Don’t Get Any New Credit Cards Until You Read This

travel hacking Apr 30, 2021

If you’re serious about pursuing travel rewards & traveling nearly free (aka Travel Hacking), this caution is for you.

Some of the best credit card carriers have strict rules about applying for their cards. You need to know these rules so you can maximize your travel rewards.

It’s generally agreed upon in Travel Hacking communities that Chase Bank credit cards are the most valuable cards out there.

This is because:

  • Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) points are very versatile
  • Chase UR points are worth ~2 cents, far more than most
  • Chase Travel Partners have some of the best redemptions

As a result, Chase is very strict about how many cards you can get and how often you can get them.

This is often called Chase’s 5/24 rule.

It means that if you have been approved for 5 new credit cards in the last 24 months, you are unable to apply for a Chase card.

In other words, you have to be under 5/24 to be approved for any Chase card. For most of you, that’s probably not an issue. But if you’ve started Travel Hacking recently and you’ve applied for non-Chase cards, it has reduced the number of Chase cards you can apply for.

You want to focus on only applying for Chase cards until you hit 5/24, then you can move to other cards.

Add up the number of personal cards you’ve been approved for in the last 24 months and subtract it from 5. That’s how many Chase cards you can get until you hit the 5/24 rule.

If you're Travel Hacking, only apply for Chase cards while you’re under 5/24. Once you hit 5/24, you can move on to other carriers.

To learn which Chase card you should apply for first, check out the blog, The Best Credit Card for Travel Rewards.

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