There are many ways to earn travel rewards, like flying, staying at a hotel or getting a new credit card. Did you know that some credit cards will give you bonus points for referring your friends? Here’s everything you need to know about the Chase Refer-A-Friend bonus.
Chase is eliminating return and price protections for all of its cards. If these valuable protections are important to you, check out our list of excellent alternatives from Citi, Discover and American Express. Let’s take a look at what each issuer offers before getting into the specific cards.
Chase is eliminating return and price protection on all of its credit cards. The popular Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve and Ink Business Preferred cards will lose these benefits on August 26, 2018. And price and return protection are expected to be removed from all other Chase credit cards soon thereafter. That means that you could be missing out on hundreds of dollars of savings in the near future.
The Chase Freedom credit card is one of my favorite ways to
The quarterly bonus categories are capped at $1,500 in spend each quarter. This means that you can earn up to 7,500 Ultimate Rewards points every three months when you max out the bonus opportunity.
Regular airline and hotel program devaluations are becoming the norm, and recently Singapore Airlines has announced program changes without giving us a whole lot of warning. Effective December 7, 2017, many flights booked on Star Alliance partners will be changing in price and there are a few non-price related changes as well. All in all this is a pretty big deal.
When an entrepreneur first starts a business, cash flow is crucial. Many will get loans to fund the initial effort. Some will seek out help from family and friends. Others will turn to credit cards as a way to pay for the expenses that come with a new business. There are some common myths about using
You may be aware of some of the cardholder perks that come with many premium credit cards, such as rental car insurance and lost baggage coverage. But did you know that some cards will reimburse you if your cell phone is stolen or damaged?
This coverage isn’t common, but some big issuers, such as Capital One, Chase, Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank, have cards with some sort of cell phone protections. It may be worth getting one of those cards just to protect your phone. I know I’ve dropped, sat on, cracked or otherwise damaged many smartphones over the years.
Your trip is booked, your bags are packed, and you’re ready to go. Chances are the last thing on your mind is how you’re going to save money on currency conversion fees, securing pocket cash and on your foreign purchases.
These expenses can add up though and without some upfront planning, you’ll return from your holiday with a bank or credit card statement full of fees. Minimal time invested before you go can result in reducing transaction fees, avoiding overcharges for foreign travel expenses and even earning rewards while you’re traveling.
Chase continues to make it more difficult to get approved for new credit cards and earns large sums of points with sign up bonuses. By now, many are familiar with the 5/24 rule, in which Chase will automatically reject applications for most of their cards if you have opened five or more new credit card accounts with any bank within the last 24 months.
Now, Chase has come out with a new rule, targeted at the Sapphire family of cards. There are three cards in the Sapphire family: the no annual fee Sapphire card, Sapphire Preferred, and Sapphire Reserve. Here are the new rules per a memo sent to Chase bankers:
Hurricane Harvey has done unimaginable damage to Houston and the surrounding areas. It’s the wettest tropical storm ever recorded in the contiguous United States, dumping more than 40 inches of rain in just four days. Storm damages are estimated in the tens of billions of dollars.
Chase makes great credit cards. The Sapphire Reserve and Preferred top just about everyone’s
If you’re thinking about getting a Chase card, I’ve got you covered. Below is everything you need to know about the 5/24 rule. And if you’re looking for good alternatives to Chase cards, check out these suggestions.
Simply put, Chase will not approve you for a card if you’ve opened five or more new card accounts across all banks in the last 24 months. They introduced this rule several years ago to prevent card churning.
In other words, they don’t want you to get a bunch of credit cards just for the welcome bonuses.
The Bad News: All personal credit cards from any bank count toward your total open accounts. You can’t get around the 5/24 rule just by getting non-Chase cards.
The Good News: Some credit cards don’t count toward the 5/24 rule. There are exceptions! Don’t worry, I’ll cover those later.
It’s worth pointing out that you can still
The list of Chase cards you can’t get if you’ve opened five accounts in the last two years is long. If these cards are out of your reach, you’re missing out. That’s why it’s important to understand the 5/24 rule.
When you can’t get these cards because of the 5/24 rule, here are some excellent alternatives.
