Chase is widely regarded as one of the most important banks to focus on, and there are some good reasons for this. While you almost certainly want to get Chase cards at some point in your credit card journey, there are times where you can put yourself in a better position by deviating from conventional strategies. I’ll go over a few examples of this below, as well as providing specific examples of when it can make sense to go in a different direction.

1. You Should Focus Only on Chase Cards When You Are Under 5/24

For many people who are starting out in the points and miles game, the first rule they learn about is the Chase 5/24 rule. This rule states that if you have received 5 or more personal cards in the last 24 months across all issuers, Chase won’t approve you for any additional cards. There are exceptions, with datapoints of people being approved for Chase cards while above 5/24, but most people will not be as lucky.

In my opinion, the 5/24 rule is something that you need to be aware of, and you also need to understand the opportunity cost of getting a personal card from another issuer when under 5/24, but it is far from being set in stone. Here are a few examples where getting a card from a different issuer could make sense:

• You are an airline and/or hotel loyalist and value perks of the cards with your preferred airline/hotel, such as free checked bags, priority boarding, or elevated status.
• You value lounge access through Priority Pass or American Express Centurion lounges. Currently, the only Chase cards that offer Priority Pass access are the Chase Sapphire Reserve and the Ritz-Carlton Card.
  • Since you can only have one Sapphire card at a time, I feel that most people are better off choosing the Sapphire Preferred and getting a different premium card, which you can read more about here.
  • The Ritz-Carlton Card is a great long-term keeper card, but it is not available to new applicants, so you have to get a different Chase Marriott Bonvoy card and upgrade to the Ritz-Carlton Card after 1 year, which rules this out as an option for quickly getting lounge access.
• You have a specific redemption in mind that can’t be done with Chase Ultimate Rewards points, such as booking Star Alliance flights using the ANA Around the World award, since ANA is only a transfer partner of American Express. Generally, an American Express business card could allow you to do this without adding to 5/24, but if you aren’t able to meet the higher minimum spend, it could make sense to get a personal card instead. This is even more applicable when there is an unusually high offer for a card, such as the 150,000-point offer for the American Express Platinum, or the 100,000-point offer for the American Express Gold.

2. Focus on Transferable Point-Earning Cards Before Cobranded Cards

This is mostly told to people that are new to getting credit cards and are under 5/24. In my opinion, there are only 2 UR earning personal cards that are worth getting from Chase: The Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Chase Freedom Flex. I don’t think that the Chase Freedom Unlimited is worth taking up a 5/24 slot, so it is a card I would skip.

People will generally say this when you ask about getting a co-branded card from Chase, often with an elevated bonus, such as getting the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless when the intro offer is 5x 50,000-point free night certificates.

Since the main obstacle to getting Chase cards is being under 5/24, the order of the cards doesn’t matter very much, and an elevated bonus like the example above is definitely worth getting, even if it delays getting a different card by a couple months.

Also, if you want to upgrade the Bonvoy Boundless to get the Ritz-Carlton card, it may make sense to make that one of your first Chase cards, since you have to hold the card for 1 year before upgrading.

As long as you pick up the following Ultimate Rewards cards at some point while being under 5/24, the order doesn’t matter:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred
• Chase Freedom Flex
• Chase Ink Business Unlimited
• Chase Ink Business Preferred
• Chase Ink Business Cash

This leaves you at 2/24, so you have 3 more personal credit cards that you can get, along with as many business cards as you want. Some people also get multiple of each Ink card to earn more Ultimate Rewards points while staying under 5/24.

3. Your First Chase Card Should be a Sapphire So You Can Start the 48 Month Clock

I can understand why people say to get a Sapphire card first: if you earn Ultimate Rewards points on other cards and then are unable to get a Sapphire Preferred or Ink Preferred, then you can’t take advantage of transfer partners, which significantly limits the value that you can get from these points.

If you plan to downgrade the Chase Sapphire Preferred and reapply every 48 months to get another bonus, I can see the logic behind wanting to start the countdown clock for that. However, I would argue that most people are better off beginning with other Chase cards on the list from the previous point, or other Chase business cards, and wait for the offer to change from the standard 60,000 offer to an elevated 80,000 offer, which historically happens at least once per year. If you run out of cards on that list, it may make sense to get any cobranded personal Chase cards that you want, as well as any business cards that you want, and leave a 5/24 slot open that you can use when the elevated bonus rolls around.

In my opinion, the opportunity cost of waiting a couple more months to get another Sapphire bonus is far outweighed by the additional 20,000 points, especially if you are able to continue adding new cards while you wait for a better offer.

4. Once You Reach 5/24, Move on to Other Issuers’ Cards Instead of Focusing on Chase

There are a few commonly held beliefs that this rule goes against:

• The previous rule, since you’ll have to be under 5/24 to get another Sapphire bonus, so moving on completely means that jumping on the CSP as soon as possible doesn’t actually matter.
• Ultimate Rewards points are the most valuable points currency (usually because of Hyatt). If it is so much more valuable than other points, wouldn’t you want to stay under 5/24 for as long as possible to keep cycling Ink bonuses?
• Southwest Airlines Companion Pass is one of the most powerful airline benefits available. This is a statement that I agree with, since you can get $0 fares (plus taxes and fees) for a companion for close to 2 years if you time it correctly.
  • You earn Companion Pass for the rest of the year that you earn it, as well all of the following year, by earning 135,000 qualifying points (this is reduced to 125,000 if you hold a Southwest credit card).
    • There are many ways to earn these points, but the easiest way for most people is to get both a personal and business Southwest credit card, since the intro bonuses and points earned from spend all count towards the 125,000 requirement.
    • Since Chase is the issuer of the Southwest credit cards, you would need to be 4/24 or lower in order for this to be a viable strategy.
  • Many people intentionally time their applications in order to be able to earn Companion Pass every 2-3 years using the 2-card strategy. This makes sense, but it isn’t possible if you aren’t being very particular about the timing and quantity of your personal card roadmap.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I think that these guidelines can be helpful for people who are just starting out in their credit card journey, but I feel that it’s better to have clear travel goals and understand the best way to achieve them, even if it means that your credit card strategy doesn’t perfectly align with the most popular advice.