topic Re: Chase "told me" to stop apping for cards (sort of) in Credit Cards

Chase "told me" to stop apping for cards (sort of)

gibeon — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 02:26:19 GMT

Just thought I would share.

Recently app'd and approved for their IHG card (5th Chase card since January 2016 - Amazon 1.5k 1/19, BA 5k 1/19, United Plus 5k 3/3, AARP 5/23 2k, IHG 2k 6/28).

Anywho, still waiting on card to show up, but got a letter yesterday that said something along the lines of:

"We know the limit might not be what you were expecting, but feel free to call in and shift your limits around or even transfer the whole limit from another card to the IHG and we'll be happy to help." etc, etc....

Pretty sure the subtext here is that I should put my butt in the garden and stop apping for Chase cards - which was my plan anyway.

Re: Chase "told me" to stop apping for cards (sort of)

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 02:29:20 GMT

Well that was blunt!

Congrats on the IHG card, I love mine and can't wait for my free night to post!

Re: Chase "told me" to stop apping for cards (sort of)

gibeon — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 02:45:09 GMT

I'm definitely looking forward to the free nights, and to their credit I do have a TON of inquiries and they've been pretty generous to me this year. I actually chuckled when I got the letter.

I'm going to try to wait until Jan/Feb to consolidate some cards as I should have used my bonus miles from BA and United by then.

Re: Chase "told me" to stop apping for cards (sort of)

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 02:52:33 GMT

Curious as to why you got the Chase Amazon AND the Amazon store card?

Re: Chase "told me" to stop apping for cards (sort of)

gibeon — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 03:39:25 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Curious as to why you got the Chase Amazon AND the Amazon store card?

Excellent question!

I know it doesn't get 5% or deferred interest deals like the store card. I also have better cards for gas and dining, but there are several somewhat-good reasons I applied for this card!

1) Instant $80 in Amazon credit with $0 minimum spend, no muss/no fuss has to be the best reason. (Had a special offer when I app'd. I've seen it anywhere from $40 to $80.)

2) No annual fee (so a truly free $80), and I'll keep no AF cards open forever, or at least until my credit moves into "excellent" territory and I can cull my low-limit/high-interest cards but keep a large overall total CL.

3) I thought it might be an "in" with Chase (and I'm pretty sure it was, but who really knows)

4) I had already gone well past any semblance of a reasonable number of inquiries many months earlier. (So one more hard pull wasn't gonig to make much difference.) This card was my 101st inquiry across all three reports (Chase only pulled Experian on this one.)

5) It was the card I used to try to get once or twice a year before I started "fixing" my credit. It was a bit of a "grail" card and being approved was an indication that I was doing better than I had been before.

Re: Chase "told me" to stop apping for cards (sort of)

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 04:48:33 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Curious as to why you got the Chase Amazon AND the Amazon store card?

As someone who has the Chase card and is considering the store card, this is my thinking.

I've had the Chase card for nearly two years. It was before I started researching credit online (and found this great resource). It was a major, and I shopped at Amazon a LOT (still do). 3% is not as attractive as it was, and the 0% BTs are proving more valuable (esp with Discover giving 5% now)

Ironically, I didn't know to avoid store brand cards then, but went with the Chase card. I have since learned that MOST store brand cards are not the best deal, but Synch has been good to me, and the Amazon store card has some worthwhile benefits. So, the store card is now on my short list.

Re: Chase "told me" to stop apping for cards (sort of)

dragontears — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 04:59:10 GMT

Just to add in my 2 cents
The store card only gives 5% IF you have prime and despite the common assumption here that everyone has prime this is not always the case (I don't have prime because most of the time I can find what I want to buy for cheaper than amazon has it therefore only buy from amazon 2-3 times a year) so for some people the visa might make more sense than the store card (I have SM so no interest in getting any of the Amazon cards)

Re: Chase "told me" to stop apping for cards (sort of)

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 05:31:28 GMT

Congrats! Looks like you hit the internal limit with chase for the time being. Use the cards well, don't app anything new. Then your internal score will improve with them. Chase is a good bank, if you treat them well, they will treat you best. I can tell you this from my personal experience with them.

Re: Chase "told me" to stop apping for cards (sort of)

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 07:23:05 GMT

@gibeon wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Curious as to why you got the Chase Amazon AND the Amazon store card?
Excellent question!

I know it doesn't get 5% or deferred interest deals like the store card. I also have better cards for gas and dining, but there are several somewhat-good reasons I applied for this card!

1) Instant $80 in Amazon credit with $0 minimum spend, no muss/no fuss has to be the best reason. (Had a special offer when I app'd. I've seen it anywhere from $40 to $80.)

