Chase Confirms: Sapphire Preferred Members Can Expect Upgrade Offers to Sapphire Reserve

If you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card and are considering an upgrade to the Chase Sapphire Reserve^®, you might want to wait.

Upgrading now could give you all the perks the more premium card offers, but waiting could give you access to those with a nice bonus on top.

Chase has confirmed Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders will soon see upgrade offers to turn their card into the premium Chase Sapphire Reserve card. Much remains unknown, but here’s what we know (and what we don’t) so far.

What Is a Credit Card Upgrade?

Before going too far, let’s ensure we’re all on the same page. Many credit card issuers allow you to change your credit card into another card so long as it’s within the same type of rewards family. If both cards earn Marriott points or earn cash-back, for example, conversions are usually allowed. On the other hand, switching between rewards families — like changing your Delta credit card into a Hilton credit card, which earns a different reward — is rarely permitted.

It’s definitely not allowed with Chase.

However, Chase allows its cardholders to upgrade and downgrade cards within the Ultimate Rewards and cash-back card families. For example, you can upgrade your Chase Sapphire Preferred card to the Chase Sapphire Reserve card or go the other direction by downgrading your Chase Sapphire Preferred card to a Chase Freedom Unlimited^®. (You can also now hold both the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve card simultaneously.)

Chase To Offer Upgrades Between Sapphire Cards

The Chase Sapphire page on Reddit is consistently busy, and there are over 200,000 members. The Chase social media team recently joined the community, and one question — or, more accurately, its response from Chase — caught a lot of attention.

Someone asked whether Chase would consider providing bonuses or upgrade offers to move from the Chase Sapphire Preferred card to the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. Chase’s reply couldn’t have been more direct:

“Upgrade offers are coming – stay tuned!“

Now what will those offers be? It’s anyone’s guess.

I’ve written previously about hunting for offers, including upgrade offers, with American Express. Chase may do something similar, offering a prorated annual fee and perhaps a spending goal for bonus points.

Everyone has a different threshold when it comes to what type of offer is enticing. For those who are already certain they want to upgrade, the smallest bonus would be icing on the cake. For those on the fence, a bonus offer of 30,000 points after a reasonable spending requirement might change their mind.

Offers also might be targeted, based on how much you’ve spent on your card in the past year or how long you’ve had it.

But since we don’t know exactly how the bonuses will work, we’ll have to wait for Chase’s next move.

Final Thoughts

Chase has confirmed that upgrade offers are coming, aiming to convince those with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card to upgrade it to the premium Chase Sapphire Reserve card. What those bonuses will look like remains unknown. So does the date when these offers will start rolling out.

Our fingers are crossed that the offers will be good.