topic Re: My Plan for the Chase Perfecta... With Questions in Credit Cards

My Plan for the Chase Perfecta... With Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 16:37:17 GMT

I’ve never planned a card application. Of the cards I have now, all of them were more of a, “haven’t tried for a card in a while, saw an ad/received a mailer so submitted an app”. This time, I want a plan.

Seven months ago I was at 618 according to FICO Credit Scorecard from Discover. As of today, 708. As my cards report in May, my overall utilization will drop to under 9%.

I’m planning to either apply for the Chase Freedom Unlimted or the CFU + Chase Sapphire Preferred (or Reserved) on the same day. I checked another site and it looks like Chase will do a hard pull from TU based on my state.

Once my FICO TU score hits 720+, I’m going to apply for the FCU (3x) on a weekday in the AM. Unless I’m instantly approved, I’ll call recon and see what I can make happen. IF the card is approved with something other than a starter limit, I’ll change browsers and submit for the CSx.

Regarding the Chase Sapphire. Both the Preferred and Sapphire are great cards from what I’ve learned. While I don’t travel a lot (2-3 trips per year) and don’t travel internationally, I think the benefits included with the CSR make it the winner.

But, I’m not sure I carry enough credit to qualify for the CSR. My max CL is $3300 and cumulative CL is $8300 on four cards. If the FCU is at least a $2000 CL, would that give me enough total CL to qualify or do I need a $10K limit on one card? For that matter, to qualify for the CSP do I need a card with a $5K limit?

If I apply for the CSR and am not approved either instantly or via recon, could I have them attempt for the CSP?

Sorry for all the questions but I’ve made some unwise choices in the past couple of months while rebuilding my credit and don’t want to keep making mistakes.

Edited on 4/30/18 to fix acronyms.

Re: My Plan for the Chase Perfecta... With Questions

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Apr 2018 21:45:02 GMT

When you apply for the FU there's a strong chance it'll give you the message to wait 7-10 days. I'd suggest against calling recon if/when that happens. What's your average age of accounts? Do you have any history with Chase? If the answers to those questions are positive, I'd say app for the Sapphire first - you're more likely to get approved for the CSP than CSR. Keep in mind the SUB is the same as the CSR, the annual fee is waived the first year unlike the CSR, and you can always product change the CSP to a CSR in a year. Or you could PC it down to a Freedom or FU after 2 years and open a CSR and get the 50k bonus again. So your best bet is, with incognito browsers, apply for the CSP then later that day if not a few minutes later put in for the FU. When I apped for 2 Chase cards like that in January (CSP and Amazon) it only generated 1 inquiry. I got the CSP but was denied the Amazon card cuz of too many recent accounts/requests for credit. Not an inquiry thing tho obvious cuz I got the CSP. The Amazon card would have been my 5th personal card 6th business card in the previous 7 months, and no other cards opened for 3 years before that.

For the minimum limits on the sapphire cards, it's not that you have to already have $5k or $10k in credit lines, it's that the credit limit that comes with the CSP is never lower than $5k and that which comes with the CSR is never lower than $10k.

Re: My Plan for the Chase Perfecta... With Questions

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Apr 2018 22:44:35 GMT

OP - be advised there is a rumor floating that Chase may stop pooling URs. We don't know at this point whether that just means from husband to wife etc. or if it means you can't transfer from your FU to your CSP if you were to get them both. Here's the thread where it's discussed. I'd hate for you to app for both and either get them or just get pull(s) and not get them and not know that this is a possibility. (Of course it's always a possibility even without the rumor.)

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Leak-Chase-may-end-Ultimate-Rewards-pooling/m-p/5232753#M1543894

That being said, I'm invested with Chase in the Quad-fecta, so I too hope the rumor isn't true.

Re: My Plan for the Chase Perfecta... With Questions

kshurika — Sun, 29 Apr 2018 22:48:09 GMT

With your highest CL being $3300, you won't qualify for either CSR or CSP. Time to re-think your strategy. Minimum 5K for CSP and 10K for CSR.

