Last week, I mentioned that we have some big insurance bills coming up and I want to maximize the amount of miles and points we earn (see this post). Signing up for a new credit card with a large welcome bonus is a great way to earn thousands of miles for travel. In fact, it’s how my family earns most of our miles and how we go on so many trips each year. See my post Beginner’s Guide: 7 Steps to Free Travel with Miles and Points.
So, my husband and I applied for two new credit cards with mixed results.
Approved: Chase Iberia Visa Signature Card
My husband, who is under 5/24, applied for the Chase Iberia Visa Signature Card. He was approved! The details:
- 75,000 bonus Avios after spending $5000 in the first 3 months
- 3X Avios on Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus and LEVEL purchases
- 2X Avios on hotels
- Plus new limited time offer: 5x on up to $10k in gas, grocery, and dining purchases for first 12 months. That’s potentially 50,000 more Avios.
- $95 annual fee.
Getting 5X on gas, grocery and dining for the first 12 months is a great option. In fact, this same offer is also available on the British Airways and Aer Lingus credit cards. You can transfer Avios between these three programs. We will likely use the Avios to fly to Tokyo on partner airline Japan Airlines.
Denied: Wells Fargo Autograph Journey
A few weeks ago, Wells Fargo launched the new Autograph Journey card with 60,000 bonus points (see this post). I’ve never had a Wells Fargo card before, but my husband recently got the Bilt card from Wells Fargo.
Unfortunately, I was denied. It’s not because of my credit score. It’s probably because of the number of credit cards I’ve opened in the last 1-2 years or my lack of a banking relationship with Wells Fargo.
Final Thoughts
With credit card approvals, especially if you’ve applied for many over the years, you win some and you lose some. But you can’t win unless you play the game.
Wife and I also denied and do have checking account with Wells Fargo. Reason given to both of us was too many accounts opened recently.
@Erik Bummer! Thanks for the data point.
I was thinking of applying for the new Wells Fargo cc. I was wondering if I opened 6 cards in the past 2 years, would that be considered too many to get an approval? Trying to get an idea before applying. Thanks
@Laurie My number is 5/24 for personal cards (plus 3 business cards) and I was denied but I have no relationship with Wells Fargo. It doesn’t seem like Wells Fargo is generous with approvals for this card unfortunately.
I was also denied by Wells Fargo and I have a banking relationship. They said the number of recent CC.
@James Thanks for the data point.
I was also denied last week for the Wells Fargo card and I have my mortgage with them and a checking account but an insane amount of cards in the last 24 months.
@HML Thanks for the data point.
This was my first time having to pay my house taxes on my own. So in a panic after just recently closing it I reapplied for the JetBlue card as well as the same WF you mentioned and turned down for both. And same that my credit score is excellent but just too many cards. Will be better prepared next year.
@fitt2ravels Sorry to hear about your denials. 🙁