Chase 5/24 Rule Explained

Understanding the 5/24 rule:

The most important rule to consider in collecting points is the “5/24 rule.” The rule is simple: If you get 5 personal credit cards in any 24-month period, you’re automatically prohibited from getting a 6th Chase or Capital One card. You cannot get another card until you’re under the “5-new-cards-in-24-months” threshold.

Two important notes:

1. Capital One business cards also count toward your 5/24 limit.
2. Technically you become eligible on the first day of the month following the expiration of the 24 month timer on your 5th oldest card (we know, it's kind of 5/25)

In most cases, you’re trying to remain at either 4 or 5 personal cards in a rolling 24-month period. That’s the best strategy for maximizing your points.

In other words, you’re always looking at the 24-month anniversary date of your 5th oldest personal card — so that you can add another personal card.

All of this can be confusing and a pain to keep track of. That's why we designed the Point Navigator to keep track of all of it for you.

As an example, consider the following scenario.

You apply and are approved for the following 5 cards, all personal:

Timeline:

• January 2018: Chase Sapphire Preferred
• May 2018: Capital One Venture X
• December 2018: American Express Green
• May 2019: World of Hyatt
• October 2019: United Explorer

Important to know:

The fifth card, the United Explorer, tripped the 5/24 rule. You won’t be eligible to get a new personal card from Chase until the oldest of these 5 cards is 24 months old. In this example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card (opened in January 2018) falls out of your 24-month window in January 2020. At that point, you can replace the Chase Sapphire card with a new card.

If you apply for a new card at this point, you would again be at the 5/24 threshold — until March (2020) when the Capital One Venture X would fall out of your 24-month window. This means you’d be eligible to get another personal card from Chase after March. After that, you’ll have to wait until December when the American Express Green card falls off.

About Approval Rules

Collecting credit card points is largely driven by understanding and abiding by bank rules regarding approval (or disapproval) of cards.  So here’s what you need to know:

• Approval rules are rarely fully publicized by the banks
• We use our own research and data points from other users in creating the rules listing
• Our goal in sharing/using the rule listings is to provide you guidance to avoid getting declined
• There can sometimes be exceptions to the rules, but we try to take a more cautious approach in advising you.