Affiliate Disclosure

Chartered Strategy earns commissions on certain credit card applications and product referrals. This is how it works, how we disclose it, and how it affects our recommendations.

The short version

When you click an affiliate link on this Site or in our newsletter and you are approved for the linked credit card, Chartered Strategy may earn a commission from the card issuer or the affiliate network. This costs you nothing extra. The commission is paid by the issuer out of its marketing budget.

Affiliate commissions do not influence our card recommendations. We recommend cards based on what fits a specific client's spend profile, credit standing, household structure, and travel goals. When an affiliate-linked card is not the best option for a client, we say so and direct them to the better option, even when no commission is available to us for that card.

FTC compliance

This disclosure is provided in compliance with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (16 CFR Part 255). Our intent is to be fully transparent about our financial relationships with the credit card issuers and affiliate networks whose products we may recommend.

Affiliate networks and programs

Chartered Strategy participates in affiliate programs operated by credit card issuers and aggregators. These may include but are not limited to:

• Bankrate (Red Ventures)
• CardRatings
• CJ Affiliate (Commission Junction)
• Impact
• FlexOffers
• Rakuten Advertising
• Direct issuer referral programs (e.g., American Express Refer-a-Friend, Chase Refer-a-Friend, Capital One Refer-a-Friend, Citi Refer-a-Friend)

The exact roster of networks and programs evolves over time. We do not maintain affiliate relationships with every issuer, and not every card on our recommendation list will carry an affiliate link.

How affiliate links appear

Affiliate links may appear on the Site (including the home page, the Services section, blog posts, and the Insights newsletter archive), in The Chartered Letter newsletter, in social media posts, and occasionally in client deliverables when the linked card is part of a recommended strategy.

Affiliate links are typically rendered as regular hyperlinks. Where a particular page primarily exists to promote affiliate links, we will indicate this clearly at the top of that page.

How we choose what to recommend

Recommendations are made based on the following factors, in order of weight:

1. Client fit. Does the card match the client's spend categories, household structure, credit profile, and travel goals?
2. Earning rate and signup bonus quality. What is the realistic value of the points or cashback earned, redeemed at the strategies we will guide them to use?
3. Issuer rule compatibility. Does the card stack cleanly against Chase 5/24, Amex pop-up patterns, Capital One velocity flags, Citi 24-month rules, and similar?
4. Annual fee versus realized benefit. Does the annual fee make sense given the client's actual usage of the card's benefits?
5. Affiliate commission availability. If two roughly equivalent cards exist, and one carries an affiliate commission available to us while the other does not, we may default to the linked option. We will tell the client when this is the case.

Affiliate commission is the lowest-weight factor in our recommendation logic. It never overrides a meaningfully better fit.

When we recommend cards we cannot earn a commission on

This happens regularly. Examples include:

• Cards from issuers whose affiliate program we are not enrolled in
• Cards whose best signup bonus is currently available only through a public link (not through any affiliate network)
• Cards that were a better fit for a specific client even when an affiliate-linked alternative existed
• Cards that carry no current public affiliate program at all

In these cases we direct the client to the public application page or to the relevant issuer-direct link. We do not redirect to a worse card simply because it pays us.

No payment for editorial coverage

Chartered Strategy does not accept payment from credit card issuers, hotel programs, airline programs, or other advertisers in exchange for editorial coverage or recommendations. Affiliate commissions, when earned, are paid out of the issuer's existing customer-acquisition budget through public affiliate networks. They do not constitute editorial compensation.

No sponsored trips or comped travel

Chartered Strategy does not accept complimentary flights, hotel stays, lounge access, status matches, or other travel-related benefits from airlines, hotels, or loyalty programs in exchange for coverage. The redemption experiences described on the Site, in The Chartered Letter, and in case studies represent travel that was earned and paid for using points, miles, or cash by the founder or by clients.

Contact

Questions about this disclosure can be sent to:

Email: [email protected]
Chartered Strategy, a DBA of Canvas Ethos LLC (Florida)