Feb 12, 2016, 8:56 am
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.
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
- For discussion specific to the Sapphire Preferred Card, see Chase Sapphire Preferred - Keep, Downgrade, or Cancel?
- 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
Chase Product Change/Card Conversion: Downgrade, Upgrade, Keep or Cancel? (2016-2019)
Feb 1, 2016, 9:02 pm
#31
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 134
Question about canceling rewards cards and applying again next year
Last year I successfully took the best vacation ever to Japan using the signup bonus from 3 credit cards:
Chase Ink Plus
Hyatt card
Chase Sapphire
I'd like to do it again in a couple of years, and that means canceling these cards and applying for them again in the near future. However, I've heard that some programs are now only allowing signup bonuses to be once per lifetime. I believe the Hyatt card is not included in that list(they specifically say you can only get the bonus once per 24 months), but I've heard that Chase might be a little more stingy. Hence, I have 2 questions to you knowledgable members of this board:
1. Is anyone aware of Chase making their signup bonuses once-per-lifetime? If not, what is a reasonable amount of time to wait before attempting the signup bonus again?
2. I have a balance of points on my Hyatt card - will canceling it obliterate those points? If so, is there any way around that?
Also looking for any friendly generic advice regarding the logistics of canceling cards. It's my first rodeo
Thanks
Chase Ink Plus
Hyatt card
Chase Sapphire
I'd like to do it again in a couple of years, and that means canceling these cards and applying for them again in the near future. However, I've heard that some programs are now only allowing signup bonuses to be once per lifetime. I believe the Hyatt card is not included in that list(they specifically say you can only get the bonus once per 24 months), but I've heard that Chase might be a little more stingy. Hence, I have 2 questions to you knowledgable members of this board:
1. Is anyone aware of Chase making their signup bonuses once-per-lifetime? If not, what is a reasonable amount of time to wait before attempting the signup bonus again?
2. I have a balance of points on my Hyatt card - will canceling it obliterate those points? If so, is there any way around that?
Also looking for any friendly generic advice regarding the logistics of canceling cards. It's my first rodeo
Thanks
Feb 2, 2016, 10:45 am
#32
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 82
- Different cards have different terms and conditions, so you'll have to look at the rules for each card.
- Rules can change. Just because something works now, doesn't mean it will still work a year from now.
- Most of the Chase cards do not have a once per lifetime rule, but they do make you wait 24 months between your last bonus and a new bonus. So, expect to have to wait 2 years before a new bonus on the same card.
- The general trend for the last year is for Chase to look less favorably towards people who seem to only use the card for a bonus and then stop using them. They have also been pretty regularly rejecting applications from people who have opened more than 5 cards in the last 24 months. So, if you want to do another round of Chase apps in the future, don't apply for too many other cards and use the cards you currently have.
- You won't lose your Hyatt points if you close the CC. Once the points are in your Hyatt account, they will stay there.
- However, because Ultimate Rewards is run by Chase, you would lose access to those points if you closed all of your UR earning cards. So, spend those points or transfer those points or at least send them to an airline/hotel partner before closing your account.
- Rules can change. Just because something works now, doesn't mean it will still work a year from now.
- Most of the Chase cards do not have a once per lifetime rule, but they do make you wait 24 months between your last bonus and a new bonus. So, expect to have to wait 2 years before a new bonus on the same card.
- The general trend for the last year is for Chase to look less favorably towards people who seem to only use the card for a bonus and then stop using them. They have also been pretty regularly rejecting applications from people who have opened more than 5 cards in the last 24 months. So, if you want to do another round of Chase apps in the future, don't apply for too many other cards and use the cards you currently have.
- You won't lose your Hyatt points if you close the CC. Once the points are in your Hyatt account, they will stay there.
- However, because Ultimate Rewards is run by Chase, you would lose access to those points if you closed all of your UR earning cards. So, spend those points or transfer those points or at least send them to an airline/hotel partner before closing your account.
Feb 2, 2016, 11:00 am
#33
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,954
You do not have a points balance on your Hyatt credit card. The points are automatically transferred to your Hyatt Gold Passport account after each statement is issued. Closing the credit card account will not affect those points.
