RobertHanson

^ I'd like to know this too.

macrophage

Citi...SHHHH

RobertHanson

mak101

How long did you wait after reducing limit? And how much you reduced to?

I have 3 cards open from 2015 and planning to open another one and already requested to reduce limit to 2K. Would this go without cancelling old ones?

sdsearch

So why didn't you name that bank???

Yes, Citi would be one, but you can avoid much of that by SMing instead of calling (if you think that calling could work against you), including to cancel churned cards, decrease credit limits, and the like. SMing is not particularly interactive, so they tend to ask a lot fewer questions than someone on a voice call would.

I seem to recall Barclay also doing in certain situations.

And in the Chase post-May2015 thread, I seem to recall posts which implied Chase was bringing up previous calls in a subsequent call.

sdsearch

For future reference, it's better to reduce the limit as soon as you can, rather than wait until you're ready to apply for a new card and only do it then and then wonder how long it takes.

I don't think we have a perfect sense of exactly how long it takes. It might not even be a fixed amount of time, but could be done on a regular schedule of some sort (like a particular day or the week or a particular day of the month).

But since the recommendation is to wait at least 3 months before you apply again, and most people can do the $1k spend (or at least most of it) in much less time, you could presumably reduce it to $3k or $4k soon after you get it (while still keeping your card utilization below 30%). Reducing it to $3k or $4k months earlier is better than reducing it to $2k but only at the last minute, if you started out with $15k or $20k or something like that.

mak101

Good strategy! I will keep this in mind for next round.

nwflyboy

I was surprised by the responses to this question...

First this (my bolding):

If true, perhaps this is a change - I haven't been paying much attention since around May 2015 when the great bow-tie destroyed the ease and frequency of getting these (I haven't applied for any since then). Prior to the events of last May, it always seemed that they never cared at all if you had zero open cards or a dozen.

After they turned harsh in May, my understanding was that they looked hard at how many pulls you had - above a certain number (which varied based on other factors), they either approved you or gave you a smackdown (sometimes a decidedly impolite one). I believe that practice is still in force. But disqualifying someone because they already have 3 AS cards open? This is the first I've heard of that.

Then the advise above was reiterated here (my bolding):

Is this really the current consensus - that having a few existing cards open is a factor held against you? If so I need to dump a couple...I'm planning to re-start on AS cards in another month or two.

FWIW I use all of my (currently 4) AS cards on a regular basis, including for some large purchases. I also fly on AS frequently (averaged more than one trip a month for the past year), am basic MVP. Good solid credit profile, etc. About 7 apps in the past 12 months (two of those were AS cards back in May), 4 apps in the past 6 months (none of those were AS/BofA apps).

I'm feeling pretty confident about doing 1 personal AS + 1 business AS in another month or two - but I was not planning to dump a couple of my 4 AS cards before applying. Is there any real data supporting the notion that having a few open AS cards is a liability for approval?

rev

Not the amount of cards, but the amount of credit. Closed cards means less credit extended, opening the door wider for a $5k+ approval. Remember the goal here is auto-approval since it's been noted reps are hesitant to give somebody who has a history of opening multiple cards another one. There's nothing wrong - as far as I understand - with having more than one, or even a few with low limits, but the lower you can make the amount of credit available on your profile, the better chances of an auto approved Visa Sig.

nwflyboy

Right. I got that. All my cards get their CL lowered soon after opening. Mine are all currently in the $4K-$6K range (I do use them, regularly). When approved, my CLs are always in the neighborhood of $20K-$25K.

The posts I referenced strongly suggested that having multiple cards open was a potential negative factor (for further approval, specifically for auto-approval, which of course is always the goal).

That (having multiple cards was seen as a liability) was quite different from what I had always thought and experienced. IME and AFAIK, they do not care at all if you have zero, one, three or seven open cards. CL and number of HPs does count, but not how many cards you already have.

skimom

We are flying to Hawaii this year, so I applied for a card for myself and my husband (with his blessings) so we could use 2 of the companion fare tickets.

Anyway, mine was approved immediately, but with his application (which I did 2 days later if that matters), I got the Your application is under review message.

Is that something that we should call the reconsideration line about or just wait it out.

I think the issue was it asked us a bunch of multiple choice questions. The last one was if any of these license plates belonged to cars registered in our household. I don't know my daughters' plates, so I answered without being 100% sure (I know, bad idea).

Anyway, I'm guessing that's what the holdup is, but I don't know whether to wait it out or call. I'd really like to get the approval, so I can get going on booking our tickets.

Thanks for any advice!

rev

I get what you mean. In the future I'll be more clear I don't really mean the number of cards, but that's just implying that the more cards you have open you naturally have more credit from BofA, and therefore are probably decreasing your odds of auto approval on the latter. Some of us, including myself, generally get approved for much lower limits, so even having 3 cards with $2k limits would worry me enough that I'd definitely close at least one before my next app because I run a much higher risk of not getting that $5k minimum for the Sig. I forget sometimes that some people get these limits per card I couldn't fathom getting for my whole total credit line with a bank I think we're on the same page though.

skimom - You could call as long as you don't think an analyst would look at his credit report and find something definitely denial worthy. It's really up to him and you, but it seems many FTers choose to wait since their may be a chance the app would come through without a rep putting their eyes on a questionable report, that will even more likely result in denial. If you have the patience, I personally would hold out and check their app status page periodically, then call if it goes to denied. If you really think it's just because of the plates and nothing else credit related, and are feeling a bit impatient (we all do sometimes), then I don't see much harm in calling early. Good luck!

sdsearch

I'm just curious, are you doing that because you think it makes BofA "like you" more, or do you have another reason for "spreading around" the purchases between 4 identical cards?

I would think most of us just use the last one (or perhaps two if really trying to keep apart personal vs business spending) cards we have at most, rather than spreading it around between all the cards we have.

nwflyboy

I use my AS cards for all kinds of things. If I wasn't using these, I'd be using something else, and I think AS miles have good value compared to many other cards.

Yes, I assume that they (BofA/AS) probably appreciate the fact that the cards are getting regular use. They're getting swipes every month, there's a modest amount of money moving through each account most months.

I figure that using the cards regularly, putting a moderate amount of spending on them, and flying their airline keeps them somewhat happy (or at least it can't hurt).

sdsearch

Huh? If you only had 1 AS card you'd be doing something different?

I was simply asking why you spread it out among 4 cards instead of concentrating on the latest card (and cancelling older ones)? Would you really use "something else" if you only had 1 or 2 AS cards instead of 4?