Frequent Miler on the Air - My credit card application was declined. Now what? | Question of the Week Ep03 | 5-17-26

Episode Date: May 17, 2026

My credit card application was declined. Now what?We get this kind of question a lot. And the truth is, credit card application strategies may vary by bank.For example, you can read our Complete Guide to credit card application rules (by bank) here. Let's say you have a letter that says there were too many new accounts, too much available credit, not enough usage of existing credit, etc. Then what? Don't forget that you can always call and ask for reconsideration...We’ve been answering a reader or listener question at the end of each Frequent Miler on the Air podcast episode. Now, we’ve turned the question of the week into its own weekly episode. Tune in every Monday at 5pm for our Question of the Week podcast. And if you have your own question you’d like to submit, you can send it to [e-mail] in this episode:Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the worldThis podcast is part of Voyascape, a podcast network that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com. If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.Voyascape Podcast Network

This is a Voyescape podcast. You can find all of our travel podcasts from around the world atvoyescape.com. This week's question of the week is, my credit card application was declined. Now what? Yeah, we often get some form of this question from readers or listeners to the show. They'll have applied for a card and they don't get approved and they maybe receive a letter in the mail that gives them some reason. Maybe it says that they have too many new accounts or too. many accounts or too much available credit or not enough usage of their existing credit, et cetera, et cetera. And they'll ask us, well, what now? Should I change things to make the bank happy? Should I close some of my cards or lower my credit limits or do this or that? Or what's the solution? What should I do next? And so the first thing I always tell people when they get declined for a card and they receive that letter in the mail is to know that what the letter says may or may not

matter. It may or may not even really be relevant to your situation. I think a lot of times, like the computer system just spits out a reason. It picks the most convenient, easiest reason. I feel like there must just be a set number of reasons that are like pre-programmed and it spits one of them out that seems most applicable to your situation. But it's not even always sensible. I mean, I've mentioned many times before that we've received a report from a reader once who received a letter that said too many new accounts and they hadn't opened any new accounts. It's 24 months. So that should hopefully give you the idea that sometimes it really doesn't mean anything.

And so would I go closing cards or lowering my credit limits in order to get approved? Probably not. If that was the case, if it told me that I have too many accounts, not too many new accounts, that's different. But too many accounts, I wouldn't go closing accounts probably in the hopes of getting approved because I think it's likely still possible to get approved in the future. and it's unlikely that closing an account is going to be super important in getting approved. So I would limit the action that I take based on the letter overall. If you can find someone who's been approved that has more accounts than you,

then it's possible to get approved with more accounts. There must be some other reason. And determining that reason isn't always easy. You call the bank, they're not going to tell you. They probably can't even tell you. I mean, this is complicated stuff. There's an algorithm on the back end, and the credit bureaus would have nothing to sell the bank

if it was a really simple, like, oh, they have too many accounts. They're denied. If it was that easy, they wouldn't need to pay Experian and everybody else for their algorithms, right? So it's more complicated in figuring out the true answer might be tough. However, it's worth knowing that sometimes what the letter says does matter because if it says too many new accounts, well, for instance, Chase has a 524 rule that we've talked about before. If you've opened five or more new accounts with any bank over the last 24 months, then they won't approve you typically for another card with them. So if you've opened, you know, five consumer cards between Amex and City and Capital One in the last 24 months, Chase probably isn't going to approve

you. And in that case, what the letter says is telling you the truth. However, it helps here, or on that note, I should say, it helps here to know the application rules because different banks have different rules in terms of what you can get approved for. And I think the rules are more valuable to know than the kind of wishy-washy answer that's in the letter. So, for instance, off the top of my head, I think city has a rule like you can be approved for one card within an eight day span. So you can't get a second card three days later with city. So if you apply for one today, you got to wait until at least day eight to apply for another city card. City also, I think, won't approve you for a card if you've had an inquiry on your account in the five days preceding your

