One Sapphire bonus per 48 months, counted from when the last bonus was received.
What it is
You can earn a Sapphire welcome bonus — Preferred or Reserve, they share one family — only once every 48 months, measured from when you received the last one. Holding a Sapphire also blocks a new application, so the standard play is downgrading to a Freedom product, waiting a few days, then applying fresh.
Current enforcement
Application terms state the restriction outright and the system enforces it automatically. With the current 100k offer, the operative question for many is whether a 2021–2022 bonus has cleared the window — pull the statement showing the bonus posting date and count 48 months from there.
Live offers governed by this rule
Related rules: The 5/24 rule