Re: My Plan for the Chase Perfecta... With Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 01:03:09 GMT

@Kshurika actually if he applies for the CSP and Fu on the same day and they combine to one pull then he doesn't really have anything to lose by applying for the CSP it's basically a freebie app. Worst they can do is say no.

Re: My Plan for the Chase Perfecta... With Questions

kshurika — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 01:29:05 GMT

It's not just the worst they can say, it's what they're GOING to say. No. Unless Indy_Tim has another card with a CL of 5K or more, Chase won't approve him for the CSP. So, why bother?

Re: My Plan for the Chase Perfecta... With Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 01:45:48 GMT

Thanks for the good information.

AAoA is 6.5 years and AoOA is 12 years.

Past Chase relationship is had one card that I closed in 2011. Was an AU on a card that they closed in 2015. Currently am on a joint account for a Chase Auto lease.

I’m aware of the rumors surrounding the Chase Sapphire halo cards but thought I might as well start earning points in case the rumors never become reality.

New Plan...

Request Discover CLI and if it goes through for $5000, then apply for Sapphire first and FCU second.

Thoughts?

Re: My Plan for the Chase Perfecta... With Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 03:03:26 GMT

Worth a shot man

@kshurika do you have a link to validate that that would definitely be a denial? I've never heard of that restriction before - but it wasn't an issue for me when I apped anyway so it wasn't something that concerned me to begin with.

Re: My Plan for the Chase Perfecta... With Questions

kshurika — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 08:19:41 GMT

Well, I'd seen those points bandied around this forum quite often. So, as an employee of my Chase branch was filling out my app for the CSP, I asked her about the 5K limit on another card to qualify for CSP and the 10K limit for CSR. She replied, "You didn't hear it from me, but, yes, that's how it is".

Now, my question is, has anyone here gotten a CSP or CSR without meeting those minimums on other cards beforehand?

Re: My Plan for the Chase Perfecta... With Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 09:30:43 GMT

Interesting...in my experience reps in branch don't always know what they're talking about and have given me flat out incorrect info in the past. So I wonder - let's consider a theoretical applicant who's on the far end of the spectrum. Let's say they have an established relationship with Chase - have had a checking and savings account for awhile and use them as their primary accounts, averaging balances in the 5 figures over a period of a few years. Let's also say they have multiple cards with a stingy issuer like Citi or something, so that their total limit is over $5k but each individual card is less than that, but their history is clean with at least 2 years AAoA, so no hard inquiries at all in the last 2 years. Hell let's even say they've have a Chase card as well for a couple of years but for whatever reason the limit is under $5k. I wonder if this hypothetical person would still be denied a CSP.

Re: My Plan for the Chase Perfecta... With Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 09:57:58 GMT

@kshurika wrote:
Well, I'd seen those points bandied around this forum quite often. So, as an employee of my Chase branch was filling out my app for the CSP, I asked her about the 5K limit on another card to qualify for CSP and the 10K limit for CSR. She replied, "You didn't hear it from me, but, yes, that's how it is".

Now, my question is, has anyone here gotten a CSP or CSR without meeting those minimums on other cards beforehand?

Plenty of people have received the CSP and.or the CSR without having other cards that have $5k or $10k limits. It’s just a general guideline so that they can see that you have managed limits like that in the past. There is no hard rule but it helps to be approved for a CSR for example if you have had a $8k limit card for awhile vs the highest limit you have being $2k

Re: My Plan for the Chase Perfecta... With Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 10:15:40 GMT

For example: Interesting Chase App/Approval

Re: My Plan for the Chase Perfecta... With Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 11:39:52 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@kshurika wrote:
Well, I'd seen those points bandied around this forum quite often. So, as an employee of my Chase branch was filling out my app for the CSP, I asked her about the 5K limit on another card to qualify for CSP and the 10K limit for CSR. She replied, "You didn't hear it from me, but, yes, that's how it is".

