In just the 10 days of 2018, I have gotten 2 new credit cards, the Chase Hyatt card and the Citi/AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite MasterCard. I have a hard time not applying when I think my approval chances are good and I can score some quick bonus points and this is usually the case. When the approval process isn’t as smooth as I would have liked, I have some alternative strategies that I employ to push through the approval…
1. Ask To Have A Portion Of Your Credit Transferred From One Of Your Other Cards From The Same Bank
Sometimes a bank may be hesitant to approve you for a card because you may have recently gotten a card from the same bank. For example, a bank such as Chase, may approve you for one card every 6 months. I often at times have gotten around this by calling the bank and moving some of my credit from one of my existing Chase credit cards to the new one that I am applying for. With Chase however, you need to make sure your application will not be barred by the 5/24 rule (see below).
Generally, a bank is more apt to approve your application if they are not extending you additional credit but rather just transferring some of your existing credit to a new line. I just had to do this with my new Hyatt card. However, sometimes a bank won’t budge regardless of the offer to reallocate credit. This happened to me last year when I applied for the Bank Of America Premium Rewards Credit Card, but luckily Rob swooped in and got it. More often than not though this strategy works. The current phone numbers (they sometimes change) to call to reallocate your credit are as follows:
Amex-877-399-3083
Chase-888-609-7805 or 888-270-2127 or 877-260-0084
Barclays-866-408-4064
Citibank-800-695-5171
Bank of America-800-354-0401 or 866-505-7481
Capital One-800-625-7866
Please let me know if you use one of the above numbers and they no longer work. Thanks!
2. Ask For A Small Credit Limit
If your credit application is not approved immediately and they ask you to wait or to call, consider asking for a very small credit limit. After all, many times you are only getting the card to meet the minimum spend to get the sign-up bonus, so why do you need a large credit limit anyway?
I remember awhile back I wanted a Citi card but they would only extend me a $1,000 credit limit. The minimum spend to get the bonus was $3,000 in 3 months. I literally had to charge $1,000 3 times and pay the bill in advance just so I was able to meet the minimum spend in the 3 month period. A little annoying, but I got the bonus and then it was worth it!
3. For Chase Cards-Hope That You Are Not Limited By The 5/24 Rule
Chase has a rule pertaining to new credit card applications that we call the 5/24 rule. The rule states that if you have gotten five new credit cards within the past 24-months FROM ANY BANK!, you will not be approved for a new Chase credit card application. Luckily, some card applications are exempt from the rule like the Hyatt card I just got. Click here to learn about other Chase cards not limited by the 5/24 rule.
Also worth mentioning is that Chase will automatically count cards in which you have been added as an authorized user in your new card total and you will need to call to try to get around this. For example when I got the Chase Sapphire Reserve last year, Chase originally told me that I could not get this new card because I was being barred by the 5/24 rule. I had the Chase representative go through my recent cards because I was curious as to when my 24 months would be up and I could successfully apply for another Chase card. In going through the cards, we realized that Chase was automatically counting cards that I was merely added as an authorized user to Rob’s accounts. The helpful Chase rep advised that these cards should NOT count towards the five cards. This makes sense in that I am not the responsible party on these other cards. (Rob is!). So after a few minutes on hold, I got the application through. Note, others have not been as lucky with excluding authorized user cards. Regardless, it is always worth a phone call.
4. For Amex cards, hope you are not limited by the 5 card rule.
For those of you, like me, who love American Express (I have been a member since 1988!) and often apply for their cards, know that American Express will likely not allow you to have more than five CREDIT cards inclusive of BUSINESS AND PERSONAL cards at one time. (I added likely because some have reported being approved for more than 5 cards). So, you may need to cancel a card that you do not use often and/or is doing nothing to further your accumulation of rewards if you want a another Amex card. I had to do this when I applied for my American Express Blue Business Plus Credit Card.
Note that this 5 card rule only applies to credit cards, American Express charge cards do not count in the 5 card tally. You can learn about the difference between charge cards and credit cards here.
In addition, the 5 card limit does not include American Express cards in which you are only an authorized user.
5. For Bank Of America Cards, hope you are not limited by the 2,3,4 rule
Bank Of America wanted to get in on the action, so they rolled out the 2,3,4 rule.
The rule is that BOA will only approve you for
-2 cards within a 2 month period
-3 cards within a 12 month period
and 4 cards within a 24 month period.
Also, on more of a subjective standard, last year I applied for the Bank Of America Premium Rewards Credit Card but my application was denied for having opened too many cards. I had just recently opened an American Express Blue Business Plus Credit Card and a U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa card and an AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite MasterCard. When I called BOA, to try to move some of my credit from my BOA Virgin Atlantic card, they still wouldn’t budge. They informed me that there is no hard and fast rule like the Chase 5/24 rule but it is more of a subjective standard. 🙁