2) No annual fee (so a truly free $80), and I'll keep no AF cards open forever, or at least until my credit moves into "excellent" territory and I can cull my low-limit/high-interest cards but keep a large overall total CL.

3) I thought it might be an "in" with Chase (and I'm pretty sure it was, but who really knows)

4) I had already gone well past any semblance of a reasonable number of inquiries many months earlier. (So one more hard pull wasn't gonig to make much difference.) This card was my 101st inquiry across all three reports (Chase only pulled Experian on this one.)

5) It was the card I used to try to get once or twice a year before I started "fixing" my credit. It was a bit of a "grail" card and being approved was an indication that I was doing better than I had been before.

101 Inquiries? Holy $%^&!!!!

I'm curious about this, everywhere I read and see, people say to keep that number down and you get another card with that many inquiries? How do you manage that?

Re: Chase "told me" to stop apping for cards (sort of)

jeffm4688 — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 07:33:17 GMT

over 150 combined across all three and I still get approvals. In fact some of my most recent ones were my highest but YMMV. It just goes to show it is possible.

Re: Chase "told me" to stop apping for cards (sort of)

UncleB — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 10:32:26 GMT

I appreciate you guys for sharing your inquiry stats... I am now up to seven on EX and I was thinking I was 'pushing it'.

I feel better now!

Re: Chase "told me" to stop apping for cards (sort of)

RonM21 — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 11:56:24 GMT

Right, I have 4 on a couple and 5 on TU and also was going crazy thinking my inquiries were way up there.

Re: Chase "told me" to stop apping for cards (sort of)

Gmood1 — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 12:03:06 GMT

@RM21 wrote:
Right, I have 4 on a couple and 5 on TU and also was going crazy thinking my inquiries were way up there.

Lol..you guys are good to go! I'm at 22 EX , 20 EQ and 14 TU. After looking at a friends reports with totals around 150 across all three CBs. And scores in the 800's, I realized inqs aren't that big of a deal. Once you build a good profile. The vast majority of creditors don't bat an eye at them.

Re: Chase "told me" to stop apping for cards (sort of)

CreditUnionFan — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 12:10:00 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Curious as to why you got the Chase Amazon AND the Amazon store card?
As someone who has the Chase card and is considering the store card, this is my thinking.

I've had the Chase card for nearly two years. It was before I started researching credit online (and found this great resource). It was a major, and I shopped at Amazon a LOT (still do). 3% is not as attractive as it was, and the 0% BTs are proving more valuable (esp with Discover giving 5% now)

Ironically, I didn't know to avoid store brand cards then, but went with the Chase card. I have since learned that MOST store brand cards are not the best deal, but Synch has been good to me, and the Amazon store card has some worthwhile benefits. So, the store card is now on my short list.

IF you plann to stay a Prime member, the Synchrony-backed private-label card is great for earning 5% off at Amazon (or taking the promotional financing).

The 2% rewards that the Chase co-branded Amazon Visa offers are duplicated on other cards, but for some the Chase Amazon Visa still makes sense.

If you already have a card, keeping that card open helps your AAoA, so in many cases as long as the card has no annual fee, it usually doesn't "hurt" to keep the card.

Re: Chase "told me" to stop apping for cards (sort of)

UncleB — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 12:28:58 GMT

@CreditUnionFan wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Curious as to why you got the Chase Amazon AND the Amazon store card?
As someone who has the Chase card and is considering the store card, this is my thinking.

I've had the Chase card for nearly two years. It was before I started researching credit online (and found this great resource). It was a major, and I shopped at Amazon a LOT (still do). 3% is not as attractive as it was, and the 0% BTs are proving more valuable (esp with Discover giving 5% now)

Ironically, I didn't know to avoid store brand cards then, but went with the Chase card. I have since learned that MOST store brand cards are not the best deal, but Synch has been good to me, and the Amazon store card has some worthwhile benefits. So, the store card is now on my short list.

IF you plann to stay a Prime member, the Synchrony-backed private-label card is great for earning 5% off at Amazon (or taking the promotional financing).
The 2% rewards that the Chase co-branded Amazon Visa offers are duplicated on other cards, but for some the Chase Amazon Visa still makes sense.

If you already have a card, keeping that card open helps your AAoA, so in many cases as long as the card has no annual fee, it usually doesn't "hurt" to keep the card.

For a 'split second' I actually considered applying for the Amazon Chase Visa, since Chase is the only major issuer I'm not with and I would get a 'free' gift card for $80 or $70 (my offer changes back-and-forth), but then I realized I really don't need it and it would be yet another 'ding' on my AAoA.

