Optimal Order for Credit Card Applications

Overview and Disclaimer

Each card issuer has their own quirks and rules when applying for credit cards. In this article, I create a hypothetical ideal order to apply for credit cards to minimize your denial chance. Disclaimer… I did not follow this list, but I wish I had. I never thought we would be up to 30 credit cards when I started. Following this order doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to be approved for each card, but it will optimize your chances of being approved. You will still need to have the appropriate credit score to get approved. Additionally, if you are denied for a credit card, you can always call the reconsideration line for the bank and try to get them to push your application through. I’ve had success and failure attempting this in the past so your mileage may vary. As mentioned in our prior article, opening new credit cards may initially hurt your credit score a little bit, but in the long run it should improve your credit score if you pay off your card each month. New credit makes up 10% of your credit score while credit utilization makes up 30%. This means by increasing your credit limit, you should improve your overall credit score. As always, if you can’t pay off your credit card each month, you shouldn’t be playing the points and miles game as interest rates on most of these cards are over 15% and can even be above 30%. I also recommend waiting around 90 days between opening up each card. Opening too many cards too quick can have the bank scrutinize your account. Additionally, the majority of these cards require $1,000 to $5,000 worth of spend to receive the sign up bonus. You normally have 90 to 180 days to hit this spend requirement, so this naturally limits how many cards you can open unless you are a really high spender. Below we’ll dive into the general restrictions for each bank and then I’ll put together a hypothetical application order with hypothetical application dates so you can see how it would look like in action.

Credit Card Issuers

Chase - Chase has the well known 5/24 rule. This means that if you have opened 5 cards in the last 24 months, you will not be approved for additional cards. Chase counts any credit cards you have opened. This means if you’ve opened a Citi or Amex card, Chase will still count those against your 5/24. Chase does not count business cards as long as they are not reported to your personal account. Chase does not report business cards to your personal account, so this allows you to apply for multiple business cards without going over the 5/24 rule. However Chase will not approve you for business cards if you are above the 5/24 rule even though the business cards won’t add to your total. Chase also limits you to two cards within a 30 day period.

American Express - American Express’s main restriction is its once in a lifetime rule. This means you will only be allowed to receive a sign up bonus on any given credit or charge card once. Anecdotal evidence suggests this might be more of a once in 7 years rules, but the actual terms state once in a lifetime. The good news for people applying for American Express credit cards is that American Express will let your know if you’re eligible for the bonus before doing a hard pull on your credit. American Express also limits you to 1 new credit card every 5 days and 2 new credit cards in a 90 day period. American Express normally limits people to 5 credit cards total, so please pick wisely. Although you can always cancel a card to make room for a new credit card. Please keep in mind these limits and application rules do not apply to their charge cards. Other issuers will count charge cards against your 5/24, 6/24, or 7/12 numbers though.

CitiBank - Citi limits you to 1 personal card every 8 days and no more than 2 in a 65 day window. You are also limited to 1 business card every 95 days. There is no limit to the number of sign up bonuses, but you are limited to a sign up bonus every 24 months for each card or card family. The only exception is the AAdvantage cards which limit you to a sign up bonus every 48 months for each card. Citi can be a little fickle with applications and I was denied their Citi Premier card for opening too many cards. I waited 3 months, applied again, and then I was approved. Citi doesn’t have a hard limit on how many cards you’re allowed to own, but they do have a total credit limit you’re allowed to have. If you are denied due to hitting this limit, you may have to call to cancel a card or ask them to reduce your credit limit on your other cards.

Barclays - Barclays main limitation is the 6/24 rule. This means you will not be approved for a credit card if you have opened 6 or more cards in the past 24 months. This includes all issuers of credit cards not just Barclays. I generally prefer Chase cards over Barclays, but Barclays does have partnerships with American Airlines, Emirates, Lufanthsa, Jet Blue, and Hawaiian Airlines to name a few, so if you prefer to max out Barclays over Chase, that’s fine. The 6/24 rule is a little bit more flexible as there have been some anecdotal reports of people being approved when over the limit. I wouldn’t want to risk it with a hard pull though. Barclays also looks at your prior spending on previous accounts with the bank when deciding whether to approve you for additional cards.