application. So if you applied for an account with somebody else within the five days beforehand, I think they won't approve you. And then there are other rules like Amex, you can't get the same card again within 90 days. So if you open a consumer platinum card, the vanilla platinum card, today, you can't open the Schwab platinum card next week. You got to wait 90 days until you get that Schwab platinum card if you want to try for that also, which there are family rules that might not make that appealing, but it's, again, worth knowing where those rules are. And I recently ran into this with Amex because in the letter it said, I already had the maximum number of card accounts of that type. And I knew what that meant because American Express limits most people to a maximum

of five credit cards. Amex issues both what they call credit cards and what they call payover time cards, what were traditionally called charge cards, but now they're called payover time cards. So like the platinum card, the gold card, and the green card. our payover time cards, that's separate. Don't count those. Out of the other cards with a revolving credit limit, you can have a maximum of five. And I had five, and I applied for a sixth,

and the letter I got said I already have the maximum number of credit cards with them. In that case, okay, I knew what the rule was. I tried anyway to see if I'd be a rule breaker, and it didn't work out. I didn't get approved. However, I knew from the letter that, okay, the solution is I need one fewer of their credit cards. so I called reconsideration.

And I explained. I said I got this denial that said I have the maximum number of card accounts, I think, because I have five credit cards. So I'd like to close one of my existing cards so I can open the new one that I applied for. And sure enough, over the phone, I was able to close the card that I wanted and then get transferred over to get that application reopened up. I didn't have to answer anything further. It was really simple.

Phone call took less than 10 minutes. And boom, I was approved for the new card that I wanted. So it was super simple to be able to do that. But that's an action that I took and I knew I might take in that case because I knew the rules before I applied. So it's helpful to know the rules before you apply. You can't control the variables, but the things that are set in stone like that, oftentimes you can either be aware or be ready to take action after the fact. Right. Right. So let's talk about what to do.

You get that denial letter. First thing you might want to do is review what the bank application. rules are so that you can see whether, you know, like Nick, did you just accidentally apply for a six Amex credit card, for example? So we have a post on that, which is the application rules by bank, and we'll have the link to that in the show notes. You then should, you know, get ready to call the reconsideration line. So most banks have a number you can call to ask for your application to be reconsidered. You'd be surprised at how often just calling and verifying that you really meant to apply for the card is all that's needed to change the, like, it can be that simple. So go to our best

credit card offers page. And for each bank, we have listed what the reconsideration phone numbers are. Give them a call. Be ready to offer, for example, to move credit limit around. Let's say you have multiple. cards from the same bank. They might be wary about extending more credit to you, but you could tell them, hey, you know, I'm not looking for more credit. I already have, you know, this card and that card that have more credit than I need. Can you lower those credit limits? Or maybe you're even willing to cancel one of those cards like Nick talked about in order to free up so that the new card can be approved. Things like that. Be ready with like what options you can give them. in case those things can help, because sometimes they do.

But as I said earlier, sometimes all you do is confirm that you wanted to apply. Sometimes you might have to confirm your identity, and that could be easier, it could be hard. And I'm mentioning hard because, like, Barclays is known for sometimes, not always, but sometimes asking you to do, like, some what may seem unreasonable things to prove your identity or your business, if it's a business card. But, you know, just if you're willing and able to do those things, it's probably worth it. Because if that's what's holding up the approval, probably once you send in those things, you fax or send by Pony Express, whatever's required, then you'll probably get approved at that point. Yeah, I mean, one would think that they wouldn't be asking for all

of that identity of verification if they knew that they weren't going to approve you. One would think they would have just denied you if they didn't intend to probably approve it. And that's not to say it's a guarantee. But if they're looking for identity verification, that could be easy. And it's worth mentioning that, once again, letters don't always have the clear explanation that, hey, all you need to do is confirm your identity because, I mean, I don't know about you, Greg, but every time I apply for a card with a particular bank, I have to call and verify my identity. It seems like one one specific bank, over and over again. If I apply for a new card now, I'm I have to call in and just say, yeah, it was me and maybe take a text message or something and some sort of two-factor authentication, read it back to them.

