Why Amex Approves You When Other Issuers Say No

By Bryce Casson, Founder · Cardocrat · Updated July 2026

The short answer: After opening several cards in three months, the denials started rolling in, because banks do not like a stack of recent applications. The one exception was American Express, which approved me without hesitation. Amex is famously forgiving on recent inquiries and new accounts, which makes it the go-to issuer when you want a welcome bonus and everyone else is saying no. Just know that Amex polices its bonuses even when it approves the card.

Denied, denied, denied

Over about three months I opened several new cards to chase welcome bonuses. It worked for a while, and then the denials started. One issuer said too many accounts opened recently. Another said too many requests for new credit. My credit score was still healthy and I had no missed payments; the problem was purely the pace. A burst of new applications makes a bank nervous, because it reads like someone either in financial trouble or gaming the sign-up bonuses, and either way the bank would rather sit this one out.

If you have ever gone through an application spree, you know the feeling. Offers that looked like easy approvals a month earlier suddenly turn into instant denials or a dreaded pending review.

Then Amex just said yes

With the same credit profile and the same wall of recent applications, I applied for an American Express card. Instant approval. No pending review, no phone call, no reconsideration line. It was the one issuer that looked at a churner mid-spree and shrugged.

That was not luck. It is simply how Amex tends to operate, and it is why so many people in the points world keep an Amex application in their back pocket for exactly this situation.

Why Amex is so much more forgiving

Amex does not enforce anything like the Chase 5/24 rule, which hard-stops you once you have opened five or more cards in the last 24 months. Amex weighs your history and relationship with Amex, plus your overall credit, far more than the raw count of new accounts you have opened at other banks. If you pay your Amex cards on time and your credit is solid, a pile of recent inquiries elsewhere usually does not stop an approval.

That reputation is well earned. When the rest of the market has decided you opened too many cards, Amex is frequently the one issuer still willing to hand you a new card and a welcome bonus. It is the approval of last resort.

Amex still polices its bonuses

Here is the part people miss: getting approved and getting the welcome bonus are two different things at Amex. Amex generally limits you to about two new credit cards every 90 days and a handful of cards at once. Its welcome bonuses are usually once per card, per lifetime, so if you have earned the bonus on that exact card before, you will not get it again. And Amex shows a pop-up during the application that can tell you, before you even submit, that you are not eligible for the bonus. The community calls that pop-up jail.

So the honest picture is that Amex is lenient on the approval and strict on the bonus. Read the eligibility language on the offer, and if the pop-up says you will not earn the bonus, there is little point taking the card just to be approved.

How to actually use this

Sequence your applications so you are not fighting every issuer at once. Get the strict banks first while your recent-account count is low, especially Chase under 5/24, then Citi and Capital One, and keep Amex in reserve for when your recent activity has everyone else spooked. When you have a welcome-bonus itch and the denials are piling up, Amex is usually the one that will still say yes.

And the caveat that always applies: a welcome bonus is only worth chasing if you can hit the spend with purchases you would make anyway, and if you pay the balance in full every month. Interest on a carried balance dwarfs any bonus, and that is the fastest way to turn a clever churn into a loss. Browse the current lineup on our American Express cards page.

Frequently asked questions

Does Amex care about Chase 5/24?

No. 5/24 is a Chase rule, not an industry standard. Amex does not count your recent accounts the same way, which is exactly why it often approves you when Chase will not.

How many Amex cards can I have at once?

Amex generally allows about two new credit cards per 90 days and roughly five Amex credit cards open at a time; charge cards are counted separately. The exact limits are not published and can vary by person.

Will Amex give me the bonus if I have had a lot of its cards?

Not always. Amex welcome bonuses are usually once per card, per lifetime, and Amex shows a pop-up at application that can deny the bonus if it decides you earned it before or opened too many of its cards. Approval and the bonus are separate things at Amex.

Is it risky to apply for many cards in a short time?

It can be. A burst of applications adds hard inquiries, lowers your average account age, and makes issuers wary, which is what drives the denials. Space applications out and only apply for cards you will genuinely use.