Likelihood of being approved for Costco?

[Anonymous]

Hello!

Question for all of you. I've been gardening for almost five months now, last credit application was in July. The last time I checked my FICO credit was in October and it was right around 740-something. 

The worst thing on my credit is that I do have a lot of inquiries, but none of them recent. Hence the gardening. The last week or so I've gotten a LOT of pre-qual mail offers from Citi for the Simplicity card and Double Cash, but what I really want is the Costco card. I checked on the Citi pre qual on the website and nothing comes up...

My question is... is it worth taking the credit hit and seeing? Since I've had recent luck with Citi sending me mail offers, is it likely I'll be approved for Costco? Or should I wait a while longer?

Thanks!

[iheartwings]

IMHO, I would wait until your last inquiry is at least 6 months old, if not longer to give yourself the best chance. (If given the choice to apply versus garden longer, I will almost always say wait, unless there is a time limited offer for a great SUB.) 

I cold apped for Costco (because I can't seemingly get prequals from Chase or Citi) when my scores were in the 740 (and I had an nearly 10 year old BK reporting). They pulled EQ for the card (whereas I had EX and EQ pulled for DC the year prior). 

Citi isn't necessarily the most inquiry sensitive (there have been several people with approvals with several inquiries in 6 months). If declined, it would likely be listed as a reason contributing to denial, but in general, I think they consider more than inquiries alone. 

[Anonymous]

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@iheartwings wrote:

IMHO, I would wait until your last inquiry is at least 6 months old, if not longer to give yourself the best chance. (If given the choice to apply versus garden longer, I will almost always say wait, unless there is a time limited offer for a great SUB.) 

I cold apped for Costco (because I can't seemingly get prequals from Chase or Citi) when my scores were in the 740 (and I had an nearly 10 year old BK reporting). They pulled EQ for the card (whereas I had EX and EQ pulled for DC the year prior). 

Citi isn't necessarily the most inquiry sensitive (there have been several people with approvals with several inquiries in 6 months). If declined, it would likely be listed as a reason contributing to denial, but in general, I think they consider more than inquiries alone. 

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Thank you for your input! I'll wait it out in that case. At least until the 6 month mark, if not maybe a tad longer.

Thanks again!

[CramEiko]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hello!

Question for all of you. I've been gardening for almost five months now, last credit application was in July. The last time I checked my FICO credit was in October and it was right around 740-something. 

The worst thing on my credit is that I do have a lot of inquiries, but none of them recent. Hence the gardening. The last week or so I've gotten a LOT of pre-qual mail offers from Citi for the Simplicity card and Double Cash, but what I really want is the Costco card. I checked on the Citi pre qual on the website and nothing comes up...

My question is... is it worth taking the credit hit and seeing? Since I've had recent luck with Citi sending me mail offers, is it likely I'll be approved for Costco? Or should I wait a while longer?

Thanks!

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From what I have read on here is that they can be a bit more picky than other parts of Citi. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to age as much as you can but, YMMV. I don't use the card as often as I used to (applied opening day 06/20/16), mostly at Costco, Costco.com and CostcoTravel.com. I have been tossing around the idea of combining my Citi AA CL into my Citi Costco CL at the first of the year but, I kind of like them both. lol

Good Luck!

[Pikaboo-icu]

How many is a "lot"? That means different things to different people & different LI's.. 

How recent are the inquiries? 

I got the Citi Costco when my scores were upper 600's, however, I didn't have many inqs.

My SL was low, only $2000 but my CL is $9000 now- 

If you wait for the inqs to drop, you'll likely be given a better SL. 

[CreditCuriosity]

I think you have a good chance personally although anything with credit is YMMV.  I have never been pre-qualified on their site and cold apped for all what 5 citi cards I have had never as stated had pre-qualify if you credit is in the 740's you are certainly within Citi's approval range.  Many other factors go into an approval though than score alone though.  As others echo wait till no inquiries for 6 months or take a role of the dice the worse that happens is most likely a single or double pull and a possible denial, but certainly a good chance for an approval.  Think my Costco started out at 6k and was in the high 600's when I got mine and umm around 24 new accounts in the last two years.. CL now is at 10.5k.  First CLI was 1500 SP and last one was 3k.SP all with a slew of inquiries and no slow down in new accounts although scores are near 800 with EQ since last baddie fell off

[AverageJoesCredit]

If you are getting mailers now, you are on their radar. 740 plus, and no inqs in 5 months, sounds to me like the $5500standard approval lol if you try. Dont hold me to it lol, ymmv, but id wager a buck

[Pikaboo-icu]

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
If you are getting mailers now, you are on their radar. 740 plus, and no inqs in 5 months, sounds to me like the $5500standard approval lol if you try. Dont hold me to it lol, ymmv, but id wager a buck

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I'll call that bet and raise another buck.