Applying for Chase Freedom with no credit history but high income

[mizliz1011]

State Dept Fed Credit Union- no pull except CHEX if you used to bounce checks or deposit bad ones...

[softwaredude]

Update 2:

 

Alright, I called the recon number again today and I think I'm gonna give up on this card for now. The rep I spoke to today was more approachable than the previous one, but when I told her that I'm starting my job next month, she asked if I have any income now, and even though I explained that I have enough savings to last until I start my job and then I'll be making plenty of money, she said she can't approve me if I don't have an income right now, and she said I could try applying again after I start my job.

 

If I was better at these phone calls I might be able to get the card, but I haven't been able to convince them.

 

Anyway, I'm gonna take the credit union approach for now.

 

Thank you everyone who posted in this thread -- I really appreciate it.

[chugs102]

Go to Cap1 and see if there's any pre-approved offers for you.

 

Otherwise, do the CU route.

 

Afterwards, come back here. We will make a credit pimp out of you yet.

[softwaredude]

Go to Cap1 and see if there's any pre-approved offers for you.

 

Otherwise, do the CU route.

 

Afterwards, come back here. We will make a credit pimp out of you yet.

 

I tried the Cap1 pre-approval thing, but no offers matched.

 

I contacted my school's credit union and I'm gonna wait for them to get back to me.

[softwaredude]

In case anybody finds this thread later, some more info on what happened: I got approved for a $1000 limit from my school's credit union, and shortly after that I figured why not try for capital one as well. I apped for the quicksilver one, and they gave me a $300 limit instantly. It's been six months since then, and they upped the limit to $3300 on the capital one card (it still has an annual fee though). The credit union card is still a $1000 limit with no rewards.

[cashnocredit]

In case anybody finds this thread later, some more info on what happened: I got approved for a $1000 limit from my school's credit union, and shortly after that I figured why not try for capital one as well. I apped for the quicksilver one, and they gave me a $300 limit instantly. It's been six months since then, and they upped the limit to $3300 on the capital one card (it still has an annual fee though). The credit union card is still a $1000 limit with no rewards.

 

Good progress. How's the job working out. What sort of S/W do you do?

 

You should be good for the Freedom card now,

[Krish]

In case anybody finds this thread later, some more info on what happened: I got approved for a $1000 limit from my school's credit union, and shortly after that I figured why not try for capital one as well. I apped for the quicksilver one, and they gave me a $300 limit instantly. It's been six months since then, and they upped the limit to $3300 on the capital one card (it still has an annual fee though). The credit union card is still a $1000 limit with no rewards.

Call capital one EO and ask for higher limit and no AF on the card.

[hdporter]

As an added recommendation, Citi Double Cash is one of the best general purpose rewards cards available now. If you have an unblemished credit record, your chances of approval should be strong with your more recent history. (Freedom is still a strong backup for its quarterly category bonus cashback). I'd look to add both, in that order.

[softwaredude]

 

In case anybody finds this thread later, some more info on what happened: I got approved for a $1000 limit from my school's credit union, and shortly after that I figured why not try for capital one as well. I apped for the quicksilver one, and they gave me a $300 limit instantly. It's been six months since then, and they upped the limit to $3300 on the capital one card (it still has an annual fee though). The credit union card is still a $1000 limit with no rewards.

 

Good progress. How's the job working out. What sort of S/W do you do?

 

You should be good for the Freedom card now,

 

 

I work in the bay area for one of the big internet companies. It's been pretty nice so far.

 

As an added recommendation, Citi Double Cash is one of the best general purpose rewards cards available now. If you have an unblemished credit record, your chances of approval should be strong with your more recent history. (Freedom is still a strong backup for its quarterly category bonus cashback). I'd look to add both, in that order.

 

Yea, I really want that double cash card lol. And the freedom would still be nice. I was also looking at the amex BCE for the grocery 3% cash back. I think I'll wait another week or two and then apply for some subset of those (I made a mistake before, it hasn't quite been 6 months, so I'm just waiting until the official 6 month mark comes around).

 

[Inspired]

You are ready now. Apply for more cards. No Chase. No Citi DC. But apply. You are ready. And list your income or eventual income. Honestly, no one cares, as long as you pay your bills. Don't overanalyze it. Just do it.

