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Chase Product Change/Card Conversion: Downgrade, Upgrade, Keep or Cancel? (2016-2019)

Old Feb 12, 2016, 8:56 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: beltway
This is the general 2016-2019 thread for weighing the relative merits
of keeping, downgrading, or canceling Chase-issued credit cards.


Post-2019 discussion continues in this thread.

What's the main reason people product change (PC)?
The benefits offered by a particular card, might suit you better than the card you are holding. Many people, unable to qualify for a new Chase Sapphire Reserve application, upgraded from the Sapphire Preferred to the Sapphire Reserve, because the benefits of the CSR's cash reimbursements made the annual fee a nominal difference the first year. And vice versa- the onerous $450 yearly fee of the CSR makes an appealing case to downgrade to the Sapphire Preferred, and eventually to the no-fee Sapphire or a Freedom card.

Many people product change to avoid the annual fees on the premium versions of the card. Keeping the card open, via a product change, keeps the account open. This allows you to retain the seasoned account, and the banking relationship that the older card has established with Chase.

Why not just cancel the card and be done with it?
This may be the right choice for you, but others want some of the card benefits without having to reapply. Also, Chase has become very restrictive for new card applicants. For Chase cards, you must wait 24- 48 months since the last time you received a bonus before reapplying. Please see the threads on the individual cards for updated overlay rules.

An additional (and more stringent) overlay is the infamous 5/24 rule, which Chase instituted in May 2016 as a counter-measure against churning, or, as they refer to it, "Serial Starters." The 5/24 rule is that you won't be eligible for most Chase card products if you've opened more than 5 credit cards in 24 months. For more on this and other application-related issues, see the current "Applying for Chase Credit Cards " Master thread.

Finally, canceling certain cards--those earning Chase Ultimate Rewards--may deprive you of the ability to exchange UR for miles/points in air & hotel programs. See Ultimate Rewards transfer partners, times & rules.

Is there any way I can keep a card without paying the annual fee?
See Chase Retention Bonuses: June 2015-Present

Are there any restrictions on product changes?
Product changes are only allowed within the same card "family," and are not permitted between business and personal cards. Also, Chase cites the federal CARD Act to deny product changes on any account less that one year old.

Will a product change count as a new card?
No, you will keep your same card number, "opened on" date, credit line, automatic payment arrangements, etc. A product change does not count against Chase's 5/24 limitations on new cards.

Will I get a signup bonus when I change?
No, product changes do not result in point bonuses. Signup bonuses are reserved for new applicants only. For the complete list of public sign up offers, check the Chase sitemap here: https://creditcards.chase.com/sitemap

Is there a place I can look to compare cards?
Go here: https://creditcards.chase.com/credit...D=177087865887
Click: All cards
Place a checkmark in the Compare box for up to three cards.
Click: Compare cards...and you should see a side-by-side display.

I've figured out what I want to switch to. How do I product change my card?
Call the number on the back of your card.

Product changes for the Ultimate Reward Business and Personal Card Family

The UR family of cards includes the Chase Ink business cards, the Freedom Unlimited, the Freedom Card, and the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Reserve and Sapphire.

The Slate (personal) card is also available to downgrade to. It has no annual fee and does not earn any type of reward points. It offers a low fee (currently 0% for the first 60 days) balance transfers and APR.

Personal Cards
  • Freedom: 5X points in rotating quarterly categories up to $1500 spend per quarter. If you max out the $1500 every quarter, it totals 7500 UR per quarter, or 30,000 UR per year.
  • Freedom Unlimited: 1.5X for all spending, no bonus categories. $20,000 in spend would net 30,000 UR per year.
  • Sapphire Reserve: $450 annual fee, $300 annual travel credit, 3X points for travel and dining. Books travel through the UR portal for 1.5 per dollar. Lounge access and other goodies. See the thread here for details.
  • Sapphire Preferred: $95 annual fee, 2X points for travel & dining
  • Sapphire: Not available to new applicants. Available as a product downgrade/change only, must tier down from the Sapphire Reserve to Sapphire Preferred to Sapphire or Freedom cards. No annual fee. Some Customer Service Reps are citing that the original product (i.e., the CSR), must be held for one year before downgrading. Please provide data points in the thread if this happens to you.


Business Cards
  • Ink Plus: $95 annual fee, 5X office supplies, 5X cellular/landline/cable; 2X gas and hotels
  • Ink Preferred: 3x on travel, shipping, internet/phone/cable, & some online advertising.
  • Ink Cash: No annual fee, 5X office supplies, 5X cellular/landline/cable; 2X gas and restaurants

If you still have a legacy Ink Classic or Ink Bold business card, neither of which is available for new signups, you can product change to one of the other Ink cards.

