Chase 5/24 Rule: What It Is, Which Cards Are Affected, and How to Work Around It 2026

The Chase 5/24 rule is Chase’s most consequential credit card policy — an unofficial but strictly enforced restriction that limits how many Chase credit cards you can open. Understanding it is essential for anyone building a Chase Ultimate Rewards strategy.

What Is the Chase 5/24 Rule?

Chase will not approve most of its credit cards if you have opened 5 or more personal credit cards (from any issuer, not just Chase) in the past 24 months. This is not an official, published policy — Chase has never announced it formally — but it has been documented extensively through cardholder experience since approximately 2015 and is reliably enforced.

Key points:

• The rule counts cards from all issuers, not just Chase (your Amex Gold, Citi Double Cash, and Capital One Venture all count)
• It counts personal credit cards — business cards generally do not count toward your 5/24 count (with exceptions noted below)
• It applies to card openings in the past 24 rolling months, not calendar years
• If you’re at 5/24, you will be auto-declined in most cases regardless of credit score

Which Cards Are Subject to 5/24?

Most Chase personal cards are subject to 5/24, including:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred
• Chase Sapphire Reserve
• Chase Freedom Unlimited
• Chase Freedom Flex
• Chase Freedom Rise
• Chase Slate Edge
• Most co-branded personal cards: Southwest, United, Marriott, Hyatt, British Airways, Disney, Amazon

Business cards subject to 5/24 (they still require you to be under 5/24 to be approved):

• Ink Business Preferred
• Ink Business Cash
• Ink Business Unlimited
• Ink Business Premier
• Most co-branded business cards: Southwest Business, United Business, Marriott Business

Note: While business cards require you to be under 5/24 for approval, Chase business cards do not add to your 5/24 count. This is the critical asymmetry that powers advanced Chase application strategies.

What Counts Toward Your 5/24?

Counts Toward 5/24

• Any personal credit card opened in the last 24 months — from any US issuer
• A business card from Discover, Capital One, or TD Bank (these issuers report their business cards to personal credit bureaus, so they appear on your personal credit report and count)
• Authorized user accounts on other people’s cards (if they appear on your personal credit report — you can dispute AU accounts if you didn’t open them yourself)

Does NOT Count Toward 5/24

• Chase business cards (Ink, co-branded business)
• Most other issuers’ business cards — Amex, Citi, Bank of America, US Bank, Wells Fargo, and most other banks do not report business cards to personal credit bureaus (exceptions: Discover, Capital One, TD)
• Cards that have been closed (once closed, the account still counts until it ages out of the 24-month window)
• Charge cards (NPSL, no preset spending limit cards) — these are technically not credit cards and typically don’t count

How to Check Your 5/24 Status

Chase does not publish your 5/24 count. To calculate it yourself:

1. Pull your personal credit report — use AnnualCreditReport.com (free) or a service like Credit Karma
2. Look at the “opened” date for every personal credit card in your report
3. Count all personal credit cards opened in the past 24 months (from any issuer)

That number is your current 5/24 count. If it’s 5 or higher, you will typically be declined for Chase cards subject to 5/24.

Shortcut: Credit Karma tracks new account openings over time and shows the approximate date of each account opening. You can count backward 24 months from today and tally up new personal card openings in that window.

5/24 Strategy: How to Plan Your Applications

Rule 1: Prioritize Chase Cards

Because of the 5/24 restriction, apply for Chase cards before cards from issuers without equivalent restrictions. Amex, Citi, Capital One, and most other issuers have their own velocity rules but none are as blunt as Chase’s 5/24.

If you have 4 open slots under 5/24, use them on Chase cards you want (Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, Freedom Unlimited, Freedom Flex) before opening Amex, Citi, or Capital One cards.

Rule 2: Use Business Cards to Earn UR Without Burning Slots

Chase Ink business cards (Ink Business Preferred, Ink Business Cash, Ink Business Unlimited) require you to be under 5/24 at application, but once approved, they do not add to your personal 5/24 count.

Practical implication: A freelancer, sole proprietor, or small business owner at 4/24 can open an Ink Business Preferred and stay at 4/24 — preserving the slot for a future personal card.

The so-called “Chase Ink train” strategy — sequentially opening Ink business cards every 90–180 days — allows cardholders to accumulate UR points through welcome bonuses without burning personal 5/24 slots.

