Can I Sign up for Chase Sapphire Preferred then switch to Chase Sapphire after a year to avoid the annual fee?

Asked by Paradox1 (1179

) November 16th, 2011

Can I sign up for the preferred card, get the extra $250 reward ($500 instead of $250 after spending 3k), keep it for a year (fee of $95 waived for first year), then switch into the regular chase sapphire card?

I have used the trick in the past where I called and said I would like to cancel my card instead of pay the annual fee to have them waive the fee for me. Wondering if I could downgrade to avoid the fee in this case? Anyone have experience with this sort of thing?

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3 Answers

Response moderated (Unhelpful)

You can close the card with the fee, just make sure you do it before the annual fee hits the bill. You might be able to just switch to the cheaper card, I have had that option with other cards. At worst they won’t let you and you can close the other card and open some other card. Or, better is to open a new card before closing that one because your credit will be higher before closing it.

JLeslie (65743

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Yes you can do that. There is nothing wrong with avoiding annual fees. I have done that with my Visa Card before. The first year was free annual so before renewal I got a regular card. I don’t only saved on annual fees, I also got the best credit card rate for the new card. What is important is that you always pay on time and never miss any monthly payments. If you have a good credit score, you could always negotiate for a better rate.

shirleylopez (215

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