Chase Sapphire Preferred - apply before or after large spend ($1,500+, $20,000 CL) on new Venture X?

[JasonMath]

Dear Members,

I successfully applied for the Venture X card ($20,000 CL, 90k SUB with $4,000/3 months), and will be getting it in the mail in the next 10 days!  I plan on using it immediately for a large purchase, spending $1,500 - $2,000 for festival tickets and accomodation (when they go on sale in late October 2023) in the Netherlands as part of a 2.5 week trip there in June - July 2024.  I will also be flying there on business class, which will cost at least $4,000 round-trip.  Finally, I plan on a shorter trip to the southern United States in May 2024, which will cost at least $1,000.  With my everyday expenses, I should have no problems hitting $8,000 in total spend over 3 months.

Therefore, I will be able to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred as well, hitting the SUB for both cards and getting a combined 150k+ miles!  Regarding approval, do I have a better chance of approval for the CSP if I apply now (before my big purchase, which will cause a 10% credit utilization on the Venture X), or waiting until late October/November?

FYI, I have these credit cards, with application dates listed:

- Capital One Venture X (late September 2023)

- Chase Freedom Unlimited (late July 2023)

- Costco Anywhere Visa Card (???)

- Fifth Third Bank Trio Rewards Mastercard (???)

I am looking to apply for these cards in the near future as well:

- Chase Sapphire Preferred (October-November 2023)

- Chase Freedom Flex (January 2024).

Thanks again!

Jason

[coldfusion]

IMO best odds are probably from applying before the Venture X shows up initially on your credit reports as the new account would be a more significant factor in itself than just having a card reporting a $2000 balance.

You don't list the open dates for the Costco and 5/3 cards nor did you mention any cards opened since January 2022 which you've already closed so I'll comment that if you aren't already you'll want to make sure you're fully aware of the Chase 5/24 rule, also that while people can and do pick up 3 cards from Chase within a 6 month window that's a velocity they're often uncomfortable with.

[SouthJamaica]

---

@JasonMath wrote:

Dear Members,

I successfully applied for the Venture X card ($20,000 CL, 90k SUB with $4,000/3 months), and will be getting it in the mail in the next 10 days!  I plan on using it immediately for a large purchase, spending $1,500 - $2,000 for festival tickets and accomodation (when they go on sale in late October 2023) in the Netherlands as part of a 2.5 week trip there in June - July 2024.  I will also be flying there on business class, which will cost at least $4,000 round-trip.  Finally, I plan on a shorter trip to the southern United States in May 2024, which will cost at least $1,000.  With my everyday expenses, I should have no problems hitting $8,000 in total spend over 3 months.

Therefore, I will be able to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred as well, hitting the SUB for both cards and getting a combined 150k+ miles!  Regarding approval, do I have a better chance of approval for the CSP if I apply now (before my big purchase, which will cause a 10% credit utilization on the Venture X), or waiting until late October/November?

FYI, I have these credit cards, with application dates listed:

- Capital One Venture X (late September 2023)

- Chase Freedom Unlimited (late July 2023)

- Costco Anywhere Visa Card (???)

- Fifth Third Bank Trio Rewards Mastercard (???)

I am looking to apply for these cards in the near future as well:

- Chase Sapphire Preferred (October-November 2023)

- Chase Freedom Flex (January 2024).

Thanks again!

Jason

---

I think your chances are better now.

[Jordan23ww]

I agree with @SouthJamaica  and @coldfusion  I think your best chances are to apply now vs waiting. The Venture X should take at least 2 statements to report, I believe (basing this on my Venture X which is 1 month old and still not reporting.). So applying now your 5/24 status should appear to Chase as if you haven't been approved for the Venture X yet.  Best wishes to you with your application whenever you decide to apply!

[Priory_Man]

I would suggest you apply for the card sooner rather than later

[nwa479]

---

@SouthJamaica wrote:

---

@JasonMath wrote:

Dear Members,

I successfully applied for the Venture X card ($20,000 CL, 90k SUB with $4,000/3 months), and will be getting it in the mail in the next 10 days!  I plan on using it immediately for a large purchase, spending $1,500 - $2,000 for festival tickets and accomodation (when they go on sale in late October 2023) in the Netherlands as part of a 2.5 week trip there in June - July 2024.  I will also be flying there on business class, which will cost at least $4,000 round-trip.  Finally, I plan on a shorter trip to the southern United States in May 2024, which will cost at least $1,000.  With my everyday expenses, I should have no problems hitting $8,000 in total spend over 3 months.

Therefore, I will be able to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred as well, hitting the SUB for both cards and getting a combined 150k+ miles!  Regarding approval, do I have a better chance of approval for the CSP if I apply now (before my big purchase, which will cause a 10% credit utilization on the Venture X), or waiting until late October/November?

FYI, I have these credit cards, with application dates listed:

- Capital One Venture X (late September 2023)

- Chase Freedom Unlimited (late July 2023)

- Costco Anywhere Visa Card (???)

- Fifth Third Bank Trio Rewards Mastercard (???)

I am looking to apply for these cards in the near future as well:

- Chase Sapphire Preferred (October-November 2023)

- Chase Freedom Flex (January 2024).

Thanks again!

Jason

---

I think your chances are better now.

---

I would apply now for the CSP card. That will put you at 5/24 assuming all cards you've listed were opened within two years.  You will be over the 5/24 in January 24 unless one of your cards drops off that list in January. 

I just had a CSP approved with three new accounts in the past six months, and at 4/24.  It did go to manual review and I had to call their recon line.  

[JasonMath]

---

@coldfusion wrote:

IMO best odds are probably from applying before the Venture X shows up initially on your credit reports as the new account would be a more significant factor in itself than just having a card reporting a $2000 balance.

