topic Decreasing citi CL to free up credit in Credit Cards

Decreasing citi CL to free up credit

red259 — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 18:31:16 GMT

I want to apply for another citi card, specifically the premier. I know I am at the cap of credit citi will extend me. I'm most likely going to close the citi AA plat card. Before doing so I am going to reduce the limit on the card to free up credit. Can I close the card right afetr the decrease in credit line or will the hold up my credit being freed up? How long do I need to wait for my credit to free up before apping if I do the decrease before closing card?

Re: Decreasing citi CL to free up credit

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 18:50:00 GMT

Wouldn't it be better to app for the new card before closing or reducing, and then if declined, ask for some of the CL from the one to be put onto the new one?

Re: Decreasing citi CL to free up credit

red259 — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 18:55:52 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Wouldn't it be better to app for the new card before closing or reducing, and then if declined, ask for some of the CL from the one to be put onto the new one?

No I don't think it would be. I went through this two months ago with my prestige and the CSR said they can only move money off a card if there has been no activity for a set period of time (think it was a couple of months). I'm not sure if the AA fee posting would count as activity, but in any event I believe by just apping I will be forced to recon where if I free up the credit ahead of time I may have a shot at an instant approval. I'm willing to listen to other people's thoughts on the matter but if I was at the ceiling with citi two months ago I would be kinda suprised if the ceiling had moved up since then. Although I do have a citigold account now though which I didn't before, but it is mostly empty, since they are not my main bank.

Re: Decreasing citi CL to free up credit

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 19:05:25 GMT

I considered this before applying for my Citi AA Executive card but ended up not doing so. Without the exact wording they made it clear that I was at least for now at their cap during the verification call. They approved me for $18,500 but ended up moving some limit for my AA card to give me $25K on the Executive. So I know it's possible that they can move limits whether the donor card has been active or not. There is a lot of people elsewhere (FT) that highly recommend lowering limits with them prior to applying in order to increase your chances of an instant approval vs having to go thru recon.

Re: Decreasing citi CL to free up credit

red259 — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 19:17:46 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I considered this before applying for my Citi AA Executive card but ended up not doing so. Without the exact wording they made it clear that I was at least for now at their cap during the verification call. They approved me for $18,500 but ended up moving some limit for my AA card to give me $25K on the Executive. So I know it's possible that they can move limits whether the donor card has been active or not. There is a lot of people elsewhere (FT) that highly recommend lowering limits with them prior to applying in order to increase your chances of an instant approval vs having to go thru recon.

Yea, the CSR I spoke to specifically told me that rule where they can only pull money from a card that hasn't had any activity for a certain period of time. I found that to be an odd rule which didn't make much sense. The other weird thing was they did it without even asking me first. I guess I could go ahead and apply. Its not like Chase where I will be grilled about why I want the card compared to the other cards I have. Although the premier is quite different than the prestige so that in addition to the signup offer I do need the card to cover some of the bonus categories.

Re: Decreasing citi CL to free up credit

icyhot — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 19:54:30 GMT

From what I experienced with Citi, they will not open a declined app by moving CL from another one. However they will move part of a credit line. As far as the card not having had any activity, I never ran into that

Re: Decreasing citi CL to free up credit

red259 — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 20:36:12 GMT

@icyhot wrote:
From what I experienced with Citi, they will not open a declined app by moving CL from another one. However they will move part of a credit line. As far as the card not having had any activity, I never ran into that

I don't understand what you are saying. So if its a decline then I can't call up and move a credit line? Therefore I should reduce the credit limit before apping?

Re: Decreasing citi CL to free up credit

red259 — Sat, 08 Aug 2015 00:45:57 GMT

I just called citi again. They are still making the same offer of crediting the AF back if I spend 1k within 3 months on card. I confirmed I can pc to the citi doible cash which is non-AF. Its annoying because many other people get the offer of spend $95 and get $95 credit. This is something I would do. However, since I have redeemed most of my american airlines miles I do not see much value in this card. I don't like the ideal of putting 1k of spending on the card, since I am only getting one mile per dollar. That spend can go on other cards for a better return. Not to mention that since I don't have a huge AA balance at the moment that I will not have enough to redeem any flights with those 1k miles in the near future. I do want a citi double cash at some point to use down the line if I want straight cash back.

