What is Chase 5/24 rule?
The 5/24 rule is an unwritten Chase approval guideline. If you have opened five or more new credit card accounts across all banks in the past 24 months, Chase will almost always deny you for its popular cards. Chase has never officially published the rule, but cardholders have documented it for years, and it applies to the Sapphire, Freedom, and Ink lines. The count includes personal cards from any issuer that show up on your credit report, not just Chase cards, and even cards you hold only as an authorized user can count against you.
How it works
Chase counts new accounts on a rolling 24-month window. Say that over the past two years you opened a Citi card, a Capital One card, a Wells Fargo card, an Amex card, and a store card. That is five new accounts, so you are "at 5/24," and Chase will reject a Chase Sapphire Preferred application even with an 800 credit score and its 100,000-point welcome bonus on the table. Accounts age off as they cross the 24-month mark, so once the oldest of those five passes two years, you drop to 4/24 and become eligible again. Most business cards do not report to your personal credit, so they usually do not add to the count, but you still have to be under 5/24 to get approved for a Chase card in the first place. A denial for being over the limit does not hurt your chances once you are back under it.
Why it matters when picking a card
If you want a Chase card with a big welcome bonus, apply before you rack up a run of new accounts elsewhere. Order matters. A common approach is to get the cards with the strictest rules first, then fill in issuers that have no hard limit, like Amex, Capital One, and Citi. The Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve carry two of the most valuable bonuses on the market (100,000 points each right now), and 5/24 is the gate you have to clear to reach them. Check your own count before you apply: pull a free credit report, tally every new card opened in the past 24 months, and if you are already at five, wait for one to age off rather than spend a hard inquiry on a near-certain denial.