Not Fully Grasping Chase's "5/24" Rule
To be quite honest, most of the other mistakes we've made below are loosely associated with this concept. Chase has an unwritten rule (that is supported by many data points in the travel-hacker world) that if you have 5 or more new personal credit card openings in the past 24 months, they will not approve you for one of their cards when you apply. As soon as enough time passes and you drop down to 4 in the last 24 months, bingo, approval. They will not tell you on the phone that this is their rule, but they will tell you that there are too many cards associated with your name if you are in this camp. If you are making a spreadsheet or using a travel-hacking organization app, this is an important piece of information to track - card opening dates for any cards you have. The goal isn't necessarily to always be under 5/24 - but it is important to have a strategy that includes going for what you want in that family of cards first, so you don't wind up in Chase jail like we were. This is a pretty straightforward and simple rule, and I'll go on below to explain why it is very important...
Not Fully Grasping the Power of Chase
I would say that we sort of understood the above rule when starting out, but what took a little more time and a card denial to really grasp is that Chase Ultimate Rewards (URs) are where it's at (I really wanted to open the World of Hyatt card after visiting friends at their awesome resort when we were stuck in Orlando for a flight delay). URs are really versatile and valuable in the travel hacking world, and beyond that, Chase has other co-branded cards with Hyatt, Southwest, IHG, United, Marriott, and on and on. Is this the only points/miles bank you should focus on? Not necessarily. But if you are new to the travel hacking hobby, it might make sense to pick a couple of places you want to go and then familiarize yourself with what the best points currency would be to take you there. I bet 8 times out of 10 it will involve opening a Chase card.
Adding Each Other as Authorized Users to Every Card
It made tons of sense to us at first that if Tom opened a card, he should add me as an authorized user and vice versa so that we could both easily use the card and attack the spending requirement of a bonus we were working on. Plus, marriage and togetherness and what's mine is yours and stuff. Turns out, this isn't a great idea for a couple of reasons. The big reason, if you haven't already guessed, is that it will mess up your 5/24. When applying for a new card online, these accounts where you are listed as an authorized user will trigger the computer algorithm and you will likely get denied. You can potentially call for reconsideration, but this may have varying degrees of success depending on the customer service rep you get. This is how we found ourselves quickly at or over 5/24, as we each had double the accounts associated with our names. The good news is, it is easy to remove yourself as an authorized user if you are running into problems, which is what we ended up doing for a couple of cards. Certain cards have made sense for us to keep each other on as authorized users, but we've moved away from signing each other up every time. The second reason making your partner an automatic authorized user on every card might not be a great idea is because it can limit the degree to which you can make this a two-player game... which is the next thing we learned...
Not Leaning into the Two-Player Game
What I mean by this is that there is no reason that Tom and I can't open the same card in the same year in order to double our points. On top of that, usually you can get additional points for making a referral. Right now, for instance, I could theoretically open the Ink Cash card, one of Chase's no annual fee business cards and get 75,000 URs. Either in a few months, or really, tomorrow, I can refer Tom to the same card, and he can also aim for the 75k bonus while I would get an additional 40k for referring him. Then, we'd have 190,000 points to work with which could either go a long way towards a trip or get cashed out for $1900. If you don't have a spouse or partner to do this with, you could potentially try to rope in a friend or family member who you are trip planning with - if you can't link you accounts due to the bank rules (some have very generous point-sharing policies and others don't), you could have player one work on flights and player two work on hotels - lots of possibilities!
Shying Away from Opening Business Cards
But wait, do Tom and I own a business? How would we be able to open one of those cards? Turns out, if you have any minor side-hustle, even selling your old junk on Ebay from time to time, you are eligible for these cards. You apply as a sole proprietor, use your SSN instead of an EIN number, and remain very honest about your projected revenue. What's more, you don't even need to use it only for the business (ever the rule follower, I had to investigate this). This aspect of travel hacking was something I originally had no interest in... but Tom always is one step ahead of me, truly the player one around here. Applying for business cards from time to time has become part of our strategy because they often offer great sign-up bonuses and perks for low or no annual fee, and most of them don't end up working against you on your 5/24 - even business cards you've opened with Chase! Now, if you have an established business, you obviously can use this strategy - making sure to be careful about your accounting. But if you don't have an obvious business - maybe you should consider a garage sale or some dog-walking!
Succumbing to FOMO
Honestly, this is something Tom and I will probably continue to do. We've made a strategic plan based on what works best for us and where we'd like to go... but then, the IHG card comes out with the highest sign-up bonus ever! What's a travel hacker to do? Well, sometimes we think it through and decide it doesn't fit in the plan, and sometimes we decide to go for it. The important thing to remember is that in a few months some other bank will be offering the "highest offer ever," so don't fret too much if something comes up that seems so good but you can't make it work right now. We are trying to take a longer view - a marathon view, if you will - and not let FOMO guide our decision-making.
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