topic Re: Prestige approval odds? in Credit Card Applications

Prestige approval odds?

ntenseone — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 07:22:53 GMT

Hey guys.
I'm still a newb here, but I was hoping for some insight.
I'm really wanting to get a Citi Prestige card because I can get a pretty good amount of positive value from it with its perks, but I am curious to know how I stack up for approval.
Latest numbers include 130,000 income, Chase Journey VS3.0 shows 700 score, Citi FICO is showing 722, Discover FICO 8 is showing 735, while CK is showing 700 & 692 respectively.
I have 0 derogs and 21% Utilization currently.
AAoA 2yes
3 or 8 HP depending on where I look.

Is there any other info I need to include?
How do you all think I shape up for this card?
Any insight is appreciated.
Thanks guys!

Re: Prestige approval odds?

addicted_to_credit — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 12:13:54 GMT

I don’t have much if any experience with citi other than some co branded cards but I can tell you that citi has a pre qualify tool and that will tell you everything you need to know. It’s a soft pull to check too so no harm no foul when checking.

Here is the link:

https://www.citicards.com/cards/credit/application/flow.action?isInvitation=Y#

Re: Prestige approval odds?

ntenseone — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 14:32:58 GMT

Well that's a bummer.
It said "We couldn't match your records to a prequalified credit card offer. Please see below for another credit card you may like." And has the Citi DC card shown.
I was hoping for better since I've received 2 prequal offers in the mail for the Barclays Black Card.
I also have a Simplicity and Best Buy cards that have been in good standing since the day I opened them, although history is only 1yr and 8mo. on those accounts, respectively.
Is there any other way of finding out about my approval odds by maybe calling them and asking about it?

I was hoping to use it as my Daily while taking advantage of the travel perks a couple times each year and letting my wife continue using my CSP as her daily so we can keep accruing points with them. We want to travel for free for our 10yr anniversary and I have a plan I'd like to execute to make it happen.

Thanks again, friends!

Re: Prestige approval odds?

addicted_to_credit — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 15:00:11 GMT

One thing that you can do to improve your odds of pre approval is to make sure you are opted in for pre screens

Re: Prestige approval odds?

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 15:08:51 GMT

Every time I use the prequal site I never get any offers either.

There are a lot of DPs here that the person had no offers but still got approved.

What CBS are the HPs on? Citi usually pulls EQ or EX

Re: Prestige approval odds?

thornback — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 15:14:26 GMT

I don't think not being matched on the prequal means very much. I had the same result but still cold app'd and got the DC (albeit, a low limit). Had the DC for over a year now and they still can't match me to anything in a prequal. Prequals aren't always solid anyway and no one can really guess whether you'd be approved - all anyone can say is your stats seem ok for approval... so just app of you want the card.

The only thing I will say is they tend to pull EQ (and may double pull with EX). If any of your inquiries (and/or new accounts) are within the last 6 months, you may want to wait til they age past 6 months to increase your chances as Citi can sometimes hold that against you.

Good luck!

Re: Prestige approval odds?

SFLSpotter9210 — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 17:07:01 GMT

I would contact CSR and ask what’s the worst they say no you don’t have any offers. Another would be to see if you can product change your simplicity to a prestige although I don’t think you can again ask.

I applied for 3 core and 1 cobranded citi cards back in early 2019 and was approved for all. They pulled EQ and EX here in Florida. But I didn’t have any inquires at the time on my EQ and only 1 on EX.

Hopefully other seasoned members will chime in and help with that card. I also inquired about that card and product changing to it but, I’m not eligible for at least a year on my rewards+ card.

Good luck with your journey.

Re: Prestige approval odds?

CreditCuriosity — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 17:15:43 GMT

pre-qual means nothing.. I have got approved for every citi card I have gotten without any pre-quals and with good limits. If your profile/income support it cold app. Go based on your report vs. a silly pre-qual tool. I think you would be fine personally. You said citi has your score around 730ish? So that means you have another with them I assume.. They can be inquiry sensitive if new to them, but even then that varies if you already with them getting new cards is like taking candy from a baby if your profile is strong. I always have around 24ish new accounts in last 24 months and as mentioned never have issues getting approved.

Re: Prestige approval odds?

Remedios — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 17:18:27 GMT

I did prequal with Citi, came back with nothing. Applied three minutes later and was approved, so I wouldn't put too much weight on absence of prequalified/pre-aporoved offers.
As long as you didn't open a bunch of accounts in the last six months, or raked bunch of HPs during that time, you should give it a try.
Do any of your cards have high individual utilization? The only reason I ask is while 21% is not ideal, it's tolerable, but your scores are a bit on a low(ish) end for a clean file, and it seems that your Vantage scores are reacting strongly to something

While they are not frequently used for lending purposes, they can be indicative of recent behavior such as increased utilization and credit seeking a lot more than FICO 8 and FICO 9.

