There are many banks and credit unions to get your miles, points, and cash back from. If you want to maximize your points and miles you better start the right way especially because some banks count applications against you. The one bank in general with some of the best credit cards is Chase bank.
Chase knows they monopolize some of the hottest credit cards and we actually broke news back in the day they came out with the Freedom Card before any other site. It’s been one of the best cards of all-time with the quarterly bonuses. What Chase does is limit your approval based on how many cards you’ve applied for in the past with the “5/24 rule.”
We recommend you apply for a Chase Credit Card first before any other card because of the strict rule they mandated over a year ago. Grab a few Chase Cards then as soon as they accept you go for the gold with all the other fantastic cards on the market such as Discover It.
What does 5/24 rule mean?
It’s more of a credit card insider term meaning they typically won’t approve you for some of their cards if you’ve opened more than five accounts in the past 24 months. The following cards are subjected to this rule:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve Cards
- Ink Business Preferred and Cash Business Credit Cards
- Chase Freedom and Chase Freedom Unlimited Cards
The following co-branded cards are not subjected to the strict rules which means you can apply for these even if you have had other bank cards:
- The Hyatt Credit Card
- IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card
- The Ritz-Carlton Rewards Credit Card
- British Airways Visa Signature Card
Why does Chase have stricter rules than other banks?
This was brought on by the big bank to stop people from using the bank for points and miles such as applying for cards then getting the bonus then canceling the card and re-applying. Some people have what they call “App parties” where they apply for 3 or 4 cards every 4 months just to get the miles and points bonus. Chase looks down on this and doesn’t want this temporary money on their accounts. Perhaps Chase should offer better long-term benefits so that people will keep using the cards and not “game the system.” Another term for applying for a card just for the bonus is referred to as “Churning” which many frequent flyers do so they can pay less or fly for free. The U.S. banking giant looks down on this as gaming their bonuses.
Chase is not alone in policy with how many cards you can have at once. American Express limits cardholders to up to 5 cards, although some have 6. Amex only allows you to earn the welcome bonus on a card once in a lifetime for personal cards. Citi Cards have a policy of only approving you for at most two cards every 65 days. Discover Card limits people to two cards. Keep in mind these are by far not as strict as Chase because these are actual cards not applications.
Maximize Southwest Points and Get A Companion Pass:
Here is good advice if you love to fly Southwest Airlines for the biggest bang for your buck. Apply for cards (below) in this order to score a Companion Pass and not worry about the 5/24 rule.
1. Sapphire Reserve- foundation of the Ultimate Rewards approach with sometimes a generous 100,000 bonus; everything flows out of this UR Card including Southwest points which count towards a Companion Pass.
2. Sapphire Preferred- Good sign-up bonus, you can downgrade to the Freedom Unlimited Card after the first year after transferring points to Southwest.
3. Ink Preferred- Use this card for Southwest points then after the first year downgrade to the Ink Cash with no annual fee.
4. Southwest Premier
5. Southwest Plus- Get both Southwest cards to get Companion Pass without the top 3 cards.
If you aren’t a Southwest frequent flyer try going for the United card or the Ritz (Marriott) Cards as well.
