Chase Sapphire Preferred: Cancel/Downgrade Question

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ComebackKid
Posts: 47
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2012 6:14 pm

Chase Sapphire Preferred: Cancel/Downgrade Question

Post by ComebackKid »

A while back, I signed up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred (CSP), as I had a large purchase coming up. Fast forward, I'm finding I have little use for the card as I also have the Reserve (which gets the most use). I've transferred the points into the Reserve account to have them all in one place.

My question: if I cancel or downgrade to the to the Freedom, will they cancel or take back the points I had initially received as part of the sign up bonus/spend? What's the best course of action here? Any help/recs/tips will be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!
yohac
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Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2018 1:42 pm

Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred: Cancel/Downgrade Question

Post by yohac »

From what I've read, they won't claw back your points, but they won't allow a product change until your anniversary. And even then, they may not allow you to directly change to a Freedom. They're a little weird that way.
BeneIRA
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Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred: Cancel/Downgrade Question

Post by BeneIRA »

ComebackKid wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2019 2:11 pm A while back, I signed up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred (CSP), as I had a large purchase coming up. Fast forward, I'm finding I have little use for the card as I also have the Reserve (which gets the most use). I've transferred the points into the Reserve account to have them all in one place.

My question: if I cancel or downgrade to the to the Freedom, will they cancel or take back the points I had initially received as part of the sign up bonus/spend? What's the best course of action here? Any help/recs/tips will be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!
You have to wait until the card has been opened a year. The annual fee will post. Then you contact Chase and tell them you want to downgrade/product change it to a Freedom or Freedom Unlimited. You won't lose the points. They won't clawback your bonus. Easy. Happens everyday. I did it over a year ago.

If you wait the year, they will let you change directly to a Freedom or Freedom Unlimited.
Topic Author
ComebackKid
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Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred: Cancel/Downgrade Question

Post by ComebackKid »

Thank you both for the replies. It's well after a year, which is why I didn't want pay another annual fee if I'm not using it.
alaskantraveler
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Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred: Cancel/Downgrade Question

Post by alaskantraveler »

I'll second what others said, yes you can downgrade and you will not lose your points. Down grading to the freedom unlimited can make it a pretty good card for unbonused spend when combined with the CSR. You are basically get 2.25% on all unbonused spend when using points through the Chase travel portal.
rich126
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Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred: Cancel/Downgrade Question

Post by rich126 »

You do realize you can combine points from the various Chase cards (preferred, reserve, freedom and business cards like the Ink)? So if you have points on the preferred account move them to your reserved account before you cancel. Other I think they will be lost.
----------------------------- | If you think something is important and it doesn't involve the health of someone, think again. Life goes too fast, enjoy it and be nice.
OnceARunner
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Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred: Cancel/Downgrade Question

Post by OnceARunner »

rich126 wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2019 8:04 pm You do realize you can combine points from the various Chase cards (preferred, reserve, freedom and business cards like the Ink)? So if you have points on the preferred account move them to your reserved account before you cancel. Other I think they will be lost.
He already said he did that in the original post.
TravelGeek
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Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred: Cancel/Downgrade Question

Post by TravelGeek »

I originally had the CSP, then got the CSR at launch (100k bonus) and then downgraded the CSP to the Freedom Unlimited. Simple call to customer service.
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birdog
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Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred: Cancel/Downgrade Question

Post by birdog »

You don't need to keep this card for a year in order to keep your points. I think the best way to handle this is to call and cancel the card at 11 months in order to avoid the second year annual fee (first year was free). Make sure all points are transferred to your CSR prior to cancelling the CSP. Then wait a few months and apply for the Chase Freedom card. That way you get the sign up bonus for that card as well. Most of the value from the points on these cards comes from the sign up bonuses achieved through the minimum spend in the first 3 months. You always need to have a premium card (CSP, CSR) in order to be able to transfer points to travel rewards partners. If you've already been charged the annual fee you can still call and usually get the fee refunded and cancel the card.
Last edited by birdog on Thu Mar 14, 2019 8:05 am, edited 2 times in total.
rich126
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Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred: Cancel/Downgrade Question

Post by rich126 »

OnceARunner wrote: Thu Mar 14, 2019 7:05 am
rich126 wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2019 8:04 pm You do realize you can combine points from the various Chase cards (preferred, reserve, freedom and business cards like the Ink)? So if you have points on the preferred account move them to your reserved account before you cancel. Other I think they will be lost.
He already said he did that in the original post.
Sorry about that. That is what happens when you try to read these threads on an smaller screen (or maybe it is just getting older).