The concerns are as follows. One, I want to pick up the citi premier card and believe I am at the limit with citi. Therefore, it would be a good idea to reduce my overall exposure by reducing my available credit with citi. I believe, and correct me if I am wrong, that citi can be difficult with moving credit lines between exisiting accounts at a customer's request. So if I reduced the credit line and kept the double cash card I would be stuck with a low limit on the double cash. Also, I have a citi hilton with a larger credit line that I have not decided if I will keep at the end of the year. I'm up in the air about it at the moment since it won't automatically give me a free night. It is quite possible that I would like to PC that card to the double cash because it is a better credit line. Finally because the way citi does their bonus rules if I close the card it will reset the 18 month clock on how long I need to wait to get an AA signup bonus vs being elgible in like two months for another one. I believe it only impacts the ability to get the bonus on the personal AA plat card (compared to the gold, exec or business AA cards but I could be wrong). Although, I am not looking to get another AA card right now and the next one I get will likely be for business, but we are talking about a year and a half wait during which time my ceiling with citi can improve and I may want to build up my AA balances before they put changes into effect with their program.

The way I see it I have the following choices:

1. Close the AA plat accont (drawbacks resets 18 month clock, credit doesn't free up for awhile with citi)

2. Pay the AF and spend the 1k to offset it and then reduce the credit limit to free up additional credit with citi, which would end up making this card somewhat useless going forward and would have been about 1k of spend wasted -not a huge amount of money but without upcoming AA flights I don't see the value in the card and I can reapp for the plat with bonus in future to get back the benefits if I need them down the line)

3. app for the citi premier now and go through recon and see if they will pull the money out of the AA card and then close it.

4. PC the AA plat card to double cash and hope when I apply for the premier they don't reject me or want to take money out of the double cash account (probably unlikely since I just went through this two months ago and its a percentage of income thing I think- also I wanted to keep the option of PCing my Hilton to double cash open due to that card having larger line)

What seems like the best course of action here?

Re: Decreasing citi CL to free up credit

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Aug 2015 01:19:21 GMT

@red259 wrote:
I just called citi again. They are still making the same offer of crediting the AF back if I spend 1k within 3 months on card. I confirmed I can pc to the citi doible cash which is non-AF. Its annoying because many other people get the offer of spend $95 and get $95 credit. This is something I would do. However, since I have redeemed most of my american airlines miles I do not see much value in this card. I don't like the ideal of putting 1k of spending on the card, since I am only getting one mile per dollar. That spend can go on other cards for a better return. Not to mention that since I don't have a huge AA balance at the moment that I will not have enough to redeem any flights with those 1k miles in the near future. I do want a citi double cash at some point to use down the line if I want straight cash back.

The concerns are as follows. One, I want to pick up the citi premier card and believe I am at the limit with citi. Therefore, it would be a good idea to reduce my overall exposure by reducing my available credit with citi. I believe, and correct me if I am wrong, that citi can be difficult with moving credit lines between exisiting accounts at a customer's request. So if I reduced the credit line and kept the double cash card I would be stuck with a low limit on the double cash. Also, I have a citi hilton with a larger credit line that I have not decided if I will keep at the end of the year. I'm up in the air about it at the moment since it won't automatically give me a free night. It is quite possible that I would like to PC that card to the double cash because it is a better credit line. Finally because the way citi does their bonus rules if I close the card it will reset the 18 month clock on how long I need to wait to get an AA signup bonus vs being elgible in like two months for another one. I believe it only impacts the ability to get the bonus on the personal AA plat card (compared to the gold, exec or business AA cards but I could be wrong). Although, I am not looking to get another AA card right now and the next one I get will likely be for business, but we are talking about a year and a half wait during which time my ceiling with citi can improve and I may want to build up my AA balances before they put changes into effect with their program.

The way I see it I have the following choices:

1. Close the AA plat accont (drawbacks resets 18 month clock, credit doesn't free up for awhile with citi)

2. Pay the AF and spend the 1k to offset it and then reduce the credit limit to free up additional credit with citi, which would end up making this card somewhat useless going forward and would have been about 1k of spend wasted -not a huge amount of money but without upcoming AA flights I don't see the value in the card and I can reapp for the plat with bonus in future to get back the benefits if I need them down the line)

3. app for the citi premier now and go through recon and see if they will pull the money out of the AA card and then close it.

