Sorry it took a while to get back to you. There’s a LOT here, so I wanted to take some time to unpack this. I’ll start out with getting more Ultimate Rewards (“UR”) points first --
First, as you know, Chase has a so-called 5/24 rule, which restricts many of their cards with lucrative signup bonuses (including all of Chase’s Ultimate Rewards-earning cards) from approval if you’ve opened 5 or more credit cards in the past 24 months.
See Chase 5/24 Rule Explained In Detail – Everything You Need To Know. Because of this, it is generally recommended for someone starting out to focus on Chase’s cards that are subject to the 5/24 rule first, before those 5 slots are taken up by cards from other issuers that may not have such strict rules and therefore may still be available after you are at or past 5/24.
The issue is, a lot of your and DH’s most recent credit cards are actually store cards, which may or may not count against the 5/24 rule. Store cards will count against the 5/24 rule if the card can be used outside of that store. If the store card is a Visa, MasterCard, Amex, etc., that can be accepted anywhere cards on those networks are accepted, it will count against 5/24.
See Do store cards count towards the limit?. Specifically to your situation, it looks like you have Lowe’s, Best Buy, TJ Maxx, and Justice store cards. I tried looking these up, and it appears Best Buy’s card is on the Visa network, TJ Maxx’s card is a Mastercard, Lowe’s card can only be used at Lowe’s, and the Justice card can only be used at Justice. So Best Buy and TJ Maxx would count, and Lowe’s and Justice shouldn’t count. However, the Lowe’s card still appears on your and your husband’s credit reports, and the Justice card appears on your report. If you’re applying for a Chase credit card, Chase will pull your credit report and see the Lowe’s and Justice card on it. Chase’s automated system may go ahead and count the Lowe’s and Justice card as credit cards opened in the past 24 months. Although they shouldn’t count, the computer doesn’t know how to make that distinction, and if Lowe’s or Justice is the card that puts you at 5/24 and is the reason you’re denied a Chase card that’s subject to the 5/24 rule, then you’ll need to call Chase’s reconsideration line (“recon”) to speak with a human rep and try to get them to disregard the Lowe’s and/or Justice card when counting your */24.
With authorized user (“AU”) cards, they generally count because they appear on your credit report and Chase’s algorithm will just view it as another card opened in the past 24 months. There are some exceptions to this. An AU on a business credit card (or an “employee” card), does not count unless the business card is reported on the credit report, and business credit cards are typically not reported on personal credit reports. And for you, because you think the Lowe’s card on your credit report may be an AU of DH’s Lowe’s card, it may not count if the Lowe’s card doesn’t count. But again, if Chase’s computer does count the Lowe’s card in its initial review, and that puts you or DH at or over 5/24, then you’ll have to call recon and try to convince a human rep to disregard the Lowe’s card.
See Authorized Users & Reconsideration.
Generally, we recommend don’t sign up for store cards or adding a spouse (and potential Player 2) as an AU. Store cards usually give paltry savings that you can match with a good promotion, gift carding, and shopping portals, or stacking some combination of these tricks. And since AUs generally count as if the authorized user opened the card itself, but without the bonus, it makes more sense for the other user to open up the card him-/herself for the bonus, and even better if you can refer the other user to that card for a referral bonus to yourself.
So where does that leave you and DH?
It looks like you’re 4/24, but you could possibly be as low as 2/24 if you have to recon.
DH looks like he’s at 4/24, but could possibly be as low as 3/24 if he can get that Lowe’s card disregarded on recon.
Regardless, even at 4/24, you both have 1 clear slot left with which to apply for a Chase card.
You mentioned you have an INK card, and that it was the CIP. Are you sure it’s the Chase Ink Preferred, and not Chase Ink Plus? When did you get this card (must’ve been in the past 2 years, because I believe the CIP was released in October 2017).
I think the first move with DH’s 1 certain slot is for you to refer DH to the CIP. The CIP has a 80k UR signup bonus (+20k UR to you if you refer DH), after a $5k minimum spending requirement (“MSR”) in 3 months. Generate a referral link from your CIP, copy and paste it into an incognito window or another browser, and have DH apply with a side hustle he may have. The CIP (and all Ink cards) are subject to the 5/24 rule, meaning you have to be under 5/24 to apply, but they don’t add to the */24 count because the Ink cards are not reported to your personal credit report. So while DH is nominally 4/24, he still qualifies for the CIP, and being approved for the CIP won’t take up his “last” slot. This would get you 20k UR from the referral bonus if he’s approved, and the signup bonus on the CIP is 80k UR for DH. Chase allows transferring UR points between different UR-earning cards (Freedoms, Sapphires, and Inks), and combining points between people in the same household. So DH can eventually pool his points with you. (It’s a good idea to transfer all UR points into a single pool whenever the statement for each UR-earning card closes, because there are rumors that Chase is looking at restricting UR transfers and pooling.)
Along the same lines, you should use your “last” clear slot to apply for another one of Chase’s Ink cards. Again, Chase also offers the Chase Ink Cash (“CIC”) and Chase Ink Unlimited (“CIU”), which each have 50k UR signup bonuses after spending $3k MSR in 3 months. You have to be under 5/24 to apply, but they don’t add to the */24 count because the Ink cards are not reported to your personal credit report.
If you want to go over the different benefits of the Ink cards, beyond their signup bonuses, let us know.
You mentioned that you both have Sapphires – Is that the Chase Sapphire Preferred (“CSP”) or Chase Sapphire Reserve (“CSR”)? Last summer, Chase implemented a so-called “one Sapphire card” rule that will deny your application for a Sapphire product if you currently hold another Sapphire card or received a signup bonus for any Sapphire card in the past 24 months.
See Chase Updates the Terms to Indicate Sapphire Family Limitation. In August, Chase changed the rule again and extended the limit to one signup bonus from any Sapphire card to every 48 months.
See Chase Sapphire Cards New 48-Month Signup Bonus Limitation (Instead of 24 Months). If you or DH received a bonus on your Sapphire cards more than 48 months ago, then it’s possible you could get another signup bonus from the CSP or CSR.
Don’t cancel your Sapphire cards! The age of these cards will generally help your credit scores. You can product change (“PC” aka downgrade) them to no fee Chase Freedom Unlimited (“CFU”) or Chase Freedom (“CF”) cards (even if you already currently hold a CF card. If you or DH received a bonus on your Sapphire cards more than 48 months ago, PCing your Sapphire card to a CF/CFU card would get you around that part of the one Sapphire card limitation because you’d no longer have a Sapphire card.
There’s a lot here to digest, and I know it must sound like a foreign language to you. We’ll get you up to speed. If you can reply and clarify some things, that’ll help! And I’ll post more thoughts later, when I can find some time. DO NOT RUSH anything. Because you and DH are at a precarious spot, being possibly at 4/24, you don’t want to make any mistakes. The more detail and precision with card names and dates, and plans and goals generally, the better we can tailor our replies. Although there’s some time sensitivity in this hobby and with a lot of credit card offers, and rules can change suddenly, nothing major is likely to happen if you wait a day.
In the meantime, do you have a reddit account? If not, you can create one and message me,
@SouthFayetteFan, or
@Albort, and we’ll get you invited to DISchurners.
You certainly have been doing your reading. Instant respect.
I don't know how I will make it through the winter. At least I have Destin to look forward to tomorrow and 