Ink and Sapphire work differently than Hyatt. The Ultimate Rewards points are stored in a separate rewards account for each card, until you move or redeem them. If you close (for example) the Sapphire card you will lose the Sapphire account balance. To avoid this you should first transfer the points from Sapphire to Ink or to an airline or hotel partner. All of these options are available on ultimaterewards.com . No need to do anything by telephone.
Feb 5, 2016, 10:51 pm
#34
formerly mattrendell27
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: DFW
Posts: 162
downgrade CSP to Freedom
So the annual fee on my CSP has just come due and since I just got an Ink Plus and no longer need the CSP to transfer to travel partners I'd like to downgrade the CSP to a Freedom. If I SM to downgrade the CSP to a Freedom in the next couple of days, how soon does the product change occur (i.e. does the new Freedom get sent in the mail right away)? Trying to hit the gas category with the card if I can, so hopefully it's not like with Citi product changes where it takes 50 days.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Feb 8, 2016, 6:40 am
#36
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 1,857
So the annual fee on my CSP has just come due and since I just got an Ink Plus and no longer need the CSP to transfer to travel partners I'd like to downgrade the CSP to a Freedom. If I SM to downgrade the CSP to a Freedom in the next couple of days, how soon does the product change occur (i.e. does the new Freedom get sent in the mail right away)? Trying to hit the gas category with the card if I can, so hopefully it's not like with Citi product changes where it takes 50 days.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Feb 12, 2016, 7:05 am
#37
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 1,857
Keep, Cancel, or Downgrade Chase Cards (2016)
Most of the discussion re: 5/24 revolves around new app strategies. What about annual fees? Are you more likely to pay AF if you won't be able to reapply in the future? I'll keep CSP as that AF is easy to justify.
What about cards like United MPE? The AF for my MPE just posted and I planned on downgrading, assuming I could just reapply and get the signup bonus next year. If the rumors are true and co-branded cards will be subject to 5/24, I'll never get approved for MPE again, let alone receive the bonus.
So I'll ask a question that's probably NEVER been asked on FT. If I downgrade MPE to no AF version, would Chase let me upgrade back to MPE in the future?
What about cards like United MPE? The AF for my MPE just posted and I planned on downgrading, assuming I could just reapply and get the signup bonus next year. If the rumors are true and co-branded cards will be subject to 5/24, I'll never get approved for MPE again, let alone receive the bonus.
So I'll ask a question that's probably NEVER been asked on FT. If I downgrade MPE to no AF version, would Chase let me upgrade back to MPE in the future?
Feb 19, 2016, 10:58 am
#38
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 1,857
Most of the discussion re: 5/24 revolves around new app strategies. What about annual fees? Are you more likely to pay AF if you won't be able to reapply in the future? I'll keep CSP as that AF is easy to justify.
What about cards like United MPE? The AF for my MPE just posted and I planned on downgrading, assuming I could just reapply and get the signup bonus next year. If the rumors are true and co-branded cards will be subject to 5/24, I'll never get approved for MPE again, let alone receive the bonus.
So I'll ask a question that's probably NEVER been asked on FT. If I downgrade MPE to no AF version, would Chase let me upgrade back to MPE in the future?
What about cards like United MPE? The AF for my MPE just posted and I planned on downgrading, assuming I could just reapply and get the signup bonus next year. If the rumors are true and co-branded cards will be subject to 5/24, I'll never get approved for MPE again, let alone receive the bonus.
So I'll ask a question that's probably NEVER been asked on FT. If I downgrade MPE to no AF version, would Chase let me upgrade back to MPE in the future?
