Chase Marriott Biz Card: 5/24 Doesn’t apply. Should you apply before it’s too late? My analysis…

37

a black and white business card

Doctor of Credit reports that Chase’s 5/24 rule most likely does not apply to the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Business Plus card.  This is news because in recent months the 5/24 rule was expanded to include all almost all Chase co-branded cards.  It’s important and timely news because this card is only available for new applications until February 12th.  After that, the card will be re-branded as the Marriott Bonvoy Premier Plus Business card and will be nearly impossible to get.  The only way you’ll be able to get it (to my knowledge) after Feb 12 is to product change from the old $45 Chase Marriott business card which hasn’t been available for ages.

Chase's 5/24 Rule: With most Chase credit cards, Chase will not approve your application if you have opened 5 or more cards with any bank in the past 24 months.

To determine your 5/24 status, see: 3 Easy Ways to Count Your 5/24 Status. The easiest option is to track all of your cards for free with Travel Freely.

If you have a business, you are eligible to apply

You might not get approved for this card, but apparently 5/24 won’t stop you.  The main prerequisite is that you have a business.

Applying for Business Credit Cards

Yes, you have a business: In order to sign up for a business credit card, you must have a business. That said, it's common for people to have businesses without realizing it. If you sell items at a yard sale, or on eBay, for example, then you have a business. Similar examples include: consulting, writing (e.g. blog authorship, planning your first novel, etc.), handyman services, owning rental property, renting on airbnb, driving for Uber or Lyft, etc. In any of these cases, your business is considered a Sole Proprietorship unless you form a corporation of some sort.

When you apply for a business credit card as a sole proprietor, you can use your own name as your business name, use your own address and phone as the business' address and phone, and your social security number as the business' Tax ID / EIN. Alternatively, you can get a proper Tax ID / EIN from the IRS for free, in about a minute, through this website.

Is it OK to use business cards for personal expenses? Anecdotally, almost everyone I know uses business cards for personal expenses. That said, the terms in most business card applications state that you should use the card only for business use. Also, some consumer credit card protections do not apply to business cards. My advice: don't use the card for personal expenses if you're not comfortable doing so.

Are you eligible for the signup bonus? Probably not.

The offer terms for this card make it clear that the bonus is not available to you under a number of conditions.  These terms are pretty clear so I’ve quoted them verbatim.  Many readers have either signed up for the SPG Luxury Card or upgraded to the Luxury card recently and so we are ineligible for the signup bonus:

Eligibility for the new cardmember bonus: The bonus is not available to you if you:

  • are a current cardmember of this business credit card;
  • were a previous cardmember of this business credit card who received a new cardmember bonus for this business credit card within the last 24 months;
  • are a current cardmember, or were a previous cardmember within the last 30 days, of The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express;
  • are a current or previous cardmember of either The Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express or the Starwood Preferred Guest® American Express Luxury Card, and received a new cardmember bonus or upgrade bonus in the last 24 months; or
  • applied and were approved for The Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express or the Starwood Preferred Guest® American Express Luxury Card within the last 90 days.

It’s important to note that even if you don’t qualify for the bonus, you may be able to open a new account without a bonus.

Downsides to opening the Marriott Biz card

There are a number of downsides to opening this card now:

  • If you want to sign up for the Bonvoy Business from American Express card (previously SPG Business), you would have to cancel the Chase business card and wait 30 days.  That’s a problem because the Bonvoy Business from American Express card will soon have a 100K welcome bonus.  Of course, if you’ve ever had the SPG Business card, you won’t be able to qualify for the Bonvoy Business from American Express card anyway due to Amex’s lifetime rule.
  • If you want to sign up for the Bonvoy Brilliant from American Express card (previously SPG Luxury), you would have to wait 91 days after acquiring this card and 24 months after receiving a signup bonus for this card.  This may not be too much of an issue if you don’t qualify for the Marriott Biz signup bonus anyway.
  • Getting this card may decrease your chances of getting other Chase cards since Chase is sensitive to the amount of credit they’ve extended to each person as well as the number of Chase cards an applicant has opened recently (not just due to 5/24).

Reasons to open the card (even without a bonus)

This is a rare situation where it may make sense to apply for a card even if you won’t qualify for the signup bonus:

  • Lock in $99 annual fee (the Amex equivalent card’s fee is going up to $125)
  • Last chance to get this card
  • Annual 35K free night certificates upon card anniversary (e.g. you’ll get a cert every year except upon signup)
  • Chase and Amex $95 Marriott cards are still fair game. The application rules for the $95 consumer cards don’t care about you having or signing up for the Chase Marriott business card.
  • Doesn’t add to your 5/24 count.  Business cards from Chase are often subject to 5/24 (except in this case), but they don’t add to your 5/24 count.
  • Earn 4X at gas stations.  Yes, there are better gas station bonuses out there, but this could be important if you care about the next two:
    • Earn an additional 35K free night award with $60,000 or more spend per year.  I wouldn’t do this, but maybe you would?
    • Gold status with $35K account year spend.  Gold status isn’t worth much though!
  • 15 elite night credits each calendar year: Important only if this would be your only Marriott card.

My Take

Don’t apply if:

  1. You are planning to sign up for the Bonvoy Business from American Express card (previously SPG Business) once the 100K offer is available; or…
  2. You want to sign up for the Bonvoy Brilliant from American Express card (previously SPG Luxury) within the next 90 days.  E.g. you don’t want to risk missing out on the 100K offer.

Otherwise, if you like the idea of spending $99 per year for a 35K free night certificate, then go for it.  If I didn’t already have this card, I would sign up without question.

Chase / Amex Marriott Card Rules (for reference)

a screenshot of a card

Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

37 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments