Getting in with Citi

[Anonymous]

I currently don't have any Citi cards in my own name.  I am AU on DF's Sears MC, which has a perfect history.

Citi used to send me preapprovals for all kinds of products.  For a time, I was getting about one a day from them.  Citi Flex LOC, Diamond Preferred, Plat Select, Sunoco, Exxon, Home Depot, etc etc.  I never took them up on any of them, and one day the offers stopped showing up.

There are two Citi cards I would like to have.  Unfortunately, I've never gotten an offer for either of them, since they're not exactly their entry level cards.  They are:

Citi Professional (Cash or TYN)

Citi Platinum Amex

For the Citi veterans out there, what's the best way for me to go about getting these two cards?  Should I apply for one of them directly?  Should I wait for the preapproved offers to start showing up again and use one of them as a foot in the door, just so I can product change to one of the cards I really want?  (Is it even possible to PC to Plat Amex?  I kind of wouldn't think so.)

Would it be better for me to get my foot in the door with a different card (one I don't really want), just so I can have a history with them before I apply for one of these higher-end cards?

Scores in my siggy.  10 accounts less than 12 months.  Three accounts less than six months.  TU and EQ have 0 INQs.  EX has 8 INQs.  Clean reports other than 3 lates on EQ from 2003.

[Anonymous]

i would guess as long as you don't have many inq's on who citi pulls in your neck of the woods you wouldn't have any problem. the plat amex does have tuffer underwriting standards and from what i've read you have to qual well enough to obtain a minimum of an 8k cl to receive the plat amex.

again i think all the other qualifiers are a non-issue for you, so i say go for it.

citi has been good to me and only recently started to decline cli's based on too many recent accounts (something like 30 in the past year!).

good luck! let us know either way.

[Anonymous]

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imducky wrote:

i would guess as long as you don't have many inq's on who citi pulls in your neck of the woods you wouldn't have any problem.

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Yeah, that's my main concern, actually.  It's virtually impossible to predict who they will pull around here, so I guess I have about a 1 in 3 chance of being denied for too many inquiries.

Although out of all those EX INQs, only two of them are less than 6 months.  Does that help my cause any?

[Anonymous]

are any of those 8 multiple hits for the same place? if so that would be a good recon point if it came to that. either way 8 really isn't a ton. how long before any hit the year mark?

i've heard it debated that fico scores are hit for a year, but lendors are only concerned with inq's in the last 6 months. i'm not syaing it's accurate or not, i just don't have any personal experience.

[smallfry]

Cheddar I have been approved for Platinum Select once Citi Pro once and the DP two times. I subsequently combined the PS and the DP original into my Pro. All three were relatively small initial limits like 5K or so.
My BK was a little over 7 years old utilization 2% a few but not many inquiries showing. I would go for both the Pro and the DP if I were you.

[Anonymous]

Cheddar, I thought the Citi site is blocked at the Concorduser Center where you reside.

I don't know if you know or not, but the Citi Platinum Amex doesn't report CL.

That being said, it's one of the cards I have my eye on. Given my available credit or around 140k, the little bit I might run through that card isn't going to hurt me.

Seems to have a lot of the same perks at the plat Amex, for 25 percent of the fee.

[smallfry]

Premier Pass doesn't report limits either and back some time ago that card seemed to get some nice lines for applicants. Might be a bit different now though.

[Anonymous]

If you tried to PC to the Citi Plat Amex, wouldn't you be ineligible for the initial bonus of all of those TY points?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

If you tried to PC to the Citi Plat Amex, wouldn't you be ineligible for the initial bonus of all of those TY points?

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Peas I tried to do that and was told that their Plat Amex is not a product changable card at all.

However, she could have been misinformed. But she did change me to the dividend Amex right then.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

If you tried to PC to the Citi Plat Amex, wouldn't you be ineligible for the initial bonus of all of those TY points?

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Peas I tried to do that and was told that their Plat Amex is not a product changable card at all.

However, she could have been misinformed. But she did change me to the dividend Amex right then.

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Good to know!~