Card Eligibility Rules Explained (All Banks Combined)

When signing up for a new credit card, it can be hard to tell when you’re eligible for a bonus and when you’re not.

Different banks and different cards all have their own rules. Banks put these rules in place because they want to attract profitable customers. and limit the risk of customers gaming the system.

When you’re aware of the rules, you can be a good customer while still benefiting from new card bonuses. This post breaks down all the eligibility rules to make it easy for you to see when you’re eligible for a card and when you’re not.

Terms to Know

Before we get into all the specific eligibility rules, it can be helpful to understand some general things about how eligibility works.

Card Families

Many banks group their cards into “families”. Cards that earn the same type of points are often put in families. These cards are similar, but not the same.

For example, take the Capital One Venture, Venture One, and Venture X. These cards are considered to be part of the same family. They’re similar in many ways, and they earn the same points (Venture Miles), but they have different benefits, earning rates, and annual fees.

Family Language

Some card application rules have what’s called “family language”. This means there are restrictions placed on cards within the same family. So if you earn a bonus on one card in the family, you might not be eligible to earn a bonus on another card in the same family (at least for a period of time).

Lifetime Language

Some card application rules have what is referred to as “lifetime language”. Lifetime language means that you may only be eligible to earn a bonus on a card “once per lifetime.”

In practice, “lifetime” doesn’t usually mean your whole life. It could be that you’re eligible to receive a bonus again after a certain number of years have passed.

Authorized Users

Being an authorized user on a particular card account doesn’t disqualify you from opening your own card or earning the bonus on that same card.

American Express Eligibility Rules

Card Limits

American Express only allows you to hold up to five credit cards with them at one time.

Some of the cards from American Express are not considered credit cards and don’t count towards your five card limit. These cards don’t have a set spending limit and must be paid in full every month.

Pop-Up Jail

American Express has something that’s known as “pop-up jail”.

When applying for a credit card, you may see a window pop up that states that you’re not eligible to earn a bonus on that card.

Beyond their official eligibility rules, American Express could decide that it doesn’t want to give you a new card for any number of reasons. It could be that you’ve applied for too many new cards recently, you’re not using your current American Express cards, or something else. It’s not always clear who will see a pop-up and when.

These are examples of what the pop-up looks like:

Here are some things that can potentially help you to prevent or get out of pop-up jail:

• Put regular spend on any American Express cards that you already have open
• Spend on your cards across all categories–not just the ones where you earn a point multiplier like 4x points for dining on the Gold card or when you use an Amex offer
• Apply with a targeted offer that you get in the mail or your email
• Apply over the phone
• Don’t apply for too many cards in a short period of time
• Keep your credit report looking strong. A lot of high balances, a lot of recent inquiries, etc., can be red flags that the bank doesn’t like to see.

The good news here is that you’ll usually see a pop-up warning you that you’re not eligible to receive a bonus before you submit the application. That gives you a chance to withdraw your application before a hard credit pull is added to your credit report.

Membership Rewards® Earning Cards

Personal cards from American Express that earn Membership Rewards® Points:

• American Express Platinum Card®
• American Express^® Gold Card
• American Express^® Green Card

These cards are considered to be part of the same family. The application rules state that if you already have a higher-tier card, you wouldn’t be eligible to earn a bonus on a lower-tier card in the same family. So if you’ve ever earned a bonus on the Platinum card, you’re not eligible to earn a bonus on Gold or Green. But if you earn a bonus on the Green card first, you could still earn a bonus on both Gold and Platinum (as long as you apply in that order: Green first, then Gold, then Platinum).

Here’s an example of the terms you can find on the Gold card directly from American Express:

You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Premier Rewards Gold Card, the Platinum Card^®, the Platinum Card^® from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab, the Platinum Card^® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley or previous versions of these Cards.

Business cards that earn Membership Rewards® Points:

• Business Green Rewards Card from American Express
• American Express® Business Gold Card
• The Business Platinum® Card from American Express

The business versions of these cards don’t use the same family language as the personal cards, but it’s possible that American Express could add it to the business cards at any time.