Re: Prestige approval odds?

ntenseone — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 17:29:42 GMT

The higher HP number is from EQ, the newest of which are from Chase and Capital One back in Nov. I have some debt that we have been paying down on 0% offers across a few different cards, but we PIF on my CSP every month, usually $3-5,000, so I'm thinking that may be while Cap1 said "no". Chase, on the other hand increased my CSP from 7k-13,900 and gave me a CFU for 7,600, which greatly improved my utilization and I'm very happy about that. (I submitted for CFU online while on the phone asking for a CLI on my CSP and, as far as I can tell, I only took 1 HP hit)

I have a Disco personal loan that I'm hoping to chop down the interest on by talking with Arvest about on Tuesday of this week. I'm being told I should qualify for a sub 10% rate based on my info.
After that I'm planning on going after the Prestige in March before a trip that I wanted to use the travel perks for. (Side note, can you get the $250 credit on a trip you're booking a 4 night stay on? I know it would be a double dip, that's why I ask.) Either way that is only 5 months, so I'm hoping that doesn't hurt too bad. I need to see if Arvest will tell me who they usually pull from.

Also, I'm seeing this fitness challenge in some of your signatures. Can you tell me how/where you're getting all of this info from. I'm eager to know as I have been watching my credit like a hawk, but I only have Credit Karma and my creditors scoring services to go by.

Thanks again, guys!

Re: Prestige approval odds?

coldfusion — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 18:23:26 GMT

The value from CK and similar sites like WalletHub is that they're a free and easy way to keep tabs on what's going on with your TU and EQ reports. Wild swings of Vantage scores can point to a significant change in your profile but the scores in themselves are of limited value because basically nobody uses them to establish creditworthiness when applying for credit and they don't reliably track FICO scores.

How long ago did Chase increase the limit on your CSP to $13.9K?

If you haven't requested copies of your credit reports in the last 12 months you can go to https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action and request a free consolidated report from all 3 major CRAs.

There is also the $1 trick that lets you get your current FICO 8 scores by going here https://www.creditchecktotal.com/ but you have to remember to cancel the service within 7 days to avoid a monthly fee.

The section of the site that discusses the fitness challenge is here: https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Take-the-myFICO-Fitness/bd-p/FC

As others have said, don't get hung up on whether or not you have Citi preapprovals. When you are at the point where stars align reasonably well and you're comfortable don't be afraid to pull the trigger - 1 or 2 HPs won't be the end of the world.

p.s. shred the Black Card offer. You can match or improve on the value the cards that entire product line provides from other cards that have lower or no annual fee.

Re: Prestige approval odds?

Remedios — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 19:15:22 GMT

That swing is because of utilization issues, OP has balances across multiple cards, and one terrible PL, soon to be replaced with another fully utilized loan, so I would expect yet another score drop.

As a resident killjoy, I believe OP should tackle debt problems, then worry about new credit and vacations for one simple reason...while terms of the new loan might be better, debt is still there and needs to be repaid, loan and cards.
While CSP may be PIF and Chase granted CLI, chase wont be paying other bills.

Getting out of debt requires discipline, and at times, giving up certain things to ensure better tomorrow comes sooner.
I dont see adding card with hefty AF as helping, rewards or not.
But like I said, I'm resident killjoy.

Re: Prestige approval odds?

nuohlac — Mon, 06 Jan 2020 04:13:04 GMT

I cold app'd in Feb. 2019 and was instantly approved for 20K. I had a prior relationship with Citi; a Simplicity card I opened in 2012. I had 2 baddies from 2016 and my F8 was in the 740's with a income in the high 140's at the time. My UTI would have been a lot lower than 21% though. I also got the "I did not prequal for any offers" from Citi language.

About 6 months later I got about 17 letters from them stating there was an issue with the prequal system and urging me to check again.

In the 11 months I have had the card I have requested 1 CLI around Thanksgiving and was given 8K.

You never know, if you have somethings that you think may clear up in the next 30-60 days you can wait it out. I'm not sure if you can put a dent in the UTI but you never know it may not make a difference.

Re: Prestige approval odds?

ntenseone — Mon, 06 Jan 2020 23:45:17 GMT

@coldfusion, Nov was the CLI w/ CSP and the CFU approval. I got cocky and was quickly shut down by Cap1 5 mins later(never had an account w/ them) as well as with Bank of America(I guess they hold grudges). BofA isn't showing up on any of my available sources as having made a HP though.

