2Tall4Y

Head of credit cards at Citi is Jud Linville--a long time AMEX exec who joined Citi in 2010. I think he might have some idea what he's doing. If it was easy to create a card program and sign transfer partners WF or BofA would have done something by now.

IanJaxx

I closed my Explorer (personal) cards couple months ago. Since we are booking the domestic flights in USA now, I found that we might take UA flights.
So if I apply the business version of Explorer card now (to save the checked luggage fee), will I earn the sign-up bonus (50,000 miles now) again?

Thanks.

nsx

Yes, provided that Chase approves the application. It may be much harder than it has been in past years.

philemer

Welcome to FT. Please read the WIKI at the top of the page for important info. Short answer is "yes" because the cards are different products. This is assuming you are approved.

billybayswater

I was approved for the United at 15K after having 67k exposure with Chase all across personal cards and having 7-8 new accounts in the past year, including 2 with Chase in the last 6 months. This occurred at the beginning of the new policy (mid-late May) and approval was not instant and the app required a secondary review by a senior analyst (but the initial analyst thought this was mostly related to credit limit determination).

I have banked with Chase since they acquired WaMu and have a J.P. Morgan Private Bank account, but do not keep a substantial amount of assets in it (direct deposit goes to checking and savings account is zeroed out; no other Chase assets).

Preacher7

Consensus advice needed: Do you think that conventional wisdom now dictates that, more than ever in light of the recent changes, auto-acceptance is to be desired to avoid having to go to recon?

And if so, would it be prudent to lower our CL to accommodate that more easily?

beltway

IMO yes and yes. It's always possible that Chase has recently changed (or will in the future change) its treatment of the latter activity, but the anecdotal evidence in recent years -- including my personal experience -- is that opening up headroom in your CL is an aid to auto-approval.

A vocal minority in this thread may wellwill inevitably take issue with this, but as far as I'm concerned it's like the flat-earth movement: unable to muster any empirical support for its position, yet doggedly unwilling to admit as much.

Charros

lurker, 1st post. Newish to points game

Question: I have 4 cards in past 2 years. 2 in 2014, last month I received 2 from chase (CSP and IHG in same week with high limits).

I want to get freedom before bonus drops. This would be my 5th card in last 24 months but 3rd with chase in one month if I beat 6/24 deadline. I am pre-approved on the chase card match tool for freedom. Does this mean I have a 100% shot of acceptance? I'm nervous though about 3 in one month from chase. Fico is around 760ish.

Thanks for any replies. Looking forward to learning more from yall

mikex163

Welcome!
You do not have 100% chance at all, that's just a tool to give you sense, it does not guarantee anything when you actually apply.
Freedom used to be very very easy to get, even if they only gave you $500 credit limit (that's what I got when applied a couple of weeks after getting a Southwest credit card). With the new rules Chase is apparently now imposing, it might be more difficult.

Charros

Thanks for the clarification on card match tool. I still meet the less than 5/24 rule but I'm Not sure about 3 in one month. They just gave me 45k CL on 2 cards 3 weeks ago. I really want to maximize the 3rd quarter bonus due to a long road trip in August. Just not sure whether I should apply before the 20k bonus ends or just wait a few months

teammjs

I think you can have it both ways.

My strategy is to cancel Chase cards (the only card I have and would hold long-term is the IHG card because I can get far more than $49 of value for the annual fee), leaving my remaining card with $10k CL. I have never paid an annual fee to Chase (other than the IHG), so there is some risk in canceling a few cards that may be, say, 8 months old as opposed to 12, but I've never sensed Chase cares. Better in my mind to just clear out most of the Chase CL I don't need.

This way, I've freed up the bulk of my CL. But just in case I did go to a favorable recon, I could still split $5k/$5k if necessary (although this is a rare likelihood of it playing out, especially considering Chase usually showers me in new CLs).

But if you routinely get $20-$30k on approved cards with high Chase CLs already, I think a "measly" $10k that theoretically COULD be split is the best bet.

Another key question is how fast on a CL decrease and/or cancellation does that get "recycled" back in Chase's computer to free up credit officially. I don't think anyone knows this, since we've never really had to aim for auto-approval as the main goal in the past.

RNE

Good for you!

italdesign

That is very true but the issue I have is this: you are obviously going to spend that free night at a high end property, probably a 50K one (thanks to devaluation). I personally hate one-night stays because the hassles make it less enjoyable. If I want to stay additional nights at the same property then I have to transfer 50K UR or have 50K IHG pts somehow (likely won't). I know they have a lot of promos for earning pts but those are a hassle too (e.g. misery of dealing with poorly run program). Plus, IHG has blackout dates. All things considered I might take Hyatt's annual cat4 cert over this, which only requires 15K UR for each additional night, plus no blackout dates (well...).

Brugge

True if you are single and travel alone. Those of us with SOs make sure they also have a IHG card, and thus a 2 night stay. Up until recently IHG had various incentive programs that made it fairly painless to get another certificate, so then a 3 night stay. But that seems to have ended and the current programs are of no use for us. But still, having both recently reapplied for the IHG card, we have enough IHG points between us to add that 3rd night for the next 3 or 4 years.

Happy

I love the "flat-earth movement" analogy - very aptly.

Thanks for the good