Everyone knew back then one could have multiple AS cards. 5 months ago I had 6 AS cards at the same time.....

I wrote "as of recently". The rule came in to effect around March, and is definitely in full effect now. It is a hard rule just like 5/24. And yes, I confirmed this with 5 different credit analysts, both in the preferred division and regular. No dice. I find it hard to believe that your wife got approved for one today with an existing one, she may have had a platinum version, or a Business version, or it is somehow not linked to her online ID, or they may have closed the existing one when they approved of the new one. Check in a few days.

I spoke to multiple credit Analysts and their managers, and each of them all said that the system is now set up to automatically decline if the client has the existing product, and analysts all have a new memo to not approve during recon if that account is indeed active. They also said they are now keeping count of the amount of cards one person has opened and closed. They knew that I had opened 20 AS cards in total, and can even see the exact spend patterns and ages of all of them when closed.