The US credit card market is rife with opportunities when it comes to miles and points, and this is one of the main reasons why we speak so highly of the opportunity to get US credit cards as a Canadian. A great variety of credit products and more competition results in some crazy valuable credit cards and welcome offers, that can help you amass miles and points far quicker than you may have ever imagined.
While the logical starting point is American Express (US) thanks to the American Express Global Transfer and Nova Credit service, there are many other issuers worth considering such as Citibank, Capital One, and Chase Bank. Chase is arguably the most valuable, but getting approved for one of their credit cards involves following additional rules, most prominently, the Chase 5/24 rule.
Let’s get into everything you need to know about the Chase 5/24 rule as you look towards opening your next Chase Bank credit card.
The Value of Chase Bank Credit Cards
American Express (US) credit products are great, but Chase Bank credit products are potentially even better.
The main reason is that their in-house loyalty program, Chase Ultimate Rewards, is fantastic. Chase Ultimate Rewards are a flexible and powerful currency that transfers to several frequent flyer and hotel loyalty programs. Chase also often runs transfer bonuses to many programs, increasing the value of Chase Ultimate Rewards even further.
Furthermore, Chase Ultimate Rewards makes it possible to acquire points in the World of Hyatt loyalty program through transferring points. This is a massive benefit as it adds an additional hotel loyalty program into the mix, with some great opportunities for high-value redemptions thanks to a fixed award chart. Even if you are already participating in Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors, more options and diversity are always a plus when it comes to miles and points.
Chase is also the only financial institution that offers World of Hyatt co-branded credit cards, such as the Chase World of Hyatt card and the Chase World of Hyatt Business card. These cards have some good benefits such as the opportunity to earn World of Hyatt free nights and accrue qualifying nights towards Globalist status simply for spending on the card.
The Chase World of Hyatt credit card earns Hyatt points and gives cardholders one annual free night at a category 1-4 Hyatt hotel or resort.
30,000 World of Hyatt
$3,000
$415+
$95
No
–
No matter what your long-term miles and points goals are, Chase cards offer some fantastic opportunities and we would recommend getting involved in the Chase ecosystem as soon as possible.
What is the Chase 5/24 Rule?
Chase Bank requires all new applicants to their credit products to be under 5/24 in order to be eligible to be approved, which means applicants must have opened less than five personal credit card accounts in the previous 24 months.
This is a hard rule that is applied to all of their credit cards, not just personal credit cards. There is no flexibility from the reconsideration department with this rule, so don’t even bother applying for a Chase credit card if you are at 5/24 or over.
This rule is restrictive, and forces miles and points enthusiasts to think about their credit card application strategy from a big-picture standpoint and not just focus on their issuer-specific applications.
For example, if you apply for additional American Express or Citibank credit cards, you may be impacting your opportunity to obtain additional Chase cards. Keeping a pulse on your 5/24 status can go a long way and is pretty easy to manage since not all credit cards consume a 5/24 slot as we will touch on below.
While it is less important for Canadians, do note that authorized user accounts can impact 5/24 status as well. If the authorized user credit card account shows as a new account on your credit report, it will count towards the Chase 5/24 rule.
The other less impactful Chase rule that you should be aware of is that you can only be approved for two new credit products within 30 days. While this shouldn’t impact your overall strategy, keep it in mind.
What US Credit Cards “Consume” a Chase 5/24 Slot?
Not all credit products in the United States consume a slot when calculating Chase 5/24 status, so there is a bit of wiggle room when it comes to determining your Chase credit card strategy.
For example, all personal credit cards, regardless of financial institution, consume a slot towards Chase 5/24 status.
On the flip side, the majority of business credit cards do not count towards 5/24. The exceptions are Discover business cards, TD US business cards, and Capital One business cards except for the Capital One Venture X Business card and the Capital One Spark Cash Plus card.
Chase business cards also do not add to the 5/24 count, which is a major plus and a key part of the optimal Chase credit card strategy, since you can remain at 4/24 and add Chase business credit cards with zero issues.
One of the greatest things to be aware of is that American Express (US) business credit cards do not count towards 5/24, so there is a massive opportunity here, especially once you consider no lifetime language links and other interesting tricks. I’ll leave that to you to do some digging.
