How to Get Approved For Any Credit Card  10 Strategies

Exploring some Strategies/tricks that you can use when applying for credit cards. For most people,   credit cards are the best way to earn points and miles for free travel, especially with opening bonuses.  However, applying for credit cards can be a difficult process, even for those who have been collecting  points for years. 

When you get deeper into the hobby, you're likely to have a large amount of credit offered to you, so issuers can be sometimes hesitant to extend more credit to you. 

Steps To Improve Chances to take Your Credit Card

I'm going to share my top ten tips and tricks to improve your chances when applying for credit cards. 

You Need To Understand Your Credit Score And History

Understand your credit score and history. It used to be pretty tough to get a hold of your credit score. However, nowadays, it's easier than ever. Most credit card issuers provide you access to your score. 

There's also free sites like Credit Karma, Credit Sesame, and  Quizzes, which should give you an idea of your score. Just keep in mind that most of these services are pulling from one of the three credit bureaus, so you may want to check in with all three. 

Lastly, you can request a full credit report every year from annualcreditreport.com, which includes data from all three major credit bureaus. I recommend reviewing your credit report every year to make sure that you don't have any misreported accounts or discrepancies. 

Search for the best available offer when applying for a specific card

You need Search for the best available offer when applying for a card. Make sure you do a quick Google search to see if there are any better offers for the card. It's common for issuers to have different bonus offers depending on the landing page, so it pays to look around for the best offer. 

Take a screenshot of your offer when applying.

 Take a screenshot of your offer when applying. This not only helps if you don't receive your offer and need to contact the issuer, but also helps you to remember the terms and conditions for the bonus. Most bonuses will require you to spend a certain amount within the specific time period, so it's helpful having a record of it. 

State your entire income.

State your entire income. This is an area where people often short change themselves. Make sure you report your total income from all sources. I know many of you have side hustles and gigs. Don't hesitate to include the income that you earn from these sources in your total. 

I definitely advise against misrepresenting the information in any way. You just want to make sure that you're representing the big picture and improving the odds for an approval. 

Apply for multiple cards at once

Apply for multiple cards at once. This is a common trick used by the points community and is sometimes referred to as an app-o- rama or AOR. If you're looking to apply for two or more cards at once, it's better to apply for the cards on the same day, preferably around the same time. 

The reason for doing this is that the issuers will not see the credit inquiry from the other issuers if you apply at the same time. Keep in mind that you shouldn't use this trick to apply for cards from the same issuer, as they will definitely see your multiple applications. But if you were to apply for a card from American Express and one from Capital One on the same day, it should work just fine. Also, make sure your credit score is high as you'll like to see a slight drop after the multiple credit inquiries are processed. 

 Be mindful of your application dates and credit inquiries.

Be mindful of your application dates and credit inquiries. The general recommendation is to wait at least 90days between new credit card applications or app-o-ramas Of course, there are other factors to consider like Chase 5/24 rule. For more information, check out our Chase Ultimate Rewards. 

Call the reconsideration line if you're not approved 

Call the reconsideration line if you're not approved. If you're not immediately approved for a card, you may want to consider calling the issuer'reconsideration line. Just be sure to be polite and respectful. 

When I call these lines, I usually say that I wanted to call in and see if there was any additional information needed to get my application approved. The only caveat is business cards. I would not call the reconsideration line until you get an actual denial as they often have a more comprehensive review and approval process.

Consider transferring your available credit

 Consider transferring your available credit. I found that issuers are sometimes reluctant to give you additional credit if you already have a lot of available credit with them.

 When speaking to a rep on the reconsideration line, you may want to consider offering to move some of your available credit to the new card if they're willing to approve you. I've done this several times and it seems to work really well, especially when I've had a premium card with a huge available credit limit that I never planned to utilize. 

Consider downgrading cards or changing them to other products. 

 Consider downgrading cards or changing them to other products. This tactic won't allow you to get a bonus, but it can be useful when you want to get rid of a card with a high annual fee. Instead of simply cancelling the card, you may want to opt to downgrade or convert it to a free version of the card. 

An example would be converting a Chase Sapphire card to freedom card, or an American Express charge card to an Everyday card. This not only allows you to retain your points, but also avoids any negative impact on the age of your accounts on your credit history.

Don't limit yourself to personal cards

Don't limit yourself to personal cards. Many of you are eligible for business cards, even if you don't have a full-blown business. Things like selling items online, performing a service, or consulting, can make you eligible for a business credit card. 

Just make sure you're transparent about the income that you earn. You don't need to have a huge income stream for them to approve you, and it's better to be truthful and honest to avoid any audits.