26 Things Everybody Should Know About Chase Credit Cards

I’ve done this for American Express & Citi before, so it’s only fair that it’s Chase’s turn. Chase is one of everybody’s favorite banks due to their generous sign up bonuses and solid travel partners. Here are 18 things everybody should know about Chase. These are in no particular order, so read them all.

  1. Chase won’t approve you for most cards if you’ve received 5 (or more) new cards in the last 24 months. This includes all credit cards, not just Chase cards. Not all Chase cards are affected in this rule, but most are.
  2. They offer generous sign up bonuses on their checking & savings accounts. Everybody knows that the bonuses on their credit cards are great, but the sign up bonuses on their deposit accounts are also worth signing up for. You can usually get a bonus of $150-$300 on the total checking account and $150-$300 on the savings account. My suggestion? Wait for the public $300 bonuses. Better yet, you can actually churn these bonuses and get them more than once.
  3. You can get the sign up bonus on Chase cards more than one time. If you look at the fine print on any Chase card, you’ll see it say you can get the sign up bonus again as long as it’s been at least 24 months since you last received the bonus. There is also a specific rule for Sapphire cards.
  4. Chase will match higher sign up bonuses if you notify them within 90 days of applying. If you apply for a card with a 30,000 point sign up bonus and then within 90 days Chase increases that bonus then call them or send them a secured message, they will match you to this higher bonus. If the annual fee is higher on the bonus you are requesting to be matched to, then they will often deny you this match. If they approve you, then you’ll keep the lower annual fee as per the CARD act rules.
  5. Chase will expedite your cards with 1-2 day shipping, just ask them. If you need your new, lost or stolen cards in a hurry just call Chase and request that they expedite them. They’ll say yes and there shouldn’t be any charge (obviously only do this if you actually need the cards in a hurry).
  6. If you apply for multiple Chase cards in one day, the hard inquiries will be combined. There are a couple of rules to be mindful of though, business & personal inquiries will not be combined. It’s no longer possible to double dip some applications to avoid other rules though, you can read more about that here. You should still be able to apply for two independent cards on the same day though
  7. Chase will usually refund the annual fee as long as you cancel within a statement or two. If your annual fee posts and you accidentally forget to cancel you can usually get it refunded as long as you don’t wait to long, the rules change based on what card it is.
  8. You can refer friends to Chase credit cards. Chase allows you to refer friends to their credit cards that you hold, the typically bonus is $50 or 5,000 points for every referred friend. The bonus your friend receives and what is available regularly changes.
  9. You can view what credit card offers you are pre-approved for online. Unfortunately this only works for Chase branded cards (e.g Chase Freedom or Chase Sapphire Preferred) and not any of their co-branded cards such as the Chase Ritz Carlton. Unlike other card issuers, Chase rarely if ever shows higher than publicly available offers.
  10. There is no limit to the amount of Chase credit cards you can have. Unlike American Express, you can hold as many Chase credit cards as they’ll approve you for. Typically the limiting factor is how much credit they’ve extended to you, but if you’re denied you can always request that they transfer some of that credit limit to a new card.
  11. You’ll only be approved for two Chase cards per month. Chase will typically not approve you for more than two of their credit cards in a single month (business & personal cards are considered separate) you can sometimes get approved for three or more in a single month by calling in but it can be difficult.
  12. If you’re denied for a credit card, call the Chase reconsideration department. Sometimes there is a simple reason as to why your application has been denied by the automatic approval systems, calling reconsideration gives you a chance to speak to a human and turn that denial into an approval. It can be scary calling reconsideration the first time, just relax and read our guide if your nervous.
  13. Asking for a credit limit increase will always result in a hard pull with Chase. If you ask Chase for a credit limit increase on any of your cards, be ready for a hard pull to be done on your credit file.
  14. You can reallocate your credit limits between existing cards and it’ll usually be a soft pull. The only exception is if your increasing the credit limit on a card to more than $35,000, in which case a hard pull will be done.
  15. There is a minimum credit limit on all Chase cards of $500. If you want to transfer credit limits when opening or closing an account, then keep in mind you need to keep a credit limit of at least $500 on each card.
  16. If you freeze a report it’s sometimes possible to get Chase to pull from a different bureau. If you’re trying to limit the number of inquiries on one of your credit reports (e.g Experian) you can freeze that and sometimes Chase will agree to pull your report from one of the other bureaus (e.g TransUnion or Equifax). If they don’t allow you to do this, they will allow you to give them a PIN which gives them access to the original report they wanted to pull.
  17. Chase allows product changes/downgrades but only within the same brand. For example you could product change the Chase Southwest Premier to the Chase Southwest Plus, but not to the United MileagePlus explorer.
  18. Chase isn’t the most generous when it comes to retention bonuses, but it’s still worth calling. Keep in mind retention/spending bonuses aren’t only given when your annual fee is coming due, we recommend calling Chase at the 60 day mark and just before/after the annual fee becomes due.
  19. You can sometimes be targeted for spending bonuses. In addition to retention bonuses, Chase often sends out targeted offers for spending on their different cards. It looks like they’ve set up the following website to show these offers to cardholders: www.mychasebonus.com. Note this isn’t working at the moment.
  20. Chase will let you change your statement closing date. Usually your account just needs to be in good standing, but even when you’re late on payment they will sometimes make an exception.
  21. It’s possible to get your points sooner than they would normally post. To do this you need to finish your minimum spend requirement and then change the statement closing date to be sooner than normal, once the statement closes the bonus points should post to your account.
  22. You usually have 103 days after being approved for your Chase card to meet the minimum spend requirement and more recently they’ve been giving 115 days. That being said, don’t leave it till the last minute or otherwise you might not get your bonus at all. If you don’t make your minimum spend in time, it’s still worth asking them for the bonus – sometimes they’ll say yes!
  23. Chase business credit cards don’t get reported to the personal credit bureaus which is useful for keeping your credit report cleaner.
  24. A Chase credit card which was closed out can be reinstated upon request for 30-days if you change your mind and decide you want the card.
  25. You can now check your application status online with Chase, but you must be logged in. Follow these directions: Manage Accounts link under Customer Center on the right hand side. From there, scroll to the bottom on the right hand side and you should see NEW! Check my application(s) status under Open a New Account. If that doesn’t work you can call (888) 338-2586.
  26. If you have auto-pay set up with Chase and make a partial of full payment they will automatically adjust the auto-pay.

