Amex/Citi Hilton HHonors Credit Card Applicaiton

[gsmothermon]

Hi all! Love these forums so I figured I'd give this a shot. 

I recently applied for the American Express Hilton HHonors Surpass Card and was denied with a hard pull on EX. To my shock, my FICO was 585. Eek, no wonder I was denied, I pulled my annual report and had a few things updated/changed and disputed, and my score has jumped back up to 702. Still not the best, but I'm working on paying 2 credit cards down right now (one at 40% util the other at 60% util). 

How long do I have to have Amex do a recon without putting another hard pull on EX? I'm hoping to be reconsidered so I don't have to put another hard pull on my EX for another card. I'm also looking into the possibility of putting in an app for Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Card. Do you think I have a better chance to be approved with Citi rather than Amex?

[enharu]

For Amex recons, it is going to be a new hp in most cases.

Your best solution is to continue paying down those cards, then apply for the citi version or with Amex again.

[gsmothermon]

Thank you for replying! I actually just called and she said that it would be a new hp. Currently I have no baddies and 5 accounts in good standing. 1 auto loan with BMW, 2 student loans and 2 credit cards, 1 is 1500/3500 and the other is 500/800. When do you think the best would be to reapply? Do you think I stand a better chance with Amex or Citi?

[enharu]

Once your overall utilization is below 10%, you should be fine, assuming you don't pick up any new inquiries or accounts in meantime.

Are any of your accounts relatively new? If so, you may need to allow them to age as well.

High loan balances to original loan amount can sometimes be an issue, but this isn't as big of a deal for most people.

Your odds with Amex and citi are about the same IMO. Both have pretty similar underwriting requirements. You can consider getting an Amex charge card, then apply for the Hilton card. Both Amex and citi are generally a lot more stringent if this is going to be your first account with them. Once you have an account and establish an internal score, things are generally a lot easier as long as the account(s) remain in good standing.

[gsmothermon]

Eek 10% will take awhile to get to. I have a big payment on March 31 that I have the cash for but I was hoping to get points for. My AAoA is 2.5 years. One credit card is 5 years old and 1 is 8 months. My car loan amount shouldn't a big deal because I'm at about 3000/9000 of the original loan. 

If I went the charge card route with Amex...how long do you think it would take for me to be able to apply for the Hilton card?