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
This is now on offer terms for chase personal credit cards. Previously it said bonus is available if you have not received bonus in last 24 month but now it says Product is available if you have not received bonus in last 24 month. For chase business card it’s same as before
Whats the rule for chase business apps?
I applied for cash ink as sole proprietary
Then i applied for ink preferred as LLC.
Now I want to get an ink cash for the LLC.
Will it be possible or you think its unlikely it will be approved?
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?
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?
Made the mistake of opening a Hyatt before 24 months from prior bonus and got this same letter.
Thought about finding out but what I’d find out what they’ll say once I’m over the 24 month from prior bonus.
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.
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.
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 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. 🙂
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
Does the denial still result in a hard pull?
I’d like to know this as well, though I’m guessing “yes.”
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.