Plus, I've added a handful of accounts the last few months, and when my app were to go to an analyst (like it most certainly would) they would likely choke and send the the infamous 'thanks but no thanks' message... LOL.

Re: Chase "told me" to stop apping for cards (sort of)

CreditUnionFan — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 12:38:14 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
@CreditUnionFan wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Curious as to why you got the Chase Amazon AND the Amazon store card?
As someone who has the Chase card and is considering the store card, this is my thinking.

I've had the Chase card for nearly two years. It was before I started researching credit online (and found this great resource). It was a major, and I shopped at Amazon a LOT (still do). 3% is not as attractive as it was, and the 0% BTs are proving more valuable (esp with Discover giving 5% now)

Ironically, I didn't know to avoid store brand cards then, but went with the Chase card. I have since learned that MOST store brand cards are not the best deal, but Synch has been good to me, and the Amazon store card has some worthwhile benefits. So, the store card is now on my short list.

IF you plann to stay a Prime member, the Synchrony-backed private-label card is great for earning 5% off at Amazon (or taking the promotional financing).
The 2% rewards that the Chase co-branded Amazon Visa offers are duplicated on other cards, but for some the Chase Amazon Visa still makes sense.

If you already have a card, keeping that card open helps your AAoA, so in many cases as long as the card has no annual fee, it usually doesn't "hurt" to keep the card.

For a 'split second' I actually considered applying for the Amazon Chase Visa, since Chase is the only major issuer I'm not with and I would get a 'free' gift card for $80 or $70 (my offer changes back-and-forth), but then I realized I really don't need it and it would be yet another 'ding' on my AAoA.

Plus, I've added a handful of accounts the last few months, and when my app were to go to an analyst (like it most certainly would) they would likely choke and send the the infamous 'thanks but no thanks' message... LOL.

If you have other Chase cards in your sights (e.g. Freedom, FU, CSP, Marriott, Southwest) those cards might be better to apply for first, saving the Amazon Visa until after the others.

With Discover offering 5% cash back at Amazon for the next six months, if you already have the Discover card you could potentially "garden" for these two quarters.

Re: Chase "told me" to stop apping for cards (sort of)

UncleB — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 12:44:57 GMT

@CreditUnionFan wrote:
@UncleB wrote:

For a 'split second' I actually considered applying for the Amazon Chase Visa, since Chase is the only major issuer I'm not with and I would get a 'free' gift card for $80 or $70 (my offer changes back-and-forth), but then I realized I really don't need it and it would be yet another 'ding' on my AAoA.

Plus, I've added a handful of accounts the last few months, and when my app were to go to an analyst (like it most certainly would) they would likely choke and send the the infamous 'thanks but no thanks' message... LOL.
If you have other Chase cards in your sights (e.g. Freedom, FU, CSP, Marriott, Southwest) those cards might be better to apply for first, saving the Amazon Visa until after the others.
With Discover offering 5% cash back at Amazon for the next six months, if you already have the Discover card you could potentially "garden" for these two quarters.

Actually I'm a bit of an 'oddity' on here in that I just don't have any use for most of Chase's cards. UR points would be useless to me, and their airline and hotel cards would just be an AF I would have to pay - I seldom travel to locations where staying in a branded hotel is necessary. The Amazon Visa is the only card they offer that would even be remotely useful, at least at this time.

Since I have to 'search' for a reason to app for a Chase card, that's probably a not-so-subtle 'hint' that I really don't need any of their offerings, at least at this time. In the big-picture it's not a bad problem to have, and nobody ever said that we all need to have an account with each major lender, anyway. I've actually got plenty of 'diversity' as it is.

Re: Chase "told me" to stop apping for cards (sort of)

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 12:50:11 GMT

I am going to go with the bunch that WOW 101 inquires, I was sittig here and I have 9 on EQ and just apped for 4 cards this week and was thinking not to go for penfed for fear that I would be denied due to inq. I am sitting pretty good then lol

I have 5 TU, 9 EQ and 9 on EX.

Re: Chase "told me" to stop apping for cards (sort of)

ridgebackpilot — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 16:21:04 GMT

My EX is reporting 11 inquiries. Beyond a certain number, additional inquiries don't seem to affect my credit scores...

Re: Chase "told me" to stop apping for cards (sort of)

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 17:45:09 GMT

For the members who question having both Amazon varieties Prime day is coming and I think the Chase Visa get you a $20 kick when you spend 100 bucks so it's good to keep around, not to mention 2% off drugstores if you don't carry card that provides that.