Thread: Denied 50,000 Bonus Points Because of Upgrade vs. New Application

Hello!

Apologies if this has already been discussed. I took a quick search of the forum and did not see anything. I would not be surprised if I am missing something obvious.

My wife and I got the Chase Sapphire Preferred last year, and we have enjoyed the benefits that come with the card. My wife mentioned to me that our account had not been credited with 50,000 bonus points. I just got off the phone with Chase, and they acknowledged that we did meet the $3k spending requirement for qualification. However, they told me that we would not be getting the 50k bonus points because we had upgraded to the card rather than applying for it as a new Chase customer.

After blinking at the phone for a few moments, I told Wesley that I distinctly remember when we moved from a Chase Freedom to the Sapphire Preferred with NO mention of disqualification from the 50k bonus point benefit. In fact, Chase was very happy to tell us, at the time, about all the great reasons to switch from our free rewards card.

While on the phone with Wesley, spinning in circles of logic, I looked at a few of the Preferred webpages and could find nothing. Finally, I asked Wesley to send me this policy in writing describing when and how it is communicated to people before the switch. He said something would be mailed to me.

Has anyone faced this same issue? Can someone direct me to the Chase statement about this? (Answers will make facing my wife easier...)

I guess what sticks in my craw is that we did exactly the same sort of switch/upgrade/whatever with AmEx to the Platinum card and received points.

-Cheers

First of all chase is garbage, your not at fault they are. they owe you 50,000 bonus points may I explain?

you can't upgrade to this card. you said you had a chase freedom , this card is a cash back card I see this card alot in my malls.

the card you now have is business card NOT A COMPANY CARD a personal card which you may use for personal use or a personal card you use on business.

you can't upgrade from a chase freedom to a chase sapphire, the reason 1 is a cash back card the other 1 is a point/miles card.

for example let's say you have a American express clear card you can't upgrade to a Blue cash card you can apply for the blue cash , but you can't upgrade.

upgrade means going from 1 level to another while keeping the same account. for example if you have a Blue cash card, you can't upgrade to a 2% back platinum card, you can go from Blue cash to blue cash perfered. Green to gold rewards.

but you can't upgrade a Freedom to a sapphire, you can go from a sapphire to a sapphire prefered.

you have to excuse chase for being stupid.

Now if chase said you can't get the 50,000 points if you have any of there cards in the same family, example if you had a Freedom, they may say you can't have any sapphire or slate because these are all in the family

where as you had a freedom, but you want to change to a Marriot, these 2 cards are not in the same family. but the Freedom and the sapphire are. if chase worded the 50,000 bonus points are not awarded to card users in the same family , then there correct you don't get the 50,000 bonus points. But if chase said no upgrading , take a guess what you never upgraed, they would be wrong all you did was reapply for a higher level card. since Chase doesn't put membership dates on cards no number would be the same.

if thats the case chase owes you 50,000 bonus points.

This is off of Chase's website:

Earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months

To qualify and receive your bonus, you must make purchases totaling $3,000 or more during the first 3 months from account opening. Purchases do not include using your account for balance transfers or cash advances, or using any checks that access your account. After qualifying, please allow 6 to 8 weeks for bonus points to post to your account. To be eligible for this bonus offer, account must be open and not in default at the time of fulfillment. This one-time bonus offer is valid only for first-time cardmembers with new accounts. Previous and existing cardmembers/accounts are not eligible for this bonus offer.

If your Freedom did get converted to a Sapphire Preferred, then Chase was right :-/.

So according to that statement if I have a chase freedom card and I open the continental card for example I am considered an existing customer because I have a chase card?? seems strange...

I can tell you this though -
When I opened my chase freedom card, for some reason I didnt get the reward from the promo. I called and first they said I am not eligible for it because of some irrational excuse. I called again and spoke to a different persno which said they had a mistake and I got the reward point on my following statement.
I would suggest call again and hope someone normal will pick up the phone... nothing to lose...

Hjamespyun,

Thank you for the information. I guess I should have used the website for the application/upgrade/whatever they call it. A shame the person on the phone - when we did the switch - didn't have the same information. C'est la vie. Thanks again.

-Feyne

Feyne,

You still have a pretty damn good card in the Sapphire Preferred though.

Hi guys, I'm still trying to understand this thing. I have a chase freedom card. If I apply through the website for a chase sapphire card, am I not eligible to the promotion because I have a different chase card?

Did it specifically say X amount points for signing up for the card? Or did it say X amount a points for the Sapphire card but new Chase card members only?

I would say if it says X amount of points for the Sapphire, it shouldn't matter if you have the Freedom. But if it says new members, well you have a Freedom so I can understand you not being eligible.

I would think this you would be eligible because the Freedom is a cash back card for people who like to shop. While the sapphire is a travel card.

I would think you would qualify because these are 2 different type of cards.