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Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card

Hi,

 

I'm a longtime and frequent Amazon user and Prime member and Amazon is really tempting me with their Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card. I understand it's Chase and it is my understanding that Chase is really hard to get. What is the magic?

 

FICO scores between 710 and 720

Credit history approaching 2 years of age.

2 credit cards (FirstBankCard and Barcley); total util somewhere between 31 and 39 % (FBC higher, ~50, than Barcley). 

1 (fairly small) car loan, at around 50% paid off

No late payments, monthly statements always in full or more. No other things on my reports.

Relatively small salary (25k) because I'm just a student 

 

Should I even bother trying?

Message 1 of 30
29 REPLIES 29
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card


@Anonymous wrote:

Hi,

 

I'm a longtime and frequent Amazon user and Prime member and Amazon is really tempting me with their Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card. I understand it's Chase and it is my understanding that Chase is really hard to get. What is the magic?

 

FICO scores between 710 and 720

Credit history approaching 2 years of age.

2 credit cards (FirstBankCard and Barcley); total util somewhere between 31 and 39 % (FBC higher, ~50, than Barcley). 

1 car loan, at around 50% paid off

 

Should I even bother trying?


If you can bring your util wayyyyy down, you shouldn't have any problems whatsoever.

Message 2 of 30
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card

 

@Anonymous wrote:


If you can bring your util wayyyyy down, you shouldn't have any problems whatsoever.


That's the hard part, unfortuantely. I use Barcley to finance something (if I had the money I wouldn't have needed to finance it in the first place) and with the other I've been struggeling a little lately to lower the util, but too many things came up (vet costs, car repair costs...you name it). I'm only a student, so no huge income to just pay it off. I will as soon as I can, of course.

I don't plan on putting huge util on the Amazon card (mostly shifting those I have been paying on amazon with my other CC). But the current $70 giftcard is extremely tempting Smiley Wink

Message 3 of 30
AverageJoesCredit
Legendary Contributor

Re: Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card

Dont worry about your salary thats fine. I say if you dont mind the hp and you want it shoot for itSmiley Wink Its only a hp. Sure lowering your utiliization is ideal but if you cant right now and you are ok with a possible denial, go for it, you might get suprised. Best of luckSmiley Happy
Message 4 of 30
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card

I did it two weeks ago. I just put in the application. I have lots of new applications for travel hacks- lots over 10. Credit score is about 771. It took them two weeks to respond and I didn't get an instant response.
I waited and then an email popped up saying I got approved for 9k and a 70.00 credit in my Amazon account.

In my opinion. I would get maybe one or two cards, possibly from AmEx to get that utilization down. The more credit line you have the less it will be. Not saying to go apply for a ton of stuff. Just one or two.
Message 5 of 30
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card


@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
Dont worry about your salary thats fine. I say if you dont mind the hp and you want it shoot for itSmiley Wink Its only a hp. Sure lowering your utiliization is ideal but if you cant right now and you are ok with a possible denial, go for it, you might get suprised. Best of luckSmiley Happy

Thanks. How would a denial impact my score now and in the long run? How about applications in the future?

 

I'd rather not have a denial...because I assume it just doesn't look good and will make things even harder in the future, no? 




@Anonymous wrote:
I did it two weeks ago. I just put in the application. I have lots of new applications for travel hacks- lots over 10. Credit score is about 771. It took them two weeks to respond and I didn't get an instant response.
I waited and then an email popped up saying I got approved for 9k and a 70.00 credit in my Amazon account.

In my opinion. I would get maybe one or two cards, possibly from AmEx to get that utilization down. The more credit line you have the less it will be. Not saying to go apply for a ton of stuff. Just one or two.

 

Thanks for your input! But, 771 is quite different story than 710-720 Smiley Wink And any new CC will have hard pulls which eventually will negatively affect mt CS. 

 

I think I have 1 HP still affecting my score (Barcleycard, which I applied to in 11/16). The other two (FBC and Car loan) should have fallen off, but still how up on my report (<24 months, but >12 months). However, I did have an automatic CL increase for my FBC earlier this year and I assume they pulled the CS?

Message 6 of 30
BurgeoningHope
Frequent Contributor

Re: Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card

This is one of those times where the Shopping Cart Trick (SCT) might be worth doing, just to pull your util down.

 

The steps are everywhere on the web, an on this board, and the details are important. But as an overview, you go to one of a number of stores that have Comenity as the bank running their store card. Make sure you allow popups on the site. Poke around the site for a while, put some stuff in your shopping cart, then head for the checkout.

 

At some point during the process, with your scores you may well get a popup congratulating you on your preapproved store card. Go ahead and do the signup process, and enjoy your new larger overall credit line, no hard pull against your CR! You don't actually have to buy the thing/s in your shopping cart.

 

Again, the details are important. Don't do it until you've done some reading.

 

Choose your store/s carefully. Overstock.com famously gives monster lines relative to the others and that was certainly the case for me. I got north of $4k from them, and $750 from a clothing store. Some people go nuts and try to do all the stores. There are dangers in doing that. But doing one or two really helped me out.

 

Then I recommend either sock-drawering the cards, or gently using them to work on your payment history. Just keep their util low, and they'll help pull down those other utils you have, all without hard pulls.

 

Chase is fairly conservative, but I got my Amazon Visa a couple of weeks ago with an AAoA of 4 months and scores similar to yours, but my util is 8%.

 

Good luck!


Message 7 of 30
Total80sKid
Senior Contributor

Re: Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card

Also be prepared for a $350 SL on Overstock like I did with the same score another user here had and got a $4k SL Smiley Happy
Message 8 of 30
HeavenOhio
Senior Contributor

Re: Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card

I was approved last October with a score about like yours, two new accounts in the previous six weeks, and one card that was maxed. This was before I knew anything about utilization, the advantage of most cards reporting a zero balance, or Chase being picky about new accounts.

 

I was approved, but it was for a low limit ($2,500). I'd have been better off waiting. Chase bumped my limit by $1,500 after four months. I don't know if it was because my scores and reports were in better shape or simply because I was using the card and paying in full.

 

My score is now just below 800 instead of just above 700, simply because I now know what I'm doing. And my newest account is seven or eight months old. I wonder what kind of limit I'd have gotten had I applied under the current circumstances.

Message 9 of 30
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card

If someone is at a healthy utilization percentage that's outside of the "good" range (29%+) and they are unable to pay it off for whatever reason, IMO the last thing they should be looking to do is take on more credit.  Yes there are exceptions like scooping up a 0% BT card, but putting the exceptions aside it simply isn't a smart financial move to take on more potential debt if you are unable to pay off the debt you currently have.

Message 10 of 30
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