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PenFed Platinum Rewards - Approved in 1 hr.

tag
2011beginnings
Frequent Contributor

Re: PenFed Platinum Rewards - Approved in 1 hr.

Congrats!
PenFed AMEX: $5500 | AMEX BCE: $8300 | AMEX E: $5000 | BofA BBR: $5000 | Discover It: $6500 | CSP: $11500 | CF: $5500 | Citi DIVIDEND: $5700 | CITI TYP: $4600 | BofA CR: $7500 | CAP ONE Q: $3000 |

TU: 722 / EX: 763 / EQ: 735
Message 11 of 19
09Lexie
Moderator Emerita

Re: PenFed Platinum Rewards - Approved in 1 hr.

Message 12 of 19
oscar_actuary
Frequent Contributor

Re: PenFed Platinum Rewards - Approved in 1 hr.

great post SevenFeet.

fwiw, I applied 2-3 days ago for PenFed Ultimate Platinum and immediately got approved for $10,500.  Today after completing the process by putting in a PIN, the final summary showed $20,000 CL.  I guess an sactual person deemed me more worthy, ha.

 

I am 24 hrs into an auto refi with them so it was good to read that others have experienced some delays. 

FICO EX 827, 2015 Feb; FICO EQ 836/900 (Citi), 2014 Dec; FICO TU08 818, 2015 Feb.

BofA Cash Rwrds Sig V 2013 10k; Fidelity Rewards AmEx /BofA 2013 15.4k; Chase Freedom Sig V 2002 24.1k; Chase Amazon Rwrds Sig V 2011 8k; Sam's Club MC 2002 10k; Dscvr It 2012 10k; Citi Dvdnd Plat Sel V 2013 8.9k; PenFed Plat Rwrds V 2013 20k; AmEx Blue Sky 2013 11.3k; AmEx BCP 2014 24.1k; Priceline Rwrds Sig V 2013 8.7k; PayPal Xtras GE Cap Plat MC 2012 5k

Message 13 of 19
SpecFile
Valued Contributor

Re: PenFed Platinum Rewards - Approved in 1 hr.

Congrats!!
Message 14 of 19
roshan
Contributor

Re: PenFed Platinum Rewards - Pending


@Sevenfeet wrote:

@roshan wrote:

@Sevenfeet wrote:

@roshan wrote:

If they need PayStab, will they email me or call me?


Keep monitoring the "Apply Now" tab on their website.  If they have any messages to send you regarding the need for paystubs (or whether the application has been approved & transferred or declined, you'll find out there.


Hi Sevenfeet

 

I love you signature and all your credit limits. How did you do that? 

what's your score if you don't mind me asking and if you can give any advise on how to get high CL.

 

thank you


I've written about this before but I'm happy to recap.  My recent credit journey has been part strategy, part begging and pleading, and a little luck.  What's even more interesting about my current credit wallet is that on 1/15/13, I had only three cards (Amex Platinum, BofA World Mastercard and Chase Slate) with a total CL of $25K.  And a utilization of 95%...pretty closed to maxed out.  But in my favor I had good credit numbers because of a clean payment history combined with a long total credit history (25 years, 7 3/4 years AAoA).

 

My goals were:

 

1. Increase my overall credit limit to get the utilization down as much as possible

2. Apply for cash back cards to maximize cash rewards to my household budget.  Best case scenario was saving $2000+ a year.

3. Apply for one, maybe two 0% balance transfer cards to accelerate the payment of existing credit card debt on Amex and BofA.

 

 

After reading a lot of what people had done here and elsewhere, my strategy was as follows:

 

1.  Convince Chase to raise our limit.  

 

We got very lucky and got a very receptive customer rep who listened to what my family needed and raised our limit from $13.5K to $25K.  And then they product changed us to the Freedom card at the same time.  Did I mention that we already had an interest rate of prime (3.25%) and they let us keep that?  It required a hard pull, but it was truly the miracle call and it set the table for everything else to happen.

 

2.  Do an online CLI for BofA from $13.5K to $20K

 

I waited a week until the new Chase CL reported to the credit bureaus, then apped online at BofA and asked for $20K (I didn't want to get greedy and ask for $25K to match Chase).  BofA approved the increase in 24 hours.  I also got BofA to product change me to the Cash Reward Mastercard over the phone.

 

I checked my scores at this point and the three bureaus were all at 750-759, FICO EQ was 732.