And that's it. They don't ask me questions about anything else. It's just the identity verification. But then there are other times, other banks where I've had to call and explain, hey, listen, I really love this card because of its benefits. I have another card that I don't need all that credit limit on. Can we move it around? What can we do? Or it can just be as simple as talking to a human being.

I mean, when I first got involved in this many years ago, sometimes in the early days, I just had to call and talk to a person who was willing to hear me out and had some questions about things on my credit report or whatever that I was able to answer and discuss over the phone and ultimately get an approval by speaking to a person. Now, most of the time, those calls are really easy these days for me. And they probably will be for most people in most situations. But at the very least, I think it's worth taking a shot. I often say that you hit 0% of the balls at which you do not swing. So it's worth giving them a call and asking because a lot of times you don't necessarily have a grilling. It's probably a pretty easy process.

Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, when I started in this hobby, I remember being very wary about the whole idea. You know, I got denied for a critic. I thought, you know, why would I call? They obviously decided I'm not worth getting. You know, and then I call. And often, all you have to do is.

ask, can you reconsider this? And they do. And then they approve it. Like, it doesn't make any, it doesn't seem to make any sense, but sometimes that happens. Sometimes it's as simple as that. Sometimes it's not as simple. So, you know, I had a case, the Bank of America Atmos Summit card. I really wanted that thing. And I got denied. And it said something like not enough deposit accounts or something like that. But I have, you know, they're for, for pre, preferred reward status from having over $100,000 in investments with Bank of America. So I knew that reason was suspicious and I called and the first person I talked to kind of agreed that it seems strange, but said they would work out something, but nothing

ever happened. So I had to call several times and finally, you know, get to someone who was empowered to do something. So you just never know when calling back even might help if. if you're denied on an initial call. Now, I wouldn't go that far if like, if there wasn't some, like, like if I, in this case, like I thought there was a window

where it was like, obviously someone had made a mistake in denying my application. If it seemed pretty clear like I was denied. Don't they know who you are, Greg? For a lot. If I was, if it was clear I was denied for a logical reason and the first reconsideration call didn't work, then I'd probably have given it up.

But, you know, in this case, it was definitely, worth pursuing. Yeah, and it can be. And sometimes you won't be successful. You know, there are cards that, like the summit card, for instance, I applied and I wasn't approved and I called and I still, I couldn't get somebody at reconsideration to, to approve me for it. So, oh, well, I moved on with my life. That's going to happen to you now and then. And, you know, even though you have good credit, good income, whatever else, you just might run into that from time to time and might run into somebody who either can't help or isn't willing to help. So don't get too discouraged. I wouldn't worry too much

about that. Now, if you're running into a lot of denials, and then you might need to figure out, okay, why? Is it my utilization? Do I have my balances? My cards closing with balances that are too high. And that's probably something worth mentioning when we talk about denials, that a major component of your credit score is your utilization. And although you might logically think that if you're using your cards a lot, that shows that you must be paying your bills, right? But if you have high utilization, especially compared to your income, then that could be an obstacle to getting approved. And so if I'm going to apply for a new card, I'll typically think about making sure that all of my other cards have reported at a $0 balance or close to a $0 balance anyway before I

apply for a new one if I think that might end up being an obstacle in the given circumstances. So there are some other things you can do like that that might increase your odds of approval in the future. So I think probably thinking about those things, what can I do to maximize my score and odds with my behaviors would probably be something you could do on the front end that might increase your odds of success in the future. But it's probably worth trying again in six or eight months if you otherwise think this probably should have been approved. In a lot of cases, it'll be worth taking another swing a little bit down the road. This episode was produced and edited by Carrie Yoder, music by Annie Yoder. If you've enjoyed what you've heard today and you'd like to get more of this in your ewe. email inbox each day or each week, go to frequentmiler.com slash subscribe to join our email list.

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