Chase Ultimate Rewards - Chase Application Score vs. FICO Score

Hey all,

I recently applied for a Chase Freedom and was rejected. The letter listed my application score, as calculated by Chase, as 714. I know they have a range from 100-990 for their scoring system, versus the 300-850 of the FICO. Does anyone know how these scoring ranges match up, roughly? I'm trying to avoid pulling my real credit score as I may have to do that again in the following months and I don't want to burn through by 3 free looks too fast.

I know Chase keeps exactly how they calculate their black magic under wraps, but does anyone out there has a rough idea of how the scales match up, maybe after getting a Chase application score and concurrently knowing their credit score?

Also, I'm new to flyertalk, so I hope I didn't make a mistake by posting a new thread on this.

Welcome to FT!

You can get a sense of your score by signing up for Credit Karma. In reality, it's a Transunion FAKO. But hey, it's free and fun. My thoughts are that the fako seems to be a bit high (30 or 40 points or so?) but I don't have many data points to substantiate that feeling.

Did you call the reconsideration line?

Not yet, planning on calling reconsideration though. I've heard that Chase is pretty flexible with reconsideration sometimes. Problem is this is the first credit card I've applied for- I just graduated from college- and I know I should have been building a credit history sooner.

That being said, I have a income but few expenses since I still live with my parents. I've heard the Chase Freedom is not extremely difficult to get with little credit history, but at the same time rewards cards are tough in general for short histories.

Any tips for my conversation with the reconsideration line? I think right now I'm planning on just saying right out of college, little expenses, solid income, etc. Any other ideas though? Since I just graduated, student loan payments haven't started yet, so I don't think this has started to affect my credit history.

Pick up the phone and talk about the job and no expenses. What is the worst thing that happens, they say no? Big deal, take your business to another bank then. My guess is you'll get it as long as your credit doesn't show delinquency.

Try to get a low level, Amex, issued by Amex (not another bank, maybe the no fee HHonors amex) at some point. In the future all your subsequent cards will backdate to your first card and will serve as ballast for your average age of accounts, as they view additional tradelines as leveraging the existing relationship and date the card accordingly.

I'd also recommend the Amex Zync. It was my first card a few years ago. After a few months of good payment history, I got the Gold and all the points became regular MR points (with transferability), so like the Freedom it's a good way to bank points to use later when you get a premium card.

Supposedly Amex is a bit easier to get a charge vs a credit card also, and Zync is a charge, so you may have better luck with that.

I'm trying to avoid pulling my real credit score as I may have to do that again in the following months and I don't want to burn through by 3 free looks too fast.
Where are you getting 3 free credit scores? Generally, you are only entitled to 3 free credit reports per year, but these do not come with any credit scores.

My thoughts are that the fako seems to be a bit high (30 or 40 points or so?) but I don't have many data points to substantiate that feeling.

I'm sure it varies greatly from person to person and time to time, but I recently pulled my real TU Fico score and my Creditkarma (TU-based) fako score on the same day, and my Fico score was 12 points higher. . .

On June 17, I started a double refinance on 2 of my rental properties. Now both closed.

My TU fico was 804 and my credit karma score (TU) was 769. I also use credit sesame for estimating my Experian (EX) score. That one is a little closer than the credit karma score. Credit sesame is only monthly (sufficient for me) and credit karma can be done every day. My scores are not too bad for all the churning of CC's I do.

The credit karma score is helpful in the sense of how your score is trending: either up or down.

Mine goes down when I refinance, apply for credit cards or if my wife spends more than usual on a certain CC that I am an authorized user on. ;) My score does not drop very much because I have a fairly established, thick credit file. (alot of mortgages and a few paid off car loans--I hate having a car loan for longer than 1.5 yrs ^--I take out 5 yr loans, put a giant down payment and pay off as quick as possible!)