 

Screw Chase. Why? Because they fill your head with crap. A lot of my early dealings were with unpleasant Chase reps and they turned me off completely from credit. Go with Amex. They will bow down and treat you very well. And then if you want Chase cards for whatever reason, then Chase will give you a good card with a good limit only to compete with Amex.

[Imma make it rain trick]

You are ready now. Apply for more cards. No Chase. No Citi DC. But apply. You are ready. And list your income or eventual income. Honestly, no one cares, as long as you pay your bills. Don't overanalyze it. Just do it.

 

Screw Chase. Why? Because they fill your head with crap. A lot of my early dealings were with unpleasant Chase reps and they turned me off completely from credit. Go with Amex. They will bow down and treat you very well. And then if you want Chase cards for whatever reason, then Chase will give you a good card with a good limit only to compete with Amex.

He's 100% right. Once I had amex, Chase grew a pair and threw CLIs and CC offers

[softwaredude]

I ended up applying for some cards the exact day my 6 months of history came around. Waiting a little longer might have been better but I couldn't wait. Anyway, I applied for 6 cards and got 3 of them. The detailed results were:

 

Amex BCE - $6k (very happy with this)

Citi DC - declined

Discover It - $1.5k

Fidelity Amex - $2k

Sallie Mae Mastercard - declined

Chase Freedom - still waiting (7-10 days; I called the status line today and it's still in review)

All of the results were instant except for Sallie Mae and Chase.

 

Not sure how this compares to others, but I'm reasonably happy with the results. Hopefully not too much longer (6 months? a year?) until I can get them all

[Inspired]

That are great results......but you should ha e gotten the Amex and let it report BEFORE applying for any other cards, like Chase.

 

But those are great cards. An FIA Amex will cover all your non category spend BCE won't cover, and your Discover has mega deals on of now. Those are all good cards that you will actually use and that will grow with you.

[Second Chances]

I ended up applying for some cards the exact day my 6 months of history came around. Waiting a little longer might have been better but I couldn't wait. Anyway, I applied for 6 cards and got 3 of them. The detailed results were:

 

Amex BCE - $6k (very happy with this)

Citi DC - declined

Discover It - $1.5k

Fidelity Amex - $2k

Sallie Mae Mastercard - declined

Chase Freedom - still waiting (7-10 days; I called the status line today and it's still in review)

All of the results were instant except for Sallie Mae and Chase.

 

Not sure how this compares to others, but I'm reasonably happy with the results. Hopefully not too much longer (6 months? a year?) until I can get them all

Congrats! Discover has been giving very regular CLIs to people recently--check out that thread. They also have double rewards for the next year or so, so I'd make sure you are enrolled in that, also.

[AnnMichele]

That are great results......but you should ha e gotten the Amex and let it report BEFORE applying for any other cards, like Chase.

Why do you say that? I don't see how having Amex reporting is going to give you better chance with Chase. In fact I just apped for an Amex and the following day for CSP and got approvals on both so having it report won't necessarily help.

[Inspired]

Why? He just got a $6,000 Amex which he can make a $18,000 Amex if he does a 3 times CLI. In fact, he should have done that before applying for any more cards.

 

Previously he had a $3,000 Cap One and a $1,000 credit union card. Now, if he gets approved for a Chase card, he will likely get a Chase limit based off of those two other cards. Likely max $3,000 to all the way down to $500.

 

Had he applied to Chase with a $6,000 or $18,000 Amex reporting on all 3 bureaus, oh boy. Chase would have given him a hefty limit, very possibly a limit topping his Amex.

 

I think you are misunderstanding the difference between just getting approved and getting approved with optimal high limits.

 

If you want to play with game, you better care about your limits, or you'll be stuck in mediocre limit hell for years. Trust me. I know.

[AnnMichele]

Why? He just got a $6,000 Amex which he can make a $18,000 Amex if he does a 3 times CLI. In fact, he should have done that before applying for any more cards.

 

Previously he had a $3,000 Cap One and a $1,000 credit union card. Now, if he gets approved for a Chase card, he will likely get a Chase limit based off of those two other cards. Likely max $3,000 to all the way down to $500.

 

Had he applied to Chase with a $6,000 or $18,000 Amex reporting on all 3 bureaus, oh boy. Chase would have given him a hefty limit, very possibly a limit topping his Amex.

 

I think you are misunderstanding the difference between just getting approved and getting approved with optimal high limits.

 

If you want to play with game, you better care about your limits, or you'll be stuck in mediocre limit hell for years. Trust me. I know.