It is rare they try to take back bonuses. Maybe if someone met a spending requirement but then returned items or violated the agreement in other ways. I've heard a number of stories about customer service trying to scare people into believe that but I've never seen it. Once you do a year you can just cancel it. The other option is to call and ask for a retention bonus. Tell them since you have the other card you may not want to pay another annual fee. Sometimes they may waive the fee or offer you additional points for additional spend on it. Depending on how you value the points it may be worth paying the fee.
----------------------------- | If you think something is important and it doesn't involve the health of someone, think again. Life goes too fast, enjoy it and be nice.
TravelGeek
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Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred: Cancel/Downgrade Question

Post by TravelGeek »

birdog wrote: Thu Mar 14, 2019 7:45 am You don't need to keep this card for a year in order to keep your points. I think the best way to handle this is to call and cancel the card at 11 months in order to avoid the second year annual fee (first year was free). Make sure all points are transferred to your CSR prior to cancelling the CSP. Then wait a few months and apply for the Chase Freedom card. That way you get the sign up bonus for that card as well. Most of the value from the points on these cards comes from the sign up bonuses achieved through the minimum spend in the first 3 months.
The signup bonuses for the Freedom and Freedom Unlimited seem to be $150. Personally, I probably wouldn’t cancel the CSP and then apply for a new card with such a low bonus. Product change to FU and using the “application slot” for a card with a better bonus would be my approach.
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birdog
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Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred: Cancel/Downgrade Question

Post by birdog »

TravelGeek wrote: Thu Mar 14, 2019 11:16 am
birdog wrote: Thu Mar 14, 2019 7:45 am You don't need to keep this card for a year in order to keep your points. I think the best way to handle this is to call and cancel the card at 11 months in order to avoid the second year annual fee (first year was free). Make sure all points are transferred to your CSR prior to cancelling the CSP. Then wait a few months and apply for the Chase Freedom card. That way you get the sign up bonus for that card as well. Most of the value from the points on these cards comes from the sign up bonuses achieved through the minimum spend in the first 3 months.
The signup bonuses for the Freedom and Freedom Unlimited seem to be $150. Personally, I probably wouldn’t cancel the CSP and then apply for a new card with such a low bonus. Product change to FU and using the “application slot” for a card with a better bonus would be my approach.
That's true if you're using the rewards as cash back, which is not an optimized strategy. Getting the 15k bonus points then transferring to a CSP or CSR card and then redeeming for travel rewards would be a better value than cash. Assuming you can get a travel redemption valued at 2 cents per point then the signup bonuses double. Then wait a six or so months and get the card with the "better bonus" too. The limiting factor would be the Chase 5/24 rule. I just don't like that you forfeit the signup bonus when you product change cards, that's why I wouldn't do it. Chase Ultimate Reward points are too valuable to leave any behind.
dorster
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Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred: Cancel/Downgrade Question

Post by dorster »

I went through this within the last 30 days.

They did not allow a product change to the "Freedom Family" of cards. You can only product change to the Chase Sapphire which is a no-annual fee card with not many benefits except for 2x points for dining. It was a quick call and all your Ultimate Rewards points transfer to the new card.

I product changed, rather than canceling, to continue to establish credit history. If you already have a lot of history it may make sense to cancel.
edudumb
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Re: Chase Sapphire Preferred: Cancel/Downgrade Question

Post by edudumb »

I just did it last week as well.

You could change to a different card or simply a no-fee version of Sapphire. The card number is the same, but they'll mail you a new plastic card.

Fee posted within 60 days get refunded. Mine got refunded almost instantly.

Points can be combined/ transferred.
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