BA 100k and Priority Club 80k churn results

Both I and Mrs. Wrider applied for the now-expired British Airways 100,000-mile Visa two weeks ago, I also applied for the targeted 80,000-point Priority Club Visa. Both cards are offered by Chase, who denied me the 30,0000 United Mileage Plus card in November (in hindsight, they may have done me a favor as there's been a 50k offer floating around for a while and Chase usually forbids double-dipping on the same card). After clearing a few negatives on my credit reports I was ready to take another shot.

To my surprise, the BA Visa was instantly approved. Hers resulted in a we'll-get-back-to-you page and the PC Visa got the same result. After a week I called the Chase reconsideration line at 888-245-0625 to find out the status of the PC Visa, and the rep told me it had not been approved. I asked the rep if I could move some credit over from an old WaMu card I hadn't used in years and after several minutes on hold she said it could be done if I closed the old account and transfer the entire line over. I weighed the impact of closing a 4-year-old credit line on my credit report and decided the benefits of the new card were worth the small negative, and I was approved.

You'd think this would be good news, but I'd heard it before back in November. When I was initially denied the United card I called for reconsideration then too. On that call, the rep used the term "recommended for approval" which I interpreted as a done deal. Of course, it didn't get approved even after three more phone calls. So I made sure this time that "approved" really meant approved and that the card would be in mail.

So after a long week at a Holiday Inn Express in bucolic semi-rural Georgia I was anxious to see what was waiting in the mail pile. There was my BA Visa card...as well as Mrs. Wrider's! I was planning to spend an hour on the phone with Chase to get her approved when it was already in the bag! Now to "spend" $2,500 on each card to trigger the minty fresh 100,000-mile bonuses...

Bottom line: If you're denied credit, always call for reconsideration. Offer to move credit lines, take a reduced credit limit and if all else fails close another line to get approved. Work with them. Make it easy for the representative to say "yes"!