Denied again :(

Jonathan.

Super Platinum Elite Member
Hello fellow travel hackers.

Today I was denied for a new card the 3rd time in a row. After years of very little resistance in the game, this is a bit depressing.

Here is the list of cards my spouse and I have applied for in the month of September and been denied for;
  • Spouse and I - Capital One Savor
  • Spouse and I - US Bank Altitude Reserve
  • Spouse - Bank of America Premium Rewards Visa - Denied
  • Myself - Terps Visa Signature Rewards (Michigan Education CU)
The main reason? Too many cards opened in the last X months (typically 24 months). Their reasoning is valid, as I am 16/24 (my wife is about the same), but I've never had so much denial in a row. Anybody else experiencing this or am I just hitting a bad string of luck? I'm contemplating taking a sabatical from applying for new cards and instead focusing on maximizing multipliers. Thoughts?
 

italdesign

Level 2 Member
Our denial rates have also gone up significantly. It used to be maybe 10% of all apps. Now it's like 30%. You are getting the usual suspects - BOA, USB, and CapOne. On the other hand, no denial from Chase or Amex for last 6-8 cards in 2 years (per person), and only one Barclay denial in 2 years (3 cards per year).
 

ashishsg

a$]-[u
Yes, denials are higher for me as well especially from the banks you mentioned. Success rate is higher if you have a long term banking relationship with them.
 

StealthyMSer

Level 2 Member
Yes, denials are higher for me as well especially from the banks you mentioned. Success rate is higher if you have a long term banking relationship with them.
This is sort of why since i'm in the early-to-mid game of credit cards, i'm trying to pick up at least one card from each issuer as soon as I can. Right now i'm looking at getting the BofA cash rewards, USB cash+ and citi DC as soon as some hard pulls fall off my report in a couple of months.

I don't see many other churners using this strategy, but I noticed banks are willing to extend you lot's of credit if you've been with them for over a year and trust you more if you sign up for another card. My discover card recently increased my credit line to $4300.
 

ashishsg

a$]-[u
This is sort of why since i'm in the early-to-mid game of credit cards, i'm trying to pick up at least one card from each issuer as soon as I can. Right now i'm looking at getting the BofA cash rewards, USB cash+ and citi DC as soon as some hard pulls fall off my report in a couple of months.

I don't see many other churners using this strategy, but I noticed banks are willing to extend you lot's of credit if you've been with them for over a year and trust you more if you sign up for another card. My discover card recently increased my credit line to $4300.
Thats a good plan, any other type of relation like checking a/c, car loan, mortgage are very helpful as well.
 

projectx

Level 2 Member
I knew Cap1 could be finicky but I thought BoA was pretty loose with approvals. No?

Anybody know what both of these banks criteria is? I waited to get under 5/24 this year, but now have 5 pulls with 4 personal and 1 biz since January. Currently sitting at 4/24. 2 new cards in July. I plan on applying for the Cap1 Savor and BoA Premium Rewards in Nov.
 

italdesign

Level 2 Member
Denied again for BOA AS card, only 3 EX HPs in 6 months. Opened a BOA checking account a few months ago with a healthy balance, no help.
 

projectx

Level 2 Member
Denied again for BOA AS card, only 3 EX HPs in 6 months. Opened a BOA checking account a few months ago with a healthy balance, no help.
Ouch. Though I wouldn't think 3 pulls in 6 months is what did you in... what about 12 and 24 months?
 

heavenlyjane

Level 2 Member
Denied again for BOA AS card, only 3 EX HPs in 6 months. Opened a BOA checking account a few months ago with a healthy balance, no help.
If you're a BoA customer, even a new one, you should either call their reconsideration line or go into a branch and speak with a branch officer.
 

Jonathan.

Super Platinum Elite Member
It kind of hurts to me to do so, but ive resorted to just putting all spend on my unlimited card for now, give my credit history a break for a few months (maybe 3 months if I can manage the self control).
 

knick1959

Level 2 Member
Denied again for BOA AS card, only 3 EX HPs in 6 months. Opened a BOA checking account a few months ago with a healthy balance, no help.
Same experience x2 with us. I may try to argue but also have 2 BOA cards each that need to be canceled.ASAP.
 

italdesign

Level 2 Member
Ouch. Though I wouldn't think 3 pulls in 6 months is what did you in... what about 12 and 24 months?
That's one trend I hate now - banks looking beyond 6 months of apps/new accts. Not long ago you were safe with most banks if you had 3 apps in 6 months. Now the opposite is true.
 

bspoke

New Member
DENIED DENIED DENIED!!!

