elementofice

Hi Long Islander, I assume you read my post regarding my wife's experience. I'd say since she was declined already you have nothing to lose and might as well call reconsideration. But be prepared to explain each and every card she has, including AU. You said her AU cards were your cards and are closed, so be prepared to answer why you got them in the first place and why they are closed now. And for the 4 cards where she is the primary holder, also explain why she applied for all of those.

But I'd suggest you pull her Equifax report too because for all the Chase cards my wife and I have applied for (10+ now) they have always pulled Equifax AND Experian, and during my recon call for my wife's CSP, the rep used data from her Equifax report. You need to know exactly what is on your reports while you prepare for your recon call.

I have a few credit cards from several years ago that are closed too but still show up on my credit report also. No idea why but I guess that's how it goes..

My call to recon was on a Saturday, to my knowledge no difference in the day you call. Don't think I spoke to a senior analyst either, the lady I spoke to was pretty easygoing.

This is just my advice, I have no idea whether she will be approved or not, but at this point doesn't hurt to try if you're up for it.

Hope this helps!

Benjh

Hi all,

Do you know when the 3 months period, for cards that have a minimum spend in that time frame, begins?
Is it when the card is edited, or when it is activated?

It has its importance, considering the best time to apply for a card isn't always the best time to meet minimum spend. If chase doesn't mind we wait a few months before activating a card, it could be helpful.

Thanks!

theplayer

from day of application approval

Long Islander

Thanks for taking the time to help. My wife's denial letter referred to Experian only and I did get the CR from them. It's going to be a little tricky explaining why she became an AU on my Sapphire card in April 2014 (closed a yr later) and now she wants to open a Sapphire card of her own. Similarly, she was AU on my Citi AA card opened May 2014 (closed a yr later) and then opened the same card Oct 2014 and another on Jan 2015 (both still open).

What do you think is a good explanation as to why she got the two identical Citi AA cards (she got the 2nd from the branch as a Citigold customer without regard to the fact that she already had the same card)?

By the way, here's a good datapoint: Although she's AU on a few business cards that are in my name, none of those appear on the CR.

cytsz

Hi all,

Was hoping to get some perspective and opinion on my situation Two weeks ago I applied for both the SW Premier and Premier Business cards - got approved for the Premier card (had to call in for some verification info), and waited two weeks for the Premier Business card. I called the recon line yesterday and they told me that I had already been declined, and a reconsideration didn't change the verdict either. Reason was my business (which is real but hasn't kicked off the ground yet - wanted the card for expenses related to starting the business) isn't making revenue, and the agent basically told me I would have to wait until the business makes "enough" revenue before I could be accepted for the card.

So, now I want to apply for the SW Plus card, and am wondering 2 things:

1. Is it safer to wait 30 days after I put those first two applications in? Does it really make much of a difference?

2. Does it make sense to, if the agent asks why I keep applying for SW cards, to basically tell them that since I'm starting my business early 2016 and anticipate traveling a good amount, I wanted a SW card since it makes sense to get the rewards while I fly (plus I wanted a bit more in credit line for the expenses). Since I couldn't get that extra credit line with the Premier Business, I'm left with the Plus option.

A bit about my situation: I have excellent credit and other than the two credit card applications I submitted two weeks ago, have not applied for any other credit cards in the past year. I also have a Freedom and CSP with Chase (and if the agent asks why I don't just use the CSP for rewards travel, it would be because those points transferred over to Southwest don't count towards the status tiers), all in good standing.

If it isn't clear already, my goal is to get the Companion Pass as quickly as possible, but I also am working to build up my business as well.

Thanks for any insight!

Newgene

I need to dig into that because that's the first I heard of it. Thanks for the comment. Can anyone else confirm this? If that is the case, I need to go the ssn route since there is already one business with an ink plus. We'll likely get the ink cash, as well, but that would be it for the ink plus.

RobertHanson

Could be wrong, but I think it is from the date of application.

RobertHanson

Cancel a Freedom, especially one you have had for 5 years?

There is never a good reason to cancel a good no AF card like a Freedom.

