Apply in the Right Order

I hold the Morgan Stanley version of the American Express Platinum Card. The offer terms for a different card, the American Express Gold Card, mention it by name. They say an applicant may not be eligible for a welcome offer if they have or have had the Platinum Card, and they list the Morgan Stanley and Charles Schwab versions beside it.

The Platinum Card's terms do not return the mention. The cards they name are all Platinum versions. So two people can open the same two cards and finish in different places. One opened the Gold Card first and kept both welcome offers in play. The other opened the Platinum Card first and may have closed off the Gold Card's, because that sentence does not set a time limit.

Most writing about card applications asks which card. This issue asks which card first.

The rules issuers print

Some order rules sit in the offer terms, where anyone can read them. I read four sets this week.

The Delta cards form a clear ladder. American Express's terms for the Delta SkyMiles Gold American Express Card name the Platinum and Reserve versions. The Platinum's terms name the Reserve. The Reserve's terms name only itself. Someone who starts at the top may find both lower welcome offers closed. Someone who starts at the bottom keeps all three possible.

Marriott shows the same idea across two banks. Chase's terms for the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card say its bonus is not available to anyone approved for certain American Express Marriott cards in the last 90 days, or who earned a bonus on one in the last 24 months. American Express's terms for the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card say the same about Chase's Marriott cards. The rule runs both ways. Whichever card comes first starts a clock on the other.

The IHG pair has a deadline on it. Through November 18, Chase's launch offers are 180,000 points on the Premier after $3,000 of spend in three months, and 200,000 on the Premier Select after $5,000. By Chase's wording, someone who does not hold a personal IHG card and has not earned a personal IHG bonus in the past 24 months could open the Premier and then the Premier Select. In the other order, the Premier is closed for as long as the Premier Select is held, and for 24 months after a new cardmember bonus on any personal IHG card.

Two cautions belong here. Each application still has to be approved, and wording like this changes. The points, miles, and travel press reports that the Premier Select's opening to people who already hold a personal IHG card is a launch window running through early 2027. Chase's page does not say that.

The rule Chase does not print

One widely reported Chase limit does not appear in the offer terms. It is called 5/24, and it is a pattern: Chase is reported to decline most applicants who have opened five or more card accounts, at any bank, in the past 24 months.

It is not on any Chase card page I read for this issue. What is known comes from reported application results and from statements the press attributes to Chase. Authorized-user accounts are reported to count. So are some business cards, depending on the issuer and on whether the account appears on a personal credit report. I can't cite a Chase page for any of it, and I'm not presenting it as Chase policy.

It still tends to decide order. A card behind an unpublished count limit has to come before the applications that would use up the count.

My own case

I also hold the IHG One Rewards Select Credit Card, which has been closed to new applicants since 2018. Last week's issue left one question about it open.

By Chase's wording, the Premier is closed to me while I hold the Select. The Premier Select is not, because its restriction names only itself. That leaves three paths.

Apply for the Premier Select as a new account. This is the path with the 200,000 point bonus. It needs an approval, and the press reports that 5/24 applies.

Ask Chase to change the Select into a Premier Select. Chase's reported answer is that cardholders should call the number on the back of the card. The press has carried an account of a Premier changed to a Premier Select by phone on launch day. I have not found one that started from a Select. A product change is not a new account, so I would not expect the new cardmember bonus, and it would end a card that is closed to new applicants.

Wait.

I am waiting, for now. Cardholders report that the Select's annual fee rises from $49 to $99 at each holder's 2027 renewal, and I expect mine in May. A $99 Select is a different comparison from a $49 one. When that charge posts, I will look again at a new application or a product change, and the bonus on offer then will decide which.

Waiting has a cost. The launch offer ends November 18, and the press reports that the window for existing IHG cardholders runs through early 2027. The choice I have in May may be narrower than the one I have today.

That is the part of order that runs on a calendar. What is open to me, and what it pays, depends on the day I apply.

Five checks before an application

1. Read the offer terms of the card you want second, not only the one you want first. Look for "have or have had" and for the word "any."
2. Count the accounts you have opened in the past 24 months from your own credit reports, including accounts where you are an authorized user.
3. Put the cards behind the tightest limits first.
4. Set the offer's end date and its spending window against your calendar.
5. Decide between a new application and a product change before you call. A new application adds an account and can carry a bonus. A product change keeps the account you have.

Limits

On October 13, I read American Express's offer terms for the Gold Card, the Platinum Card, the three Delta SkyMiles cards, and the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, along with Chase's pages for the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless and the two IHG cards. I read Chase's press release on October 12. American Express's terms also say a welcome offer can be withheld for other reasons, including a person's history with American Express. 5/24 is a reported pattern, and it is labeled that way above. Issuer terms change without notice, so read them again on the day you apply. This is not a recommendation to apply for a card.