Capital One QS CLI Request

[YoungMoney06]

Looking for some input. I've got two CapOne cards, both w/ $3k CL each (starting CL's at that.) I've had the QS (which started as a Plat back in February of 2021) and has been QS for at least 4-5 months now.

I've steady been asking for a CLI per guidance in other posts, but to no avail.

To be fair- I have been pushing all my monthly bills through my BOA Amtrak card and paying off each month. Driving force is because I get more "bang for my buck" via rewards on my BOA Amtrak card. (1 point per dollar spent = 2.5 cents of Amtrak travel) VS (1.5% = 1.5 cents cash back) So if I spend $1500 in a month on BOA Amtrak, I get $37.50 in Amtrak travel, where as the 1.5% would only yield $22.50 in rewards.

But I digress.

My question is, how heavily does CapOne place on the "usage" of their card towards future CLI's. I'd like to run my bills through my QS for the next few months and see if they're apt to CLI it. But also feel that both of my cards may be "bucketed" as well.

[Trini88]

I know people say heavy usage but I know from my experience after a year and a half of heavy usage and denial after denial, I stopped all usage and only put a $2.99 subscription on there. Did that for 2 months then all of a sudden my $500 cl turned into $2000 automatically 🙄

[OmarGB9]

They are pretty heavy on usage and paying off regularly. But even then there's no guarantee you'll be offered a CLI. Or if you are, it's most likely like a $100/$200 CLI...

It very well could be that it's bucketed, especially if it started as a Platinum, although if they started at $3k, there's a chance they might not be bucketed.

[Rebuild2019]

I agree with @Trini88. I’ve read about all the money people spend on Cap1 cards only to be denied or receive a $100 CLI. I put heavy spend on cards that give CLI. Just my opinion.

[simplynoir]

If one of your QS cards was an upgrade from Platinum version then I'm afraid that card is bucketed. Not to say that you can't grow that card but it will be very hard to get any legs under it even with a huge chunk of spend. Here's a post from yesterday where someone was trying to grow their Savor card after quite a bit of spend on it and got a small increase for their efforts

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Capital-one-disappointment/m-p/6443448

Honestly, I would just keep doing what you're doing maximizing your spend instead of attempting to get Capital One to give you an increase you may not get to your liking. The opportunity cost rewards wise attempting that is not worth it when there's no guarantee of success

[YoungMoney06]

@simplynoir My thoughts exactly. I'm definitely all for continuing pushing my heavy usage every month through my BOA. But I've also come to find out BOA, after trying once or twice in the last 5-6 months, isn't willing to show me love back until 12 months in.

May put the usage on my NFCU cashRewards card. I've got about one more month before I hit the 6 months since my last CLI and may see some love on that card (my largest CL to date.) Even though it's only 1.5% rewards, I'm sure NFCU will show plenty of love in comparison to CapOne.

[JFox418]

My Cap1 was a Platinum and auto PC (I don't ever remember asking them to PC) to QS in the last year or two. I don't spend much on it, maybe $200 a month but I've had a high balance on it for a while. I just had an auto CLI from $10k to $13k. 

[Curious_George2]

As stated above, they have traditionally required heavy spend. There are exceptions, and those might be growing more common in recent weeks, but the dominant longer term pattern is very clear. 

About a year ago, I devoted a lot of time, effort and spend to figuring out their CLI rules. Here's a thread with what I found. Was it worth it? Depends on the metric. I learned a lot, grew the CL a bit, and earned some cashback along the way. But I, like you, had better rewards-earning options available. And even with about half my spend for a year, my CL went from $3700 to $5250. That has not come close to keeping up with the CL growth on several other cards I have. 

Among your current lenders, BofA and Navy have FAR more potential for CL growth than CapOne. Good luck!

[dangerously_caffeinated]

My experience with C1 has been far better with CLI than others, apparently. I started with a CL Platinum ~2 years ago at a 500 limit. After roughly 6 months it went to 800 automatically (woohoo). Then, I started getting into rewards and wanted something further.. so, I PCd to QS. I use my QS for pretty much everything and PIF every month and was maxing out the $800 monthly. After 6 months I requested a CLI and got $2350, I've continued the same strategy and just got a CLI last week to $5350 after a self-induced request. I've opened a SavorOne two months ago but was only granted a 1k limit, so the plan is to max that guy out monthly and PIF for CLIs. 

Im doing this all to build a relationship for a Venture X and better cards in the future (BK 2018). C1 seems to like my loyalty in this case and it's gotten me this far, but for those that have a lot of cards under their belt (im currently at 3) you need to pretty much hyper focus on C1 for it to pay off. Hopefully my experience helps!