For one, well, there is no fee, so why cancel. If you have too high a CL with Chase, just SM to lower it on a card where you have more CL than you need.

For two, for future apps Chase has this strange attitude of checking your recent spend, without taking into account your canceled cards. So you could have a ten year history with Chase and have them say something as silly as "we want to see more history of spending with Chase before giving you another card". That 5 years is "history" with Chase, which will disappear if you cancel it.

For three, the bonus categories in some quarters are stupendous. Like for this past December, aka Christmas shopping time, Amazon purchases started out at 5X per $, and then got raised to TEN points per $. For anything from Amazon, including Amazon GCs for future spend. And Amazon had a one day "sale", where when you bought a $100 Nordstrom GC they gave you a free $20 Amazon GC. 20% discount on Nordstrom purchases, even close out sale purchases, and 1,000 points per GC.

Finally, if you cancel the Freedom, the odds are you will never be able to get it back, due to the absurd 5/24 rule.

atraine

Thank you for the direction on this. Sounds like I should keep the Freedom open for sure. What about applying for the other cards I asked about?

farnorthtrader

As with all chase cards, an individual (in this case, business) can only have one of each card. There might be an exception if the first account is a MasterCard as new ink cards are issued as visas.

sdsearch

Chase will deny you automatically for a Sapphire or Sapphire Preferred if you opened about 5 or more cards (with any banks) in the past 24 months (ie, 2 years).

If you've been applying for lots of other cards, you're thus out of luck of either of these.

But if you haven't applying for lots of other cards, if you think about it, that means you must apply for these first, as if you apply for other Chase cards first, Chase will count those as within the last 24 months.

So apply for CSP first, and then space the others out. (You'll to do minimum spends on each one anyway.) At most apply for one other one if you get an instant approval on the CSP, but if you get pending on the CSP, wait until that is resolved before applying for any of the others.

4 cards at once from Chase at the same time? Most certainly, unless your goal is to be blacklisted by Chase!

WrightHI

And then FT will blacklist you for transferring that many UR to Marriott.

greentrade

Just a data point. Applied CSP 11/23, denied within 2 days because of too many new cards in 24 months. I have 13 new cards (4 Chase co-branded personal, 1 Chase United Explorer business) in 24 months.

Applied Ink Plus 12/3, got a message in the browser asking to call them. Followed the advice here not to call. Called automated line once a week. Got 2-week message. Yesterday, the new account showed up in my chase online. Only 5k credit limit. But I'll move some credit from other Chase cards. Automated status message changed to "you are approved".

RobertHanson

As sdsearch said above, if you have opened less than 6 new accounts, with ANY bank, in the past 24 months, and you want a CSP, that needs to be your next app. 5 new accounts could be a problem, or might not, but more than 5 is an automatic denial.

This includes AU accounts as well as primary accounts. If you have AU accounts that put you over 5/24 you have two options. Either cancel them, and work with the credit bureaus to get them off the list. Or just apply, understand that your app will be auto denied, then after the denial, call Recon and ask to talk to a Supervisor who MAY set aside the AU cards and approve you. The first option may seem more labor intensive. Until you try the second one, which might not work anyhow. Posts back in this thread explain how to get AU accounts removed.

Happy

You have done a very good job in navigating Chase application process. The community should also thank you for your taking time to give detailed write up on what you have done to achieve the positive outcome.

Agree 100% that when calling Chase, one has to be prepared to give Reasonably Believable Reasons on the ownership of the cards.

Also glad you told the community that Chase pulled BOTH EX and EQ on you and your wife. This started to my app since August. It was like that in 2013, when every app resulted to 2 separate HPs from different agencies even though the apps were instantly approved. Then the practice stopped for 2014. It resumes to 2 HPs in 2015. No telling why. It is good idea to have both reports on hand when calling recon.

As for the closed accounts - they stay on your report for 20 years from the date they appear on the reports even though they have long been closed. Some said the closed accounts still contribute to the calculation of Average Age of Accounts though I am not sure about this as after all the age of accounts only accounts for less than 10% weight of the calculation of FICO IIRC.