My highest limit reporting is $1K and lowest $500 but I was approved for the Amex Everyday Preferred for $4.5K and CSP for $5K.

 

While I understand what you're saying I don't agree that you HAVE to have a much higher limit reporting to get another one. While those CL aren't the highest they aren't bad either since I have a thin file with clearly low limits (not for long though).

 

Also is it proven fact that Chase would give a higher limit than an Amex simply because an Amex is reporting as the highest limit you have?

[Vireo]

$5k is the lowest possible starting limit on a CSP though.

[Mazimayham]

Don't do it all

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[softwaredude]

Another update from OP:

 

Holy cow!! About a month after the six applications I mentioned above, I tried out a few preapproval webpages again just to see if there was anything new. Citi, nothing. Capital One, same as before (QuicksilverOne and Platinum only). Chase....preapproved for Chase Freedom! I think CSP was listed also in the other preapproved cards section, but I don't want the annual fee. I apped for the Freedom and was instantly approved for a $14k limit!! That 1 is not a typo! I guess an extra month of credit history meant a lot to them, since they denied me 1 month earlier. Anyway, I'm pretty happy about this

Now that it seems possible for me to get a premium card, I'm not sure what to get. No annual fee cards are an easy decision since there's hardly any downside, but what cards are worth the annual fee? A travel rewards card?

[Tileguy61]

 

Why? He just got a $6,000 Amex which he can make a $18,000 Amex if he does a 3 times CLI. In fact, he should have done that before applying for any more cards.

 

Previously he had a $3,000 Cap One and a $1,000 credit union card. Now, if he gets approved for a Chase card, he will likely get a Chase limit based off of those two other cards. Likely max $3,000 to all the way down to $500.

 

Had he applied to Chase with a $6,000 or $18,000 Amex reporting on all 3 bureaus, oh boy. Chase would have given him a hefty limit, very possibly a limit topping his Amex.

 

I think you are misunderstanding the difference between just getting approved and getting approved with optimal high limits.

 

If you want to play with game, you better care about your limits, or you'll be stuck in mediocre limit hell for years. Trust me. I know.

My highest limit reporting is $1K and lowest $500 but I was approved for the Amex Everyday Preferred for $4.5K and CSP for $5K.

 

While I understand what you're saying I don't agree that you HAVE to have a much higher limit reporting to get another one. While those CL aren't the highest they aren't bad either since I have a thin file with clearly low limits (not for long though).

 

Also is it proven fact that Chase would give a higher limit than an Amex simply because an Amex is reporting as the highest limit you have?

 

I don't know that it's proven, but it's widely believed Chase often matches or exceeds your highest Amex limit. It happened with me. Your CSP may have been approved for $14k if you got a 3x CLI from Amex. It's not guaranteed, but there have been a lot of reports.

[AnnMichele]

 

 

Why? He just got a $6,000 Amex which he can make a $18,000 Amex if he does a 3 times CLI. In fact, he should have done that before applying for any more cards.

 

Previously he had a $3,000 Cap One and a $1,000 credit union card. Now, if he gets approved for a Chase card, he will likely get a Chase limit based off of those two other cards. Likely max $3,000 to all the way down to $500.

 

Had he applied to Chase with a $6,000 or $18,000 Amex reporting on all 3 bureaus, oh boy. Chase would have given him a hefty limit, very possibly a limit topping his Amex.

 

I think you are misunderstanding the difference between just getting approved and getting approved with optimal high limits.

 

If you want to play with game, you better care about your limits, or you'll be stuck in mediocre limit hell for years. Trust me. I know.

 

My highest limit reporting is $1K and lowest $500 but I was approved for the Amex Everyday Preferred for $4.5K and CSP for $5K.

 

While I understand what you're saying I don't agree that you HAVE to have a much higher limit reporting to get another one. While those CL aren't the highest they aren't bad either since I have a thin file with clearly low limits (not for long though).

 

Also is it proven fact that Chase would give a higher limit than an Amex simply because an Amex is reporting as the highest limit you have?

I don't know that it's proven, but it's widely believed Chase often matches or exceeds your highest Amex limit. It happened with me. Your CSP may have been approved for $14k if you got a 3x CLI from Amex. It's not guaranteed, but there have been a lot of reports.

Thanks for letting me know TileGuy

Can't test the theory now though.