Considerations for downgrading/upgrading:

Can I combine my UR points?
Yes, UR can be combined freely across the cardholder's own personal and business accounts.

What about transfering my UR to another person's Chase UR account? To their air/hotel partner account?
With restrictions, UR from a personal card can be transferred to a person living at the same address. Business cards allow transfer to owners of the company listed as authorized users.

However, be warned that there are transfer restrictions. Unauthorized transfers have resulted in shut-downs. Review the Chase T&C for details before planning a transfer. For discussion, see http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chase...-accounts.html.

The Freedom cards, no-fee Ink Cash, and no-fee Sapphire cards do not allow UR transfer to airline/hotel partners. If you are downgrading from a premium UR card and will only have no-fee cards left, it may be prudent to transfer your points to the partner of your choice beforehand.

I know I can use UR to pay for travel directly (as opposed to transfering points into a travel partner program). Do the Chase UR cards differ on this?
Only the Sapphire Reserve books travel on the UR portal for 1.5. So you can stack your card bonus opportunities when your UR points are combined into your CSR account and used for booking travel. If, for instance, you earned 5x on your Ink Plus on your phone bill, and combine those 5x Ink earned points into your CSR's UR account, you'll now get an additional .5 in value when you redeem them on the travel portal.

Product Changes for United Airlines Cards

There are options to downgrade or upgrade UA cards.
  • United Mileage Plus Card- no annual fee, 1 UA mile per $2 in spend
  • United Mileage Plus Explorer Card- $95 annual fee, 1 mile per dollar earning, additional award inventory on UA, free checked bag, 25% bonus on the shopping portal.
  • United Plus Club Card- $450 annual fee, 1.5 miles per $1, many additional premium card benefits
  • Business Cards for the Mileage Plus and Club Card give you a choice to upgrade or downgrade between those two.

Southwest Airlines Cards

The difference here is a nominal $30/3000 points per year.

Personal cards
  • Plus Card- $69 annual fee, 3000 bonus points upon renewal
  • Premiere Card- $99 annual fee, 6000 bonus points upon renewal
The Business cards also have a Plus and Premiere version.
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Chase Product Change/Card Conversion: Downgrade, Upgrade, Keep or Cancel? (2016-2019)

Old Mar 3, 2016, 7:47 pm
  #61  
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Originally Posted by enviroian
Let me guess...paying balances in full monthly is not a good thing, credit score wise?
I don't think so, I always pay my balance in full. Even if it did, it's not worth paying the interest to keep some points on your fico. I only carry balance if I take advantage of the 0% balance transfer. The ratio between your statement balance to your credit limit of the card is more important. Keep it under 50% if possible.
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Old Mar 3, 2016, 8:09 pm
  #62  
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Originally Posted by Ord Liza
Can you downgrade it to a no-fee version? That would enable you to keep the credit line and account age.
I don't want to. I pay $495 for the Citi card too for admirals club access.

ETA: you mean downgrade the chase? That makes sense. I don't see why I can't.
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Old Mar 3, 2016, 9:11 pm
  #63  
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Originally Posted by enviroian
ETA: you mean downgrade the chase? That makes sense. I don't see why I can't.
You should be able to downgrade it to a no annual fee United credit card. It earns a crap 0.5 miles per $, but it will keep the account history and that will mean there is no real impact on your credit score.
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Old Mar 3, 2016, 10:09 pm
  #64  
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Originally Posted by superangrypenguin
Not to my knowledge. It's not a soft hit or a hard hit, so I don't see why it would hurt your credit score
It hurts for the reasons stated above:
Debt to credit ratio
total credit line
length of accounts open
etc

How much its going to hurt is more complex and also depends on what his score is currently.
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Old Mar 3, 2016, 10:10 pm
  #65  
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Originally Posted by krazykanuck
You should be able to downgrade it to a no annual fee United credit card. It earns a crap 0.5 miles per $, but it will keep the account history and that will mean there is no real impact on your credit score.
This is your best course of action.
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Old Mar 3, 2016, 11:32 pm
  #66  
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If you have any UA miles left, having chase change it to a no fee UA card will let you use it once in a while to keep the miles "alive."
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Old Mar 3, 2016, 11:33 pm
  #67  
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Originally Posted by enviroian
I don't want to. I pay $495 for the Citi card too for admirals club access.

