Step-by-Step Guide: After You Receive Your New Card

Before You Get Started

Make sure to set-up a free account at Credit Karma, and perhaps some other credit-monitoring tool; create an account with Award Wallet; and download the Award Wallet app to your phone. Lua error in Module:Link at line 366: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..

Before you sign up for any other credit card, make sure that you have signed up for as many of the “Chase 5/24” cards as you can. If you don’t know what this means, make sure to read Dealing with the Chase 5/24 Rule.

Jump to

Before you apply for the card
Applying for the card
After you get the card
(optional) Enroll your new card in dining and shopping programs
For cards that you are planning to keep

Check your credit rating to make sure everything is still okay. If your credit rating is starting to drop, you might want to take a break for a while. The VantageScore you get from Credit Karma should be a good enough indicator of what is going on with your credit score, but you will want to occasionally check your actual FICO score using one of your credit card providers (or the Discover website, if necessary). Monitor Your Credit Score to Make Sure Everything is On Track.

(Until you're an expert) only apply for one card at a time. Even if you are primarily getting the card for other reasons, you still want to make sure you earn the new card's signup bonus. If you stick to one card at a time, it is more straightforward to make sure that you meet the initial spending requirement. When you are ready, there are some advanced techniques that can make it worthwhile to apply for multiple cards at the same time. But, we strongly recommend starting off with a simpler approach.
Check to see if there is a promotional offer. When you decide to get a card, if you go directly to the card’s sign-up page, you might miss a better promotional offer . Sometimes, the card has a higher offer available elsewhere, and you’ll need to apply using a special link, to get it.

Our credit card guides provide information about the best available offers. However, it is always possible that we've missed something. If you want to be sure, take the time to check some other sites. Not every offer winds up on every website, so your best bet is to check a couple of websites, and maybe do a general web search. The whole process should only take a few minutes, and can let you earn tens of thousands of extra points for the same credit card sign-up.

US Credit Card Guide. The best single resource we’ve found is the US Credit Card Guide site. They provide information on the current best signup offers for each card, and even include a handy chart that shows a recent history of the card’s signup bonuses and Initial spending requirements. We've linked to the US Credit Card Guide graph from every one of our credit card guides.

Frequent Miler. Another good resource is the signup offer page on Frequent Miler. Checking both sites can uncover an offer that one site knows about, but the other site does not.
Doing a web search. These sites aren’t perfect, so if you are willing to spend a little extra time, you can do a web search for the name of the credit card plus “promotional offer”, such as “blue preferred promotional offer”. Then click through on a few promising links.

Take advantage of a referral link (if you can). Some cards will give you extra points, when you refer another customer, and they get approved for the card. If you have a friend, or even better an immediate family member, who already has the card, you can apply through their referral link, and they'll get a bonus. Be careful. Sometimes, the referral offer isn't as good as the best signup offer out there. In that case, you are usually better off applying directly, and making sure to get the best possible offer. Taking Advantage of Referral Bonuses.

Applying for the card

Include all your sources of income. When you are asked for your income, you can include all your household income, not just the income from your job. That includes the income from a spouse or domestic partner.
Don’t worry if you aren’t immediately approved. If the credit card website indicates that your application is “pending”, and doesn’t give you an immediate decision, don’t worry too much. Most of the time, you’ll be approved a few days later. With most credit card companies, it is possible to check your application status online. For more information see this article at Doctor of Credit.
If you do get denied, call the reconsideration line. You can usually talk to a customer service representative, who can often reverse the initial decision, and approve you for the card. Sometimes, you’ll need to make an adjustment first, such as decreasing your credit limit on (or closing) another card from that bank. Many people are reluctant to call in. But, you’ve already taken the hit from the credit report inquiry, and you still want to get the card you were aiming for. At the very least, you’ll learn a bit more information about why you were denied, and can adjust your sign-up strategy moving forward. Reconsideration Line Advice.

Don't add an authorized user as part of the initial sign-up process, unless they give you a bonus. Many cards will provide an extra bonus, when you add an authorized card holder to an account. If they don't offer you one at sign-up, and you add an authorized cardholder, you won't be able to take advantage of any bonus offer that is available after the fact. Also, don't add someone as an authorized cardholder, if they haven't received five new credit cards over the last two years. If so, you'll limit their ability to get some of the most valuable Chase credit cards. Dealing with the Chase 5/24 Rule.

After you get the card

Activate the card, and make sure you can manage it online. After you receive your card, you'll need to activate it. You should do this online, rather than over the phone, so you can make sure it is added to your online account for the that bank. If it is your first card from a new bank, make sure to set-up a new account, as part of activating it. You'll need to be online anyway, to complete the next step.
Set up automatic payments. After activating your card, the next thing you should do is set up automatic payments, to pay the full-balance-due every month. When your credit card payment is due, the balance-due amount will be pulled directly from your bank account. That way, there is no risk that you will make a late payment, wind up needing to pay interest and penalties, and damage your credit rating. This is particularly important for a card that you are planning to keep for its benefits, but won’t be using regularly—as it is more likely to slip through the cracks.

If you’ve already set up other cards from the same credit card company, your bank account information should already be on file, and setting up automatic payments should only take a few clicks. Otherwise, you’ll need to enter the checking account information that you can find on your checks.

If you know that you are only going to use the credit card for a month or two, until you’ve met the initial spending requirement, turning on automatic payments isn't critical. You could just pay the bill manually. However, we prefer to always set up automatic payments, to eliminate the chance of any unpaid stray credit card charges.

If you aren't comfortable with having your bills paid automatically, you just need to spend a little extra effort to make sure you aren't late with any of your payments.

