 24 months. If not, stay on track with on-time payments and keep your balances low until you’re ready to apply!