Rule 3: Timing the Sapphire Cards

The Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve are subject to 5/24 and the additional 48-month rule — you cannot receive a Sapphire welcome bonus if you received one in the past 48 months (4 years).

Application sequence for a new points traveler starting at 0/24:

1. Month 1: Apply for Sapphire Preferred (now at 1/24) — earn 60,000+ UR welcome bonus
2. Month 2: Apply for Freedom Unlimited (2/24)
3. Month 3: Apply for Freedom Flex (3/24)
4. Month 4: Apply for Ink Business Preferred (still at 3/24)
5. Month 6: Apply for Ink Business Cash (still at 3/24)
6. Month 10: Open 1–2 non-Chase personal cards (Amex Gold, Citi Double Cash) — now at 4–5/24
7. Month 49+: Apply for Sapphire Reserve (or upgrade from Preferred) to receive the next Sapphire bonus

Rule 4: Getting Back Under 5/24

If you’re currently at or above 5/24 and want Chase cards, you simply wait. There is no shortcut. As cards age out of the 24-month window, your count drops naturally.

Example: You opened 5 cards in 2023–2024. The oldest one (January 2023) falls out of the 24-month window in January 2025, dropping you to 4/24 — and making you eligible for Chase applications again.

Track the exact opening date of each card on your credit report so you know exactly when each will age out.

Common 5/24 Mistakes

Applying for a personal Amex or Citi card before Chase cards: If you plan to open both Chase and non-Chase cards, open Chase cards first. A Capital One Venture at 4/24 pushes you to 5/24 and blocks all Chase personal cards until it ages out.

Forgetting authorized user accounts: If someone added you as an authorized user on their credit card in the past 24 months, that account may appear on your credit report and count toward 5/24. You can call Chase to explain you’re an AU and not the primary cardholder — Chase has discretion to exclude AU accounts — or dispute the AU account on your credit report if you didn’t consent to being added.

Opening store cards carelessly: Many retail credit cards (Amazon Rewards, Target RedCard credit) count toward 5/24. If you opened a store card in the past 24 months because the cashier offered 10% off your purchase, that card is now consuming a 5/24 slot.

Applying for multiple Chase personal cards on the same day: Chase limits approvals to typically 1 personal card per 30 days (sometimes 2 with a 30-day gap between applications). Don’t apply for both Sapphire Preferred and Freedom Unlimited on the same day expecting both to be approved.

Cards Not Affected by 5/24

A handful of Chase cards are rumored (based on community data points) to be exempt from the 5/24 rule — meaning Chase may approve them even if you’re at 5/24+:

• Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless — data points suggest occasional approval at 5+/24 when offered via targeted mailers
• Chase co-branded cards via “invitation only” or branch offers — targeted pre-approvals at Chase branches have bypassed 5/24 in isolated cases

These exemptions are not guaranteed and are not officially confirmed by Chase. Do not rely on them as part of a planned application strategy.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Chase 5/24 rule?

The Chase 5/24 rule is an unofficial but consistently enforced policy: Chase will not approve most of its credit cards if you have opened 5 or more personal credit cards from any US issuer in the past 24 months. It applies to the Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, Freedom Flex, Freedom Unlimited, and most Chase co-branded personal and business cards.

Do business cards count toward Chase 5/24?

Most business credit cards do not count — because most issuers (Amex, Citi, Bank of America, US Bank) don’t report business cards to personal credit bureaus. However, Chase’s Ink business cards require you to be under 5/24 at application, and business cards from Capital One, Discover, and TD Bank do count because those issuers report business accounts to personal bureaus.

How do I check my Chase 5/24 status?

Go to AnnualCreditReport.com and pull your full personal credit report. Count every personal credit card with an open date in the past 24 months, from any issuer. That number is your 5/24 count. Credit Karma also displays account opening dates, making it easy to count cards opened in the rolling 24-month window.

Does being an authorized user count toward Chase 5/24?

Potentially yes. If someone added you as an authorized user and the account appears on your personal credit report, it may count toward 5/24. Call Chase and explain you are an authorized user — Chase has discretion to exclude AU accounts. You can also dispute the account on your credit report if you didn’t consent to being added.

How do I get under Chase 5/24?

Wait. There is no shortcut to reducing your 5/24 count. Each personal card you opened ages out of the 24-month window on the exact same calendar date it was opened, two years prior. Track opening dates for every card on your credit report so you know precisely when your count will drop.