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The Chase 5/24 Rule: Vital Info for Beginners
The Chase 5/24 Rule: Vital Info for Beginners
What is the Chase 5/24 rule?
What is the Chase 5/24 rule?
Around 2016, Chase implemented a new rule to prevent over-aggressive credit card sign-ups – the now-infamous Chase 5/24 rule. The basics of the Chase 5/24 rule are simple: if you’ve opened five or more new personal credit card accounts within the last 24 months, your application will automatically be denied.
These personal credit card accounts do not have to be with Chase – any personal credit cards open with any bank within those 24 months count against your 5/24 status.
So to summarize: if you’ve opened five or more new credit cards within the last 24 months, you will not be approved for a new Chase credit card – business or personal.
Of course, like any rule, there are exceptions – but before we get to those, we need to dig into the details of the rule itself.
What Cards Count for the Chase 5/24 Rule?
What Cards Count for the Chase 5/24 Rule?
There are a couple of things to know when you’re counting up your Chase 5/24 status. Obviously, any personal credit card you sign up for counts against your 5/24 status, that’s elementary.
Less obvious is the fact that authorized user cards count against 5/24 as well. Meaning if your spouse applies for a personal credit card and adds you as an authorized user, that account will count against your 5/24 status even though you didn’t apply for the credit card yourself. While you can call credit card reconsideration and sometimes get them to ignore the authorized user cards, I prefer not to risk it.
Finally, most business credit cards do not count against your Chase 5/24 status. That’s because the majority of business credit cards are not reported on your personal credit report, so Chase won’t know you have them, even if you opened them within the last 24 months.
Even Chase business credit cards will not count against your Chase 5/24 status, which obviously seems a little backwards. (You will, however, not get approved for Chase business cards in the first place if you’re over 5/24.)
These banks DO NOT report their business credit cards to personal credit reports and WILL NOT affect your Chase 5/24 status:
American Express
Bank of America
Barclays
Chase
Citi
US Bank
Wells Fargo
The following banks DO report their business credit cards to personal credit reports and WILL affect your Chase 5/24 status:
Capital One
Discover
$500 cash back after spending $4,500 in the first 3 months
To summarize, the cards that count against your Chase 5/24 status:
Personal credit cards
Authorized user accounts
Business credit cards from Capital One or Discover
How to Check Your 5/24 Status
How to Check Your 5/24 Status
Checking your Chase 5/24 status requires jumping through a small hoop, but it’s not that bad all things consider. The first thing you need to do is sign up for an account with Credit Karma, which is something you should strongly consider doing even if you’re not checking your 5/24 status.
Credit Karma helps you monitor your overall credit scores with Transunion and Equifax. It will give you an approximation of your credit score and most importantly you can track whether it is going up or down (the score they give you is just an estimate).
After you’ve created a Credit Karma account, use this link to check your 5/24 status. Note that for some reason you can no longer get to this page from Credit Karma’s main page so you must click that link. From that page click on “Accounts” and sort by “Open Date”. This will give you a list of all your credit card accounts, opened and closed. Count the number of cards you’ve opened in the last two years and you’re done.
Remember, you need to have opened four or less to be under the Chase 5/24 rule.
How to Deal With Authorized User Accounts
How to Deal With Authorized User Accounts
As I mentioned above, if you’re an authorized user on someone else’s account, including your spouse, that generally will count against you for your Chase 5/24 status. For this reason, I’ve stopped adding myself as an authorized user on my wife’s credit card accounts and vice versa. But if you’re in the situation where you’re an authorized user and that’s putting you over 5/24, you have two options.
First, if your authorized user account puts you right at 5/24, you can roll the dice and apply for a card anyway. You’ll still generally get rejected, but you can call Chase reconsideration and explain that you’re an authorized user and not financially responsible for the account. Although this normally works (even my wife who notoriously hates calling had no issues), I don’t really like doing this – it’s not worth the risk or hassle for me.
The second thing you can do, which is what I prefer, is remove the authorized user account about a month before applying. You probably don’t need to wait that long but I like to be safe to wait for the account to report (or not report, in this case) to the credit bureaus.
To remove an authorized user, just call the number on the back of your credit card and ask for them to be removed.
I’ve utilized both these strategies successfully, but as I said, I just prefer not to add authorized users in the first place these days.
Chase Credit Cards to Consider if You’re Under Chase 5/24
Chase Credit Cards to Consider if You’re Under Chase 5/24
If you’re under Chase 5/24, you’ll probably want to pick up some Chase credit cards. Here are some of my favorites for you to consider:
Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve
Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve
These cards always offer solid sign up offers and Chase Ultimate Rewards points really form the backbone of the majority of successful miles and points strategies due to their flexibility. The Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Sapphire Preferred cards are some of the most popular travel rewards credit cards out there and for good reason.
You are eligible to sign up for either card if you haven’t received a sign-up bonus for any Sapphire card within the past 48 months. Since you can only get one or the other, make sure you choose the Sapphire card that’s right for you.
World of Hyatt Card
World of Hyatt Card
If you’re a Hyatt fan, it’s tough to beat the The World of Hyatt Credit Card. It comes with automatic Discoverist status, a healthy sign-up bonus, and a free category 1-4 night every year after your cardmember anniversary. If you’re a few nights short of status, you receive two-night credits for every $5,000 you spend on the card. This is one of my most used cards and a highly recommended card for any Hyatt loyalists.
Chase Ink Business Cards
Chase Ink Business Cards
If you have a small business, you’re eligible for small business credit cards. Chase’s Ink cards are business cards that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points so they are great cards to get. Better yet, they don’t add to your Chase 5/24 status – so make sure you apply for them if you’re under 5/24.
I still prefer my old Chase Ink Plus (unfortunately no longer available) but between the Chase Ink Cash, Chase Ink Preferred, and Chase Ink Unlimited, you have a lot of great choices to choose from.
If you fly Southwest or United a lot, be sure to try the Southwest cards Chase offers or the Chase United Explorer Card.
Complete List of Chase Credit Cards Affected by the Chase 5/24 Rule
Complete List of Chase Credit Cards Affected by the Chase 5/24 Rule
All Chase Cards
AARP Credit Card From Chase
Iberia Visa Signature Card
Aer Lingus Visa Signature Card
IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card
Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card
IHG Rewards Club Traveler Credit Card
British Airways Visa Signature Card
Marriott Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
Chase Freedom
Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card
Chase Freedom Unlimited
Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card
Chase Ink Business Unlimited
Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
Chase Ink Cash
Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card
Chase Ink Preferred
Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Card
Chase Marriot Rewards Premier Plus
Starbucks Rewards Visa Card
Chase Sapphire Preferred
The World of Hyatt Credit Card
Chase Sapphire Reserve
United Club Business Card
Chase Slate
United Club Card
Chase Southwest Plus
United Explorer Business Card
Disney Premier Visa Card
United Explorer Card
Disney Visa Card
United TravelBank Card
Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Knowing your Chase 5/24 status is a very big key to the miles and points game. Chase offers some of the best travel rewards credit cards and Chase Ultimate Rewards points should be a stable in your arsenal of miles and points to use for travel. With some good planning and organization, you should be able to work around the Chase 5/24 rule as you meet all your travel goals.
What Chase cards would be at the top of your list if you were below 5/24? Let us know in the comments!
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