There are a lot of reasons to want these cards. To start with, the Ultimate Rewards program is great and the points are valuable. The Sapphire cards in particular offer big intro bonuses worth hundreds of dollars. I couldn’t do without my Reserve card with its top-of-line perks:
The Southwest cards are a must-have for domestic travelers for one reason: the fantastic Southwest Companion Pass. If you get two of the Southwest cards at the right time, you can get the pass with just the welcome bonuses. That’s how I’ve done it.
With the pass, you can take a family or friend with you for free on any Southwest flight. The pass can be used unlimited times and is good for up to two years!
I’ve saved thousands on family vacations with the pass. It’s simply the best deal in
The Marriott Bonvoy credit cards are brand new. As part of the upgrade, Marriott Bonvoy program now offers great welcome bonuses and other travel perks. Marriott’s reward program often flies under the radar, but it’s Hotel + Air Package deals are pretty great.
Today you can transfer Marriott points to 39 airline transfer partners at 3-to-1 ratio with most programs. Plus, you will bet a 5,000 miles bonus for every 60,000 points you transfer to frequent flier miles. Thus, with the transfer bonus, if you transfer 60,000 Bonvoy miles, you’ll get 25,000 miles in the airline frequent flyer program of your choice!
Most Bonvoy cards also come with a free night award on every card anniversary. But if you want to maximize your free night awards, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card should be on your wish list.
Keep in mind that those cards will count toward your 5/24 total. If you’re not worried about getting a Chase card (or already have the ones you want), then start applying for your next Amex, Citi, Capital One, Barclays or U.S. Bank card.
Otherwise, you might want to get a card that doesn’t count toward the total (more on this below).
If you’re above 5/24 and you’re waiting it out to apply for a new Chase card, you can still earn intro bonuses. That’s because certain cards won’t show up on your credit report. They won’t count toward your total opened accounts, making them exceptions to the rule.
Which cards can you get? Just about any
That means you can get business cards from American Express, Bank of America, Citi and even Chase.
Yes, I said Chase. You will have to be below 5/24 to get a Chase business card, but it won’t contribute to your total number of new accounts for future applications.
With all those issuers, there are a lot of great options to tide you over until you can get another Chase card. Bank of America issues a great Alaska Airlines business card and, as I’m sure you know, American Express has a whole lineup of excellent business cards (including the Business Gold Rewards card and the Business Platinum card).
There has been a lot of discussion about Barclays business cards. They issue business cards for JetBlue, Hawaiian Airlines and American Airlines, so it’s worth mentioning.
While most report that the cards don’t count, there are enough reports of them counting that I’d be wary of taking the chance unless I was okay with a hit to my 5/24 total. I personally haven’t applied for any of these cards for that very reason.
You might be thinking that you’d like to get one of those small business cards but you don’t run a business. You might be surprised at how easy it is to qualify for one of these cards.
If you’re like me, you probably sell some of your old stuff on eBay from time to time. If you do that a few times a year and make a few bucks, guess what? You’re a business owner. You can get a
There is several ways to qualify. Do you do a little freelancing on the side? That counts. What about a small crafts business? Or maybe a little neighborhood landscaping? It might be worth selling a few things on Etsy or Ebay just get access to these cards. Think about it.
Becoming an authorized user on someone else’s card will look like an open account on your credit report. In other words, Chase will see it and might deny you when considering your application.
I’d avoid becoming an authorized user for this reason, but you can always call Chase and explain the situation. They may reconsider your application. I don’t think it’s worth the risk, though.
Store cards that are part of major payment systems like
So skip that Gap card next time the sales clerk propositions you during check out.
Upgrading or downgrading your card within the same lineup shouldn’t count as a new card account. For example, if you decide to upgrade from the Gold Delta SkyMiles card to the Platinum SkyMiles card, you should be okay.
Though unusual, some issuers will do a hard pull on your account for upgrades. If there’s a hard pull, it will appear on your credit report and Chase will likely consider it a new account. So ask the issuer if they plan to do a hard pull on your credit before you upgrade or downgrade your card.
