Declined for a Chase card

I hear from many readers who try to apply for a Chase credit card and are disappointingly declined. It’s happened to us several times!

Was your Chase credit card application declined? Don’t give up yet! Families Fly Free to the rescue!

Possible Reasons Your Application Was Declined

1.  Too Many Chase Cards

I personally have been declined for a Chase card once I hit THREE total Chase cards. I have heard others — and especially miles and points bloggers — say that you can have FIVE total Chase cards. Not me!

Clearly others are having the same problem, as I am not alone in getting this denial.

2. Applications Too Close Together

This seems to be another common reason for being declined, aside from a poor credit score. This happened to my husband.

After applying for a Chase card in December 2017, we decided to have him apply for Chase Sapphire Reserve before the 100,000-Ultimate Reward point bonus went away. But, not quite a month had passed between applications and he was denied for “too many requests for credit or opened accounts with us.”

He literally holds only ONE other Chase card, the one he applied for in December (though he is an authorized user on one of my Chase cards), and has not applied for ANY OTHER cards.

This is THE MOST FREQUENT reason I hear from readers that they were declined.

The good news is there is an easy fix for this. Just wait until 30 days have passed since you applied for the first card and call the Chase Reconsideration Line.

3. More Than 5 Credit Card Applications in 24 Months

Another one that many people report is being denied for having applied for five or more credit cards in the last 24 months.

Some business cards count toward this total and some do not. But if you want a new Chase card, you need to slow down the applications as Chase won’t approve you if you’ve maxed out their 5/24 rule.

 

So, You’ve Been Declined, How Do You Get the Southwest Companion Pass Now?

I know this is a real bummer to have a plan in place to get the Southwest Companion Pass in just TWO steps or to earn a bunch of points for free travel only to be declined. But there are OTHER WAYS to earn the Companion Pass; it just may take you a bit longer. That’s OK!

Take a look at how I earned the pass in 2017 without applying for ANY credit cards. It IS totally possible!

The Southwest Companion Pass is an amazing perk from Southwest that lets one person fly free with you for up to TWO years after you earn 135,000 qualifying points. Download my free cheat sheet below that shows you 10 Things You Must Know to Earn the Southwest Companion Pass:

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The Companion Pass is good from the time you earn it until the END of the FOLLOWING year. So you’ve got time to earn it and use it. I have never had my pass for more than 13 months at a time.

What Can You Do If You Had a Credit Card Application Declined?

  • Call the Chase Reconsideration Line at 1-888-270-2127. Here’s what you need to know before calling the Chase Reconsideration Line.
  • Ask for more information about the reason the credit card application was declined.
  • See if you can close one of the cards you have with them or move credit lines around to allow for a new card.
  • Close one of your current Chase cards, wait a couple months and reapply. Note: You CANNOT earn the bonus offer on most Chase credit cards more than ONCE in 24 MONTHS and for the Chase Sapphire and Reserve credit cards, it’s ONCE in 48 MONTHS! So don’t do this unless it’s close to 24-48 months since you last earned the bonus points through signing up for a credit card. Why? Because you’ll want the card for everyday spending so you can earn points that way.
  • Let at least 30-60 days pass before applying for any other cards and try again, especially if the reason was that the applications were too close together.

12 Other Ways to Earn the Companion Pass Without New Cards

Generally, one of these techniques alone will not earn you the Companion Pass, but done in combination, can definitely get you there!

  • Use your Southwest Rapid Rewards credit cards that you currently hold for everyday spending. All those points qualify for the Companion Pass. Utilize Plastiq (Note: this is an affiliate link through which I may earn discounted fees if you sign up through this link) to pay bills like mortgages, rent and car payments that typically don’t accept credit cards. Note: You can no longer pay a mortgage through Plastiq with a Visa or AMEX.
  • Utilize Rapid Rewards Shopping as much as possible. You can earn up to 20 points per dollar by simply starting your online shopping at the portal. Need to buy something in store? Order it online and then pick it up at the store. Make sure you are following the rules to ensure you get your points!
  • Double Dip by using the Rapid Rewards Portal AND paying with your Southwest credit card. You’ll earn points both ways.
  • Take advantage of Rapid Rewards offers that can earn up to 1,000 points with one action or subscription, like 700 points earned for a $12 Wall Street Journal subscription or 1,000 points earned by filing your taxes through TurboTax or 5,400 points earned with a $38 subscription to Motley Fool Stock Advisor!
  • Book your hotels through Southwest.com and earn up to 10,000 points per stay.
  • One reader pays for all of their Southwest flights, earning points, until they reach Companion Pass status (that would be A LOT of flights though!).
  • Rent your cars through Southwest.com. Often you can earn 2,400-3,600 points per car rental.
  • Pay for business expenses on your personal Rapid Rewards card and then get reimbursed from your company.
  • Offer to pay someone else’s bills with your credit card and have them pay you back (of course, you’ll want to do this only for people you trust to pay you back :)).
  • Going out with friend? Pay the bill and let everyone PAY YOU in cash.
  • Sign up for Rapid Rewards Dining and earn points just by eating at certain restaurants!

Do NOT Go into Debt

All that said, DO NOT get yourself in debt just to earn the Companion Pass or travel free. Make sure you pay off  your credit cards every month; even better, pay it off every few days to make sure it doesn’t get out of your control.

DO NOT buy things you can’t afford just to fly free. If you get yourself in debt, you’ll pay very HIGH interest rates on these cards and flying free is no longer a great deal.

If you find yourself with a bill that is beyond what you can pay, STOP immediately putting purchases on your cards until you can pay off the balance. Then, get back on track and pay it off every few days.

Does that help? What other questions do you have?

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