beltway

You really need to read the wiki at the top of this page, which explains the 24-month clock (which operates differently from your understanding). It also answers your second question, as well as others you may not have thought to ask.

Bluebirdie

A family member of mine recently applied for a United MP Biz card and was asked to fax SSN card. I think his SSN number is old, something around 40 yrs. He opted to mail in the copy via USPS. Two weeks later, he called and was asked one question, "How many Chase card do you have?". He said one, and was approved.

isle-hawg

Not likely Deacon, I concur with knowledgeispower's response on all points from what you wrote.

isle-hawg

I recommend doing the opposite in your current situation.

Concur!

bgriff

Though I would add, take it easy on your churning/MS/opening lots of cards for sign-up bonuses, if you plan to eventually get a CSP. Hard to know what Chase might be doing in a few years, but as of now opening a Freedom to build a baseline point balance with the plan to open a CSP later for transfer partners is looking somewhat risky, especially if you plan to open other cards in the meantime and/or use the Freedom primarily for bonus category spending.

If you are not tied to UR points I might recommend considering the Amex Premier Rewards Gold. It is a charge card rather than a credit card so the issuer is theoretically taking less risk by extending it to someone with a limited credit history, and you therefore might be more likely to get approved. There is a "secret"-ish 50K point sign-up bonus offer link over on the Amex FT board. Though, if you are looking strictly to churn sign-up bonuses, Amex has put an end to that practice.

sharka

Like I said, both our applications are nearly identical with the same income given on both our apps (we use the combine total household annual income) also like I said my total CL with chase is actually less than wife's by about $8000 as I had them reduce it 3 mths back. And my Fico score is better also. I was declined for a Chase co branded BA card while she was approved, so yes, it's definitely YMMV with Chase as logic would say I should be approved instead of her
Like I said both our apps were identical in every way except the , Name, DOB and SSN and email address were the only info that's different.

knowledgeispower

Very interesting thank you for the data point. Must be some other metric in the equation!

sharka

Problem is that was LAST YEAR when Chase was much friendlier before the almost total shut down starting just a few months ago. It's a different Chase world now and it's not for the better.

unkn0wns0ldier

Just applied for the United Biz MileagePlus Explorer Card. It went pending. I called the number listed in the wiki and it said they will notify me in 2 weeks. Now is this part of the Wiki still hold true:
"note: automated line responses stating they will notify you in 2 weeks often result in an approval; automated lines responses stating they will notify you in 7-10 days often result in a denial."

Should I even bother calling into recon or let it take its due course?

Hemera

Can I lower my CL with Chase via secure message, or do I have to call?

awval999

So much sky is falling in this thread. Got into "The Hobby" around March of this year.

History with Chase:
MPExplorer (product change from MPSelect) since 1/2011 (have paid annual fee yearly, my original card)
CSP since 5/2015

Also opened this year:
- Barclays US Air
- Citi AA Gold
- Citi AA Plat
- Chase MPE (AU - on spouse's account)
- Chase Freedom (AU - on spouse's account)

Applied for Chase BA; auto approval for $25k.

I do nicely trim my credit lines on all accounts.

awval999

I wonder, JUST WONDER, if paying a nominal amount of yearly interest would help at all, for example on auto-approval. Leaving a revolving $50 balance on a card would be approx $10/year in interest which is nothing if it will get you more approvals from the Golden Goose of JPMorganChase.

Sometimes I laugh to myself reading what some of the people do over in the reddit /churning forum. Do all these terrible things to the banks and then wonder when they get denied. I have no problem paying the CSP annual fee to continue to feed at the trough of Chase.

DeaconY

So the only difference is the fact that you actively reduced your credit lines at some point before the application. Possible that Chase took note and viewed this negatively somehow; perhaps they consider it a trait of a a rewards seeker. Personally, I don't know of any non-churner/MSer that actively calls and asks to reduce their credit lines. In general a higher credit line is a good thing for a consumer who doesn't carry a balance.

travelpye

Yes, you can do this by SM. I have done so once.

knowledgeispower

At the end of the day RNE's advice is probably the best one. Be a good customer and don't just take advantage of Chase and they will be good to you.

It's probably a good idea to open a few of the Chase hotel cards like IHG and Hyatt which you will probably keep open year after year and thus pay the annual fee on because of their valuable annual reward night certificate. That plus the Freedom card which you shouldn't close in the first place. For me I also keep the Amazon visa open because I opened that 4+ years ago although now I realize there are better cards for Amazon so don't use as much. For me I also keep my United card open and pay the annual fee because the free baggage alone pays for my card yearly so I get value out of all the annual fee cards and am willing to pay for them beyond just the sign-up bonus.

At the end of the day you want to use most if not all the cards you open with them. This is what allowed the Senior Analyst to overturn my denial when I recently applied for the Hyatt card with a lot of recent cards open (non-Chase on my application that caused a Credit Analyst to deny my application)

I still don't agree that you should put non-category spend on all your cards. I also don't agree that you need to carry a balance and pay interest. There's nothing wrong with being wise with how you spend your money and on which cards, if anything it indicates you are a responsible borrower. Having said that, I put most of my non-category spend on my Chase United because I personally value United miles at $0.02/mile and find them most flexible for my needs as I live in a small town which is primarily serviced by United. For others it may be wise to use the Chase Sapphire Preferred for most of their non-category spend. I still have other cards from other banks that I use pretty heavily as well but it is good to use at least 1 Chase card for non-category spend in my opinion. (Not to mention the protection benefits that come with a Chase premium card like the United or CSP or Hyatt cards for example are some of the best of any bank!)