Should you call credit card reconsideration if you aren't instantly approved for a new credit card? I talked about Chase Reconsideration: To Call or Not to Call? a few weeks ago, and gave examples on both sides. In my case, after not being instantly approved for the British Airways Visa, I called up a couple weeks later and by moving some of my credit line from an existing Chase card, was able to be approved.
If You Wait, Don't Wait More Than 3 Weeks
One thing that is important to note is that you don't want to wait a month before calling, because issuers will require you to apply again and that incurs another hard credit pull. So even if you decide to wait, I recommend not waiting more than 3 weeks from the time you applied for the card, so that the issuer still has your application and can make a decision on it without having to pull your credit score again. For more on how new applications effect your credit score, see Understand How Your Credit Score Works to Maximize Credit Card Rewards.
Sometimes It Pays to Wait / Procrastinate
Recently my husband applied for a couple new credit cards, the 50K British Airways Visa (since we both had our original cards 3 years ago and were eligible again for the bonus, plus wanted to reapply before Chase's 5/24 stricter application requirements went into effect) and the 40K Citi ThankYou Premier, before the bonus was eliminated on that card (see No Citi ThankYou Premier Bonus and Harder to Get Citi Signup Bonuses Again).
His applications went to pending, but since we were traveling in Bora Bora and New Zealand I opted to wait until we returned to the U.S. to call, and then of course right after returning home we were both busy with work. I'd put it on my list of things to do this past week, when fortunately, within a couple days of each other, both new credit cards arrived for him without us having to call reconsideration.
Always Make Sure to Confirm the Signup Bonus Before Spending on the Card
One thing you always want to do is to confirm your signup bonus before putting spend on your new credit card, since some issuers such as Citi will approve you for a new card even if you're not eligible for the signup bonus. In my husband's case, he had signed up for the Citi ThankYou Premier before the signup bonus was eliminated, so while he certainly should have been eligible for the bonus as it was active when he signed up for the card (and he'd never had the card before) we wanted to verify that at the time we activated the card.
Since the card number that you call to activate the credit card is often fully automated, just call the number on the back of the card in order to speak to a representative.
If you've recently applied for credit cards where the application went to pending, and then received the card without calling reconsideration, which credit card(s) did you receive this way?
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