Barclays Reconsideration Experience (Wyndham and Choice Privilege Card)

knick1959

Level 2 Member
I've hinted at my Barclays plans in various thread and noted my progress. Have a DP from my call today that I think might be interesting to some. Couldn't find an existing thread to use, so here I am.

In Feb 2017 I went crazy with Barclays apps. I hadn't had a card from them in over a year, although they keep sending me emails about my canceled AAviator card. Have had a Wyndham and Arrival+ before, as well as several US Air cards when they existed. In Feb, my list was clear and had been for some time (a year or more?).

I applied for the Arrival+ and was instantly approved. Confident, I added an app for the Wyndham and then the Choice Privilege card understanding that apps on the same day used a single credit pull. Both went pending and were quickly denied.

I called on the Wyndham card and was told my lack of history with them was the reason it was denied. They wanted to see how I did with the Arrival+ for awhile before adding another card. From other research, it became apparent I should wait 6 months to reapply. Bringing me to more recent history.

Applied for the Wyndham card again a couple of weeks ago. Instantly approved. Why not? I applied for the Choice Priv card again - Pending. Yesterday it went to declined. I decided to call today armed with the argument that I have a busy travel schedule next year and wanted BOTH hotel credit cards.

CSR first told me that my history was too new. I mentioned my Arrival+ (which scared me, as it hasn't been used in many months). So, here's where it gets interesting (I know, I babble too much before getting to the punch line :)) ... she said that since my Arrival+ was only 2 months old ... I stopped her and mentioned that it was much older than that, that I believed it had to be coming up for the next fee soon. She apologized and said that I was right, but she was reading from previous notes that mentioned "2 months" or some such. She he-hawed around some more then said "let me quit reading this other person's notes and let's start from scratch." I was ok with that.

So there are notes from your previous conversations with them that are right there in front of them when you call. Not surprising by itself, but she got to these notes pretty quickly and assumed they were recent.

After she relooked at all of my detail again (I was on hold for 5 minutes or so), she asked if I could shift credit from the other cards. Certainly! I was approved for the Choice card after all of that. Mission successful!

When she went to take another look at everything, and mentioned specifically at my current history with them, I was a bit concerned. The Arrival+ card WAS my history, and I had received and used the 50k points very quickly. Being close to the next $100 redemption level after that, I spent exactly enough to redeem that. I have 560 points that will be orphaned in that account and haven't used it once in the past 9-10 months. She came back and thanked me for being a good customer and using the card per the terms and paying on time! I'm not sure how much of my spend was MS ... I'll check tonight.
 

mec

Silver Member
I recently applied for the AAviator Red card. It was my second Barclays card as I had applied for a Ring card when I started rebuilding (more like initial building) my credit ~22 months ago. The initial credit line on that Ring card was 2k and, though I had tried several times, for a credit line increase I was never able to get one.

I was auto denied for the AAviator and called in for reconsideration. The rep asked my permission to pull my credit report which I gave her. She seemed a little perplexed by the "Not enough revolving credit history" reason and approved the application at a 5k starting limit. I asked her if she could also consider extending more credit on the Ring card... she asked my permission to pull again... which I granted. She raised the credit limit on the Ring to 5k as well.

I sometimes get the impression that Barclays doesn't really like being in the credit card lending business. There reps have always been very nice and professional though.
 

italdesign

Level 2 Member
The best way to win a Barclay recon seems to be catching the agent on a mistake or doubt, like your "2 month" thing. Get them to doubt themselves and they might exercise their power to take a fresh look and override the system.
 

knick1959

Level 2 Member
I applied for the Choice Priv card again - Pending. Yesterday it went to declined. I decided to call today armed with the argument that I have a busy travel schedule next year and wanted BOTH hotel credit cards.
I'm finding the Choice award program to be strange and inconvenient. I will TRY to spend down my points with the intent of not adding to the pot.

I understand the hotels in Scandinavia are a good deal with CP points; well, that's what I've heard. But I've just been looking for some "easy" domestic plays. Like, I need an overnight in the middle of PA in the middle of August. A generic map shows a Quality Inn there HOWEVER, I can't book on points past 5/23? (It's 4/6 now). So I checked Copenhagen, just for fun. Same rules ... I can't book past end of May. Now, I've started to loosen up on my need for planning everything a year in advance, but this seems to be unattractive.

This is NOT an awards program for folks who need more than 6-8 weeks of lead time. Really? I have to wait until July to book a hotel (on awards) in small town PA on August 15th?
 

italdesign

Level 2 Member
You are discovering the reason I don't bother with this program. I got some GREAT value out of it years ago, but you're right - overall it's a PITA. Not worth my time. For very niche use only.
 
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