- I have 60 days from when MPE AF is posted to get a refund if I cancel
- I can downgrade any time, the AF credit will be pro-rated
- The no AF card also loses Visa Signature benefits
- Can't upgrade back to Explorer until 1 full year after downgrading
- Upgrading back to MPE won't restore Visa Signature benefits
Feb 19, 2016, 11:11 am
#39
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: ZOA, SFO, HKG
Programs: UA 1K 0.9MM, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold, Hertz PC, SBux Gold, TSA Pre✓
Posts: 13,811
Feb 19, 2016, 11:32 am
#40
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 7,903
I finally got around to calling Chase re:downgrading/upgrading MileagePlus Cards today. Here's some info I got that I wasn't clear on before the call:
- I have 60 days from when MPE AF is posted to get a refund if I cancel
- I can downgrade any time, the AF credit will be pro-rated
- The no AF card also loses Visa Signature benefits
- Can't upgrade back to Explorer until 1 full year after downgrading
- Upgrading back to MPE won't restore Visa Signature benefits
Feb 19, 2016, 8:45 pm
#42
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 102
Was planning on cancelling my wife's chase sw card but noticed the af hit a couple weeks ago; my initial plan was to pay the balance and cancel, but is there any chance of getting my af waived prior? If not, what're my options?
Feb 20, 2016, 6:51 am
#43
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 1,857
Feb 20, 2016, 9:58 am
#44
Join Date: Jun 2015
Programs: Hilton Gold, Hyatt Platinum, Mlife Gold, IHG Platinum, SW for domestic, AA for international
Posts: 31
Last year I successfully took the best vacation ever to Japan using the signup bonus from 3 credit cards:
Chase Ink Plus
Hyatt card
Chase Sapphire
I'd like to do it again in a couple of years, and that means canceling these cards and applying for them again in the near future. However, I've heard that some programs are now only allowing signup bonuses to be once per lifetime. I believe the Hyatt card is not included in that list(they specifically say you can only get the bonus once per 24 months), but I've heard that Chase might be a little more stingy. Hence, I have 2 questions to you knowledgable members of this board:
1. Is anyone aware of Chase making their signup bonuses once-per-lifetime? If not, what is a reasonable amount of time to wait before attempting the signup bonus again?
2. I have a balance of points on my Hyatt card - will canceling it obliterate those points? If so, is there any way around that?
Also looking for any friendly generic advice regarding the logistics of canceling cards. It's my first rodeo
Thanks
Chase Ink Plus
Hyatt card
Chase Sapphire
I'd like to do it again in a couple of years, and that means canceling these cards and applying for them again in the near future. However, I've heard that some programs are now only allowing signup bonuses to be once per lifetime. I believe the Hyatt card is not included in that list(they specifically say you can only get the bonus once per 24 months), but I've heard that Chase might be a little more stingy. Hence, I have 2 questions to you knowledgable members of this board:
1. Is anyone aware of Chase making their signup bonuses once-per-lifetime? If not, what is a reasonable amount of time to wait before attempting the signup bonus again?
2. I have a balance of points on my Hyatt card - will canceling it obliterate those points? If so, is there any way around that?
Also looking for any friendly generic advice regarding the logistics of canceling cards. It's my first rodeo
Thanks
Keeping in mind that the 5/24 rule is also in effect for all three of those cards later this year so if you have more than 5 accounts in 24 months when you apply you will NOT get any of the cards (accounts includes Authorized User accounts).
The Hyatt balance is held by Hyatt so cancelling that card has no effect on your points balance.
Your Ultimate Rewards points are attached to each card account. You could combine them into the CS account and then ask to downgrade that account into a Chase Freedom no-annual-fee account to keep the points.
See: Applying for Chase Credit Cards- May 2015-Present thread
Absolutely, it's changed my strategy. My plan previously was to churn the Hyatt cards to get 2 free nights instead of 1 anniv free night in 24 months, but since they are now subject to the 5/24 rule I'll be keeping them around (as the 1 free night offsets the cost of the card). Same for my IHG card. Chase Sapphire Preferred I always wanted to keep anyway because it was such a lucrative card and ensures that I'm able to move my points to travel partners, but in addition comes with primary car rental insurance which makes it worth it for me.
Feb 20, 2016, 10:31 am
#45
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: On strike
Posts: 8,135
My plan previously was to churn the Hyatt cards to get 2 free nights instead of 1 anniv free night in 24 months, but since they are now subject to the 5/24 rule I'll be keeping them around (as the 1 free night offsets the cost of the card).