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Congrats on Disocver! Absolutely one of my favorite cards, with their stellar customer service.
in regards to Chase, it definitely sounds like the utilization ratio.
It's two different things: they want to see that you are utilizing most of the credit they are giving you, but they also don't want your overall utilization ratio to be too high - this would mean that there's a higher chance of you not being able to pay off your debts.
When I'm planning to request a CLI with a particular card, about 2 months in advance I start charging everything I can to that card. I will bring the utilization of that particular card up as high as I can, but pay off all of it so that the payment is reflected BEFORE the statement close date.
So in summary: Increase the utilization of the card you will be requesting a CLI for, but pay off ALL credit cards in full before the statement close date. After the second statement has closed, call for a CLI, and tell them that you've been trying to consolidate your expenses to one card but don't want to bring your utilization ratio up too high.
I just did the above for Discover: usually only spent small things here and there, and kept getting denial from the luv button. Charged everything on the Discover card for 2 months, paid everything off to bring the utilization down, and finally got an approval from 8k --> 13k.
But overall, I found Chase to be stingy as well. I would not risk a hard pull with Chase. My initial credit limit was 8k, and never got an increase since I opened it about 9 months ago. I did call to inquire, and they said a HP will be necessary. The supervisor informed me that Soft Pulls are not UNHEARD of, although rare. He said to call and try again in the future.
Chase usually has you jumping through the hoops of apply for a new card --> transfer the CL. Good to note that they do not allow business CL transferse to personal credit cards. I have 2 business cards with them: 1 for my 501c(3) nonprofit and 1 for my 1099, and they still denied me despite being in good standing with them on the business services department for years.