After 2 months with no signup bonus, I finally got appoved for an Alaska Airlines Visa with 40K bonus and a Chase IHG with 100K bonus!
Chase and BoA have both been tough with me. I'm 30/12 and my denials are strictly number of request inquiries and new accounts. I used to pride myself in my ability to talk through recons and get the agent to reverse the decision, but I've been striking out lately.
 

skanchur

New Member
For the US Bank Altitude Reserve may guess is you need to take a sabbatical leave for 6 months. And then you might get shutdown for buying a single GC with your mobile wallet..
 

bspoke

New Member
For the US Bank Altitude Reserve may guess is you need to take a sabbatical leave for 6 months. And then you might get shutdown for buying a single GC with your mobile wallet..
As long as Citi and Amex still show me love, I refuse to practice APPstinence. Throw in an occasional approval from discover or synchrony or whoever is willing to only pull a TU report and I'm just fine.
 

knick1959

Level 2 Member
As long as Citi and Amex still show me love, I refuse to practice APPstinence. Throw in an occasional approval from discover or synchrony or whoever is willing to only pull a TU report and I'm just fine.
AMEX, to whom I've been only slightly abusive but still spend plenty of real spend on their card, has denied me recently with the new "your past history says you can't have another card" (paraphrasing). This is recent but makes me unhappy. Just saying that past history is no indication of future approvals.

Just from life's circumstances I've had the "opportunity" to spend some bigger bucks on my BB+ over the last 2 months. I may try for that new card again soon to see if it has made a difference. The good news is they deny you pretty quickly based on their internal records (no hard pull).

Citi keeps loving me whatever I do. I hope it stays that way.
 

knick1959

Level 2 Member
AMEX, to whom I've been only slightly abusive but still spend plenty of real spend on their card, has denied me recently with the new "your past history says you can't have another card" (paraphrasing). This is recent but makes me unhappy. Just saying that past history is no indication of future approvals.

Just from life's circumstances I've had the "opportunity" to spend some bigger bucks on my BB+ over the last 2 months. I may try for that new card again soon to see if it has made a difference. The good news is they deny you pretty quickly based on their internal records (no hard pull)
Interesting. On 8/28 I was denied the low-end Delta Business card with the message above. Since then I've spent extra on my Blue Biz Plus just by chance; no strategy based on the DP's floating around (FM and DOC posts) that increasing spend on existing AMEX cards might help ease their issues with me.

Since then I did a mild MS play when the Shell FRN was working; had room on my Emerald card so spent $2k extra last month. This month, 4.5k extra "lending" money for a wedding. This on top of a normal 1-2k a month organic spend.

Today, my wife referred me for this card (ok, she didn't know she did :)) and I applied again. I was approved for the 60k offer and she is set to get 10k for referring me. Apparently the extra spend made a difference. I assume, however, I'll be back in the dog house again after I meet MSR and shelve the card only to cancel it when the fee is due.
 

italdesign

Level 2 Member
We have many DPs by now that spent extra, then popup went away. I've seen 1 or 2 DPs that didn't spend anything and popup also went away. I'd like to see more DPs on the latter. I will test soon myself.
 

projectx

Level 2 Member
Sheesh... Instant denial by BoA for their Premium Rewards card. No relationship whatsoever with them, but my wife didn't either and they approved her last month.

Currently 4/24 (went on a diet for some Chase cards last year, was 7/24 in September), though three of those new accounts are in the last 5 months. Was just approved for Cap1 Savor this week which I guess puts me at 5/24. I knew BoA was getting tougher but... really?

Anyone have any experience with recon?

Update: Called recon. Denied again for having 3 new accounts in the last 12 months, which they deemed as too many. Not sure why my Barclays card from July wasn't showing but regardless... that's absurd. They're worse than Chase.
 
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