Now, my question is, has anyone here gotten a CSP or CSR without meeting those minimums on other cards beforehand?
Plenty of people have received the CSP and.or the CSR without having other cards that have $5k or $10k limits. It’s just a general guideline so that they can see that you have managed limits like that in the past. There is no hard rule but it helps to be approved for a CSR for example if you have had a $8k limit card for awhile vs the highest limit you have being $2k

Yes, so apart from the wrong "confirmation" by a rep (not the first time people get wrong info!) this seems part of the MyFico echo chamber, where when something is repeated enough it is taken as gospel. What is still apparently true (for now) is that Chase really does have minimums, so you won't get a CSP with a limit below $5K or a CSR below $10K as the SL. It's also long been stated (correctly or otherwise) that Chase doesn't like to be the first to give higher limits, and so these get transformed into "You must have a $5K card to get the CSP." Which, as Irish says, is at most a guideline but gets posted as fact which can stop people applying.

Re: My Plan for the Chase Perfecta... With Questions

AverageJoesCredit — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 12:03:19 GMT

OP, using FCU AND CSx terminology is confusing. I assume you are referring to the Freedom Unlimited and Chase Sapphire? Thanks

Re: My Plan for the Chase Perfecta... With Questions

iced — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 12:29:17 GMT

@kshurika wrote:
Well, I'd seen those points bandied around this forum quite often. So, as an employee of my Chase branch was filling out my app for the CSP, I asked her about the 5K limit on another card to qualify for CSP and the 10K limit for CSR. She replied, "You didn't hear it from me, but, yes, that's how it is".

Now, my question is, has anyone here gotten a CSP or CSR without meeting those minimums on other cards beforehand?

While not specifically on a CSR/CSP, when I first applied for a Chase card my highest limit was $2400. They instantly approved me for $13,000. Chase is certainly friendly (at least to me) about being the bank you break into new tiers with.

My lowest Chase CL is currently $50,000. My highest limit from any other bank is $15,000.

Re: My Plan for the Chase Perfecta... With Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 12:51:16 GMT

@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
OP, using FCU AND CSx terminology is confusing. I assume you are referring to the Freedom Unlimited and Chase Sapphire? Thanks
@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
OP, using FCU AND CSx terminology is confusing. I assume you are referring to the Freedom Unlimited and Chase Sapphire? Thanks

I'm assuming CSx means "CSP or CSR" (i.e. x is a variable). FCU is presumably Freedom Unlimited but there aren't too many "C"s in that! Maybe CFU with C for Chase.

Re: My Plan for the Chase Perfecta... With Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 12:46:13 GMT

OP YEMV but in my case when I applied for the CSR my highest limit at the time was $4,500, and that was recent because I hadn’t applied for a CC in over 4 years so I was 0/24 with a history of multiple lates that were all back in 2012/13. Prior to even thinking of applying for the CSR, I did happen to become a joint account holder, so that may have helped when I applied. All I can say OP, when I applied for CSR, I didn’t know about any of this info about chase. I only knew the CSR was the best travel card around from my fiancé’s research and went ahead and applied. Also the $4500 limit card, I didn’t have for more than a couple months. I got it in April and applied for CSR in June, so I was 1/24 instead 0/24.

Re: My Plan for the Chase Perfecta... With Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 13:12:38 GMT

@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
OP, using FCU AND CSx terminology is confusing. I assume you are referring to the Freedom Unlimited and Chase Sapphire? Thanks

Yes, that is confusing, thank you. I edited the original post to clarify.

Re: My Plan for the Chase Perfecta... With Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 15:14:58 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
OP, using FCU AND CSx terminology is confusing. I assume you are referring to the Freedom Unlimited and Chase Sapphire? Thanks
Yes, that is confusing, thank you. I edited the original post to clarify.

Not sure it clarified! There are three cards (only 2 of which you can still apply for):

Chase Sapphire (no AF, dining only)

Chase Sapphire Preferred

Chase Sapphire Reserve

So from your message I am assuming you don't mean the plain Chase Sapphire.

Re: My Plan for the Chase Perfecta... With Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 17:11:15 GMT

Correct. I did not mean the plain Chase Sapphire card. I amended the OP to clarify, again. Learning and appreciate your patience.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve is my ideal choice but the Sapphire Preferred is more realistic.

New Step One is calling Discover after my statement closing date this week to ask for a CLI to $5000. Will update once done to see about next steps.