The Chase 5 24 Rule and What You Should Do

If you have been around this system of miles and points for a while, you likely have applied for several cards in the past year. In fact, you may have applied for several cards at one pop! Thanks to Chase moving their 5 accounts in 24 months rule to apply to other cards, it is about to get much harder to get Chase cards.

The Chase 5 24 Rule and What You Should Do?

What Is The Chase 5 24 Rule?

Last year, Chase made a move that started people seeing denials on the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Freedom card if they had opened 5 or more new accounts in the previous 24 months. These 5 accounts were not just Chase accounts but applied to any and all credit card accounts opened by the applicant and included accounts that the applicant was merely an authorized user on. This became known among the miles and points blog as the Chase 5 24 rule.

Starting in March of this year, that rule will move to include the Chase Ink business cards as well. Same thing – if you have 5 or more new accounts in the last 24 months, you will be declined if you apply for one of those cards.

The Chase 5 24 Rule Marches On

The one type of a Chase card that was safe had been the co-branded card – cards like the IHG card, the Hyatt card, the United card, etc. These co-branded cards include:

• Marriott card
• Hyatt card
• IHG card
• Ritz-Carlton card
• Fairmont card
• United card
• Southwest card
• British Airways card

All of those cards, and any business counterparts that they have, will soon fall under the 5 24 rule. That means that you will not be approved for any of those cards if you have opened 5 or more accounts in the previous 24 months.

This rule is set to hit the co-branded cards in April according to Doctor of Credit who reported on this yesterday. It is very bad news, especially for people that like to get the Southwest cards for the Companion Pass. Now, getting 2 of those cards will count for your 5 in 24 months! It will really force everyone to adjust travel priorities to see which cards are most important for their habits.

What Should You Do with the Chase 5 24 Rule?

First thing, do not just go and apply for a host of Chase cards right now! If you had not considered getting the Marriott card before because it did not serve your purpose, do not apply for it now just because it will soon become more difficult.

Prioritize

But, you should definitely make a list of the Chase cards that you want to get before this rule goes into affect. Keep in mind that all of those co-branded cards (except Fairmont) are hotel or airline partners of Ultimate Rewards, meaning you can transfer your Ultimate Reward points into any of them. So, do not get all panicked right now about the points. Ultimate Reward points are still fairly easy to get with the bonuses on spending so keep that in mind.

Which Cards Now?

Of course, if you want the Chase Ink Plus and its 60,000 point bonus, you should make that a priority before the rule kicks in for that one in March.

However, you should definitely consider cards that have bonuses or perks that you cannot get just with Ultimate Reward transfers. For instance, the IHG card comes with one free night each year with the annual fee ($49). That free night can be used at any hotel from 5,000 points – 60,000 points (their new tier starting next week). That is a valuable benefit and one you should consider having.

Another card that would have great value outside of the points is the Hyatt card. That card carries a bonus of 2 free nights at any Hyatt in the world, which equals a point value of up to 60,000 points. Not only that, but it also comes with a valuable anniversary night as well for categories 1-4.

Continuing on with the hotel cards, the Fairmont card is another card to consider getting. It also comes with 2 free nights as a bonus as well as an anniversary night when you spend $12,000 or more in a single year. Fairmont properties are very nice and those two nights are even more valuable because you cannot get them by transferring Ultimate Reward points.

If you do some serious spending with British Airways, the British Airways card may be valuable to have as it gives you a 10% discount on tickets purchased from British Airways.

Finally, if you value United Club access (or any Star Alliance lounge), you may want to consider the United Club card. Currently, it is widely available with the first year fee free (which is normally $450) so it may be one you may want to think about.

Summary

The Chase 5 24 rule is obviously something that Chase has been watching for its effectiveness since instituted last year on personal Chase cards. Now, they must feel they can profit more by rolling it out over all of their cards in their portfolio.

The good news is that this is not likely to be sustainable long term. They are likely to lose a lot of potential business as a result of this move but it will take them a while to see those numbers pile up. In the meantime, they will have a lot of miles and points that they have purchased from the co-branded companies that they will need to move. So, we should (hopefully) see some larger bonuses over time after this rule kicks in.

Time to save your applications if you value Chase cards – but don’t start saving them until after April. Get what you want now before the Chase 5 24 rule applies to all the Chase cards.