I know I can request my 3 bureau info, but they don't include scores to they? It seems like there are a lot of people that know precise info about all of their scoring and that's what I'd be interested to find out.

Re: Prestige approval odds?

thornback — Mon, 06 Jan 2020 22:47:24 GMT

@ntenseone wrote:
@coldfusion, Nov was the CLI w/ CSP and the CFU approval. I got cocky and was quickly shut down by Cap1 5 mins later as well as with Bank of America, but apparently they hold grudges. They aren't showing up on any of my available sources as having made a HP though.

I know I can request my 3 bureau info, but they don't include scores to they? It seems like there are a lot of people that know precise info about all of their scoring and that's what I'd be interested to find out.

annualcreditreport.com are just reports, no scores. But they are the most accurate and comprehensive reports (similar to hard-copies that are mailed to consumers).

creditchecktotal.com (same service offered Experian.com because it's owned by Experian) will provide your FICO 8 scores for all 3 bureaus along with reports. This will also provide your your enhanced scores (mortgage, auto, & bankcard) for Experian only. **Experian.com also offers an upgraded service (CreditWorks) that will provide a EX FICO 8 and enhanced score versions & report that is updated daily with TU & EQ FICO 8 scores updated monthly.

myFICO.com is most costly because it provides all of your FICO scores for all 3 bureaus (total of 28 scores including mortgage, auto, bankcard, and FICO 9).

Re: Prestige approval odds?

Meanmchine — Tue, 07 Jan 2020 02:33:22 GMT

Good luck with whatever you decide

Re: Prestige approval odds?

Citylights18 — Tue, 07 Jan 2020 21:40:30 GMT

I would wait until the next time your CC score pops up and head over to a Citi branch and apply.

Dropping that utilizaiton below 8.9% in the meantime will help.

Re: Prestige approval odds?

ntenseone — Wed, 08 Jan 2020 12:56:05 GMT

I've been working on my utilization pretty hard.
I saw a 27 point jump when I went from 33% to 21% with the addition of my CFU card. We have been paying balances down very aggressively. We just paid a car off, too. We have another one that is going to get paid of within the next few months, and we will, in turn, roll those payments into another payment to knock the next one down faster. It just helps build momentum. By the time we have our credit cards payed off we will be contributing about 2,000/mo. to my wife's student loan. At least, that's the plan. If my work circumstances change then it might be even more. We'll see how it goes, but I may have an opportunity coming up that could potentially double my income so that is pretty exiting to think about.
We want to be out of debt pretty badly, so we have been making strides to get there.
The reason I want a Prestige card is because I stand to make money on it despite the large AF, and I also stand to lower my utilization with the addition of the line of credit. As my Daily Driver I would PIF ea. mo. so adding another payment to my history should be helpful to my score.
I'm trying to play the game.

Re: Prestige approval odds?

SFLSpotter9210 — Wed, 08 Jan 2020 16:01:32 GMT

Congratulation’s on your aggressive approach on paying off your debt. You may want to watch or listen to Dave Ramsey he’s a great financial guy if you haven’t done so already. Although he is against credit cards so I don’t think you’ve watched him. Good luck with your plan. Not sure how you plan on making $$$ with this card. Can you be more specific I’d love to do that as well with a cc with af of 400.00+.

Re: Prestige approval odds?

ntenseone — Wed, 08 Jan 2020 18:35:23 GMT

I suppose "make money" is an incorrect term to use. I plan to get positive expected value out of it, however, as I will use the travel credits to achieve a higher return than the $495 AF, so in the long run I would otherwise pay more than $495 for the travel plans that I have for the year.
I've not specifically watched or listened to Dave Ramsey, although I did come up with my plan before finding out that it is similar in the way that it works according to some friends that were on his plan.

I will admit that I have not been the best with my debt in the past. Since marrying my wife (she's way better at that than I am) things have been looking up, but that combined with a couple of issues at the house that forced us to use credit cards to pay for them has driven our utilization up, so we have been recovering from that. We've moved virtually all of our card debt to 0% offers and pay large chunks each month. We're hoping to be completely out of CC debt by the end of 2021. In the meantime we're just mitigating what interest we do have to get it down as far as we can.

Yesterday I set up a new personal loan to take care of my 13,000 84mo. 19.98% loan with Discover. It will now be 10.74% for 48mo. with only a $24.67 increase in my payment, so I'm looking at that as a win.

Either way, that's my plan as of right now.