Discover pre qualify

[Ramsport]

Hit the discover pre-qual and was pre-approved for all three cards.

Said I had till August 27th to accept the offer.

So I waited a bit to investigate all the cards and thought I could just go back in and enter my social and bring up my app.

Then it said we have nothing to offer.

So I called and the girl said once it's pre-approved you kind of can't do it again.

Honestly didn't know this.

She suggested to just full on app because the computer already knows your pre-approved.

Thoughts?

Thank you in advance

[OmarGB9]

You can only run the prequal once every 8 days. If you don't continue with the full app during the prequal process, you "lose it" so to speak, but you can try again later. The fact that you're prequaled is a good sign, but with or without a prequal, an approval is never guaranteed. If you want peace of mind, you can try running the prequal again after the 8 days have elapsed and see what happens. 

[Ramsport]

Thank you for responding but at the risk of sounding dense, why does it say I have until the 27th to accept the offer.

And it said congratulations your pre-approved.

I understand pre-approvals are not a guarantee and I mentioned that to the rep that I spoke to and she spoke to her manager and they didn't understand why if it says I can have until the 27th.

Again thank you for responding greatly appreciate it. 

[OmarGB9]

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@Ramsport wrote:

Thank you for responding but at the risk of sounding dense, why does it say I have until the 27th to accept the offer.

And it said congratulations your pre-approved.

I understand pre-approvals are not a guarantee and I mentioned that to the rep that I spoke to and she spoke to her manager and they didn't understand why if it says I can have until the 27th.

Again thank you for responding greatly appreciate it. 

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The 27th would be 8 days from today (including today).

[SDMarik]

FWIW, when I got my Discover a couple of years ago the same thing happened. I did not feel like waiting, and figured since I was pre-qualified and they are usually pretty solid with Disco, I just cold apped without going through the pre-qual screens and it got approved instantly for $15K.

That's just one datapoint from one person, however. 

[Ramsport]

That's what I thought about doing. It just doesn't make sense. I understand what the previous poster said to wait eight days.

But it clearly said I had to the 27th to accept the offer. You can't keep a browser open with that page on there till the 27th so how do you go back into accept the offer.

It may be just me but by them putting that do it now or else date on there people enter into obligations they otherwise wouldn't. 

Thank you for responding. 

[OmarGB9]

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@Ramsport wrote:

That's what I thought about doing. It just doesn't make sense. I understand what the previous poster said to wait eight days.

But it clearly said I had to the 27th to accept the offer. You can't keep a browser open with that page on there till the 27th so how do you go back into accept the offer.

It may be just me but by them putting that do it now or else date on there people enter into obligations they otherwise wouldn't. 

Thank you for responding. 

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Maybe call again and try asking someone else? Not sure if there's a way to go back.

[LADave]

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@Ramsport wrote:

That's what I thought about doing. It just doesn't make sense. I understand what the previous poster said to wait eight days.

But it clearly said I had to the 27th to accept the offer. You can't keep a browser open with that page on there till the 27th so how do you go back into accept the offer.

It may be just me but by them putting that do it now or else date on there people enter into obligations they otherwise wouldn't. 

Thank you for responding. 

---

Credit card preapprovals are more about marketing than guarantees, although Discover's preapproval page seems to be based on criteria that's pretty close to their actual criteria for approving the cards. But even when they give a specific "offer" that's good for a specific time frame, these "offers" are never guarantees that you can take to the bank (pun intended).

So unless something has happened with your credit reports since then (like a drop of more than a few points - and even then),  you're probably as likely to get the card now as you were the day you got the preapproval.

For what it's worth, I've had my Discover It for about 4 months now, and I've been using it way more than I expected for its 5% rotating categories. This quarter has been especially good, with both dining and PayPal giving 5% cash back. I'm close to maxing out the 5% cashback for the quarter, and I'll get the doubled "cashback bonus" next year. Even though I was a little nervous about applying, I'm glad I pulled the trigger on it.

[bobnathan0295]

Discover is generally good about approving cards based on credit scores and their knowledge of my income. They seem to know that my income is relatively high. I have a friend who does not work all the time. He never gets the offers I get in the mail