ETA: you mean downgrade the chase? That makes sense. I don't see why I can't.
Downgrade Chase to the no-fee card.

Regarding the Citi AA card, do you use the AAdmiral's Club often on days when you don't fly AA? If you don't, then you could switch to the Citi Prestige card (earning TYP) and net out at $250/yr. for club access.

Your Citi AA card is a full membership - you can use the club whenever you want, even when you fly another alliance. I have the Prestige card when is just *access*...on days I fly AA. For me, that's good enough...
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Old Mar 4, 2016, 5:13 am
  #68  
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Originally Posted by annerj
It hurts for the reasons stated above:
Debt to credit ratio
total credit line
length of accounts open
etc
.

Plus the number/type of accounts. Closing your oldest, highest credit line card, with only 2 other accounts, can have a significant impact. Closing a recently opened, low credit line card, one of many, not so much.

Paying your bill every month is good in just about every way, including your credit score.
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Old Mar 4, 2016, 5:44 am
  #69  
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Originally Posted by CPRich
Quote:





Originally Posted by annerj


It hurts for the reasons stated above:
Debt to credit ratio
total credit line
length of accounts open
etc
.





Plus the number/type of accounts. Closing your oldest, highest credit line card, with only 2 other accounts, can have a significant impact. Closing a recently opened, low credit line card, one of many, not so much.

Paying your bill every month is good in just about every way, including your credit score.
I only have one other card, a rarely used AMEX gold card I've had since 1987.

I'll take the above advice and call chase today to downgrade to a a no fee card.
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Old Mar 4, 2016, 6:08 am
  #70  
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Even though you switched to AA for now, the Presidential plus has a grandfathered clause that allows you to earn EQM via spend. That benefit alone is worth the $495 a year for me, since I often just miss a status level.

But you fly around a lot so it may not be as valuable to you.
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Old Mar 4, 2016, 6:14 am
  #71  
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Originally Posted by enviroian
I only have one other card, a rarely used AMEX gold card I've had since 1987.

I'll take the above advice and call chase today to downgrade to a a no fee card.
Apply for more cards which you'll keep for a long time. My pick will be Chase Freedom & Chase IHG cards.
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Old Mar 4, 2016, 6:50 am
  #72  
 
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Originally Posted by enviroian
I only have one other card, a rarely used AMEX gold card I've had since 1987.

I'll take the above advice and call chase today to downgrade to a a no fee card.
That gold card helps with the age of your accounts as well. Unfortunately it doesn't help with your utilization % since it's a charge card. Still, I would never close it.

Definitely downgrade your Chase card, don't close it. FYI, after downgrading you will receive a pro-rated refund.
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Old Mar 4, 2016, 8:30 am
  #73  
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Done. Switched to a no annual fee Chase Mileage Plus Visa. There is no Master Card for the basic MP.

Chase does not refund the prorated amount when you downgrade a card, only when you completely close the account (according to what he just told me). My Chase PP would have been up for renewal July 1st. Also my UC membership will end March 15th, not July 1st.
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Old Mar 5, 2016, 7:56 am
  #74  
 
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Originally Posted by enviroian
Chase does not refund the prorated amount when you downgrade a card, only when you completely close the account (according to what he just told me).
My understanding is just the opposite with Chase.

Closing acct: full AF refund within 60 days, no refund after that.
Downgrade: full AF refund withing 30 days, pro-rated by month after that.
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Old Mar 5, 2016, 3:10 pm
  #75  
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About 11 months ago I used the free-for-one-year link to get the United Mileage Plus Club card. I don't want to pay the $450 annual fee so need to cancel or downgrade. Sent an SM to Chase asking to downgrade to an Explorer Card (simply moving the available credit to that card) and got this response:

Thank you for contacting Chase requesting to switch to a
United Explorer card.

At this time, I'm unable to change your account to a
different product. An account that is open less than 12
months is not eligible to change to a different product. I
apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.

As an alternative, you may apply for a new United Explorer
card product. New applications are available online at our
secure website. Please visit our website for the most
current offers and terms available:
http://www.creditcards.chase.com

When selecting the credit card that best meets your needs,
please remember that our policy no longer allows for
customers to have more than one credit card in the same
product. Applications for a card product you already have
may not be eligible for approval.
Do I have any alternatives to closing the account and re-applying for a different card?

I don't want to take a bad hit to my FICO. Along with the United Club card I have an Amex Hilton HHonors card (open for about 5 years, zero balance), and an old United Mileage Plus Signature card (had for about 20 years)

Be gentle; it's my first foray into the credit card forums
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