Impatience struck and I just had to call about my Barclays’ US Airways Business card — the last card to answer my application. So I called the status line at Barclay’s that I found on the SIS thread in the Finance section on Fatwallet. (That thread is a fun read if you have the time.)

The phone service was anything but stellar. I went through the phone tree three times before finally getting a human being. And I made myself perfectly clear I did not want a repeat of the hang-ups I had gotten before. Ed was very professional and polite and could sense my frustration. He was able to find my business card application and informed me I was denied because the bank had granted me enough credit when they approved my personal card.

I explained that I wanted both personal and business and asked him to consider dropping my personal card limit from $18,000 to $8,000, thereby allowing enough room for the business card. He agreed (in his broken English) that it made sense and would do what he could. After a long delay on hold, he came back on to inform me that he had, indeed, reduced my limit on the personal card and was now turning me over to Rose in the business card department. I was thinking that I’d just gone six for six. But alas, “the best laid plans of mice and men….”

When Rose came on the line, she started asking me application questions! What?! I was now applying for the business card again. That was certainly not the result I wanted as it had been several days since the previous applications were processed and I had been notified by ScoreWatch (Truecredit) that the inquiries are now on my report. I finished the application process and listened to the 20-minute spiel on my rights and responsibilities with the card application. Dejected, I hung up.

I found the denial letter in my mailbox the next day and immediately wrote a reconsideration letter extolling my excellent credit history, score, and the phone calls and moves I had just made with the company representatives, re: lowering my personal card limit. It would now come down to an approval based on my actions to lower my limit and credit history. Or,  if Rose’s application hits the credit analysts desk first with all the new inquiries in place, my guess is I’ll only be five for six.

I will report in on the results when I get them.

What a Fool I Was

You’ll recall that I sent a reminder in the February 28th blog post about it being the last day of the Citi 75K AA credit card promo. during the day, I heard from several readers who thanked me because they’d just gotten instant approvals for 75,000 more frequent flier miles. Well, I wanted in on that action, too, so I submitted my own application for the Amex 75K frequent flier offer. Unfortunately, I was so caught up in the greed thing. I forgot that just seven days before I had done the mini app-o-rama I described above. I’ve had a boatload of recent inquires on my report and here I was applying again. Duh. As Johnny Miller says on golf telecasts, “What was he thinking?”

Needless to say, I was turned down and they indicated that they’d pulled another credit inquiry on me, costing me another two to five points for nothing. The denial was based on first-time cardholder status. I should have know better.

This can be addictive and we all make dumb mistakes. Help me remember that “My Credit is One of My Most Important Assets,” will ya?