Credit Cards

What are the Chase application rules?

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Chase application rules

Chase offers some of the very best credit cards in the market – many of them are on our Top Credit Cards page.  I’ve earned millions of points via Chase credit cards over the years and they’ve been integral in achieving aspirational travel. If you really want to execute your wallet strategy to its fullest potential you need to know the rules of the Chase program. Let’s break them down so you are best educated on your application when it comes time to pull the trigger.

Our favorite Chase cards earn Ultimate Rewards

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The most famous: 5/24

  • Almost all of Chase’s cards are a part of their 5/24 rule. This means that you can not sign up if you have opened more than 5 credit cards in the last 24 months.

2/30

  • You can only be approved for 2 cards in a 30 day timeframe

Getting the sign up bonus a second time: 24 month and 48 month rules

24 months rule

  • If you have had a Chase product in the past, it’s possible to get it again; however, you can’t get a sign up bonus until 24 months have passed from the date your bonus posted to your account. You also can’t add a second card to your wallet, meaning, you’d need to downgrade or cancel that card.

*Note, if the bonus includes a bonus category, the 24 month clock doesn’t restart until that bonus has completed. For instance, if you get 5x gas for 12 months, the 24 month clock doesn’t restart until that last 5x bonus has credited, potentially in month 13 from sign up. This would mean that you wouldn’t be eligible for a repeat welcome bonus until over 36 months from first getting the card.

48 month rule

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My Chase fam

Only one Chase Sapphire product

  • If you currently hold a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve you cannot sign up for the card ( Anecdotally this applies to those who have the legacy Sapphire card as well ). Those who currently hold both can be grandfathered into holding both, but if you only have one, you’re restricted from another.

No limit on cards

  • There is no preset limit on the number of cards you can keep with Chase.

In fact, I personally carry  cards and I am looking to add to that number in the near future. Here’s what I’m currently carrying

Chase Family Rules

Certain credit cards that Chase issues earn the same kind of points. We refer to that as a family of cards. For instance, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® and Chase Sapphire Reserve® both earn Ultimate Rewards. The IHG Traveler and IHG Premier both earn IHG One Rewards. Chase has begun to implement family rules whereby you can only qualify for a bonus, and possibly even add the card to your wallet, on a single card per family.

Southwest cards

Basically, if you’ve received a Southwest bonus in the past 24 months, or currently hold a personal Southwest card you won’t be eligible for a bonus.

  1. These cards all fall under Chase’s 5/24 rule – meaning if you have added more than 5 new credit cards in the last 24 months you won’t be approved. These are specific to your personal credit report, so most business credit cards don’t count.
  2. If you have received a Southwest bonus on ANY personal card in the last 24 months, you wont’ be eligible.
  3. If you’re currently holding a personal Chase Southwest card, you would be ineligible as well

IHG One Rewards Cards

If you’ve received a IHG One Rewards card bonus in the past 24 months, or currently hold a personal IHG card you won’t be eligible for a bonus. This includes the now retired IHG Select.

This product is not available to either (i) current cardmembers of any personal IHG One Rewards Credit Card, or (ii) previous cardmembers of any personal IHG One Rewards Credit Card who received a new cardmember bonus for any personal IHG One Rewards Credit Card within the last 24 months.

Marriott Cards

This is probably the most restrictive and complicated of all Chase credit cards

The new cardmember bonus is not available to you if (1) you currently have or had any of the following cards within the last 30 days: Marriott Bonvoy® American Express® Card, The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express; or if (2) you applied and were approved for any of the following cards within the last 90 days or (3) received a new cardmember bonus or upgrade bonus for any of the following cards within the last 24 months: Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card, Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express, Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express®Card, Starwood Preferred Guest® American Express Luxury Card, Marriott Bonvoy Bevy American Express® Card.

Sapphire Cards

If you have received a Chase Sapphire Preferred® or Chase Sapphire Reserve® bonus in the past 48 months, or currently hold either of the two cards, you aren’t eligible for a bonus

The product is not available to either (i) current cardmembers of any Sapphire credit card, or (ii) previous cardmembers of any Sapphire credit card who received a new cardmember bonus within the last 48 months.

Chase will rake your sign up bonus back if you close your card too soon

Under no circumstances should you close a card within the first 12 months of cardmembership, so these rules should be completely moot, but they’ve been added to application language so we will highlight them.