 

3.  Apply for a 0% card.  

 

Based upon feedback here, I decided to go for a Penfed Platinum Rewards Visa since I needed a gas/groceries card without a cap and Penfed was doing an 18 month/0% balance transfer deal.  When I applied I went for my stretch request of $28K which was exactly the amount I had in debt on other cards that we wanted to pay down faster.  It was a nail-biting few days but they eventually approved me.  I think the reason i got approved was the clean credit history and that my household income is on the higher side at $170K.  It was also the first card we truly apped for, so it was strategically placed at the beginning of the app spree, not later.

 

4.  Apply for strategic rewards cards: Amex BCP, Fidelity Amex

 

According to my spending patterns, getting these two cards would directly benefit two of my largest budget outlays (groceries and "uncategorized").  At this point, my previous credit relationships helped me.  Having a long clean relationship with Amex had them drop a BCP card on me with $20K to start with.  And since Fidelity's cards are managed by FIA (BofA), they already knew my relationship with my BofA Mastercard and they gave me $20K to begin as well.

 

5.  Apply for the lesser strategic cards: (Discover, US Bank Cash +)

 

Getting these cards was important but I wouldn't save as much money using them, especially since US Bank is ending Bill Pay as a 5% category in a few days.  But they were important nonetheless.  By this time my app spree was catching up to me and my limits granted were less.  The US Bank card came in at "only" $7K.  Now granted, I had no relationship with them to start with so they were more conservative with me.  Also, my scores were plummenting (698 EX FICO)  The interest rate was also bad (20.99%...all the previous cards were 9.99%-13.99%).  Discover was even worse...$2.5K CL, 20.99%.  I had intended to buy a new computer from the Apple store on Discover which will likely cost me in the neighborhood of $2500, maybe more.  And ironically I got a mail offer for Discover three weeks later for a much better interest rate (12.99%).  Weirdly, I've been told by Discover that I can still app for that and have TWO CARDS.

 

6.  Have my wife apply for a Amex BCP of her own.

 

All the new cards my wife would be an AU of mine (I'm an AU on her Chase Freedom).  But we wanted her to get own BCP card to double our benefit with Amex on groceries since they cap that at $6000 a year.  That was successful in large part because I AU'd her on all the new cards and limits with the exception of Penfed, which had all balance transfer stuff on it.  Since her credit line was artificially low and she's been a good Amex customer for about as long as me, she got the BCP but with a limit of $8500 (she actually had a couple of baddies on her reports from 3-4 years ago...nothing major).  After that, I AU'd her for Penfed to round out her wallet.

 

So I began with three cards and a limit of $25K total.  I now have 8 cards with a limit of $122.5K and a cost savings to my budget of $2000+ in rewards annually, not counting the $250 x 2 we get from Amex for opening the BCP cards through creditcards.com.  And the whole process took about 60 days.

 

Next steps:

 

1.  Complete paying down credit card debt on Penfed and Chase for the next 18 months.  Easily the most important goal.

 

2.  Consider apping again for Discover.  I was kind of ticked at the Discover interest rate that I got.  Since my scores have begun to recover (EQ 739, FICO EQ 736), I may have a better shot.  And if I get a better CL, it will help my computer purchase.  I can still use the other Discover card for 0% purchases until May 2014.

 

3.  App for a Citi Thank You Preferred.  I got an offer in the mail yesterday (the number of offers I get now are way up!) for a 0% balance transfer/purchases for 21 months and an interest rate of only 11.99% (lower than the normal offers).  I don't really need this but I am looking at making some electronics purchases this year (new TVs) and I could in theory delay interest into 2015.  Citi's cash back program doesn't fit my needs but I like using other people's money for free for long periods of time.

 

My advice:

 

1.  Prioritize.  Put the things you really need on your app list first and be prepared to go to the mat to get them.

 

2.  Don't get too greedy.  In hindsight, I probably should have waited to app for Discover and US Bank since my credit scores were plunging after Penfed, Fidelity and Amex.  it didn't take long for my scores to rebound.

 

3.  Don't app for what other people think is cool...do your own due diligence.  The CSP card is very popular here but I don't need another travel card since I already have the expensive Amex Platinum and I travel for a living anyway (500K points on Delta in the bank).


Thank you very very much for detailed information. It is really good. and I am sure it will help me.

 

To start with I don't have any credit card debt at all. my all credit cards are clean.

 

I have one mortgage account, 1 auto account which i have co-signed only but it is on my report and my wife has some student loan.

This are my debt right now.

 

I have about 7 credit cards with Low limits. so my total TL is $28K.

