I should add that I was denied both the personal loan and the Credit line increase
I'm sorry to hear about your denial.
If you've not already checked out the 'big' thread on NFCU CLIs, it's worth a look:
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/Official-NFCU-CLI-Guide/td-p/2101185
There's a lot there... if you don't have time to start from the beginning you can simply skim over the more recent posts (much of the information is repeated). You'll also find examples of nearly every CLI situation with NFCU you can think of.
Total CL: $321.7k | UTL: 2% | AAoA: 7.0yrs | Baddies: 0 | Other: Lease, Loan, *No Mortgage, All Inq's from Jun '20 Car Shopping |