When I applied for my DM I had not gotten any mail offers nor was anything showing on their pre-qualified page (I had checked, never saw anything there). There was an offer on a partner site I thought was attractive (free software if approved for DM), plus it was a bit of an excuse to apply for the card lol.
I had\have a somewhat thick file (about 10 accounts) with perfect history, AMEX was showing back to 1989 (I think a major part of the approval), with higher UTIL and 2 INQs (I think) on EQ for the previous 2 years (which they pulled, their letter said 640ish I think, can't remember but lower than I expected). I think AAoA was around 4+ years at that point. I was approved for 6.5k.
Not to drag anyone out of the garden of course, just my experience.
[EDIT]: That didn't sound right so I double checked my report from that time period. I had 14 accounts on EQ at that point. INQs were 2 in the 12 months and 6 total for the previous 2 years. AAoA was 5 years before DM hit.
@Anonymous wrote:I received an "Invitation to Apply" for a Discover Card in the mail today. I have been gardening and working on improving my credit scores for a while now.
I would love a Discover Card, but I'm curious... Is An Invitation to Apply the same as a Pre-Approved offer?
Does anyone have any information on Discover Card Invitations? Any success stories with them? Anything?
I'd check for the box on the bottom of the letter that says "You've received this pre-screened offer of credit, blah blah blah". They usually only put that box if they've actually done a soft on your credit report.
I reported that post as well... spama licious!
I received one of their invitations today. I have to say it looked pretty promising. It had an elaborately long invitation number on it. Guess you are to think " Wow I have been specifically invited!" I have been slowly rebuilding my credit as well. I had recently had seven or eight points added to my score but still low by industry standards 605. I also had a derogatory item removed. I thought this would be my "foot in the door" moment so I applied online. I was rejected. There goes my eight points for the hard inquiry. I know they'll come back later but still.
Just a reminder take small steps in your credit rebuilding, Be patient and avoid the junk mail. 