For these cards, you should be eligible to earn a bonus as long as you have not received a bonus on the same exact card before.

But remember, eligibility is not guaranteed; you could see a pop-up stating you’re not eligible for any number of reasons.

Delta Cards

The Delta Personal cards make up one family, and the Delta business cards are a separate family.

Delta Personal cards:

• Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card
• Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card
• Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card
• Delta Reserve® Credit Card from American Express

The Delta cards have the same family language that you see in the application rules for the personal Membership Rewards earning cards. You may not be eligible to receive a bonus if you’ve ever earned a bonus on the same card or a higher-tier card in the same family. In order to be eligible to earn a bonus on each card, start with Blue, then Gold, then Platinum, and get the Reserve last.

Delta Business cards:

• Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card
• Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card
• Delta Reserve for Business Credit Card

American Express includes family language for the Delta business cards as well as the personal cards.

To be eligible to earn a bonus on each of these cards, start with the Gold Business, then the Platinum Business, and get the Reserve for Business card last.

Hilton Cards

American Express offers four different Hilton cards: three personal and one business.

Hilton Personal cards:

• Hilton Honors American Express Card
• Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
• Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card

Hilton Business card:

• Hilton Honors American Express Business Card

Family language is not included for any of the Hilton cards. You can apply for these cards in any order and still be eligible to earn a bonus on a different Hilton card.

Marriott Cards

Eligibility for Marriott cards is the most complicated of any card rules. The fact that Marriott has cards issued by two different banks makes it even more complicated. American Express and Chase both issue Marriott cards, and they each have their own rules.

We’ve made a card eligibility checker for Marriott to make it easier to understand these rules. Update March 2026: The affiliate and public links for the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card have added more restrictive eligibility than below. The below eligibility is for personal referrals only. These are the offers we use on our site since we only show best offers.

If you’ve never had a Marriott card or any previous versions of a Marriott card (like a Starwood Prefered guest card), then you should be eligible for any card from either bank. But once you start applying for cards, that’s when it gets tricky. Both banks have rules on things like which additional card you may be eligible for, how often you’re eligible for a bonus, which cards you can hold at the same time, and which you can’t.

It would take a full article to explain all the ins and outs of eligibility, but I’ve listed it here as simply as possible to give you an idea. You can always look at the individual card terms to see their specific rules.

American Express issues three different Marriott cards, two personal and one business card:

• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant^® American Express^® Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Bevy® American Express® Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Business™ Card from American Express®

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant^® American Express^® Card

Update March 2026: The affiliate and public links for this card have more restrictive eligibility than below. The below eligibility is for personal referrals only. These are the offers we use on our site since we only show best offers.

Marriott Bonvoy Bevy® American Express® Card

You may not be eligible to earn a bonus on the Bonvoy Bevy card under these conditions:

1. You have or have had this card or a previous version of the card.

2. You have or have had one of the cards listed below in the last 30 days:

• Ritz-Carlton Rewards card (no longer available to new applicants)
• Ritz-Carlton card (no longer available to new applicants)
• Marriott Rewards^® Premier Credit Card (no longer available to new applicants)
• Marriott Rewards^® Premier Plus credit card (no longer available to new applicants)
• Marriott Premier card (no longer available to new applicants)
• Marriott Rewards^® Premier Business credit card (no longer available to new applicants)
• Marriott Bonvoy™ Premier Plus Business Credit Card (no longer available to new applicants)
• Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful^® Credit Card

3. It’s been less than 90 days since you acquired one of these cards and less than 24 months since you earned a bonus or an upgrade offer on one of these cards:

• Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful^® Credit Card

Marriott Bonvoy Business™ Card from American Express®

You may be ineligible to earn a bonus on the Bonvoy Business card under these conditions:

1. You have earned a bonus on the card or one of the cards listed below, or you’ve held any of these cards in the last 30 days. (Note that none of these cards are currently available to new applicants.) Here are the cards:

• Starwood Preferred Guest^® Business Credit Card from American Express
• Marriott Premier Plus Business card
• Marriott Rewards^® Premier Plus Business Credit Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Business^® Credit Card
• Marriott Rewards^® Business Credit Card

2. It’s been more than 90 days since you acquired one of the cards listed below and more than 24 months since you earned a bonus or an upgrade offer on one of these cards:

• Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful^® Credit Card

Chase Eligibility Rules

The 5/24 Rule

Chase has something known as the 5/24 rule. This means that they will only approve you for a new card if you have fewer than 5 new cards (from any issuer) in the past 24 months. Most business cards don’t count towards this total, but some do. You can check out our full post on the 5/24 rule to learn more.

