Question: How Do I Know If I’m Eligible For A Chase Bonus?
Our question this week asks how to know whether or not you can get the new cardmember bonus on a Chase credit card. Have you had the card before? Not sure what the rules are here? Eyeing a juicy welcome offer and want to make sure you meet the restrictions? Let’s look at how you can know whether you’re eligible for a Chase bonus.
The Question
Our question of the week comes from Nolan in our Facebook group:
Hi all,
Is there a good way to tell if enough time has passed to be eligible for another Chase signup bonus? Looking to churn the CIP, which I last signed up for in Aug 2019 and have a big bill due at the end of the month, but I can’t find my old statements on my account anymore so I can’t see which month I received the bonus.
In short, Nolan wants to know if he’s eligible for a Chase new card welcome offer & the ensuing bonus. His question is about one card specifically, but let’s cover all of them–since I know others have this same question.
Chase Application / Bonus Rules
Chase has some specific application rules, which you can read here.
Along with meeting application rules like the Chase 5/24 rule and having good credit, you also can’t get more than 2 credit cards from Chase within 30 days. However, Nolan’s question is about bonus eligibility.
There are terms on most welcome offers / new card bonuses from Chase. They will tell you 1 of 2 things:
- If you got a new cardmember bonus within the last 24 months on this card, you can’t get it now.
- If you got a new cardmember bonus on any Sapphire card within the last 48 months, you can’t get one now on any Sapphire card.
Those are pretty simple to understand. They apply to the vast majority of Chase credit cards.
Notice I didn’t say these rules apply to ALL Chase credit cards. The “Ink” family of business credit cards from Chase does not include any rules about “if you got a bonus previously…”
Comparing The Terms
In the “offer terms” for the United Business Card, Chase has this line right at the beginning:
This new Cardmember bonus offer is not available to either (i) current Cardmembers of this business credit card, or (ii) previous Cardmembers of this business credit card who received a new Cardmember bonus for this business credit card within the last 24 months.
This requirement is completely absent in the terms of the 3 cards in the “Ink” family:
Thus, you are eligible for the welcome offers on these cards even if you have received a new card welcome offer previously. There’s no required waiting time.
Other Things To Consider
Just because you theoretically could get a bunch of these doesn’t mean you can or should. Opening a bunch of cards really fast is a great way to get your accounts shut down from Chase. Additionally, Chase may not approve you, due to the impacts on your credit and the fact it looks risky to them to keep giving you more credit. What you actually will get approved for varies regarding a whole host of factors.
Final Thoughts
We get so used to terms telling us when we can and can’t get a welcome offer that we accept it as normal in this hobby. For the most part, it’s pretty standard. For that reason, people tend to overlook the fact that there are no rules or required waiting periods on the Ink family of business cards from Chase. If you have or previously had these cards, you are still eligible for a welcome bonus on these cards (assuming you meet the general application rules with Chase).
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[…] Actually, this is a good question and answer for the newbies: Question: How Do I Know If I’m Eligible For A Chase Bonus? […]
I assume it’s 24 or 48 months from the day the bonus posted to your account. Is there a way to look back to see when it posted? I don’t see how to look back that far – my wife had Sapphire Preferred that she downgraded to Freedom – all I can see is last year or so. Thanks.
If you don’t have it written down, then the best course is to send a secure message to Chase to ask when the points posted.
This is something that has struck me as odd before. While the offer pages for the Ink cards don’t contain any restrictive language about getting the bonus, the application page for each of the 3 cards says this:
I understand that any new cardmember bonus offers for this product are not available to either current or previous cardmembers of this product who received a new cardmember bonus for this product in the last 24 months.
I can personally vouch for getting the welcome offer/bonus on Ink Cards I received an offer from within the last 24mo.