Need advice on Citi cards...

[krmurrayjr10]

I started rebuilding my credit several years ago and am now well into the 700s. Once my score began approaching 700 in the 2nd half of 2018, I closed the store and rebuilder cards I had (except for Target, which I’m keeping for AAoA and the 5% discount), and now have the cards listed below, all with perfect histories and PIF every month:

Capital One Venture, $6500 limit

Fidelity Rewards, $4500

Barclay Aviator Red ($2000) and Miles & More ($3500)

Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select, $3000

Amex Bonvoy Brilliant ($5000) and Hilton Aspire ($3100)

Amex Platinum and Gold

NFCU More Rewards, $20,000 - just opened this one.

My question is on the Citi card, which I opened 2 years ago. I cannot get an increase with it (I’ve tried several times) due to an old charge off which will be on my report until about the end of this year. My status with AA now duplicates some of the card’s benefits, so I’m having trouble justifying paying the $95 annual fee. I can’t decide what to do with it. I’m thinking about either:

1.) Calling in for a retention offer to justify the annual fee and hold on to it for a bit longer - maybe I can get an increase on it once the charge off goes away?

2.) Calling in for a product change - what is possible for this card?

3.) Applying for the Executive AA card - at least that has an effectively discounted Admirals Club access, and now I’m just outside the 24-month SUB restriction. Not sure if I would be approved, but I could get a higher limit then on the existing card, which I could later close or product change. My score and income are now both far higher than they were when Citi approved me for the one I have.

4.) Closing it completely and forgetting about Citi.

Suggestions?

[Anonymous]

#3 would require not changing anything or you start the 24 month clock again

PCing after you apply for the higher card could get you a DC or something within the AA family but, will likely not grow 

It's surely a quagmire 

[pinkandgrey]

I would call in and try to PC it to something without an AF. If that doesn’t work, close it out. 

[NaaryalHead]

Based on other users posts, Citi can be a bit cold so I personally wouldn't test them with the retention try. It's better to PC to one of their other cards you find useful. Like the DC.

[krmurrayjr10]

I’m leaning toward trying for the Executive AA card to collect the SUB and then PCing the existing card to something else or closing it.

My closest airport is PHL, so with AA’s dominance there both the Admirals Club Access and the SUB would be very useful. How difficult is the Executive to get?

If that works, I would then ask Barclay to move the Aviator limit over to the Miles and More and close the Aviator...

[krmurrayjr10]

Update: I decided to app for the Executive AA card and submitted the app while sitting on a flight on Monday.  After submitting the app and waiting for several moments on a response, I was then taken to a screen asking me how I would like Citi to contact me, and since I was in the air, chose the option that I couldn’t be contacted at that moment, which then sent the app into “further processing” with the 7-10 day message.

I called in once on the ground, the rep located the application, placed me on hold for a minute or two, then simply came back and said the app was still being reviewed and no decision yet made, and that I would hear back.

That was 2 days ago. As of right now, the application is still pending when I check online, and I haven’t heard anything from them since I called. Does this more often lead to an approval or decline, or what surprises still await me?

Now I’m even happier that Navy approved me instantly a couple weeks ago for $20k on their Amex card...

[Anonymous]

Congrats on making the decision!

I can't say what the hold up is with them on the pending portion though.  Usually with a co-brand like airlines where you have FF #'s and such there's some verification of you + lender + airline before they print the card.  It use to be a bit of a hold up when applying for things like Costco / Sam's club as well if you didn't already have a photo on file w/ either of them.  I suspect you will either get a call or letter asking you to call a different number to verify info with them.

[krmurrayjr10]

Day 4 and no change since Monday: no calls, no e-mails, nothing in the mail today either, and app still pending.

I had hoped that calling in Monday would resolve any verification/identification issues, but that didn’t do it. With a FICO in the 700s, utilization around 2%, no inquiries or new accounts in the last 6 months, and a perfect 2-year payment history on my existing Citi card, I’m frankly surprised that there would be a problem...?

[Anonymous]

That's pretty strange, personally I would give them another call if I were you and see if you can talk to someone else about your app. Maybe it's further along in the process now and the rep can tell you more about the status.

[krmurrayjr10]

UPDATE!

So, after letting this morning pass with no e-mail or call and nothing in the mail, I called in again.

This time, the rep asked me if I had received any notification to contact Citi, and I replied “no”. She then looked at the app and told me she could finish the app while we were on the call, and did the “send a code to your phone” verification. She then placed me on hold for a couple minutes, came back and said I was approved with a SL of $13,000.

So, my intent is now to close the existing AA Platinum card, which has not received a CLI since they opened it at $3k just over 2 years ago - and I’ve tried several times for an increase.

So, it’s a success: I can save myself the $95 annual fee on the first card, pay a discounted rate for Admirals Clubs at my nearest airports (PHL and JFK), get a pro-rated miles refund for the Admirals Club membership I bought with miles a month or so ago, and close the Aviator Red card I have with Barclays and transfer its limit over to the Barclays Miles and More card, which at least comes with 2 Lufthansa lounge vouchers each year. Woot woot!