4. PC the AA plat card to double cash and hope when I apply for the premier they don't reject me or want to take money out of the double cash account (probably unlikely since I just went through this two months ago and its a percentage of income thing I think- also I wanted to keep the option of PCing my Hilton to double cash open due to that card having larger line)

What seems like the best course of action here?

I've reduced total CL with Citi before by closing a card before. It's really not as fast as one thinks it is.

Re: Decreasing citi CL to free up credit

red259 — Sat, 08 Aug 2015 01:23:47 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@red259 wrote:
I just called citi again. They are still making the same offer of crediting the AF back if I spend 1k within 3 months on card. I confirmed I can pc to the citi doible cash which is non-AF. Its annoying because many other people get the offer of spend $95 and get $95 credit. This is something I would do. However, since I have redeemed most of my american airlines miles I do not see much value in this card. I don't like the ideal of putting 1k of spending on the card, since I am only getting one mile per dollar. That spend can go on other cards for a better return. Not to mention that since I don't have a huge AA balance at the moment that I will not have enough to redeem any flights with those 1k miles in the near future. I do want a citi double cash at some point to use down the line if I want straight cash back.

The concerns are as follows. One, I want to pick up the citi premier card and believe I am at the limit with citi. Therefore, it would be a good idea to reduce my overall exposure by reducing my available credit with citi. I believe, and correct me if I am wrong, that citi can be difficult with moving credit lines between exisiting accounts at a customer's request. So if I reduced the credit line and kept the double cash card I would be stuck with a low limit on the double cash. Also, I have a citi hilton with a larger credit line that I have not decided if I will keep at the end of the year. I'm up in the air about it at the moment since it won't automatically give me a free night. It is quite possible that I would like to PC that card to the double cash because it is a better credit line. Finally because the way citi does their bonus rules if I close the card it will reset the 18 month clock on how long I need to wait to get an AA signup bonus vs being elgible in like two months for another one. I believe it only impacts the ability to get the bonus on the personal AA plat card (compared to the gold, exec or business AA cards but I could be wrong). Although, I am not looking to get another AA card right now and the next one I get will likely be for business, but we are talking about a year and a half wait during which time my ceiling with citi can improve and I may want to build up my AA balances before they put changes into effect with their program.

The way I see it I have the following choices:

1. Close the AA plat accont (drawbacks resets 18 month clock, credit doesn't free up for awhile with citi)

2. Pay the AF and spend the 1k to offset it and then reduce the credit limit to free up additional credit with citi, which would end up making this card somewhat useless going forward and would have been about 1k of spend wasted -not a huge amount of money but without upcoming AA flights I don't see the value in the card and I can reapp for the plat with bonus in future to get back the benefits if I need them down the line)

3. app for the citi premier now and go through recon and see if they will pull the money out of the AA card and then close it.

4. PC the AA plat card to double cash and hope when I apply for the premier they don't reject me or want to take money out of the double cash account (probably unlikely since I just went through this two months ago and its a percentage of income thing I think- also I wanted to keep the option of PCing my Hilton to double cash open due to that card having larger line)

What seems like the best course of action here?

I've reduced total CL with Citi before by closing a card before. It's really not as fast as one thinks it is.

I'm talking about reducing the line before closing the card and then closing it. If you close the card without reducing the line first then that credit does not free up for awhile, which is what I am trying to avoid.

Re: Decreasing citi CL to free up credit

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Aug 2015 01:29:22 GMT

@red259 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@red259 wrote:
I just called citi again. They are still making the same offer of crediting the AF back if I spend 1k within 3 months on card. I confirmed I can pc to the citi doible cash which is non-AF. Its annoying because many other people get the offer of spend $95 and get $95 credit. This is something I would do. However, since I have redeemed most of my american airlines miles I do not see much value in this card. I don't like the ideal of putting 1k of spending on the card, since I am only getting one mile per dollar. That spend can go on other cards for a better return. Not to mention that since I don't have a huge AA balance at the moment that I will not have enough to redeem any flights with those 1k miles in the near future. I do want a citi double cash at some point to use down the line if I want straight cash back.