Just be warned that with some credit cards, it can take up to two billing cycles before automatic payments kick-in. Pay attention, when you set up the account, to see if they provide you with a delayed start-date. If they do, you will need to remember to pay manually for the first one or two months. A few credit card companies won’t let you set up automatic payments until after you have received your first bill. If so, set up an appointment on your phone’s calendar, to remind you to set up automatic payments later.
Add an appointment to your phone’s calendar, to help make sure you meet the Initial spending requirement. Set an appointment for about 3 weeks before the deadline for completing the spending requirement. The drop-dead date is based on the date your application was accepted, not the date you received your card.

When the time comes, you’ll get a reminder on your phone to make sure that you’ve met the requirement. If it looks like you are coming up short, don’t panic, you can usually take some steps to shift some spending around, and close the gap. For some ideas, see Tips to Easily Meet the Initial Spending Requirements of New Credit Cards.

Add an additional appointment to remember to cancel, downgrade, or get a retention bonus for the card. This appointment should be set a few weeks before the anniversary date of your new card (about a year from now). This will help you remember to cancel any cards that you only signed up for to collect the signup bonus.

It is also helpful for cards that you are planning to hold onto. We like to re-evaluate each of our cards every year, and make sure we are continuing to get enough value from the card, to justify the annual fee. If we aren’t, we can cancel the card, or “downgrade” it to a no-annual-fee card. Or, even get a “retention” offer, that makes it worthwhile to keep the card for another year.

You should set up a “recurring” appointment, which will automatically remind you each year, a short time before the anniversary date. That way, if you hold-onto the card for any reason, you will be reminded every year, before the annual fee is due.

Shift all your spending to your new card, until you’ve met the Initial spending requirement. Once you get your card, you should use it for ALL your spending, until you’ve spent enough to qualify for the bonus. You may be tempted to occasionally use other cards that earn higher rewards for certain purchases. You can do that if you want, just make sure that you aren’t going to have any problem meeting your new card’s spending requirement, before the deadline. Personally, we’d rather keep things simple, stick to the new card for all our spending, and get the requirement out-of-the-way as quickly as possible.
Use one of several approaches to track the sending on your new card, so you know when to stop. Shifting all your spending to your new card, and setting up a notification to take emergency action (if necessary). should be enough to ensure you spend enough to receive the signup bonus.

However, you also want to be sure to stop using the card, once you’ve already spent enough. This lets you shift your spending to another new card, or to whichever of your existing cards earns the highest reward rate.

There are several different approaches that you can take. They differ in the amount of effort involved, and how quickly you will know that you’ve met the spending requirement. Choose the one that works for you. Track Your Initial Spending on Your New Credit Card.

(Optional) Call the credit card company. If you are willing to take some extra time to optimize the experience, call the credit card company after you receive the card, and reconfirm the details of your signup bonus, including the exact date when you need to meet the initial spending requirement (and the exact date when the annual fee will next be charged on the card).

While you have them on the phone, ask them to reduce the cash advance limit to $0. Not every credit card company will do this, but if they do, you eliminate any risk that you will unexpectedly be charged high fees and interest, if the credit card company decides to treat some purchases (such as a gift card) as a cash advance.

Typically, you should just call the customer service number on the back of your card. However, if you are having difficulty getting what you need, you might want to call the company using one of the backdoor telephone numbers compiled by the myFico forums.

(optional) Add an authorized cardholder (when there is a bonus). Some credit card companies will give you extra points if you add an authorized cardholder to your account. Bonuses are almost always available on Chase cards. Offers on other cards come and go.. You can do a quick web search with "bonus points authorized user" and the name of the credit card. If you don't already share finances with someone, you might want to add a friend, who you would completely trust not to user their version of your card. Note that you can usually add your kids as authorized cardholders, as well.

If you don't care about adding an authorized cardholder right away, and there is no bonus available, you should wait (if you can). A promotional offer might become available later.

You may need to take some steps to setup some card-specific benefits as well, such as activating your quarterly category bonuses on the Chase Freedom card, activating your elite status at rental companies for any World Elite Mastercards, or activating an included Priority Pass airport lounge membership.

(optional) Enroll your new card in any credit-card-linked dining and shopping programs you are using

These programs give you bonus rewards whenever you use your credit card at a participating restaurant or merchant. If you've already setup the program to work with a credit card company, any new credit cards, you get from that bank, are often automatically added. If it isn't, or this is your first card from a new credit card company, you'll want to make sure to take the time to add it to your dining or shopping program.

Reward Network Dining Program (via your favorite frequent flyer program)
Drop
Visa Local Offers (via Uber or Trim)
Acorn's Found Money
Empyr Dining and Shopping Program (via Yelp, Dosh, or others)
Groupon+ and Seated (which require some effort beyond your initial setup)
Mastercard’s Easy Savings (for Mastercards)
And others.

For cards that you are planning to keep

Make sure to use each card at least a few times per year. If you never use your card, the credit card company might cancel it—sometimes without any warning. This isn’t an issue for many of your cards—you will be naturally use them throughout the year. However, there are a few cards that come with benefits that don’t require any actual spending. For example, there is really no reason to put any spending on one of the IHG card, which gives you a free hotel night certificate every year. If you don’t occasionally make some charges on the card, Chase may cancel it.

You don’t have to spend very much, just make sure to make a few charges per year. An easy approach is to set up Amazon to automatically charge the credit card to add $5 to your account every month. Unfortunately, you can only use this for one credit card at a time.

Assuming you’ve set up automatic payments, you don’t have to worry about the hassles of remembering to pay the credit card bill later.