Chase Reserve / other higher tier cards with (short history + high income + good score)

[SASProject]

Hello everyone!

I wanted some advice on figuring out what options I have in terms of applying for higher tier cards like the chase reserve.

Current background:

TU: 745

EQ: 735

Annual income: 250 - 350k

Current cards: 1 : From a local credit union with 15k limit

Other accounts: A car loan for ~70k

Age of credit history: 9 months

In terms of my background, I moved to the US around March 2017 for work. My scores seem to be decent (based on what I read) but my biggest problem is age of accounts. I had applied for the reserve a while back and chase rejected it (which in hindsight should have been obvious). Since I wanted the reserve specifically, I got an account with chase and have ~20k in it. I then applied for the freedom card but surprisingly they rejected that too, with the reason being my age of accounts.

Right now I have prequal for Amex Gold, Green and Blue. But no prequals on Chase right now

Credit seems to be a very complex beast here, and I wanted to get advice on what next steps should I take.

(1) Apply for a Chase Reserve after the average age of accounts > 1year

(2) Apply for a Chase Preferred after the average age of accounts > 1year

(3) Dont do anything for another year, apply once my accounts are older, 2+ years

I have sufficient credit right now and dont mind waiting it out. The main reason for the sapphire is that I travel a lot and it seems like a good fit for that. What I am wondering about is how long would it be before I can get the chase. And if that is too long if it would be better to get another similar card.

Any advice would be welcome. Thank you in advance!

[GlennTheAgent777]

Good work so far on your credit sir!

Your problem is simple you just don't have much age yet your credit journey is just beginning. Your file is thin as well. Get a couple more starter cards and maybe get a small personal loan just to pay it off and have at least 1 positive closed account. But I'd say get a couple accounts to thicken your file, garden for 6 months, and you should be able to get the cards you're after.

[SBR249]

 There are a few things you can do:

1. You can go in to a Chase branch and ask a personal banker whether you have any pre-quals, since you already have a relationship with them, it's possible that there are offers already in the system and you can only check them in person. 

2. You've already got a high limit card which is good because Chase doesn't like to be the first high limit card in your wallet but since you only have 1 card, your file will always be thin and Chase isn't known for being friendly to thin files. Since you were already planning on waiting for a bit, you can app with a company that is friendly to thin files and then let those 2 cards age for a year. It'll bring your account age down to 5 months, but you'll have a thicker file at the end of a year. I'd suggest either Discover or AmEx. 

3. Wait another 3 months until your accounts are 1 year old and then app again for a freedom or a freedom unlimited. 

[Shadowfactor]

Did you ever try to recon the chase app ?

Try US bank. See if you have any Prequalified Offers for them. If you can get a solid fixed APR offer on a FlexPerks card or Cash card. You should be able to qualify for the Altitude Reserve.

Chase just doesn’t bend when it comes to the minimum SL on the Sapphire cards.
CSR= 10K SL
CSP = 5k SL.

Us Bank seems to allow a lot more leeway with SL below the minimum.

They have many of the same benefits. Anything the CSR offers the Altitude Offers. With a little higher travel credit. And $50 less AF. Only caveat is that the priority pass membership only allows 4 visits per year. After that it’s $27. But you get free WiFi 12 times a year on Gogo unlike the CSR.

The 3X on mobile wallet is also killer. Much better then 3X on restaurants in my opinion.

You do have to be a customer of US bank for 5 days before applying for the Altitude. That’s easy enough to solve though.

[SouthJamaica]

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wrote:

Hello everyone!

I wanted some advice on figuring out what options I have in terms of applying for higher tier cards like the chase reserve.

Current background:

TU: 745

EQ: 735

Annual income: 250 - 350k

Current cards: 1 : From a local credit union with 15k limit

Other accounts: A car loan for ~70k

Age of credit history: 9 months

In terms of my background, I moved to the US around March 2017 for work. My scores seem to be decent (based on what I read) but my biggest problem is age of accounts. I had applied for the reserve a while back and chase rejected it (which in hindsight should have been obvious). Since I wanted the reserve specifically, I got an account with chase and have ~20k in it. I then applied for the freedom card but surprisingly they rejected that too, with the reason being my age of accounts.

Right now I have prequal for Amex Gold, Green and Blue. But no prequals on Chase right now 

Credit seems to be a very complex beast here, and I wanted to get advice on what next steps should I take.

(1) Apply for a Chase Reserve after the average age of accounts > 1year

(2) Apply for a Chase Preferred after the average age of accounts > 1year

(3) Dont do anything for another year, apply once my accounts are older, 2+ years

I have sufficient credit right now and dont mind waiting it out. The main reason for the sapphire is that I travel a lot and it seems like a good fit for that. What I am wondering about is how long would it be before I can get the chase. And if that is too long if it would be better to get another similar card.

Any advice would be welcome. Thank you in advance!