The concerns are as follows. One, I want to pick up the citi premier card and believe I am at the limit with citi. Therefore, it would be a good idea to reduce my overall exposure by reducing my available credit with citi. I believe, and correct me if I am wrong, that citi can be difficult with moving credit lines between exisiting accounts at a customer's request. So if I reduced the credit line and kept the double cash card I would be stuck with a low limit on the double cash. Also, I have a citi hilton with a larger credit line that I have not decided if I will keep at the end of the year. I'm up in the air about it at the moment since it won't automatically give me a free night. It is quite possible that I would like to PC that card to the double cash because it is a better credit line. Finally because the way citi does their bonus rules if I close the card it will reset the 18 month clock on how long I need to wait to get an AA signup bonus vs being elgible in like two months for another one. I believe it only impacts the ability to get the bonus on the personal AA plat card (compared to the gold, exec or business AA cards but I could be wrong). Although, I am not looking to get another AA card right now and the next one I get will likely be for business, but we are talking about a year and a half wait during which time my ceiling with citi can improve and I may want to build up my AA balances before they put changes into effect with their program.

The way I see it I have the following choices:

1. Close the AA plat accont (drawbacks resets 18 month clock, credit doesn't free up for awhile with citi)

2. Pay the AF and spend the 1k to offset it and then reduce the credit limit to free up additional credit with citi, which would end up making this card somewhat useless going forward and would have been about 1k of spend wasted -not a huge amount of money but without upcoming AA flights I don't see the value in the card and I can reapp for the plat with bonus in future to get back the benefits if I need them down the line)

3. app for the citi premier now and go through recon and see if they will pull the money out of the AA card and then close it.

4. PC the AA plat card to double cash and hope when I apply for the premier they don't reject me or want to take money out of the double cash account (probably unlikely since I just went through this two months ago and its a percentage of income thing I think- also I wanted to keep the option of PCing my Hilton to double cash open due to that card having larger line)

What seems like the best course of action here?

I've reduced total CL with Citi before by closing a card before. It's really not as fast as one thinks it is.
I'm talking about reducing the line before closing the card and then closing it. If you close the card without reducing the line first then that credit does not free up for awhile, which is what I am trying to avoid.

Ah, I didn't think to try it that way. Is that a Frequent Traveler trick?

Re: Decreasing citi CL to free up credit

red259 — Sat, 08 Aug 2015 01:36:46 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@red259 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@red259 wrote:
I just called citi again. They are still making the same offer of crediting the AF back if I spend 1k within 3 months on card. I confirmed I can pc to the citi doible cash which is non-AF. Its annoying because many other people get the offer of spend $95 and get $95 credit. This is something I would do. However, since I have redeemed most of my american airlines miles I do not see much value in this card. I don't like the ideal of putting 1k of spending on the card, since I am only getting one mile per dollar. That spend can go on other cards for a better return. Not to mention that since I don't have a huge AA balance at the moment that I will not have enough to redeem any flights with those 1k miles in the near future. I do want a citi double cash at some point to use down the line if I want straight cash back.

The concerns are as follows. One, I want to pick up the citi premier card and believe I am at the limit with citi. Therefore, it would be a good idea to reduce my overall exposure by reducing my available credit with citi. I believe, and correct me if I am wrong, that citi can be difficult with moving credit lines between exisiting accounts at a customer's request. So if I reduced the credit line and kept the double cash card I would be stuck with a low limit on the double cash. Also, I have a citi hilton with a larger credit line that I have not decided if I will keep at the end of the year. I'm up in the air about it at the moment since it won't automatically give me a free night. It is quite possible that I would like to PC that card to the double cash because it is a better credit line. Finally because the way citi does their bonus rules if I close the card it will reset the 18 month clock on how long I need to wait to get an AA signup bonus vs being elgible in like two months for another one. I believe it only impacts the ability to get the bonus on the personal AA plat card (compared to the gold, exec or business AA cards but I could be wrong). Although, I am not looking to get another AA card right now and the next one I get will likely be for business, but we are talking about a year and a half wait during which time my ceiling with citi can improve and I may want to build up my AA balances before they put changes into effect with their program.