You can view other posts in this series by clicking the links below.

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Nun
Nun (@guest_1803366)
February 26, 2024 16:18

For a UA business card, the Chase tracker gives me 93 days from my approval date to meet the spending threshold, or 98 days from application date. I did not get 103-115 days, unless it’s a hidden grace period they use to account for purchases posting late.

Bob the Bonus 🖇️
Bob the Bonus 🖇️ (@guest_1749892)
December 2, 2023 17:47

 William Charles When you sign up for Credit Journey, which is the free credit monitoring product that Chase offers, Chase shows you potential cards with the credit line amounts that you have been “already approved” for . You can accept the offer though there is a hard pull of course.

Original Jack
Original Jack (@guest_1749898)
December 2, 2023 18:06

Bob the Bonus 🖇️ Where do you see that? I don’t see where in Chase Credit Journey’s section that could be. Do you have to sign up for the ID monitoring as well?

Bob the Bonus 🖇️
Bob the Bonus 🖇️ (@guest_1749911)
December 2, 2023 18:55

On the “Offers” tab in the Credit Journey dashboard in the Chase online website and Chase app. I also see the cards in the main Chase online account page and when logging into the Chase app. Before I signed up for Credit Journey, Chase only showed me cards I’m pre-approved for but not the credit line amounts. I did sign up for the free id monitoring as well. Not sure if its required.

Original Jack
Original Jack (@guest_1750142)
December 3, 2023 09:55

Thanks. Nothing but car loans and refer a friend offers for me and P2.

fdic
fdic (@guest_1454380)
September 28, 2022 20:09

May I ask for your opinion on this please? Credit score is 800+, with very low utilization, almost 0.

I had not done a chase application in many years (like at least 4 years).
I had a regular no fee Chase Preferred and a regular Chase Freedom.

I recently applied for and got approved for the Chase Business Ink Unlimited card.
Also thinking of doing a personal card application as well with not that high of an initial spend requirement.

I have 4 questions please
– Can I apply for any other variety of Chase Freedom if I already have regular Chase Freedom? Or will it be better to close that regular Freedom first. I have not used it for years and they sent me a letter 2 years back saying they will close it but they never did it for whatever reason.
– How long should I wait between personal and business card application?
– I also want to apply for a Citi card. I guess it is better to do the Chase cards first and then Citi?

– Finally, the business ink card that I had applied showed up in my profile today with a low limit of 4k. I am guessing because I said in the application that I will be spending very low amount monthly. If I remember correctly, I put in like 1k or something. So now I have to do the initial $7.5k spend. I called them and they said that for them to reconsider the limit, it will be another credit inquiry. I guess I can spend 4k, pay it and then spend another 4k, something like that? Will that still trigger the bonus?

thank you

beat2def
beat2def (@guest_1454314)
September 28, 2022 17:52

Does Chase have any cycling credit rules?

fdic
fdic (@guest_1452376)
September 25, 2022 15:54

Is there any way to check when did I last receive a bonus for a card? I used to have a ink business card. It no longer shows up in my online account any more and I remember keeping it for at least a year. I only canceled it when the annual fee came due. Any way to estimate if it has been over 24 months and am I safe to apply again? thanks

Dmitriy
Dmitriy (@guest_1428249)
August 19, 2022 11:39

Hi, is it possible to check when I received my last CSR bonus? I lost my notes and I’m not sure where I’m on the 48 month counter. Thanks.

WunibaldTax
WunibaldTax (@guest_1423896)
August 11, 2022 22:40

Hi! Is it possible to get approved with only 1 hard pull? It seems like since I moved from AZ to NE now they are pulling two for me (TU & EX). Also, what is the max combined credit limit Chase will approved you for based on income? 50% of your income or more? Thank you!

Alex
Alex (@guest_1271648)
October 23, 2021 16:20

Looking for more recent datapoints on applying for two cards on the same day. Got approved for persona Chase Southwest Card (Priority) today, want to apply for the business one and wondering if I should do that today as well or wait. And if wait – a couple of days or 30 days?

Tom
Tom (@guest_1261776)
October 4, 2021 20:19

I have the old Freedom card from about 5 years ago. I understand the current Freedom Flex card replaced the old Freedom card—–can I still apply for Freedom Flex and get the bonus while I currently have the old Freedom card from 5 years ago? If not, can I apply for Freedom Unlimited and get the bonus while having the old Freedom card?

Vanson
Vanson (@guest_1264423)
October 9, 2021 02:19

Yes to both questions.

Penny
Penny (@guest_1256668)
September 22, 2021 11:29

How soon can one get the a Sapphire card after PC/canceling an old Sapphire card? I figure this should be listed here somewhere, but I can’t find it.

Also, suggestion to add rule on limit 1 Sapphire card per person now and limit 1 on freedom flex app.