---

Generally Chase likes to see > 1 year of credit history, so no surprise that your 2 applications were rejected. If I were you I would wait 4 months and apply for the Sapphire Reserve.

[iced]

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wrote:

They have many of the same benefits. Anything the CSR offers the Altitude Offers. With a little higher travel credit. And $50 less AF. Only caveat is that the priority pass membership only allows 4 visits per year. After that it’s $27. But you get free WiFi 12 times a year on Gogo unlike the CSR.

The 3X on mobile wallet is also killer. Much better then 3X on restaurants in my opinion.

You do have to be a customer of US bank for 5 days before applying for the Altitude. That’s easy enough to solve though.

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Does the Altitude offer airline/hotel partner point transfers? This is one of the 3 biggest perks of the CSR (along with 3x dining/travel and $300 travel credit). For the frequent travelers, the transfer partners are perhaps the most important perk as that's where most of the reward value is derived.

[ABCD2199]

I believe they still don't have any transfer partners so the value is less than Chase URs transferred.  For booking travel direct through USBank, it's the same 1.5cpp as Chase.

I considered this card since I am 8/24 with Chase and no offers for CSP to override that, but I can't figure out what codes as travel with USBank.  The CSP/CSR code a lot of things as travel including some public transportation and toll charges, etc.  That's got a lot of value even if you don't transfer to loyalty programs.

Also, no dining category on the US Bank card.

[Shadowfactor]

No the Altitude Reserve does not have transfer partners at this time. Points are worth 1.5 cents through the travel portal which is powered by travelocity or Expedia.
So any deals or packages you find on those sites, you can get through USB at the same prices too.

Still haven’t quite figured out how to get the best value out of transferring to partners. Every time I’ve looked at award tickets. I’m not getting any better then 1.3-1.7 cents.

Uber is considered Travel according to a CSR. Haven’t asked about tolls or anything since we don’t have any toll roads where I live.

No dining category per se with the altitude but tons of restaurants around me accept Apple Pay so I get the 3X most of the time.
The amount of points I loose in the restaurants that don’t take Apple Pay, is more then made up for in other places that do accept Apple Pay. My big spends are Grocery stores, RX’s , gas, clothing stores. All get 4.5% return plus tons of other places since they take Apple Pay.

A lot of places don’t advertise that they accept mobile payments or have signs for it. A lot of them do though. Just have to ask. If they accept contactless payments. More then likely they accept mobile payments as well. The list of places on apples website is very very incomplete.

[Canadian-In-Seattle]

Since the impact to your AAoA is 1/N% I suggest not waiting but getting a couple of cards now. With low AAoA you haven't got much to lose and later the larger number of cards will reduce the impact of any new account.

Don't go nuts, keep the Chase 5/24 rule in mind, but maybe pick up two more.

I know you want a top tier card by which you presumably mean one with a big fee.

But look into getting a couple of good daily drivers. Amex BCE, BoA cash rewards or travel, CITI DC and Costco Visa should all be possible.

Also try going into a branch and using a relationship manager to open the account. They can take your situation into account. That is how I got my BoA card as one of my first.

[billyboyblue]

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wrote:

Hello everyone!

I wanted some advice on figuring out what options I have in terms of applying for higher tier cards like the chase reserve.

Current background:

TU: 745

EQ: 735

Annual income: 250 - 350k

Current cards: 1 : From a local credit union with 15k limit

Other accounts: A car loan for ~70k

Age of credit history: 9 months

In terms of my background, I moved to the US around March 2017 for work. My scores seem to be decent (based on what I read) but my biggest problem is age of accounts. I had applied for the reserve a while back and chase rejected it (which in hindsight should have been obvious). Since I wanted the reserve specifically, I got an account with chase and have ~20k in it. I then applied for the freedom card but surprisingly they rejected that too, with the reason being my age of accounts.

Right now I have prequal for Amex Gold, Green and Blue. But no prequals on Chase right now

Credit seems to be a very complex beast here, and I wanted to get advice on what next steps should I take.

(1) Apply for a Chase Reserve after the average age of accounts > 1year

(2) Apply for a Chase Preferred after the average age of accounts > 1year

(3) Dont do anything for another year, apply once my accounts are older, 2+ years

I have sufficient credit right now and dont mind waiting it out. The main reason for the sapphire is that I travel a lot and it seems like a good fit for that. What I am wondering about is how long would it be before I can get the chase. And if that is too long if it would be better to get another similar card.

Any advice would be welcome. Thank you in advance!

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I agree that you need a few more accounts that show good management. I just don't think Chase is going to budge right now with just the one card and the auto loan to go on. Those premium cards have some tougher UW because of the higher limits they grant, and I think you'd be better served by getting another card (maybe that Amex Gold would be a good option since you travel), gardening for a while, and trying again in 6 months to a year after you have some positive history generated on the new accounts. Good luck!