The way I see it I have the following choices:

1. Close the AA plat accont (drawbacks resets 18 month clock, credit doesn't free up for awhile with citi)

2. Pay the AF and spend the 1k to offset it and then reduce the credit limit to free up additional credit with citi, which would end up making this card somewhat useless going forward and would have been about 1k of spend wasted -not a huge amount of money but without upcoming AA flights I don't see the value in the card and I can reapp for the plat with bonus in future to get back the benefits if I need them down the line)

3. app for the citi premier now and go through recon and see if they will pull the money out of the AA card and then close it.

4. PC the AA plat card to double cash and hope when I apply for the premier they don't reject me or want to take money out of the double cash account (probably unlikely since I just went through this two months ago and its a percentage of income thing I think- also I wanted to keep the option of PCing my Hilton to double cash open due to that card having larger line)

What seems like the best course of action here?

I've reduced total CL with Citi before by closing a card before. It's really not as fast as one thinks it is.
I'm talking about reducing the line before closing the card and then closing it. If you close the card without reducing the line first then that credit does not free up for awhile, which is what I am trying to avoid.
Ah, I didn't think to try it that way. Is that a Frequent Traveler trick?

Dunno about frequent traveler but its a work around from them holding back your available credit for new products. Dunno how quickly it frees it up but apparently much better than just closing a card and waiting. Something with the way citi's system works.

Re: Decreasing citi CL to free up credit

red259 — Sat, 08 Aug 2015 16:01:23 GMT

Just was told that when I PC from AA exec to AA plat not only did that reset the 18 month clock on exec it also did so on the AA plat. Because they count a PC as closing one card and opening another. Anyone aware if this is true? If soe it makes the notion of outright closing the aa plat card much simplier, but would be really annoying from the point of view of citi not being clear with their bonus rules.

Re: Decreasing citi CL to free up credit

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Aug 2015 16:03:51 GMT

Sounds about right.

Re: Decreasing citi CL to free up credit

red259 — Sat, 08 Aug 2015 16:11:06 GMT

I only have two days until the AF is due. I can pay it and then cancel later on and get it back, but I'd rather not go through that hassle. However, if I call in today and reduce my credit line and then cancel tomorrow or day after will that free up my credit for a new citi app? The alternative is simply applying now before doing anything with my AA card and seeing what happens with recon, but that could end up in a denial?

Re: Decreasing citi CL to free up credit

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Aug 2015 16:19:36 GMT

I would fully expect a business week for it to work.

Re: Decreasing citi CL to free up credit

red259 — Sat, 08 Aug 2015 16:23:36 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I would fully expect a business week for it to work.

So the options then become go for the app now and see what happens or reduce the credit line, pay the AF, wait a week and then close the account and have to wait for them to send the money back to me.

Re: Decreasing citi CL to free up credit

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Aug 2015 16:30:08 GMT

Basically, Yes. With the constant devaluation no loss with closing that card.

Re: Decreasing citi CL to free up credit

icyhot — Sat, 08 Aug 2015 16:36:16 GMT

@red259 wrote:
@icyhot wrote:
From what I experienced with Citi, they will not open a declined app by moving CL from another one. However they will move part of a credit line. As far as the card not having had any activity, I never ran into that
I don't understand what you are saying. So if its a decline then I can't call up and move a credit line? Therefore I should reduce the credit limit before apping?

No, they won't do it. So maybe that's the best option

Re: Decreasing citi CL to free up credit

red259 — Sat, 08 Aug 2015 16:40:01 GMT

@icyhot wrote:
@red259 wrote:
@icyhot wrote:
From what I experienced with Citi, they will not open a declined app by moving CL from another one. However they will move part of a credit line. As far as the card not having had any activity, I never ran into that
I don't understand what you are saying. So if its a decline then I can't call up and move a credit line? Therefore I should reduce the credit limit before apping?
No, they won't do it. So maybe that's the best option

K so what it is looking like is that I should call up today, reduce the credit line, pay the AF in two days and wait a week before closing and applying for new card and wait for them to send the AF back to me?