Goals from Leon Cort and Paul Ifill gave Palace the points at Selhurst Park with Alan Lee picking up his 10th booking of the season and a two match ban to follow.
Cort headed in on 33 minutes after a short corner and Ifill doubled the Eagles' advantage on 51 minutes with a strike after Town had failed to clear the danger.
A frustrated Lee was booked for dissent in the closing stages and will miss the home match against Leicester and the FA Cup trip to Watford.
Palace finished the game with 10 men after Tom Soares was shown a straight red card for a foul on Dan Harding.
Lee and Richard Naylor both passed fitness tests and returned to the side, Fabian Wilnis keeping his place in the heart of the defence with Alex Bruce having to contend with a place on the bench after serving a two game suspension.
A foul by Sylvain Legwinski on five minutes gave Palace a free-kick, Mark Kennedy's cross met by Cort who headed over.
Jon Walters had Town's first chance of the game, firing over the bar from the edge of the box, then Harding cut in from the left and tested Gabor Kiraly with a low drive the Palace 'keeper forced away for a corner.
Lee, under pressure from Cort, fired over the bar from six yards out as Town enjoyed as much possession as the home side and created the better chances.
Wilnis was then caught by Dougie Freedman on 25 minutes and needed lengthy treatment before returning to the action, with Town then having a clear chance to open the scoring, Owen Garvan's sublime pass putting Lee clear on goal but Kiraly made the save.
Shefki Kuqi caught Lewis Price with a late challenge but the former Town striker was quick to pull the Welsh international to his feet.
Walters suffered a cut behind his ear on the half hour mark and was off the pitch when Palace took the lead. Price saved well from Carl Fletcher but from the resultant corner, Danny Butterfield sent in a cross for Cort to head past Price.
On the stroke of half-time Kuqi escaped the Town defence and headed for goal but the alert Wilnis robbed the Finnish international before he could test Price, with Blues shading the first 45 minutes.
It was Wilnis' last action of the game, the Dutch defender replaced by Bruce at half-time.
Soares shot over in the early stages of the second-half and the game was only six minutes old after the restart before Palace extended their lead, Ifill firing in a Kuqi set-up after Blues had failed to clear their lines following a flurry of action around the box.
Harding tested the Palace defence again, twice having shots blocked in quick succession then Walters was only inches away from pulling one back for Blues.
George O'Callaghan and Danny Haynes replaced Gary Roberts and Jaime Peters as Town boss Jim Magilton made his second and third change on the hour mark.
Price saved well from Fletcher's sweetly struck shot, then did brilliantly again to deny Kuqi who had shrugged off Harding's challenge.
Soares and O'Callaghan were both booked after a scuffle in the middle of the park, with Sylvain Legwinski also involved and Soares saw a straight red soon after following an ugly challenge on Harding.
Lee's name went into referee Martin Atkinson's book with 12 minutes left on the clock, his 10th of the season and a two match ban will follow.
The Republic of Ireland international tested Kiraly with a cracking shot as Town continued to push forward, looking for a way back into the game, Walters also going close.
O'Callaghan showed great skill to carve out an opening for himself right at the end but it wasn't to be his or Town's afternoon.
Town: Price, Wright, Naylor, Wilnis (Bruce 46), Harding, Peters (Haynes 60), Garvan, Legwinski, Roberts (O'Callaghan 60), Walters, Lee. Subs not used: Supple, Clarke. Booked: O'Callaghan, Lee.
