What’s worse than the Chase 5/24 rule? Have you seen the CSR T&C? What could be on the way next!

A bunch of readers have been approved for the amazing new Chase   BANK   Sapphire Reserve card (CSR) by just applying. Others, like me who are WAY over 5/24 have gone the walk in the bank route and found we are pre-approved and got the card that way as a workaround. Either way, the important thing is being approved to get the massive 100,000 point bonus (after minimum spend) worth $1500 if booking flights or hotels etc. direct via the CSR site.

But the point of changes like the 5/24 is that the banks, at least most of them, are on to us who are going for so many travel cards in the market. But you know what is even worse than the 5/24 rule? Take a look at a snippet from the T&C you are accepting when you apply for the CSR card? Also, look at the bigger implication of this wording.

If you are the type of person who  ONLY  gets a card and only meets the minimum spend (even worse if solely by MS), and then cancel the card as soon as you can, Chase is not going to like you very much. The next time you come to them and apply for a new card, even if you are not over 5/24, they may tell you NO! This type of behavior could thus even impact the few Chase cards that are not, as of yet, covered under the 5/24.

I really do not fault any bank for possibly barring someone who repeatedly follows this type of behavior. After all, it can take years for a bank to recoup the initial outlay in points to win you over as a customer. Then again, I can see the other side of the coin as well and have, on a few rare occasions, gotten some type of new card only for the bonus and never used it again. But this is not the norm unless the bonus is big enough and the card is all but worthless for earning to motivate me not to keep using some card for either targeted or general use.

Now there are other cards I personally hold long term and keep paying for but don’t use much, but even under these types of circumstance, over time, a bank is earning the money back by my paying the annual fee year after year. Clearly banks want to see us using their cards and using them often for swipe fees. They also would love for us to carry a balance and pay outrageous interest fees, but we are not foolish enough to be “that” helpful to the banks! 😉

The bottom line from the included wording in the application is that we, by our actions, can have a big impact on what points we can earn moving forward. Banks really dislike what they call “perk abuse” and you and I never want to end up being viewed as one of those types of people by any bank. It is best for us to remain “off the radar” if you will and not get noticed. That means providing value back and making sure they are not tracking us for future applications. This is one reason to always mix up spend on whatever card you are earning points on. You don’t want to be seen as ONLY using a card for the bonus category etc.

We should expect even more restrictions on collecting massive amounts of points in the future. AMEX is already 1x in a lifetime per card. Thankfully they have a lot of cards and who knows what cards they will come up with in the future. Citi now has restricted their new card bonus once every 24 months and limited you to all points in the same “family” of cards (think AA or TY points). Chase clearly has their 5/24. Barclays is picky as well as US Bank all on their own, but we still have some wiggle room. Bank of America is the one hold out that, with a good credit score, can really still be enjoyed on a regular basis.

Does any of this mean banks will ever approve us and then start to suck bonus points back? Maybe, but first I think we will just see more and more refusals of granting us a new card or granting us a card but then denying us the bonus points. You may be saying but I had an application promising the points! Yes, but you also possibly had wording like you see above (if you take the time to read them).

What to take from all of this? First off, if there are cards you really want to have and hold, there will be times you have to wait and let some time pass before applying for cards so that you can go for cards you truly want to hold. Also, at the same time, waiting for a MEGA bonus to get the card you want. Once you have that, and the others you want, then you can again play with all the offers that are available.

The game has changed but we can change with it and still enjoy a huge amount of points every year! – René