To sum up, these cards add to your 5/24 total:
These actions won’t impact your chances of getting a Chase card:
Chase keeps tightening the rules. There used to be a few ways to get a Chase card even if you had opened five (or more) accounts in two years. The most popular of these methods was applying after getting a pre-qualified or other special offer directly from Chase. But that doesn’t work anymore.
A few readers have reported in the past that they’ve been able to go directly into a Chase branch with one of these special offers and get approved. This won’t work now.
Asking to be pre-approved, even in a branch location, often results in the agent checking online, which will trigger the rule. They’ll know you’re over, and you won’t get a card.
If you take a chance and give this strategy a try, Chase might decide to close all of your accounts because you’ve ‘cheated’ the rules. Is it really worth it?
If you get a targeted offer online, in an email or via old-fashioned snail mail, you may still have a chance of getting a card even if you’re over the 5/24 limit. Of course, there’s no guarantee that this will work. Be sure to use your personalized invitation code, if you got one with the offer.
It’s possible that Chase made a mistake! If you’ve been denied but you don’t think you’re over the 5/24 limit, don’t be afraid to call the Chase reconsideration line.
Be sure to ask for the reasons that you’ve been denied. It’s possible that they included a card that you’re just an authorized user on by accident or have made some other error.
Whether you’re waiting for a card to drop off your report so you can get a new Chase card or your just not sure how many accounts you’ve opened in the last couple of years, there’s an easy way to check.
All you need to do is to take a look at your credit report. There are a variety of places that allow you to do that for free, including Credit Karma and Experian.
Once you have access to your report, just look for accounts that have been opened in the last 24 months. They should be easy to find.
While you’re looking at your report, it’s always a good idea to check it over for any errors. Make sure all of the accounts (including mortgages and car loans) are yours, and that all of your payments are current.
If you find any errors (it happens more often than you think!) report it immediately to the credit bureau that issued the credit report.
Chase’s 5/24 rule is here to stay. You can’t escape it. Chase has even tightened the rules over time.
So it’s important to know what does and doesn’t count before you apply for a new Chase card. Check your credit report and make sure Chase won’t turn you away. There’s nothing worse than a denied application and taking a hit to your credit score for no reason.
And if you are over five new accounts in the last two years, you might want to hold off on that new card. Unless, of course, you’ve been following along and know the exceptions to the 5/24 rule. I know I’m looking forward to the day I can apply for another Chase card or two. But if you’ve given up on getting more Chase cards in the near future, there are some
Are you ready to
Priority Pass hit a milestone last year by offering members access to over 1,000 lounges worldwide. That makes it the most comprehensive independent airport lounge network available, all but guaranteeing that you’ll have a comfy place to relax, snack or get a little work done at any major airport in the world. The best part? You can get a free membership with the right credit card.
There are few travel experiences as annoying as arriving at a hotel after a long trip, and being forced to wait in a line to check in. On the other hand, it’s gratifying to bypass the line and receive immediate service when you have elite status with a major hotel chain.
On top of that, guests with elite status can enjoy other perks like room upgrades, late check-outs and even free breakfast. Finally, having elite status means that you’ll earn more reward points for every dollar you spend.
Part of an effective miles and points earning strategy is to take advantage of every opportunity to rack up extra miles. Here are some tips for earning miles in places you may not have thought of before.
United is arguably the most popular Chase airline transfer partner, and transferring Ultimate Rewards points to United often makes sense when the price in points on the Ultimate Rewards website is too high compare to what you could pay for the flight using alternative currencies —
Some of the
With so many good travel credit cards on the market, it can sometimes be difficult to decide which ones to keep in your wallet long-term. If you keep too many, you will end up paying a significant amount of money in annual fees which may end up costing you more than the value you receive from these cards. On the other hand, if you cancel a card and later decide you would like to have it again, you may be prevented from getting that card again due to Chase’s much-maligned 5/24 rule.
This is the fastest way to earn tons of Chase Ultimate Rewards. If you have opened relatively few credit card accounts over the past 2 years, it should also be one of the easiest.
Choosing which travel rewards credit card to apply for can be overwhelming, particularly if you’re just getting into the miles game. Even veterans get confused by all the options sometimes. Let’s take a look at some of the best cards to get into the big travel rewards programs.
