Originally Posted by
beep88
The "real" banks are more stringent with this and they don't let you have too much credit. I once had a "regular" card with 7000 limit and tried to apply for the gold card from the same bank. I got a call from them saying they can't approve it. Told them I don't care what the limits are as I wanted the gold card only for the free insurance benefits. They decreased the limit on the "regular" card to 1000 and approved the gold card.
It may depend of the bank and also of your credit score. When I called to change my regular CIBC card to a Gold one with aeroplan miles, I wasn't told that my credit will decrease or increase. I simply asked if I cold get upgraded to the gold one and they processed it without asking any other questions. Even on the gold one I had an increased credit limit different from the regular one. I don't know if it depends, but upgrading any credit card over the phone seems quite easier rather than doing an online application.