Chase Denying Applications If You’ve Received Sign Up Bonus In The Last 24 Months (Rather Than Denying Bonus)
Chase has a number of rules when it comes to their credit cards, the two most important are:
- You will be automatically denied for some Chase cards if you have five or more new accounts opened within the past two years (Chase 5/24 rule)
- You are not eligible for the sign up bonus if you’ve received the sign up bonus on the same card within the last 24 months
Reader F received an interesting letter regarding their Chase Ritz-Carlton application recently, it states they were denied for the card because they had received the sign up bonus in the past 24 months. This is new as previously Chase would approve you for the card but deny you the bonus in this situation.
The Rits-Carlton card is somewhat special in that it’s managed by a different department than the rest of the Chase cards so it’s possible that this is only affecting this card and not all Chase cards. In some respects it’s more consumer friendly (no more signing up for a card and bonus you’re not eligible for) but it does mean you can no longer sign up for a card when you just want the card and not the bonus (you also can’t sign up ahead of time and wait to meet the minimum spend until you’re eligible). I’d love to hear from readers that have applied in similar situations for cards other than the Ritz-Carlton so share your experiences in the comments below.
Hat tip to reader F
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48 Responses to Chase Denying Applications If You’ve Received Sign Up Bonus In The Last 24 Months (Rather Than Denying Bonus)
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A friend applied for the SW personal and was denied for the same reason back in March. After the 24 months had passed, they were approved and have since gotten the bonus and companion pass as in March they got the business SW card.
Mixed feelings about this. On one hand it’s good for newbs. Otoh, what if I want the card for the benefits? Hmm…
That’s a big if. Canceling and reapplying within 2 years of first getting the bonus is too much of a churner’s behavior rather than someone who just “want the card for the benefits” 😉
What loss is it to chase though if they don’t have to hand out a sign up bonus?
Their bet is it will make it a tougher decision for people who are thinking of canceling and know this policy. Because how many ordinary folk cancel and then reapply within 2 years?
They have the costs of creating a new acct (mail new card, etc). Moreover, if someone cancelled and then reapplied, that’s because they know they’ll get something more outta the card; which directly correlates to lost revenue for Chase.
If you wanted the card for the benifits you’d still have it! Haha
Or you want it again (Preferred) because you just finished cancelling another card you got specifically for the bonus but now don’t want to pay a high fee for (Reserve).
Couldn’t you downgrade the Preferred to the Reserve?
Sorry, I meant downgrade the Reserve to the Preferred?
The letter is dated April 21. Wouldn’t we have heard more denials like this if it was the new Chase policy?
This letter is dated April 21, but is a copy of a letter originally sent on February 2. Old news, indeed.
How many people realistically apply when they have received a bonus in the last 24 months? Some confirmation DP above as well.
My wife got similar letter a few *months* ago. She downgraded Sapphire Preferred to Freedom U a year ago, and forgetting that she got the SP 1-year earlier, applied again and was denied because she already received the bonus on that card. Didn’t realize this was news or I would have posted sooner!
Whoa. Charles, was she denied because she already received the bonus before or because she received the bonus within the last two years. There is a big difference.
If it was because she received the bonus before, that sounds like a lifetime limit. If it’s because she received the bonus in the last 24 months, that’s a much more easy to deal with.
It is because the bonus was received in the past 24 months. All of the terms on Chase’s website indicate a 24 month clock for bonuses; Chase has not instituted a lifetime limit.
I understand the bonus limit. But my question was more about an approval limit. For example, chase won’t approve you for a card because you’ve received the bonus in your lifetime.
Either way, it sounds like this isn’t the case, so that’s good.
24 months, sorry for not including that.
Same thing happened on Hyatt card. Didn’t do the spend so didn’t get the 2 nights, but got the auth user 5k bonus. Closed card and reapplied 2 months later. Denied bec I got “a bonus”.
Wow, that really sucks. This needs to be emphasized a bit more as it could easily mislead people (although most people would’ve done the spend). Do you have the denial letter still?