  • Hyatt cards – 3 months
    • “If your account is not open for at least three months, Hyatt and Chase reserve the right to deduct the Bonus Points from your World of Hyatt account.”
  • Marriott cards – 6 months
    • “If your account is not open for at least six months, Marriott and Chase reserve the right to deduct the bonus points from your Marriott Bonvoy account.”
  • United cards – 6 months
    •  “If your account is not open for at least six months, United and Chase reserve the right to deduct the bonus miles from your MileagePlus Program account.”
  • IHG cards – uhhhh unclear
    •  “Chase may close your credit card account or suspend your right to use your credit card account, at any time for any reason, including account inactivity.”

Chase has added new language that could prohibit holding more than one card that earns the same kind of point

This language was just recently added to all Chase applications. This hasn’t been in force long enough to know if this is just there to give Chase leeway in denying sign up bonuses, or if this means some pretty bad news for all of us who have a Chase Sapphire Preferred + Freedom Unlimited/Flex in order to enjoy high category bonuses on each card. We shall see, but this was added ironically on 5/24/22.

“Chase cardmembers who currently have or have had a Chase credit card in any Rewards Program associated with this offer, may not be eligible for a second Chase credit card in the same Rewards Program. Chase cardmembers currently receiving promotional pricing, or Chase cardmembers with a history of only using their current or prior Chase card for promotional pricing offers, are not eligible for a second Chase credit card with promotional pricing.”

 

A few examples of using Chase Ultimate Rewards to achieve aspirational travel

 

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Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

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Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card


4.8
4.8/5
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is a great starter card that earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott.

Welcome Offer

60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months

Annual Fee

$95

Points Earned

Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards

  • 3x on dining
    •  including eligible delivery services for takeout
  • 3x on select streaming services
  • 3x on online grocery purchases
    • (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
  • 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel Portal
  • 2x on all other travel
  • $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased via Chase Travel
    • The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
  • 10% Anniversary Bonus
    • Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred® continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel Portal and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including primary rental car insurance, purchase protections, etc.
  • Points are transferrable to 13 Ultimate Rewards partners
  • Redeem in the Chase Travel center for 1.25 cents per point
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
    • Primary rental car coverage is my favorite

We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.

Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.

Main Cast: 

Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.

Supporting Cast:

Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on. 

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.

If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners

Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.

The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

9 Comments

  • SEAN November 28, 2023

    Does the 48 rule apply to the southwest cards? Have the Biz card and a personal card open for longer than 48 months and want to get the new promo?

  • Joy November 12, 2023

    Please consider using my link on any of the four following Chase Business Ink Cards:
    Enjoy the NO ANNUAL FEE and WELCOME OFFER OF 90,000 CHASE UR POINTS OR $900 CASH BACK FOR THE CHASE INK BUSINESS UNLIMITED OR INK BUSINESS CASH.
    Earn 100,000 bonus points with the Ink Business Preferred® card or up to $1,000 bonus cash back with the Ink Business Premier® card.
    I can be rewarded if you apply here and are approved for the card.
    https://www.referyourchasecard.com/21o/TFLD5DG57A

  • Swade April 23, 2023

    Am I missing something here? I can’t seem to actually see the post, just the information on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

    • Miles April 23, 2023

      Sorry about this, something has gone wrong and am working with my IT to get it fixed so the content populates

  • Emily April 21, 2023

    If I already have a Chase Sapphire card, how do I become eligible for this? I got the card in 2016, so it’s been longer than 48 months.

    • Miles April 22, 2023

      You could downgrade into a Freedom card ( Unlimited or Cash ) and then wait 15 to 30 days for it to convert in your account. Once it shows it’s been converted, you can reapply and get the bonus

  • William February 8, 2023

    Chase Sapphire Preferred: Earn 60K points after spending $4000 in the first 3 months.

    https://www.referyourchasecard.com/6f/8LBOYMRO94

    Good Luck! Thank You So Much!

  • Michael Temenski June 4, 2022

    Re “Only one Chase Sapphire Premium product” … it’s not just one Preferred or Reserve, it’s ANY Sapphire product. I have a legacy Sapphire account (the original “no-annual fee” base card) and was informed that I was not eligible for either a Reserve or Preferred unless I closed the Sapphire (which has 90K UR points sitting in it.)

    I have a card where I am NOT paying an annual fee and I wanted to add one were I WOULD pay a fee, yet they still said no. SMH.

    Note: the new prohibition on having more than one card that earns the same type of points would also bar me from getting a CSP or CSR, but my rejection predates the new terms.

    • Miles June 5, 2022

      Good to know! I’ll update the post to reflect this, thanks for the info!

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