New credit cards fall off of being included in a Chase 5/24 calculation after 24 months. For example, if you are approved for a credit card in October 2024 that consumes a 5/24 slot, in November 2026 this new account will no longer be included in your Chase 5/24 calculation.
How Can I Calculate Chase 5/24 Status?
There are a few ways you can quickly calculate your Chase 5/24 status.
Reed and I are both big on spreadsheets when it comes to tracking everything going on with our credit cards, and Reed has even shared his credit card tracking spreadsheet previously. If you use a spreadsheet to track the dates you opened your credit cards, it’s very simple to look back at the past 24 months and count the number of credit cards opened that would consume a 5/24 slot.
The other option is signing up for a free US credit monitoring service with your Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN). If you can successfully pull your US personal credit report, you should be able to see all of your credit cards and the dates they were opened. Similar to the spreadsheet method, just look at the previous 24 months and count the number of credit cards opened on your credit report that would consume a 5/24 slot.
As a reminder, Chase is only concerned about accounts that were opened. If you applied for a new credit card but were declined, it would not count against 5/24. However, if you applied for a new credit card, were approved, and closed the card, it would still count against 5/24 status.
Best Chase Credit Card Strategy
If you are new to US credit cards as a Canadian, you definitely won’t be starting with Chase Bank. The consistent recommendation is to have around a year of US credit history before you apply for a Chase credit card, as they are a bit more stringent when it comes to approvals.
This means that for your first year of US credit cards, you can focus on getting various American Express credit cards. Since American Express business credit cards don’t count towards 5/24 any of those are a great option, such as the ever-popular American Express Business Platinum card (US) and the American Express Business Gold card (US).
If you are applying for any personal American Express cards, you want to ensure that you are remaining at or under 4 new accounts opened in the last 24 months to remain eligible for Chase cards. We are big fans of the American Express Hilton Honors cards, such as the American Express Hilton Honors Surpass card (US) and the American Express Hilton Honors Aspire card (US), so consider using your first year of US credit card access to build up your Hilton Honors balance.
Once you have your one year of US credit history and are under 5/24, the most logical pathway in getting started with Chase Bank is to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card as it only has a $95 USD annual fee plus a healthy welcome bonus of 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is an incredibly valuable US credit card that earns Ultimate Rewards points which can be transferred to numerous frequent flyer and hotel loyalty programs.
Check out our Chase Sapphire Preferred card review for more details.
60,000 Ultimate Rewards
$4,000
$925+
$95
No
–
Obtaining your first Chase card is the gateway to obtaining future Chase Bank credit cards, particularly, their valuable business credit cards. Since Chase business credit cards also require applicants to be under 5/24, but they don’t count towards 5/24, hovering around 4/24 is a good strategy for longevity and maximizing points earnings.
Typically you will want to wait a few months before applying for your first Chase business card. These cards have the best bonuses in the Chase ecosystem, such as the Chase Ink Business Preferred card with a welcome bonus of 90,000 Ultimate Rewards or the Chase Ink Business Unlimited card with a welcome bonus of 750 cash back (cash back is rewarded at a rate of $1 cash back = 100 Chase Ultimate Rewards).
The Chase Ink Business Preferred card is a credit card that earns Ultimate Rewards and is available to sole proprietors and small business owners in the United States.
90,000 Ultimate Rewards
$8,000
$1,435+
$95
No
–
While it can be difficult to get approved for Chase business cards, the bonuses are incredibly generous and they seem to be less picky with adding multiples of the same card to your wallet. Jeff previously wrote an article on his journey to get approved for his first Chase business card, so check that out if you want to understand what he went through before you apply.
Conclusion
Chase credit cards are some of the most sought-after credit products in the United States since Ultimate Rewards are a powerful and desirable currency, offering pathways to unique loyalty programs like World of Hyatt.
Understanding the Chase 5/24 rule, no matter whether you have just recently started with US credit cards or have been using them for some time, will ensure that you keep the big picture in mind when applying for new cards to not restrict yourself from future Chase credit card approvals.
Josh Bandura
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