So given the impending rumored demise of the 10-points-per-transaction Chase Exclusives bonus on the Chase Freedom card, I decided to come out of the garden and apply.
My initial application got the 7 to 10 day notice, so I called in to the backdoor recon number. The fellow who answered the phone dismissed me swiftly and curtly citing 7 inquiries and leaving no space for me to get a word in edgewise to try to explain that 2 of those are from rental applications on my recent move and 1 was in dispute as it had been applied by BoA when I did my product change. He gave zero sign of being willing to hear reason, so I simply said thank you and hung up.
I went and pulled a fresh report on CreditSecure to make sure my inquiry count was correct, and seeing that it was, called in again, this time to the number labeled "Credit Analyst" in the backdoor thread instead of the one labeled "App Recon". This time I found a more sympathetic ear...she listened patiently to my explanation of the inquiries, but then said they still didn't like to see even 4 inquiries in the past 6 months. At this point I explained that there was rumor of the Exclusives program being diminished or discontinued, and since I had a checking account with them that is what had spurred me to take advantage of this program while I could, against my better judgment to wait and apply later.
To which she replied, "Oh! You have a checking account with us?"
I, a little mystified that she didn't know this already, said "Yes, yes i do. And savings as well."
"Give me a moment."
She puts me on hold for 30 seconds, pulls up my account info, comes back on and interviews me about each of my open credit tradelines and why I had applied for it. She also asks what my spending plans for the Freedom card are, whether I intend to use auto-pay (I say yes), and whether I would like the auto-pay to be for the minimum due or full balance (full balance). She comes back and says "Congratulations! You are approved for $400."
Certainly not as much as I might have hoped for, but considering I knew full well this application was 4-6 months earlier than it should have been, I am pleased enough to have my foot in the door and be grandfathered in with the 10-and-10 Exclusives benefits.
So my main reason for posting yet another recon thread: make sure they know you have other accounts at Chase. Apparently they're not always automatically made aware of the fact, and given my experience it is clear that that does factor positively in their credit decisions.
Starting: EQ 622 (myFICO 7/7/12), EX 696 (TU FAKO 8/14/12), TU 621 (CK TransRisk 7/24/12), Total CL $1k on 2 TLs
Current: EQ 709 (CCT 2/4/15), EX 704 (CCT 2/4/15) , TU 702 (CCT 2/4/15), Total CL $110.3k on 14 TLs Goal: 740+ x3
My Wallet: Amex BCP $30k, Chase United Explorer $16k, Amex SPG $13.5k, Barclaycard Ring MC $12.5k, Chase CSP VS $12.2k, Discover it $10.5k, C1 Venture VS $6.5k, Chase Slate $3.5k, Amex Hilton Surpass $2k, Barclaycard Apple V $2k, Chase Freedom V $1100, BoA Cash Rewards V $500, Citi BestBuy $500
My Loans: Prosper $25k/36mo, Prosper $17k/36mo
My Business: Chase Ink VS $5k, Amex BRG NPSL (> 10k),
Starting Score: EQ 717 EX 724 TU 736