So i asked Chase to do my CLI but they denied.  I am chase customer for 10 years but they still said now.  So i have asked them to merge my 4 chase card in 1 but they said they will call me back if it possible or not.  I am still waiting for them to call me.

I had Amex with $4K limit for 6 months so i just asked them to do my CLI and They happily gave me $12K CLI.  (It is still not on CR. May be in 3 weeks.)

I have one discover with $5K limit 3 months old.

I had one Macys store card with $500 so i ask them to do CLI but they said they will need HP so i just cancelled that card as i am not useing it.

 

Just applied for PenFed PR card and got approve for $20K.  Which is my first high credit card.

 

So my current goal is to get my CL high as my annual income at least. so my UTL stay down.

 

 

 

Message 15 of 19
Sevenfeet
Regular Contributor

Re: PenFed Platinum Rewards - Pending


@roshan wrote:

Thank you very very much for detailed information. It is really good. and I am sure it will help me.

 

To start with I don't have any credit card debt at all. my all credit cards are clean.

 

I have one mortgage account, 1 auto account which i have co-signed only but it is on my report and my wife has some student loan.

This are my debt right now.

 

I have about 7 credit cards with Low limits. so my total TL is $28K.

So i asked Chase to do my CLI but they denied.  I am chase customer for 10 years but they still said now.  So i have asked them to merge my 4 chase card in 1 but they said they will call me back if it possible or not.  I am still waiting for them to call me.

I had Amex with $4K limit for 6 months so i just asked them to do my CLI and They happily gave me $12K CLI.  (It is still not on CR. May be in 3 weeks.)

I have one discover with $5K limit 3 months old.

I had one Macys store card with $500 so i ask them to do CLI but they said they will need HP so i just cancelled that card as i am not useing it.

 

Just applied for PenFed PR card and got approve for $20K.  Which is my first high credit card.

 

So my current goal is to get my CL high as my annual income at least. so my UTL stay down.

 

 

 


Always glad to share the experience.  I've learned a lot from those here and I'm trying to pass it on.

 

First, it's great to have no debt.  I was in that position about 9 years ago and I cannot wait to get back there again.  Right now (assuming income doesn't change), I think it'll take another 3-4 years to get back there.  But that's better than I originally had thought.

 

You have 4 Chase cards?  I'd probably prioritize the one's you really need and consolidate the rest.  Asking to consolidate 4 at a time may not work...there just may not be a process for it.  Combining two is probably easier for them.  Again, what type of rewards do you need and try to settle on that.

 

The Amex 3X CLI is pretty cool.  My wife got a $8500 limit in the BCP which she was a little steamed at compared to my $20K until I explained to her that in two months we'd likely get her to $25K.  For me, I'm going to try $40K but I'll need last year's taxes in order to pull that off.  I've had up to $39K on my Amex Platinum last year so I think they will allow this.

 

The Discover is just fine at $5K/3 months.  Let it grow.

Message 16 of 19
Cadillac-XTS
Established Contributor

Re: PenFed Platinum Rewards - Pending

Congrats and sweet limit

Message 17 of 19
roshan
Contributor

Re: PenFed Platinum Rewards - Pending


@Sevenfeet wrote:

@roshan wrote:

Thank you very very much for detailed information. It is really good. and I am sure it will help me.

 

To start with I don't have any credit card debt at all. my all credit cards are clean.

 

I have one mortgage account, 1 auto account which i have co-signed only but it is on my report and my wife has some student loan.

This are my debt right now.

 

I have about 7 credit cards with Low limits. so my total TL is $28K.

So i asked Chase to do my CLI but they denied.  I am chase customer for 10 years but they still said now.  So i have asked them to merge my 4 chase card in 1 but they said they will call me back if it possible or not.  I am still waiting for them to call me.

I had Amex with $4K limit for 6 months so i just asked them to do my CLI and They happily gave me $12K CLI.  (It is still not on CR. May be in 3 weeks.)

I have one discover with $5K limit 3 months old.

I had one Macys store card with $500 so i ask them to do CLI but they said they will need HP so i just cancelled that card as i am not useing it.

 

Just applied for PenFed PR card and got approve for $20K.  Which is my first high credit card.

 

So my current goal is to get my CL high as my annual income at least. so my UTL stay down.

 

 

 


Always glad to share the experience.  I've learned a lot from those here and I'm trying to pass it on.

