Pleading my case with Chase

When I apply for fresh credit cards in order to acquire the bonus points associated with my cards of choice I usually apply for more than one on the same day, at the same time, which helps keep the hard pull inquiries down on my credit report so as not to impact the credit score more than 5 points.  Every time you apply for credit a hard inquiry is done and too many hard inquiries in a short amount of time have a negative impact on a credit score.
 With my sights set on my next destination of South Africa I needed to acquire enough points for 3 roundtrip flights (and fly 3 inter-continent; meaning I need a lot of points).  I wouldn't be able to do this with out either buying points (not recommended) or by applying for new credit. I decided to apply for two new credit cards today that I had not previously acquired: British Airways Signature Visa and United Plus Explorer card.  The bad news is that these are both Chase products and prior to my application I had 5 active Chase credit cards.  I knew for sure I would be delayed a decision for one.  I filled out both applications at the same time and hit send one right after the next.  I was immediately accepted for the British Airways Visa Signature card (perfect, because the 50K sign on bonus of Avios points would pay for the inter-continental Africa flights I would need)




and then I received the  expected delayed response to the United Plus Explorer application...

This response means you do not wait for Chase to get back to you, you call their reconsideration line and plead your case.  I immediately called and was told my request for the United Explorer card would be denied.  

No, no, no can't have "denied" on a credit report, had to pull out all the stops on why I needed 7 Chase cards.  Chase still wasn't buying my story, I told them not to add any more credit to my account just reposition the existing credit I already had, but Chase wasn't budging.  "Sorry, mam we have to deny this request.  All your credit is too new, plus you just applied for the Marriott card."  I shot back how my Chase Freedom was over 5 yrs old and how my last application was 8 months ago (usually you can apply for new cards every 6 months) and that my Hyatt and Ink Bold had both been renewed where I paid the annual fees out of pocket.  Chase responded that I was using the the cards for the attractive sign up bonuses (I was) but I said no, I travel frequently and  have different travel needs depending on if the trip is business or pleasure.  I told them to review my charges and see where in the last month alone I have been to Hong Kong, Thailand and Los Angeles plus I had another California trip coming up in a few weeks.   In addition, I challenged them to find one late payment or one balance that had not been paid in full prior to the due date, they could not, but they still wouldn't budge.

 I explained how I used Hyatt for pleasure travel, Marriott for domestic business because my company won't fork over payment for Hyatt property stays, how I used Ultimate Rewards points to take along companions while I paid for my own tickets etc. finally after 20 minutes Chase offered to provide me with both new cards if I closed the Marriott account.  Given that I had no use for this account any longer since I already used my free night stay and acquired the 50k sign on bonus.  I agreed.  I received what I ultimately had applied for and avoided the dreaded "denied"  reference to keep my credit record clean. 

Lesson learned, Chase absolutely will not approve more than 6 different credit cards to one person and I will not be applying for any more cards until at least April 2014, by then I will have cancelled at least two more cards I won't need, will have over 8 more months of no applications and  have 8 more months of longevity added to the cards I will always keep: Ink Bold and Hyatt.

This post is a perfect example of why participants in this hobby must have stellar credit histories and justifications to back up their claims.  This is not a process where smart ass comments to customer service reps wins any favors.  The people answering these calls do have the ability to mark your records with comments that could prevent future credit card approvals.  I countered everything Chase questioned with fact and was polite but persistent and in the end I won out.  Had my credit been marred by a missed payment this story would have a different ending.