The last month or so I have been receiving Pre-Approval letters from Capital One in the mail. They are directing me to a website and have given me a Reservation number and an Access Code to use when applying. This has confused me because I had cold applied for the QS card in June and I had been rejected. It stated the reasons were that I did not have a checking account and the number of delinquent past or present credit obligations from all three credits agencies. I do now have a checking account but the baddies on my credit reports have not gone away. They are three state liens and three medical collections which were mostly generated during a two year period when I was unemployed in the late 2000s. My only open account is a car loan that I have had since March 2014 and I have not been late once. My credit scores have gone from mid 500s to lower 600s with the highest being 613. After almost two years I would have hoped that my good behavior with the loan would have moved my scores higher. This is what led me to try the cold app last June. I am just confused why Cap One would be reaching out to me when the only real change has been the checking account. When I go through the online approval site I get the Congratulations message and am shown APRs for the Platinum and QS cards. I have 10 INQ, nine of which came in March 2014 when I was going for a car loan and, unbeknowst to me, the dealer was contacting many different agencies to get me approved (lets not talk about the APR on that loan). Those will fall off in three months and then all I will have is the INQ from Cap One last June. I am not opposed to going the secure card route but, if I can get an unsecured card, I would prefer that. So, after that long background review, I have two basic questions. Do you think having a checking account was the main reason why I was declined last June or are the baddies a large part of the decline which will still prevent me and, if I decide to apply, should I use the reservation number and access code or just go through the congratulations website after being pre-approved there? Part of me thinks having the number and code might make it more likely to get it. If I am approved I intend to PIF each month and still continue to live an entirely cash existence. The card will just be used to improve my credit with positive activity.
I just discovered this forum two days ago and have spent several hours devouring all that I can. It has been an eye opener and I appreciate all of you who are willing to lend your thoughts and advice.
Thanks, everyone! Any thoughts on which method would be the preferred way to apply? Is using my codes which came in the letter the better option? I am certainly happy to just get approved for one but if I could get two with one HP I am thinking about doing that. If I do get approved for the platinum using the codes, do you think it would use the same HP if I then went for the QS through the pre-approval site?
I bit the bullet and applied for the QS1 first using the pre approval site. I got approved for a modest amount. Woohoo! I then turned right around and applied for the Platinum and got approved for the same amount. I am perfectly fine with the amounts as I couldn't get approved just six months ago. I was telling a co-worker about this site and the discussions I had been reading. Like me she had been trying to dig out of a bad credit history and did not have much positive current activity. She got approved for both as well. Thanks so much for all of the helpful people who make this such a vibrant community, especially those he responded to my questions and gave me the confidence to apply.
For future reference, I applied within 5 minutes of each other and TU shows two HP and EQ only shows one. Dinged my score slightly but I have every intention of regaining those points, and then some.
@Raiderguy8 wrote:I bit the bullet and applied for the QS1 first using the pre approval site. I got approved for a modest amount. Woohoo! I then turned right around and applied for the Platinum and got approved for the same amount. I am perfectly fine with the amounts as I couldn't get approved just six months ago. I was telling a co-worker about this site and the discussions I had been reading. Like me she had been trying to dig out of a bad credit history and did not have much positive current activity. She got approved for both as well. Thanks so much for all of the helpful people who make this such a vibrant community, especially those he responded to my questions and gave me the confidence to apply.
For future reference, I applied within 5 minutes of each other and TU shows two HP and EQ only shows one. Dinged my score slightly but I have every intention of regaining those points, and then some.
Congrats 
In six months, you can (likely) combine the two cards and then have a nice CL on one card. I just did so this month with my QS1 and Platinum, making QS1 my highest CL card at $6K. Treat them well and they will (likely) treat you well, too. I've been a cardholder since 2012 and never had any problems with CapOne... though others' mileage varies, I know.
I wanted to provide an update and seek some additonal advice. As I mentioned before, I got approved for a modest amount ($300 on each) and have been using them heavily and only leaving a few dollars on each account so they will be sure to report the activity to the credit bureaus. I hit the luv button and got a $500 increase on both of them last month. All of my car loan inquiries have now fallen off as well leaving me with just two. My credit scores have been soaring and my Equifax FAKO (CK) score jumped 32 points this morning. I was still not getting any pre-quals from other cards though. I was going to try some SCTs tonight and went to use IE with the pop ups turned off. I usually use Firefox to do my pre-quals but tonight I wondered if a new "clean" browser might produce new results. I went to Cap1 and was shocked when I got the congratuations message for the Quicksilver and a recommendation for the Venture. I never even had received a recommendation for either of them. I pulled the trigger and was approved for the Quicksilver (I did not app for the Venture) with a $3000 limit. I was totally shocked. I was curious to see what other companies might think of me now. I still was getting recommendations but two companies have changed their tunes. I got pre-qual messages from AMEX for the green, gold and Premier Rewards gold. The PRG has the 50K MR offer attached. I also got a pre-qual for the Chase Freedom. Chase Freedom had the $150 cash back after a $500 spend in 90 days offer attached. First of all, it seems that these companies' pre-quals are generaly thought to be solid. Secondly, since I just got the one HP, should I go ahead and add two more? Also, which of the AMEX cards would be the best one to get. The AF seems a bit high but I am willing to do that if one of them will continue to help me improve my credit history. I would definitely want to apply for the Chase card first because of the 5/24 rule. Do either of these companies do recons after getting approved?
Any thoughts would be welcomed and are most appreciated.
I went ahead and apped for the Chase Freedom. I got a $4500 CL which just about floored me. With the confidence I gained from the Chase app I figured I might as well go ahead and finish my first mini-app spree and go for the PRG AMEX. I wasnt disappointed and got it too. I started this weekend with $1600 combined credit and I end it with $9100 combined credit and a NPSL PRG. All of this since December 11th.
Should I wait until these cards appear on Credit Karma to pull all three Credit Scores? With CCT only pulling them once every three months my thinking is to wait and pull it after they post as opposed to now.