Capital One - Capital One limits you to 1 card approval every 6 months. There is no limit on the number of times you can receive a bonus, but they do have the language, “The bonus may not be available for existing or previous account holders.” Anecdotal evidence seems to point to them allowing you to receive multiple bonuses. The main downside to Capital One is that they pull from all 3 credit bureaus. I was also denied the Capital One Venture card due to opening too many cards recently, so although they have no official hard rules, it can be difficult to get approved.

Bank of America - Bank of America has a few rules to be aware of. They have the 2/3/4 rule. This limits you to 2 new cards in a 2 month period, 3 new cards in a 12 month period, and 4 new cards in a 24 month period. Keep in mind this only applies to Bank of America cards so it’s much less restrictive than other issuers. Bank of America also has the 3/12 or 7/12 rule. You are only allowed to have opened 3 or 7 cards in the prior 12 months. This applies to all credit cards, not just Bank of America. If you have a bank account with Bank of America you will fall under the 7/12 rule. If you don’t have a bank account, you will fall under the 3/12 rule which is pretty restrictive. The good news about Bank of America is that you can receive the same bonus over and over again. Although Bank of America recently implemented a rule that it would not allow you to open a credit card if you currently have or have had the card in the last 24 month period. You used to be able to cycle through bonuses rather quickly.

US Bank, Wells Fargo, Discover, Navy Federal and PNC - These banks do not offer credit cards that provide points and miles that can be transferred to airlines or hotels. Since we exclusively use our credit cards for travel, we have not utilized these providers. They do offer some solid cash back cards, but in my opinion nothing that’s a must have. Please feel to leave a comment below if you disagree or there’s something great I’m missing.

Optimal Order

Below is the general strategy I would pursue if I was trying to optimize sign on bonuses and trying to avoid getting my applications denied. Keep in mind that if you’re not getting value out the card, I would recommend to call after 12 months and see if you can get the credit card company to waive the annual fee or give you a retention bonus. American Express consistently gives great retention bonuses. DO NOT cancel the card before the annual fee hits. The credit card companies can claw back your sign up bonus if you do this. It’s better to wait for your annual fee to post and then call to cancel. They will refund your annual fee if you cancel within 30 days of it posting.

Step 1: Open 4 Chase personal cards.

Step 2: Open any Chase Business cards you want.

Step 3: Open your 5th personal Chase card to max out the 5/24 rule.

Step 4: Open a Barclays business card before hitting the 6/24 rule.

Step 5: Open a personal card with Barclays to max out their 6/24 rule.

Step 6: Move on to opening Bank of America credit cards if you have a banking account with them. Max out the 7/12 rule while not breaking their 2/3/4 rule. If you don’t bank with Bank of America, move on to step 7.

Step 7: Open 1 capital one card.

Step 8: Open as many Citi cards as you want while following their 65 day rule. I recommend starting with cards that have a 48 month rule and then moving to cards with the 24 month rule.

Step 9: Move on to American Express and go crazy!

Let’s see these steps in action with an actual timeline and theoretical cards…

1.) Chase Sapphire Preferred (7/21)

2.) Chase Marriott Bonvoy (7/21)

3.) World of Hyatt (10/21)

4.) United Quest Card (1/22)

5.) Chase Ink Business Preferred (4/22)

6.) Chase Ink Business Cash (7/22)

7.) United Explorer (10/22)

8.) Barclays AAdvantage Aviator World Elite Business Card (1/23)

8.) Barclays AAdvantage Aviator (4/23)

9.) Bank of America Alaska Air Visa (4/23)

10.) Bank of America Virgin Atlantic World Elite (7/23)

11.) Bank of America Asiana Visa Signature (9/23)

12.) Capital One Venture (11/23)

13.) Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select (2/24)

14.) Citi Premier (5/24)

15.) CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Select (8/24)

16.) American Express Platinum (11/24)

17.) American Express Hilton Aspire (2/25)

18.) American Express Gold (5/25)

19.) American Express Delta Gold (8/25)

20.) American Express Hilton Surpass (11/25)

21.) American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant (2/26)

22.) American Express Business Gold (5/26)

Conclusion

As you can see, there is a lot of strategy that goes into maximixing your credit card strategy. As seen in my prior article, we’ve netted over $27,000+ of value in credit card sign on bonuses which have allowed us to travel around the world without breaking the bank. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to post in the comments below!