You don't list the open dates for the Costco and 5/3 cards nor did you mention any cards opened since January 2022 which you've already closed so I'll comment that if you aren't already you'll want to make sure you're fully aware of the Chase 5/24 rule, also that while people can and do pick up 3 cards from Chase within a 6 month window that's a velocity they're often uncomfortable with.

---

Thank you for the response.  The Venture X has been approved - I got an e-mail confirming this, and called Capital One as well.  I have not gotten the card in the mail, nor have I spent any money on it.  I have gotten alerts from my credit monitoring sites and agencies (i.e. Experian), and the hard inquiry is now showing on my Experian credit report (though the account is not listed under credit cards/credit lines).

As for the other cards, I opened the Fifth Third Bank card in February 2017, and the Costco card in February 2014.  Fifth Third is my primary bank, so that's where that card came from.  I previously had the American Express Costco card, which was automatically closed when Costco switched to partnering with Visa and offering the Citibank Costco Anywhere card.

---

@nwa479 wrote:

I would apply now for the CSP card. That will put you at 5/24 assuming all cards you've listed were opened within two years.  You will be over the 5/24 in January 24 unless one of your cards drops off that list in January. 

The only cards listed that I applied for in the last 24 months were the Chase Freedom Unlimited (July 2023) and the Capital One Venture X (September 2023).

Does the 5/24 rule apply for all credit cards/hard inquiries when applying with Chase, or just Chase-affiliated cards?  I thought that it was just the latter, with the additional caveat that Chase only allows applications for new cards at least 30 days apart.

[coldfusion]

---

@JasonMath wrote:

---

Does the 5/24 rule apply for all credit cards/hard inquiries when applying with Chase, or just Chase-affiliated cards?  I thought that it was just the latter, with the additional caveat that Chase only allows applications for new cards at least 30 days apart.

---

5/24 is for new accounts - not inquiries - from all issuers and not just Chase. 

The caveat with Chase is to not apply for more than 1 Chase card on any given day.  The autobot may approve a 2nd card same-day but they'll pick it up internally and within several weeks the 2nd card will be closed while the 1st one will be left intact.  Waiting until the next day to apply for for the 2nd card avoids this problem.

You confirmed that you were just approved for your Venture X, which means that you probably shouldn't delay applying for the CSP as Chase seeing a new account report would in all likelihood reduce your odds of an approval.

[JasonMath]

UPDATE: I just went into my local Chase Bank branch, and found out they were offering a 70k SUB on the CSP (60k after $4,000 in purchases over 3 months, an additional 10k after a total of $6,000 in purchases over 6 months).  The banker advised me that she has seen 80k and 90k SUBs being offered in branch, particularly around Christmas (which would fall in line with the 80k SUB offered between October 15 - November 30 last year for the CSP).  I would be able to hit the $4,000 in purchases over 3 months, but possibly not the $6,000 over 6 months, especially with the Venture X $4,000 minimum spend.

With that in mind, would applying now (after applying for the Venture X at the end of September) or applying between Thanksgiving & Christmas be a better option?  I would put my business class flights to the Netherlands on the CSP, and it is recommended to purchase long-haul tickets 5-7 months in advance.  This would put me in line to buy my tickets in November - January, which would put me right in line to apply of the card between November 24 - December 15.

[nwa479]

---

@JasonMath wrote:

UPDATE: I just went into my local Chase Bank branch, and found out they were offering a 70k SUB on the CSP (60k after $4,000 in purchases over 3 months, an additional 10k after a total of $6,000 in purchases over 6 months).  The banker advised me that she has seen 80k and 90k SUBs being offered in branch, particularly around Christmas (which would fall in line with the 80k SUB offered between October 15 - November 30 last year for the CSP).  I would be able to hit the $4,000 in purchases over 3 months, but possibly not the $6,000 over 6 months, especially with the Venture X $4,000 minimum spend.

With that in mind, would applying now (after applying for the Venture X at the end of September) or applying between Thanksgiving & Christmas be a better option?  I would put my business class flights to the Netherlands on the CSP, and it is recommended to purchase long-haul tickets 5-7 months in advance.  This would put me in line to buy my tickets in November - January, which would put me right in line to apply of the card between November 24 - December 15.

---

I also had two recent new cards and was approved for the CSP last week.  I opened an Amex BCE in July and the Apple card in early August. The Amex just started reporting on Sept 17th.  I had also joined Chase credit journey since I had heard they sometimes have 'Your already approved' notices for new cards.  On Sept 21, after being on Chase credit journey for about six weeks, I was 'already approved' for several cards including the CSP with a credit limit of $18,000. I applied on 9/30.  It went to manual review.  I called recon on 10/2 and it was approved.  The approval email had instructions to load it in the digital wallet.  So I'm waiting for the card but spending already on ApplePay

The credit journey offer was 'exclusive'.  The CSP had 75,000 points for $4,000 spend.  I had previously received a mail offer for 80,000 points but it required $5,000 in spend for 3 months. 

So you could app now, or wait for a better offer around Thanksgiving.  I'm not sure the new Venture X card posting would prevent your approval since you are only at 2/24 for new accounts.  The new accounts may have been the reason mine went to manual review.  Not sure.  But if you just focus now on hitting the $4000 in spend on the Venture X and wait a bit for a possibly better promotional offer you wouldn't have two accounts to hit the spend on at the same time.  There's also additional information online regarding the bonus history on sites like thepointsguy or upgradedpoints.   Thepointsguy stated to look for any offer above 60,000 points.  So even the branch offer of 70,000 would be good. Their might be history on the amount of last years offer during the holidays.