How Long To Wait Between Credit Card Applications (2024)

American Express has flip-flopped in recent years on the number of credit cards it’s willing to allow you to hold at once. There are also reports that Amex caps the number of charge cards you can have open at once. Amex describes a credit card like a mini-loan that you can use to purchase goods and services. You can carry a balance from month to month, but you’ll pay interest on the amount you owe. Amex says a charge card is a card that does not have a preset spending limit and requires you to pay off the balance in full every month.

Five Credit Card Limit

Amex currently has a five-card limit. This excludes charge cards. Currently, the cap does not apply to Amex charge cards.

Two Credit Cards Every 90 days

Amex is likely to limit approving you for two credit cards every 90 days. If you apply for two credit cards on the same day, data points suggest one of your applications will be put on hold as an automatic fraud prevention mechanism. There are conflicting reports on how charge cards are counted in this two-card limit. To be safe, assume Amex will limit approving you for no more than two total cards, including charge cards, every 90 days.

Once-per-Lifetime Welcome Bonus

Once-per-lifetime language can usually be found on your American Express credit card application. This means if you’ve either had the credit card or charge card and/or received a bonus on that card in the past, you are ineligible to receive a welcome bonus on the same card in the future.

If Amex preapproves you for a welcome bonus on a card, the once-in-a-lifetime language may not apply. If you’re applying online, Amex has an eligibility check pop-up at the end of your application. Before submitting your application, Amex tells you if you’re eligible for the welcome bonus. If you are ineligible and do not want to proceed with your application, you can simply close the screen.

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See Also

How Do Credit Cards Work?Dave Ramsey Says Income Is Your No. 1 Wealth-Building Tool — How To Use It Before You Lose ItHow Do Credit Card Companies Make Money? - NerdWallet

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Credit Score ranges are based on FICO® credit scoring. This is just one scoring method and a credit card issuer may use another method when considering your application. These are provided as guidelines only and approval is not guaranteed.

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2/3/4 Rule

One of the most important Bank of America card restrictions is what’s known as the 2/3/4 rule. Here’s how the unconfirmed rule works:

• You can be approved for up to two new credit cards every rolling two-month period
• You can be approved for up to three new credit cards every rolling 12-month period
• You can be approved for up to four new credit cards every rolling 24-month period

24-Month Rule

Some Bank of America credit cards require you to wait 24 months after closing the card to be approved for the card again.

Like Bank of America, Barclays is a more niche bank in the travel credit card space. Barclays has co-branded card partnerships with airlines like American Airlines and JetBlue Airways.

24-Month Welcome Bonus Rule

Inconsistency is the name of the game with Barclays’ application rules. While there are a high number of irregularities with Barclays’ approach to its rules, the one rule to keep in mind is the 24-month welcome bonus rule.

You likely need to wait at least six months between the time you close a card and the time you apply for that same card again to be eligible to receive the welcome bonus. Yes, this means you can earn the welcome bonus on the same card multiple times.

Capital One tends to be more restrictive compared to other banks. Based on available data points, you can have two Capital One-branded cards at one time. An example of a Capital One branded card is the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. Whether Capital One-branded business cards count toward this is unknown, but to be safe, we recommend assuming business cards are included.

One Card Every Six Months

If eligible, Capital One will only approve you for one of its cards every six months. This restriction covers both business and personal credit cards. It’s important to note that in addition to Capital One personal credit cards, Capital One business credit cards count toward your Chase 5/24 total.

Chase takes a unique approach to its credit card restrictions. The bank doesn’t restrict the number of cards it will approve you for, but does restrict the total amount of credit it will extend to you. That amount varies person to person.

5/24 Rule

Chase has a widely-reported, unofficial and unique rule that’s referred to as the Chase 5/24 rule. It is unlikely that Chase will approve you for any of its credit cards if you were approved for five or more cards, from any bank, within the past 24 months. Generally speaking, Chase does not count business cards toward the 5/24 rule, though there are exceptions. Chase is unlikely to approve you for its own business credit cards if you are at the 4/24 mark.

Two Cards per 30 Days

Chase reportedly limits credit card approvals to two Chase credit cards per rolling 30-day period. Data points conflict on this, but a safe bet is to apply for no more than two personal Chase credit cards or one personal and one business Chase credit card every 30 days. However, customers who open multiple cards in less than 24 months, regardless of the card issuer, may be declined by Chase. This applies to personal and business credit cards.

24- and 48-Month Rule

While not a restriction on all Chase cards, you may see terms and conditions stating you are ineligible for the welcome bonus on a card if you’ve received that card’s welcome bonus in either the past 24 or 48 months. For example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offer details state, “The product is not available to either (i) current cardmembers of any Sapphire credit card, or (ii) previous cardmembers of any Sapphire credit card who received a new cardmember bonus within the last 48 months.”

Similar to Chase, Citi limits the total amount of credit it will extend to customers in lieu of limiting the number of credit cards it will approve.

1/8 and 2/65 Rule

Conflicting data points exist with this rule, but you can expect to be approved for one Citi card every eight days and two Citi cards every 65 days. Separately, expect Citi to limit business credit card approvals to one business card every 90 to 95 days.

48-Month Rule

The 48-month rule means you can’t earn bonus ThankYou Points if you have received a new account bonus for cards like the Citi Rewards+® Card in the previous 48 months. Your 48-month clock is based on the later date of either the welcome bonus or closed date.

The rule includes co-branded Citi American Airlines cards. For example, you may see language in the terms and conditions that state, “American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles are not available if you have received a new account bonus for a Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®* account in the past 48 months.”

Mirroring Chase and Citi, data points suggest Wells Fargo limits the amount of credit the bank is willing to extend to you, not the number of its cards you can hold at any one time.

One Card Every Six Months

While the language is vague at best, some Wells Fargo cards do state, “If you opened a Wells Fargo Credit Card account within the last six months, then you may not qualify to open an additional Wells Fargo Credit Card account. We may also limit how many open Wells Fargo Credit Card accounts you have.” This suggests you are likely to not be approved for more than one Wells Fargo credit card every six months.

15-Month Bonus Rewards Restriction

Another restriction you may see in the Wells Fargo terms and conditions is targeted at the bonus rewards earned by new cardmembers and restricts the bonus rewards earned on some cards to once every 15 months.

For example, the language for the Choice Privileges® Select Mastercard®* states, “If you opened a Choice Privileges® Mastercard®* or a Choice Privileges Select Mastercard Credit Card within the last 15 months, you may not be eligible for an introductory bonus rewards offer.”

Understanding the nuances of each bank’s credit card restrictions is a slog. As you can see, every bank has different rules and timelines.

However, the higher your credit score, the more likely it will be for you to dance around these restrictions. All in all, waiting at least three months between credit card applications strikes a balance between both the risk and the rewards earned from applying and being approved for new travel credit cards.