A Comprehensive Guide to Chase’s 5/24 Rule

Chase’s 5/24 Rule is well known among frequent fliers but goes virtually unacknowledged by Chase

If you have a habit of racking up points and miles by collecting credit cards, you may have noticed something strange when you tried to apply for a Chase card. Despite a solid credit score and a track-record of on-time payments, your application for a Chase Freedom Card or Chase Sapphire Preferred card was…..denied.

Beginning in mid-2015, Chase applicants began to notice this disturbing trend. The reason for the denial? Applicants were informed they’d “opened too many accounts in the last 24 months” to be eligible for a Chase card. Once people began to share this news with the rest of the internet, it quickly became apparent that Chase would deny an application from someone who had opened five or more credit cards across all bank accounts within the past 24 months.

If you’re unsure about how this all works, below we’ve provided a comprehensive guide the Chase’s 5/24 rule.

What is the 5/24 Rule?

To be approved for any Chase card that falls within the 5/24 rule (which not all of them do!) you cannot have opened five or more personal credit cards across all banks within the last 24 months. Keep in mind, this is five inclusive, so you can only have opened 4 or less.

Keep in mind, however, that standard credit card application requirements are also still in play here. Your credit score, debt and income, among other variables, are still relevant towards Chase’s decision to accept or reject your application, regardless of whether or not you have opened less than five credit cards in the past 24 months. 

Which cards fall under the 5/24 rule?

The following cards are reportedly subject to the 5/24 rule:

Furthermore, all co-branded cards are subject to the 5/24 rule, as of November 2018 (although this has been corroborated by applicants, and not confirmed by Chase, as the company is fairly reticent on the topic of the 5/24 rule.)

What counts towards your 5/24 score?

It’s important to know which accounts you have are counted within the 5/24 parameters. Keeping in mind that you are not eligible to apply for a new Chase card until the first day of the 25th month after your fifth card account was opened, the accounts that fall under consideration of Chase’s 5/24 rule are:

Fortunately, cards that you apply but get denied for do not count towards your 5/24 standing.

On the other hand, card conversions and upgrades may count towards the 5/24 standing, depending on how your bank handles the upgrade. To be on the safe side, before going forward with a conversion or upgrade, ask your bank whether or not they will be doing a hard credit pull to determine your eligibility. If they are, this may indicate that conversion will count towards whether or not you fall under the 5/24 rule. 

Is it possible to bypass the 5/24 rule?

Most methods for bypassing the 5/24 rule are discouraged, because it might affect your standing with Chase (and make it difficult to acquire a Chase card even after you’re not longer within the parameters of the 5/24 rule).

However, some reports have found it’s possible to bypass the 5/24 rule and acquire one of Chase cards that falls under the 5/24 rule by upgrading from a Chase card you already have (that you’ve held for at least a year).

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