I’ve long been in the market for a Chase business card. After dropping the Marriott business card a couple years ago, I’ve been locked out of all of Chase’s business products due to the pesky 5/24 rule. Eventually, I had to make a plan to drop back under 5/24.
I was nearly there when I found out that people were experiencing approval through targeted “Just for You” offers. This led me to pull the trigger on the Chase Ink Business Unlimited Card.
Great, Now I Have Two 1.5x Earning Cards
I was initially bummed that one of Chase’s other business cards weren’t available through a “Just for You” offer. Either the Chase Ink Business Preferred or the Chase Ink Business Cash would have been a better complement to what I currently have. Sure, earning 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points on everything is nice, but I could really use a card with bonus points on office supply. I’ve been without one for far too long.
Not having a Chase Ink Business Preferred also means I’m still without a premium card that will allow me to transfer points to Ultimate Rewards transfer partners. We only have Freedoms at the point, after I made the decision to not renew my Chase Sapphire Reserve several months ago.
Plus, we already have a Chase Freedom Unlimited. What good is a second 1.5x card?
But then it hit me over a week later: I can convert my wife’s Chase Freedom Unlimited. Duh.
Product Changing Chase Ultimate Rewards Cards
I don’t know why it didn’t hit me sooner. There is a lot in this hobby that I know well, but there are some things that still take far too long to sink in. I don’t do many product changes, so maybe that’s why it wasn’t on the forefront of my mind.
In any case, it seems pretty pointless to keep a personal card that earns 1.5x Ultimate Rewards per dollar spent when I have a perfectly viable business card that can do the same. The only other Chase cards we hard are my two Freedom cards. With the ability to hit the quarterly $1,500 cap on rotating 5x categories, I don’t want to give those up.
But now I will have my wife product change her Freedom Unlimited to a Chase Sapphire Preferred whenever we end up needing to transfer points. Or use them for 1.25x through the travel portal. The Reserve is also an option, but she travels far, far less than I do, and the perks wouldn’t really be all that useful. But it’s an option.
There are several things to note when product changing Chase credit cards:
- Your card must be open for >12 months to be eligible to product change (actually, this is true of all cards, although this is only legally required for product upgrades when the fee is higher).
- You cannot product change a co-branded card to an Ultimate Rewards-earning card, or vice versa. Cards must be within the same “family”.
- You cannot product change from a personal to a business product (if this wasn’t already obvious)
- There seems to be no issue changing from a free (like a Freedom) to a very premium card (i.e. the Chase Sapphire Reserve) as long as Chase can extend the necessary credit line to you.
- You will be charged the new annual fee (if applicable) immediately. Although this did not happen when I upgraded to a CSR. If you downgrade within a month after your annual fee posts, your fee will be refunded.
- Product changing a Chase card has no impact on your 5/24 standing since there isn’t a new account being opened.
Since all our Chase cards (with the exception of the brand new Business Unlimited) have been open for 2+ years and we should meet all other requirements, I’m confident product changing to a Chase Sapphire Preferred would be not problem at all.
Conclusion
There is the chance that we really don’t need a premium Chase card until I can pick up the Ink Business Preferred. In which case, the entire plan is moot. But it’s nice to have this option in our back pocket in case we need it. Or maybe the plan changes to converting her Freedom Unlimited to a third Freedom? Choices, choices.
Have you ever needed to product change Chase cards? What was your experience?
Featured photo copyright Chase bank. Chase branch photo courtesy of Jim the Photographer via Flickr under CC BY 2.0 license.