I mistakenly applied for the IHG card a month too early (after receiving the bonus previously), and got the same letter. I have since applied again and was approved. It was my mistake so I was actually glad the app was not approved.
I know this is about credit cards but how long do you have to wait to get Chase checking account bonuses after closing an account?
one bonus per calendar year…
need to wait more than 90 days between close and open
+1
This happened to me recently with CSP, received sign up bonus in Aug 2015 so denied my app in June 2017. Probably for the best though as it saved me from huge mistake of getting card and then not getting the 50,000 UR points.
How is this surprising? Their terms have always been: “This product is available to you if you do not have this card and have not received a new cardmember bonus for this card in the past 24 months.”
I’ve interpreted that to mean you wouldn’t get approved for the card (1) if you have the card currently or (2) if you’ve received the bonus in past 2 years. If I changed by 1 year old CSP to a CFU and applied for a new CSP in a few weeks, I would expect not to get approved.
The difference is that if you mistakenly thought it had already been two years, Chase allowed you to get the card, do the min spend, and once you inquired about not receiving the bonus, then send you a letter informing that you were not eligible for the bonus.
I think this is great news… all banks should do this.
Another * for Chase.
I mistakenly applied for the British Airways card a month too early and received the same letter. I reapplied a month later and was approved. Like others, I was happy the application was not approved, since I was interested in the sign up bonus rather than continuing benefits of the card.
Does the denial still result in a hard pull?
I’d like to know this as well, though I’m guessing “yes.”
minor typo “**Reddit** F received an interesting letter “
Ha, I think it should say Reader F. I’ll fix that, thanks.
Thanks, Chuck! Was indeed supposed to be reader F
This happened to me last year with a SW app. They specifically denied the app, not just the bonus and stated that the reason is that I had received the bonus within the last 24 months. I double-checked and it had been 27 months since I received the bonus. I didn’t bother to fight it and just applied for two accounts for my wife for the companion fare.
Next year is my turn to apply for the companion fare. We’ll see their math improves…
@Alex – as I recall, there was no hard pull.
Could you double check on the HP when you get a chance please 🙂
Also why not recon in a few weeks if you were already at 27. Another week or two would’ve done the trick..
It would be very Citi-esque if they deny prior. Good for us who are in it just for the bonuses.
I didn’t see a HP for the app.
My understanding is that they screen for 24 month bonus first before the hard pull. Since I needed two cards for the companion fare I didn’t see the need to push my luck on two hard pulls. Chase has been good to me so I try not to get greedy with them. 🙂
Applied for AARP went pending, letter in mail declined for too many requests for new credit, called up, they grilled me with questions, then tried to move credit from existing account and still declined.
So i checked my experian report (its free, just create an account at experians website) and realized i have 8 inquires over last 6 months and 42 over last 2 years.
Experian seems to be the most pulled bureau as i have pulls from Citi Amex Boa Barclays FNBO Capital one, TD and Chase
where do you live? i thought barclays just pulled TU everywhere
NY
This rule has been there for a while. I applied for a hyatt card last year and was denied as I got it within 24 months.
It was news to me and I guess a lot of other people but it seems you’re right that it isn’t particularly new, still interesting IMO.
I guess this ruins my plan of referring my wife to the Ink Preferred, and cancelling it after getting the referral bonus each time lol
Haha
This is honestly probably one of the only reasons that makes sense that they would change a policy like this. After all, no matter what we could assume the reasons would be that they wouldn’t want to let someone who got a bonus reapply in two years, this right here is actually something I have never thought of that could be a nice haul for if done for multiple cards. Though this is obviously not an intended use of a referral… but i like to think we are all basically travel hacking after all so, haha.
Is this recon-able? It could just be that they don’t want to deal with complaints of people signing up expecting a bonus.
Not sure, anybody know?
Does anyone know if an authorized user will be denied if they apply for their own account under Chase’s new rule or does it only apply to the applicant?