Here’s How You Can Get a Chase Ink Card, Even if You’re Over 5/24

Chase’s 5/24 rule was implemented several years ago and has since become a well-known quantity within the points and miles world.

It’s not an official policy formally published by the issuer, but data collected over the years indicates its existence. Basically, Chase won’t approve you if you’ve opened 5 or more cards — from any issuer — within the previous 24 months of applying for a new Chase credit card.

For those of us who are always looking for more ways to boost our balances of points and miles, this has proven to be a tricky rule to work around, as it meant missing out on some pretty lucrative Chase Ink bonus offers available on a range of its card products over the years, including the Ink Business Cash^® Credit Card and Ink Business Unlimited^® Credit Card.

But, there seems to be a way to circumvent this unwritten rule and still be able to take advantage of the welcome offers on Chase credit cards.

Today, we’ll take a look at what this strategy looks like.

The Way Around 5/24: Apply for Business Credit Cards

If you’re anything like us and want to take advantage of just about every welcome bonus offer imaginable, you’ll want to pay attention to this section.

Business credit cards do not count toward your personal credit report unless you open business cards issued by Capital One, except the Capital One Spark Cash Plus Card (Information collected independently. Not reviewed by Capital One.), or Discover. This means that if any of your 5/24 “slots” are taken by most business credit cards, you can theoretically be approved for as many Chase products as you have open slots.

So, if you’re technically at or over 5/24 — but 1 or more of those slots are taken by a Chase Ink product — you may still apply for a new Ink product and be approved if you meet the issuer’s criteria.

However, if you’re at or above 5/24 and all of the slots are occupied by consumer cards (or you have some business cards issued by Capital One or Discover), you will most likely be denied if you try applying for an Ink product.

The Loophole Around the Loophole

Despite everything we’ve discussed already, there’s yet another factor to consider when deciding whether or not to apply for an Ink credit card.

Chase has been known to suspend its unwritten 5/24 rule from time to time, particularly around the time in which the issuer has new welcome offers for its Ink cards. Right now is one of those times, as Chase is featuring elevated welcome bonus offers for both the Ink Business Unlimited card and Ink Business Cash card.

We haven’t seen any data points yet to indicate a suspension of 5/24 to accompany this latest round of elevated offers on these cards, but it’s still early, so we may see it soon. It may be worth throwing your hat in the ring, even though your credit score may take a slight dip in the interim.

Welcome Offers on the Ink Business Unlimited Card and the Ink Business Cash Card

Both the Ink Business Unlimited card and the Ink Business Cash card are formidable cash-back business credit cards from Chase’s Ink card family that provide solid returns on spending. The cards are very similar, though they differ primarily in the way they earn rewards.

Right now, both cards are offering welcome bonus offers:

• Ink Business Cash Card: Earn $350 when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months and an additional $400 when you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 6 months.
• Ink Business Unlimited Card: Earn $750 cash back after spending $6,000 in the first 3 months.

These welcome bonuses have the potential to both be worth $750 in cash-back or travel purchased through the Chase travel portal, but they’ll be rewarded initially as 75,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points into your account once you surpass the minimum spending threshold.

But if you also hold a premium Chase card, such as the Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve^®, or Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card, you can pool your points together to access Chase’s transfer partners, which will yield far more value because you can book luxury travel experiences at a fraction of what they’d typically cost.

Earning Rewards With the Ink Business Unlimited Card and the Ink Business Cash Card

As we mentioned, these cards are fairly similar, but they do differ in the way they earn rewards.

You’ll earn at the following rates with the Ink Business Cash card:

• 5% cash-back (on up to $25,000 in combined purchases on 5% categories each account anniversary year) per $1 spent on office supply stores, internet, cable, and phone services
• 2% cash-back (on up to $25,000 in combined purchases on 2% categories each account anniversary year) per $1 spent on gas stations and restaurants
• 1% cash-back per $1 spent on all other eligible purchases

And with the Ink Business Unlimited card, you’ll earn rewards at the following rate:

• 1.5% cash-back per $1 spent on all eligible purchases

As you can see, what your business spends the most money on will determine which card will provide better value.

If your business spends a lot in the elevated categories with the Ink Business Cash card, you’re likely better off with that card. But if your spending is more spread out across general purchases that fall outside of those bonus categories, you’ll likely find better value in the Ink Business Unlimited card.

Benefits of the Ink Business Unlimited Card and the Ink Business Cash Card

While they differ in earning structures, both the Ink Business Unlimited card and Ink Business Cash card offer identical suites of benefits to their cardholders. Here’s what you can expect from both cards:

• Purchase Protection: When you purchase an item with your card, it’s covered for 120 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and up to $50,000 per account.
• Extended Warranty Coverage: Items purchased with your card with warranties of 3 years or less have the warranty extended by an additional year.
• Rental Car Insurance: Primary coverage keeps you covered in the case of theft or damage to your rental car for business purposes.
• Unlimited employee cards for no extra cost

Final Thoughts

Both the Ink Business Unlimited card and Ink Business Cash card are out with valuable welcome bonus offers, which can be very tempting to apply for, especially if you hope to bolster your balance of valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

Chase’s unwritten 5/24 rule makes it complicated to open new cards from the issuer, but there are ways around it — and you can feel free to apply and have a shot at being approved. And if you’re over 5/24, hold out hope that Chase may quietly loosen the 5/24 rule for Ink applications.

As we always say in this business, Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV)!