Occasionally, you can get approved if you’ve opened 5 or more cards in the past 24 months, but it’s unlikely.

Number of Cards and Credit Extended

Chase doesn’t have a set limit for the number of cards you can have, but it will limit the total amount of credit it has extended to you. There isn’t an official rule for this, but the guideline is generally 50% of your reported income.

Before applying for a new card from Chase, it’s a good idea to take a look at the total amount of credit it has extended to you. If the amount is close to 50% of your reported income, you can ask to have the credit limit reduced on some of your cards before applying.

Sapphire Cards

The Sapphire Card family includes:

• Chase Sapphire Reserve®
• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

You are eligible to earn a welcome offer one time on each Sapphire card. Once for Reserve, and once for Preferred.

We don’t know yet if after a certain amount of time has passed you’d be able to earn this offer again on the same card. Some reports indicate it might be possible after 9-10 years.

Ink Business Cards

Chase has four ink business cards:

• Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card
• Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
• Ink Business Premier® Credit Card

The Premier is not talked about as much because it is strictly a cashback card. You can’t convert cashback earned on the Premier card into Ultimate Rewards points; it can only ever be redeemed as cashback. The other three Ink business cards all earn Ultimate Rewards points that can be combined with any of your other Ultimate Rewards points.

For the Business Preferred, you are eligible to earn a bonus one time.

For the Business Premier, you are eligible to earn a bonus one time.

For the Business Cash and Business Unlimited, you may only be able to earn a bonus on one of these cards (not both).

The terms for the Cash and Unlimited state: “the new cardmember bonus may not be available to you if you have ever had this card or any other Chase for Business card without an annual fee.”

If you have multiple businesses with separate tax ID numbers, it’s possible you could be approved for a second one of these cards. This seems to be most likely for LLCs or Corporations.

Southwest Cards

The Southwest Personal Cards are one family, and the Southest Business cards are a separate family.

Southwest Personal Cards

• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card
• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card

You can only hold one Southwest personal card at a time. To be eligible to receive a bonus on a Southwest personal card you can’t have any Southwest personal cards open, and it must be at least 24 months since you last earned a welcome offer on any Southwest personal card.

You can hold a Southwest personal card and a Southwest Business card at the same time, but you cannot hold two Southwest personal cards at the same time, even if they are different cards.

Southwest Business Cards

• Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card
• Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card

United Cards

The terms for the United cards don’t include any family language, so you can apply for these cards in any order. You are also allowed to hold more than one United card at a time.

United Personal Cards

• United Club℠ Infinite Card
• United Gateway℠ Card
• United Quest℠ Card
• United℠ Explorer Card

United Business Cards

• United℠ Business Card

IHG Cards

Family language is included for the two IHG Personal cards.

IHG Personal Cards

• IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card
• IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card

You can earn a bonus on an IHG Rewards personal card once every 24 months. If it’s been less than 24 months since you earned a bonus on any IHG Rewards personal card, you won’t be eligible to earn a bonus on another IHG personal card. Even if it’s a different card than you held previously.

IHG Business Card

• IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card

The business card is separate from the personal cards. You can earn a bonus on the IHG Business card even if it’s been less than 24 months since you earned a bonus on a personal card.

Marriott Cards

Chase issues three different Marriott cards. These are all personal cards:

• Marriott Bonvoy Bold^® Credit Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Boundless^® Credit Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Credit Card

The eligibility rules are somewhat simpler than those for the American Express Marriott cards.

Marriott Bonvoy Boundless^® Credit Card and Marriott Bonvoy Bold^® Credit Card