Chase Sapphire Preferred Eliminates Authorized User Bonus
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Bye-bye, easy 5K. As of Sept. 11, 2018, holders of the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card will no longer be able to scoop up 5,000 bonus Chase Ultimate Rewards® points just by adding an authorized user and making a purchase in the first three months from account opening.
There's no charge to add an authorized user to a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card account, so getting that authorized user bonus was as simple as making a request to add someone plus making a qualifying purchase of any amount. (You can still add authorized users to your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. You just can't get a bonus for doing so.)
When redeemed for travel booked through Chase, 5,000 points are worth $62.50. The loss of that opportunity probably won't dissuade many people from applying for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, but it's worth noting that the change is consistent with an overall scale-back of benefits to Chase's Sapphire cards. Previous changes include:
The issuer implementing a "One Sapphire Card" rule in August 2017, which prevents consumers from applying for (and collecting sign-up bonuses on) more than one Sapphire-branded card.
Several tweaks to the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, announced in August 2018. Purchases that qualify for reimbursement with the card's $300 annual travel credit no longer earn rewards points. Chase also discontinued the card's price protection perk and added restrictions to the lounge access benefit.
