The New Starwood Luxury Card is Coming August 23rd… Perfect Timing Before Restrictions Put in Place

UPDATE: This offer has expired.

Awhile ago, it was announced that a new “Premier” card would be joining the Marriott/Starwood family of cards in August. This is a card that I’ve been anxiously awaiting for due to the potential huge sign up offer and favorable benefits. However, last week, we then found out that Marriott was going to start restricting signing up for new Marriott and Starwood cards on August 26th. This led me to believe that the new Starwood Luxury card would not appear until this date or after. Fortunately though, everyones assumption, including my own was wrong! According to View from the Wing, the card will actually launch on August 23rd!

This is great news because you will have a few days to apply for the card without having to worry about any of the restrictions that are being put into place on August 26th! For example, if you fall into any of these categories, you’ll want to apply for the card as soon as it comes out:

On August 26th, you will not be eligible for a bonus on the Starwood Preferred Guest Luxury Card if you…

• Currently have or have had any of the following Cards in the last 30 days
  • The Ritz-Carlton Rewards Credit Card from JP Morgan
• OR have acquired any of the following Cards from Chase in the last 90 days
  • The Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card from Chase
  • The Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card from Chase
  • The Marriott Rewards Premier Business Credit Card from Chase
• OR have received a welcome or upgrade offer for any of the following Cards from Chase in the last 24 months
  • The Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card from Chase
  • The Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card from Chase
  • The Marriott Rewards Premier Business Credit Card from Chase

So for those that snagged the Ritz-Carlton card last minute, you’ll be in the clear! Or if you recently signed up for the Marriott Rewards Premier Plus card, you won’t have to wait another 2 years! Or, if you were holding off applying for the Marriott cards because it did not want to exclude you for the Starwood Luxury card, you can still apply! Just do so now!

Just remember some of the rules when applying for American Express and Chase credit cards:

American Express Credit Card Application Rules

• You are only eligible for a credit card bonus once in a lifetime – although if it has been more then 7 years and the card has fallen off your credit report you can possibly get the card again with a sign up bonus
• You are only allowed to have 5 “credit cards” in your account at a given time (this is different then charge cards – read more here)
• You can typically be approved for one credit card and one charge card on the same day – they may or may not get grouped into one hard inquiry pull
• You typically cannot apply for more then two credit cards within a 90 day period

Because of the rules above, if you are looking to apply for the Starwood Luxury card in just a few weeks, make sure not to go application crazy with some other American Express cards that are currently having increased limited time offers. Since the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express will no longer be available at some point, you might want to focus on this card and the Luxury card.

Chase Credit Card Application Rules

• Chase does not limit the number of cards you can have in your wallet at a given time
• For many Chase cards (not all) they will not approve you if you’ve applied for 5 or more personal credit cards within the past 24 months – this is called Chase’s “5/24” rule (learn more about it here)
• For most cards, you cannot receive the sign up bonus again if you’ve received a sign up bonus for that same card within the past 24 months
• If you apply for 2 cards within the same day, the pulls are typically combined into one card pull
• You can typically apply for two Chase credit cards within 30 days

With the rules above, you might want to consider two of the Marriott credit cards soon which will then allow you to get the Starwood Luxury card. Based on the restrictions going into place on August 26th, Getting the Starwood Luxury card will also exclude you from getting the Marriott credit cards. If you get the Starwood Luxury card first, you’ll then have to wait another two years to get the Marriott credit cards!

My Strategy

Based on these new dates and restrictions. My recommended strategy would be to focus on the Starwood Preferred Guest personal card, the Starwood Preferred Guest Luxury card, the Marriott Rewards Premier Plus card, and the Marriott Rewards Premier Business card. Although getting the welcome bonuses for all cards will require a high minimum spend overall, you should be able to earn the sign up bonuses for all four – as long as you are eligible to be approved for the cards and haven’t applied for other American Express and Chase cards recently.

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