UPDATE: One or more of the offers in this post have expired – check out top hotel credit card offers here.
The noose keeps getting tighter around ways to earn miles and points. We’ve seen several shutdowns of avenues for manufactured spending, from Target not allowing credit card and then debit card loads to its Target Redcard, to Serve and Bluebird accounts being shutdown as well as Citibank no longer allowing you to fund checking accounts with a credit card.
Signing up for many credit cards every couple of months has been another lucrative source of miles and points, but those avenues are slowing down if not drying up completely. American Express has long had a rule where you are limited to one signup bonus per card per lifetime (for personal cards), and Chase recently introduced the 5/24 rule
The Chase 5/24 rule
The Chase 5/24 rule has said that if you’ve applied for 5 or more cards in the past 24 months, they would automatically decline your application for many Chase cards. Originally, it was only for the Chase Sapphire and Chase Freedom cards, but recently we reported that the 5/24 rule was going to start applying to the Chase Ink business cards as well.
Now, Doctor of Credit is reporting that the 5/24 rule is going to apply to all Chase co-branded cards as well! This change is reported to start in April, so you do have a few months to get at least 1 (maybe 2?) Chase co-branded cards before the deadline hits
What co-branded Chase cards to get before April?
There are a couple of Chase co-branded cards that I think it could make sense to get. The Chase Marriott card (affiliate link) has the highest signup bonus I’ve ever seen, with 80,000 points after spending $3,000, PLUS 7,500 additional points for adding an authorized user. The $85 annual fee is not waived
The IHG card (Why you should get 2 IHG cards at the same time) might be another option. The public link is for 60,000 points, though there are reports that a Chase IHG 80k offer is available. That one is probably a keeper as the $49 annual fee gets you one free night at ANY IHG hotel worldwide (Where I “wasted” my 2 IHG free night certificates).
There are others that may be angling for the Southwest Companion pass, which requires you to earn 110,000 Southwest points in one year. While there are ways to earn the Companion pass without the credit card, it certainly makes things easier! The public offers are for 25,000 points but there are offers available for 50,000 points still
One of the United or British Airways cards is another option.
Are you going to sign up for a Chase card between now and April? Which ones do you find most attractive?
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
Boohoo, surely one would surmise the banks would catch up with us manipulating the system. Certainly doesn’t help all these blogs broadcast the avenues. Serves ya all right
I don’t disagree that Chase and any other banks have every right to do this. Time will tell if this is a profitable move by them, but I think that there are only going to be other banks following this lead rather than banks going into the opposite direction
Seems shortsighted. 5/24 is pretty tight even for people who aren’t churning. Then again, never count on a financial institution to behave rationally.
We’ll see. I’m sure none of us on the outside really know the details of Chase’s business, but I do agree that it’s possible that this will turn out to be shortsighted. It’s also totally possible that this is/was a good idea
One thing I don’t understand about the 5/24 rule is that it doesn’t account for people who regularly open and close accounts. I have 5 new cards in 24 months but I have not cancelled a single card and I also use them all. I don’t throw them in a drawer and forget them. I spend more on some than others but collectively my husband and I use our 3 Chase cards more than any other card. So, to me it would make sense to look at card churning, not just how many cards you have applied for. For instance, we have the CSP, CO Venture and Amex PGR, then both SW cards and one hotel card, which we have decided we don’t like, so I’d like to get either the Chase IHG or the Marriott and I don’t deny that the Marriott points could help us get the SW Companion Pass again next year but we would use the card that we decided on and we would keep it. We use our three Chase cards more than any other cards we have.
I think it’s already been happening. I was denied for a Chase BA card last fall after being grilled by a rep about why I have so many cards open and I couldn’t possibly need more credit since I barely use what I have. And she actually counted up how many applications I had approved in the past 2 years.
Before this, I had plans to get the Hyatt in Aug, SW in Jan ’17 but now I have to change that. I’m at 5 cards (in 8 months) so this will be tricky. The CP is out of the question so now I’m debating on which to go for first, the Hyatt (prefer points over free nights due to expiration) or IHG. I’m a family traveler and will double up with husband. I’m going to try for both but don’t see both being approved so I have to determine which is best to go for first.
IMO, the Hyatt signup bonus is better, but the IHG annual night bonus is better because the Hyatt annual night bonus is restricted. Category 1-4 hotels make up the bulk of their properties, but they’re not the really great ones, at least not in the US.
Both cards confer a platinum status that means absolutely nothing in most places. Last I signed up, the Hyatt was issued as a Visa, and the IHG was a MasterCard. This might matter to you after the Costco changeover if you shop there a lot.
I thought the Hyatt gave you 2 free nights at any Hyatt at signup?
Oh, it does. It is by far the better signup bonus.
I meant the recurring annual free night was weaker.
That’s exactly my issue. Hyatt = Better sign up bonus. IHG = Better long term benefits. My right mind is saying go for the better long term benefits but I also had my heart set on taking the fam to Hyatt Ziva Cancun or Los Cabos NEXT spring break so I would be pushing the expiration date anyway.
I meant Hyatt Ziva in Jamaica.