(Skip to the bottom if you just want to see the stats)
Approved for my first premium travel card!! I am a frequent international traveller that has been an authorized user on an Amex Platinum for awhile now. Figured it was time to invest in my own travel credit card to rack up some points in my own name. I currently have the Uber Visa but the point system just switched to Uber Credits only, so I needed something that would cover the dining category as well.
So this morning I applied for the Chase Sapphire Reserve in high spirits... instantly denied. Called the recon line, was told that I don't have enough established credit history and no investments/mortgages with Chase. Asked kindly to be reconsidered, explained my situation, and the lady reiterated that they cannot give me an account. I was sad for most of the day and considered waiting for awhile to reapply but thought about the Citi Prestige for a couple reasons: dining is 5x which is my main spending category, Singapore Airlines is a transfer partner (and I'm an SQ frequent flier), and I stay at hotels with my family that aren't a part of any chain (luxury and boutique hotels) so the 4th night free was inticing for that. Since I am on the Plat too, lounge access wasn't too important for me. My checking/savings banks don't have credit card options so I don't have that "loyalty" to any bank, and I have no loans with anyone either so I think that lack of banking relationship also affected my Chase application. Chase has rejected me for 2 cards so far (Amazon card, CSR), yet I've always gotten instant approvals for every other card/bank I've applied for (Barclays, Amex, Apple card (didn't accept though), and now the Citi card).
Decided to give it a go later on in the day for the Prestige... the decision was super slow to load and I thought for sure I had made a bad decision and would be rejected again because I had no prequal offers from Citi. To my surprise, Instantly approved with a 16k limit!
Stats when applying to Citi Prestige:
Equifax - 710 apparently according to approval page (this was the only score I didn't know and it's the score Citi pulled... a lot lower than my other scores unfortunately, I don't think my Amex reported there in time which I recently paid off in full)
Experian - 754 (pulled + rejected for CSR)
Transunion: 757
Total inquires: 2-3 (2 on Transunion and 3 on Experian, not sure on Equifax).
Number of accounts: 2 (in my name), authorized user on 2 more accounts for 4 accounts total
AAoA: 2yrs, oldest account 5yrs (but that is an authorized user account, not my own. I think this is one reason Chase hates me. My oldest account in my name is 8 months because I just turned 22 so I'm fairly new to CCs)
Accounts: Total CL: 32k of my own between 2 accounts with Amex/Barclays (16k each), authorized user on 2 accounts with much higher CLs. Utilization around 7% total.
Income: 120k
No baddies on any account
Done applying for cards for a long time now! I've been a long time lurker on this site and has helped me so much so hopefully this post helps someone too!
