Updated Eligibility Rules for Sapphire and Ink Business Cards

Since June 2025, there have been a number of updates to the eligibility rules on these two very popular lineups of Chase cards. This article will serve as a master guide of all the changes.

Sapphire Cards

Starting with the personal Sapphire cards, previously, there was a 48‑month cooldown between earning a bonus on the same Sapphire product. Then in June 2025 Chase replaced that restriction with one that blocked earning a bonus on one Sapphire card if you already held another Sapphire card.

But beginning on January 22, 2026, Chase made a meaningful update to how welcome bonuses work on its flagship Sapphire cards.

Under the new rules, each Sapphire product now carries a lifetime welcome bonus eligibility, meaning you can earn the bonus once per card version as long as you’ve never received that card’s bonus before—regardless of whether you already hold a different Sapphire card. However, we suspect that “lifetime” means about 7 years because that is when the credit card account might be dropped from your credit report.

In practice, that means if you’ve had the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and earned its bonus, you can apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and earn its bonus too if you’ve never earned the Sapphire Reserve bonus before.

Chase is also clarifying the eligibility language on applications to make this more straightforward: the system will check whether you’ve ever had the specific card (not just any Sapphire card) and whether you’ve already received its bonus. If you fall into an exclusion—like having received that exact card’s welcome offer previously—the app may display a pop‑up letting you know the bonus won’t be available, and you can cancel without affecting your credit. The old “once every 48 months” rule is officially gone, replaced by this once‑per‑card lifetime bonus structure.

And you may be wondering what that means for the Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ card that was launched in June 2025 and the good news is that even if you have one or both of the personal Sapphire cards, you are still eligible for the Sapphire Reserve for Business. There are no overlapping eligibility rules between the business card and the personal Sapphire cards.

Ink Business Cards

Moving on to the Ink business cards, in November 2025, a popup with lifetime restriction language was added to the Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card, Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card and the Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card.

The new cardmember bonus may not be available to you if you have ever had this card. We may also consider factors pertinent to your business in determining your bonus eligibility.

Do note that there are no overlapping eligibility restrictions between the Ink Preferred card and the Ink Cash/Unlimited cards: if you’ve gotten the Ink Preferred you can still get either the Ink Cash or Ink Unlimited. If you’ve gotten the Ink Cash/Unlimited you can still get the Ink Preferred.

The good news is that there are a number of data points that suggest the new language is not always enforced. You can still apply for the Ink card of your choice and see if you get a popup notifying you of your ineligibility.

While we are on the topic of the Ink business cards, it is worth mentioning that on October 7, 2025 referral bonuses were changed to only allow earning of a referral if the person referred is a new Chase business card customer.

Our Take

For points and miles travelers, the latest Sapphire update is a net positive compared to the rule in June 2025.

That said, it’s not a return to the more generous old world. You won’t be able to earn repeat bonuses on the same Sapphire card, so timing is critical. If you skipped a Sapphire bonus in the past because of the old rules, this update may give you another shot. Just be sure to track your bonus history carefully and plan around Chase’s 5/24 rule.

Meanwhile, the Ink Business Card update put a wrench in a lot of people’s points earning strategy.

While there’s been a lot of updates to these Chase card families, their points currency is still one of the best to earn and redeem, we just have to be more selective with which cards we add to our wallet and when.