After 2.5 weeks of pending IHG, finally decided to call it in and got a nice agent who noted my numerous accounts with Chase and other banks. He asked why and I responded that I'm in it for the different rewards of each program to utilize its potential. He then simply asked to shift some existing credit to open it up.
I just cancelled this card in April (after 24 months from last bonus). Now 6 personal and 3 biz with Chase and 25+ new overall accounts the last 24 months. You really just need to win the agent roulette from what I'm seeing as they have all the power to make the decision.