I just went through it with Barclay as well. I got a pre-qual for the US Airways World Mastercard and thought...well, why not? So I applied and got the 7-10 days. I called this morning and she said that my payment history was good. She wanted to know more about a since closed Capital One with spotty payment and I explained that. Well after that she said she can approve me but not for the World Mastercard because it requires a $5000 limit and I have no history of being able to handle such a high limit. All of my new Chase and Discover cards haven't reported yet.
I said yes because I want to get in with Barclay. My plan is to either re-apply for the US Airways card or the Arrival in 6-9 months and cancel this card.
But...at least I'm finally in. Now if only I could crack Citibank!
@rebzer wrote:
@OHWWCB wrote:I just went through it with Barclay as well. I got a pre-qual for the US Airways World Mastercard and thought...well, why not? So I applied and got the 7-10 days. I called this morning and she said that my payment history was good. She wanted to know more about a since closed Capital One with spotty payment and I explained that. Well after that she said she can approve me but not for the World Mastercard because it requires a $5000 limit and I have no history of being able to handle such a high limit. All of my new Chase and Discover cards haven't reported yet.
I said yes because I want to get in with Barclay. My plan is to either re-apply for the US Airways card or the Arrival in 6-9 months and cancel this card.
But...at least I'm finally in. Now if only I could crack Citibank!
What card did you wind up getting? Did you choose or did they tell you which they would offer?
She told me it was the non World Mastercard version...less benefits. Probably doesn't have the companion ticket or as big a sign up bonus which is fine...for now.
@Jerry45 wrote:Thanks for the info. Congrats. They would not even work with me on converting to the rewards card.
I received a pre approved mailer from Barclays yesterday for the Arrival, which I was denied for yesterday. I am going to call for a Second recon. This is crap between the pre qual site and their pre approved letters. I am going let them know that also. Burn a bridge? who cares. There are better cards than Barclay's out there.
I've been following this post very loosely but I wanted to jump in here. Everybody seems to like the Sallie Mae cards which I believe are Barclays. I don't know if yelling at them about the Arrival card would prevent you from getting the Sallie Mae card, but it may?
Edit: I had the wrong card name at first.
It sounds surreal that a big card company like Barclays would endorse high or somewhat high utilization of cards, but I agree with Jerry and was told the same thing by Barclay Credit Analyst! I apped and was approved for the Barclay Rewards MC and since I applied over the phone due to some address issues after being told I was approved with a little 1.3K limit I asked what did they look for in auto CLI. The analyst told me that Barclays likes on time payments a little more than minimum and that they like usage of their cards. They really want to be your daily card, but at least keep a 20-30% utilization on them and that along with good payment history should set you up for a CLI within the first 6 months if not sooner.
So I really think that Barclays is one of a kind in big banking with what they look for and like to see!
