Good to hear from my friends on this.
When we were jilted by Aven (I am currently in the process of a "revenge tour" of commencing a (legal) tranactional abuse of their Aven 1% cashback debit card from the Aven account we signed up for in good faith, on every questionable cashback use I can find, just for amusement and education!), I did immediately apply my spouse (and get approved) for a Citi AT&T Points Plus card (we just got AT&T, so on top of the 2-4% on the phones/internet, it gives a $20 monthly bonus on $1000 spend, so it gives us 3% for $1000 a month general spend (including 5% for gas and 4% for groceries possible in there, if needed), plus another 1% when I use my TAB debit card to pay via phone (not too bad- a great no-FTF card for general non-business expenses on our overseas trip in Oct, too, and a $200 SUB)). My main bank, US Bank, has uniquely screwed around with only one of my cards - the State Farm card which gives 3% on insurance - dropping my credit mysteriously from $10K to $500 one day before I paid my insurance bill two years ago (my FICO is 848, so that is not an issue), with no explanation provided, and none of my other many US Bank card affected (maybe due to low use since its only good for charges twice a year), and is pesky to get raised again without a hard pull.
My first personal priority is getting a Citi Double Cash, so I can get my treasured Citi ThankYou Card points out at full strength since I can't transfer them to my wife anymore, and they have been notorious with me and hardcore on the 0/6 inquiries, so I am keeping my powder dry to reapply with them at the end of Sept right before we head to Rome (30th anniversary) and being 0/6 then (BTW a Citi agent (after I set up a Citi checking account last week to establish the mythical "relationship" leeway) told me yesterday I could product change to a Custom Cash immediately afterwards if I get the Double Cash, but I know now that agents know less than we do what's going on (leading to the sacred practice of HUCA). Accordingly, right after I submit that I will submit a WTH app with Aven just for meaness; I can honestly say I don't own a home since I signed the house over to my wife many, many years ago to avoid unscrupulous business associates as a precaution. Next week I'm trying to get the Huntington Business Voice 4% card for my fledgling (but 23-year old) book publishing business and travel (and 4% dining cashback for business expenses overseas), and my wife a Langley 5% card to match mine (the greatest card after the ThankYou if people only knew all it can do), but both parties are going over us worse than when I got my secret security clearance long ago (The Huntington new branch people locally were useless, so I did get approved for the personal and business checking accounts online, and loaded them with a lot of bucks to hopefully get a big $1600 bonus (no direct deposit needed for either), and then apply for the card next week when I have zero inquiries over two years on my Trans Union report).
Some have asked why all the fuss for a capped 3% card; my agenda was one of "insurance," as a double ententre; (a) A 2+% card for the categories our 1.0 Smartlys (which we were blessed to get in the nick of time) and BoA Customized cards do not cover (a number of biggies), such as insurance and (b) insurance against when the Smartly 1.0s reach their inevitable demise, and get ahead of the game. We currently use a stash of Visa gift cards from ThankYou card offers to pay our many medical bills, some quarterly taxes (along with two Custom Cashes) and insurance (they even paid $44 grand for our new HVAC system and roof weeks ago!), but the Missus wants me to tone down on them, so I need surrogates (who knows when they finally close the doors on gift cards too (due to widespread "fraudulent activity" - boo hoo!)). To be honest, my 2% Synchrony card and 2% Bread card can get 3% with the 1% debit card payments for both banks (4% with our Paypal card as well), but I'm not counting on that staying either. As Dylan said, "The times, they are a'changin'..."
This reflection has caused me to have interest in seeing a thread here of what are everyone's "white whale" banks that for mysterious reasons will not approve you for the "holy grail" cards you want, due to unreasonable or inexplicable criteria, your not fitting their desired demographics or being seen as a profitable customer, etc. I think there would be some surprises; for me, its Citi, and surprisingly Wells Fargo (they rejected applications for both my wife and I (both 840+ FICO at the time, 2-3% utilization and long reports, and minimum inquiries) for the Autograph Journey card for our trip, even with a bundle of money in savings accounts there, and it being the only card there I'm interested in).
Sorry to be so scant on details again, and my usual laconic self!
Citi:
US Bank:
Chase:
Aven:
RH:
