The Chase Sapphire Reserve℠ became available last week, and it has been very popular. Not only does it have a great point welcome bonus, but it’s a card that’s actually worth keeping long term thanks to the triple points it offers on dining and travel, along with a bunch of other benefits.
I imagine Chase knew the card would be popular when they launched it, as a great welcome bonus gets people interested, even people who otherwise don’t consider getting new credit cards.
Well, it seems that Chase may have underestimated the card’s popularity, because most people who received the Chase Sapphire Reserve in the mail as of yesterday received the following message with the card:
You are one of the first to call Chase Sapphire Reserve your own. We are honored to have you as a cardmember and wanted to make sure you could start enjoying your elite benefits as quickly as possible.
Due to extraordinary demand for the Sapphire Reserve we have rush delivered the enclosed plastic card for you to use temporarily. Rest assured you will receive your hand-crafted embedded metal card as soon as it is available.
So I guess demand has been so high that they’ve run out of the actual materials needed for the Chase Sapphire Reserve. For what it’s worth, the card is supposed to be made of the same materials as the Sapphire Preferred Card, so looks very similar.
Instead the cards they’re sending out right now are plastic and have “raised” numbers on them, so they look more like an average credit card. I wonder if the materials stockpile is different for the Reserve and Preferred, or if they’re also sending out plastic cards right now for the Preferred.
I mention all this because I think it shows us that demand for the card has exceeded even Chase’s expectations. Hopefully they view this as a good thing, and decide to raise their overall budget for the card, realizing it will pay off long term. However, it’s also possible that they’ll run through their budget sooner than expected, and perhaps the huge welcome bonus won’t be around quite as long as I had speculated.
We’ll see!
@Rich Nope you are pretty much out of luck if denied for 5/24. Only way some people are getting it over 5/24 seems to be if they were pre-qualified in the branch or had their private banker put app in for them. I have heard stories of people being denied online and then walking into branch and getting card because they were pre-qualified.
I got denied due to the 5/24 rule. Is there any chance to get it reversed by calling the reconsideration line?
I have both a Mileage plus and a CSP card from Chase, both with 25K credit line that I never need. Would it enlarge my chance for CSR approval to first call and have my credit lines on those cards lowered before applying for the CSR card? I do not exceed the 5/24 rule.
Thanks for great site!
@Bert - Your best option is to go ahead and apply for the card. If you don't receive instant approval, call the reconsideration line. If you meet all the other requirements, they will most likely offer shifting credit from your other two cards to open the CSR and approve you over the phone. Otherwise, you will most likely have to wait longer for a more in-depth review of your application. Do NOT proactively lower your credit limits on your other cards.
P.s. It's the plastic version which I can't help but blame for these problems!
I'm in Italy now using my 5 day old sapphire reserve and it is getting rejected about 20% of the time--usually when I try to use it at one store within minutes of using it at another. Then it works again. Have not had this in previous trips using Citi ThankYou premier constantly. Also weirdness when I use it in ticket machines at railroad stations because of chip+pin tradition here in Europe--annoying because of great...
I'm in Italy now using my 5 day old sapphire reserve and it is getting rejected about 20% of the time--usually when I try to use it at one store within minutes of using it at another. Then it works again. Have not had this in previous trips using Citi ThankYou premier constantly. Also weirdness when I use it in ticket machines at railroad stations because of chip+pin tradition here in Europe--annoying because of great travel points rate. Also not a problem with Citi...Hmmmm.
Just all remember that you have EXACTLY 3-MONTH to spend the minimum $4,000 to then receive the 100,000 points, or you end up owning still a very nice card - but without the Bonus 100k. POINT is the longer it takes now that so many have ordered this card, the LESS TIME you have to spend your $4k. If it takes 2-weeks to get the card, that gives you only 2-1/2 months to spend the minimum.
They exceeded the demand even with 5/24 in place, that's says something.
I applied through our JPM banker the day the link became available and received the silver metal card and welcome kit 2 days later. Looks identical to my JPM Palladium card except it lacks the laser signature and says Visa Infinite instead of Visa Signature. Works great throughout France!
Buck, I hear you. My husband and I were both rejected for the card for the same reason. Boo-hoo :(
I just recently got the Chase Hyatt card. Is it worth it to apply for this also?
It's easier for my old eyes to read the large plastic numbers than the smaller painted numbers on the CSP. This was useful when I was changing all my autopay billing to CSR last night. And yes, I did appreciate getting a plastic card earlier than having to wait for the fancy metal one.
I called CS last night after receiving my rejection letter (too many cards out). I was told that since I have applied once, I am no longer able to apply and receive the 100K UR bonus.
They didn't just run out of metal cards, they also ran out of welcome kits. I received my card yesterday via UPS - it came in a basic white envelope stuffed with low-tier printed materials (which was inside the UPS envelope. I must admit - I really missed the sexy unboxing experience.
There was a Bloomberg article about the high demand level and a company rep indicates they've run out of the metal material. They also say they have not spent one dollar yet marketing the card. It's all been due to online social media and word of mouth. Here's the link:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-02/chase-sapphire-reserve-deal-seeking-obsessives-have-a-new-favorite-credit-card
I've had a number of plastic CSP cards over the last couple of years. Only my first CSP card was metal. The rest (due to card expiry and a couple of compromised card numebrs) have been plastic. Personally I don't really give a crap one way or the other. My CSR is metal.
@Lucky - typo in the beginning of the second to last paragraph ("not", should be "now").
:-)
Interesting story, demand must be strong with this one!
@Sean M I think that with the CSP you can call Chase and request a traditional plastic version of the card.
I certainly hope the card wasn't paying any affiliate link commission. The card was selling all by itself. Even my friends that are not credit card junkies were getting in on the action.
That said Amex and citi and bofa are tightening, do you see a storm coming?
So far no issues with it although does get lots of smudges on it, no numbers on front, just raised name
Good things come to those who wait... So i didnt mind seeing the plastic card come in the mail 2 days after approval with that note. For some it's all about Prestige for others it's about value.
This makes the card even more appealing! My biggest gripe with the CSP has been the metal card design which is regularly rejected by vendors who insist on raised numbers rather than the engraved ones. My CSP was rejected twice last week (once in South Africa, once in Uganda) for this reason. Hopefully my CSR that is in the mail will be a conventional plastic card.
The same tim thing happened a few years ago when the Ritz card had the 140k signup offer. I can't imagine the manufacturing process is that complex and time intensive though.
Lets hope they do take their time to deliver a well built card. I'd hate to see flared metal stamping edges and bad lamination!