Looking for Advice: Barclaycard Arrival Recons Denied Twice

[tg350]

Hello, I'm new to the forum here, though I've been a "student" of these forums for a long time.

A quick bit of background: I'm 25 and just starting to dig myself out of a massive utilization hole.

When I was 18 and in college, Citi approved me for their Dividend Platinum Select card. They started me at a $2,500 balance. Over about 18 months, they slowly upped that to $10,700. It seemed super fun and cool at the time, but I ended up maxing out the card.

Over the years, I opened a few more cards that ended up maxed out. I never missed a payment on any of them and have no derogatory marks on my credit, but with the high utilization, I had scores that were mid-to-low 600s across the board.

Now, a few years later, I've started digging myself out of the hole. I recently came upon some extra money and paid down the balances on all of my cards, leaving all of my cards with a $0 balance except the Citi card. Even more recently, I took this further, paying down 1/3 of the remaining Citi balance (current balance is $7,300 / $10,700). I've now figured out the monthly payments I need to make, and that card will be paid off in less than 12 months.

With all of these changes, my scores have risen noticably -- all into the 700s, as you can see in my signature. As I have paid off my cards, I have also gotten automatic credit limit increases, which have reduced my overall utilization from roughly 75-80% down to now, less than 30%. Today, I have 0 inquiries on my EQ or EX, and 3 on my TU (one will be removed in about a month).

I work in marketing, and our company doesn't issue corporate cards, so we're expected to expense travel expenses and then get reimbursed on the next bi-weekly paycheck. I travel probably a few times a month, and decided that the (annual fee version of the) Barclaycard Arrival would be great for earning rewards on all of that travel.

At the time I applied, I had just paid off most of my cards - so I checked my EQ report, and it showed all of the balances accurately. After applying, I was denied, and I realized that my TU had not yet updated like EQ with the latest balances or CLIs that I had received. Also, after applying, I paid down my balance on my Citi card by 1/3 (so today, I have 68% util on that card).

So when I applied, the TU that they pulled was showing 69% utilization ($14,650 / $21,150), high balances on 4 cards, 1 inquiry, and a FICO of 682. I was declined. My latest TU shows a 705 FICO, 44% util ($10,266 / $23,100), and 3 inquiries (includingi Barclaycard). In reality, I am sitting at 28% utilization + 1 CLI ($7,300 / $26,100), so I'm just waiting for the CLI and balance to post to TU.

Regarding my denied app at Barclaycard -- I've twice called and asked for a recon, explaining this situation. The first woman was pretty nice about it, listened to my whole story, and explained that they wanted to see my Citi balance paid down. In response, that is when I paid down my balance, as described above. I called back a second time, explained it, but the guy wouldn't budge -- he was more curt and stated that he could only operate based on the "snapshot of time" that he saw when they did the hard pull.

So... thanks for bearing with my long story. I guess I'm just looking for advice here. I am willing to try a third recon, but I think in this case it was my mistake of not waiting a little longer, and I will get the same response on the recon. I want to avoid more HPs since I've worked so hard to improve my credit score, but I also really want a better travel rewards card for all of my reimbursable work travel -- it seems like I'm wasting a valuable opportunity to earn travel rewards by using my Citi or Banana Republic cards.

Thoughts on how to proceed? Will I have a strong chance of getting approved for the Barclaycard Arrival if I reapply when all of the updates post to my TU? Should I consider looking at a different card -- maybe one that pulls from the other bureaus, since neither of those has any inquiries? Should I just wait a little while, accept "crappy" rewards from my other cards for work travel for now, and apply in like 6 months, when I expect to have paid off another third of the Citi balance and will hopefully have a few more CLIs as well?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[mt2va]

Barclays has a reputation for being very conservative.  They are probably going to want you to pay down even more than that before you try again.  Also you might try apping for their Rewards Mastercard as my understanding is that it's easier to get than their other rewards cards.  They are also inquiry sensitive as people have reported on here so I would continue to pay down your Citi as quickly as you can before you try Barclays again.

[tg350]

Ok, that's good advice. Thanks for the insights!

[B335is]

Barclays keeps logs on recon attempts, which may be why the 2nd person you spoke with was more direct. I would probably ask them when you can reapply (I dont remember if its 30 days for sure) and makes sure your TU is completely updated

How many inq on TU?

[tg350]

As of today, 3 inquiries on TU. One of those goes away in May, so I'd probably wait until then (plus I'll have another ~10% of the Citi balance paid off by then) at a minimum.

[B335is]

Inq shouldnt be an issue. Just see when youre eligible to reapply. I dont want to discourage you, but even if they track recon attempts, sometimes you have to get the right person on the line. Given the circumstances you might want to try 1 more time on this app.

[yudeology101]

Sorry to hear about your denial, OP.  IMHO, i would call back for the 3rd time, sometimes you just need to get that "special" analyst who's willing to listen and work w/ you.  I was very unfortunate w/ Barclays last year, the analysts that i've talked during many recon attempts just wouldn't budge for nothing and i was very frustrated. 

Who knows?  They always say..third time's the charm!  Best of luck to you.

[tg350]

Thanks all! I'll certainly try a 3rd recon based on the advice, but in the probably likely event that it's also denied, I'll probably reapply in like 30-60 days -- once the one inquiry disappears and I have my Citi utilization closer/below to 50% rather than ~67%.