 

First, it's great to have no debt.  I was in that position about 9 years ago and I cannot wait to get back there again.  Right now (assuming income doesn't change), I think it'll take another 3-4 years to get back there.  But that's better than I originally had thought.

 

You have 4 Chase cards?  I'd probably prioritize the one's you really need and consolidate the rest.  Asking to consolidate 4 at a time may not work...there just may not be a process for it.  Combining two is probably easier for them.  Again, what type of rewards do you need and try to settle on that.

 

The Amex 3X CLI is pretty cool.  My wife got a $8500 limit in the BCP which she was a little steamed at compared to my $20K until I explained to her that in two months we'd likely get her to $25K.  For me, I'm going to try $40K but I'll need last year's taxes in order to pull that off.  I've had up to $39K on my Amex Platinum last year so I think they will allow this.

 

The Discover is just fine at $5K/3 months.  Let it grow.


After reading you very inspiring post, I decided to call Chase again bec they denied my CLI and they did not reply my call for consolidate my credit card for 36 hrs.

 

So i just called them on "App Recon" 800 number from "Backdoor number" post from this forum.

 

I got one very nice lady on other hand. I asked her why my CLI was denied and if she can help me with it. She said let me take a look.  hold for 3 mins. and she said you have enough account with Chase so that is why it is denied. 

I said to her that i am chash customer for 10 yrs and never had one single late payment. and some other things.

She said Let me calucate some numbers and i will be back.

2 mins hold

she offer me $5K CLI from my current $2K.  I request her to match my new Amex CL which is not on CR yet. But i just got it as auto CLI from Amex. $12K.

She said she knows Amex give you 3X CLI after some months.

So she said let me calculate some more numbers.

2 mins hold.

And BOOM... She said she approved me for $12K for my freedom.

 

I Thanks her a lot and said she is my angle. She laughed and thanked me and i thanked her again.

 

And now i got 12K on my freedom from $2K.

 

It's still not done...

 

I called the credit analyst customer service line 800 from "Backdoor post"  and asked them to consolidate my all accounts in one freedom.

he said sure he can do that. But he can't transfer all CL from othe accounts to one. He needs to leave $500 on each card when he consolidate.

I said ok. He moved all my credit to my Freedom and i asked him to close my 2 accounts.

 

So now i have one freedom with $17K limit and one Amazon chase with $1K with chase.

 

everyone on this forum are really true.. You just need to find a right person to talk to and you get what you need.

 

Thank you very much to all Fico member. This forum is big help for all us.

 

 

Message 18 of 19
Sevenfeet
Regular Contributor

Re: PenFed Platinum Rewards - Pending


@roshan wrote:

After reading you very inspiring post, I decided to call Chase again bec they denied my CLI and they did not reply my call for consolidate my credit card for 36 hrs.

 

So i just called them on "App Recon" 800 number from "Backdoor number" post from this forum.

 

I got one very nice lady on other hand. I asked her why my CLI was denied and if she can help me with it. She said let me take a look.  hold for 3 mins. and she said you have enough account with Chase so that is why it is denied. 

I said to her that i am chash customer for 10 yrs and never had one single late payment. and some other things.

She said Let me calucate some numbers and i will be back.

2 mins hold

she offer me $5K CLI from my current $2K.  I request her to match my new Amex CL which is not on CR yet. But i just got it as auto CLI from Amex. $12K.

She said she knows Amex give you 3X CLI after some months.

So she said let me calculate some more numbers.

2 mins hold.

And BOOM... She said she approved me for $12K for my freedom.

 

I Thanks her a lot and said she is my angle. She laughed and thanked me and i thanked her again.

 

And now i got 12K on my freedom from $2K.

 

It's still not done...

 

I called the credit analyst customer service line 800 from "Backdoor post"  and asked them to consolidate my all accounts in one freedom.

he said sure he can do that. But he can't transfer all CL from othe accounts to one. He needs to leave $500 on each card when he consolidate.

I said ok. He moved all my credit to my Freedom and i asked him to close my 2 accounts.

 

So now i have one freedom with $17K limit and one Amazon chase with $1K with chase.

 

everyone on this forum are really true.. You just need to find a right person to talk to and you get what you need.

 

Thank you very much to all Fico member. This forum is big help for all us.

 

 


This is awesome.  And it feels good, doesn't it?  I probably would have waited for the Amex CLI to hit the credit reports so you have something to back up the data than just your word, but I'm glad it worked out for you.  The larger limits will serve you well.  Now garden them well and watch them grow more. Smiley Happy

Message 19 of 19
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