Without a doubt, at some point in your points & miles journey, you’ll apply for a new credit card, eager to earn some more points, and you’ll get hit with the dreaded denial. Don’t worry, it happens to the best of us!

I remember the first time I got denied for a card I stressed out and thought I did something wrong. I thought my days of using points to travel were over (okay I’m a little dramatic at times I’ll admit), but I didn’t know then what I know now: that a denial actually isn’t final! While it can feel somewhat defeating if you’ve been denied a card, it’s important not to give up just yet! There IS still a way for you to get the card: by completing a reconsideration call.

Quick Link to Reconsideration line phone numbers.

What EVEN IS a Reconsideration Call?

A credit card reconsideration call, or “recon” call, is a phone call to the issuing bank’s reconsideration or customer service line after your credit card application has been denied. The entire purpose of the call is to request that the bank reconsider your application and provide a second chance for approval.

While I can’t guarantee a card approval, I CAN increase your odds of getting that decision overturned by sharing and giving you all of the tips and tricks I’ve learned in my years of recon calls.

COMMON REASONS FOR DENIAL

Every credit card issuer has slightly different rules for determining who gets approved for their cards. While they do all use common factors such as your credit score, income, number of open accounts etc, sometimes there are more subtle unwritten rules that go into their decision. At some point in your points and miles future, you will inevitably be denied for a card.

A couple of common mistakes that are worth checking before making a recon call:

If you’re applying for a Chase card, check to make sure you’re under 5/24.
Make sure you haven’t applied for another card within 30 days.
Double-check that you’re actually eligible for the card (some cards have specific rules about how many you can hold at one time etc.)

If you’ve checked all of these and everything seems like you should’ve gotten approved, then it’s probably time for a recon call.

One key to a successful reconsideration call is knowing the specific reasons why your application could have been denied. Unfortunately just saying pretty please because you really really want the card won’t get the decision overturned.

Here are some of the most common reasons for denial and what you can do about them:

Low Credit Score

A common reason for a denial is applying for a premium travel card with only an average or below-average score. I typically don’t recommend applying for travel rewards cards unless you have a 700 credit score or higher. While I have seen approvals under 700, they’re not near as common. If you were denied because your credit score is too low, consider highlighting any major changes in your financial situation such as a new job, or a loan recently paid off. Alternatively, simply work on getting your score up and apply again once it is within range.

Too much credit Extended

This usually means that the bank has extended you all of the credit they are willing to based on your income. Or that the amount of credit extended to you as an individual from multiple institutions is too high that the bank doesn’t feel comfortable extending you anymore.

Often times if this is the reason given, you can offer to ‘take’ some available credit from another card you have with the same issuer and use it to open the new card you are applying for. Usually, banks are more than happy to move your credit between different cards you have with them since your total credit extended doesn’t change.

*NOTE: Obviously this method only works with cards by the same issuer and you can only move credit around between your personal cards OR your business cards. But you cannot shift a line of credit from a personal card to a business card or vice versa even if they are from the same issuer.

Too many accounts or applications

Some banks have unwritten rules about how many applications they will approve in a certain time frame. Chase’s 5/24 rule is an example of this. If you have received more than 5 new accounts in the last 24 months, Chase won’t approve you for any more new cards until that number falls back below 5.

One way you can get around this is by removing yourself as an authorized user on any cards you might be on. If you’re an AU on another card it will show up on your credit report even though you are not the one responsible for the account. Unless you have a specific and very compelling reason why you need to be an AU on a card, most of the time I do not recommend this in our world of maximizing points and miles.

Insufficient Credit History

Sometimes depending on the bank, even if you have a solid credit score, they may want to see a long credit history before approving you for a new card. In my experience, this only comes up if you have been using credit cards for less than a year. If you are brand new to credit or points and miles, and you need to build some credit, consider a card such as the Discover Secured Card which is fantastic for building credit. Make 12 months’ worth of on-time payments and you should be good to go!

High utilization or Debt to INCOME ratio

One large factor in your credit score is how much of your available credit you are using. Paying down your balances each month will help keep your utilization down. If you are carrying a large amount of debt, paying it down before applying could really help your chances of being approved.

I specifically recommend that anyone attempting to use credit card points for travel does not carry ANY debt. The interest you will pay from carrying debt on these premium cards would far outweigh the value of the points you earn. Pay all your balances down and then start fresh!

When Should I Make a Credit Card Reconsideration Call?

When you apply for a credit card, the issuer will consider a number of factors to determine whether or not to approve your application. An application can be denied due to any number of reasons, such as a low credit score, high credit utilization, or lack of credit history. However, these factors are not always a deal-breaker. By making a credit card reconsideration call, you have the opportunity to explain your situation and provide additional information that may help the issuer reconsider your application.

When you make the call will differ depending on the bank and the type of card. I’ll talk separately here about personal and business cards.

Personal card Recon Calls

For personal cards, I typically recommend calling pretty soon after you apply. Most of the time if you are not instantly approved you’ll get one of two messages. Either you’ll get a message saying “Thanks for applying, we need a little longer to review your application”, or you’ll get a politely worded “We’re sorry but we were unable to approve your application”. A.K.A. you’ve been denied. In the latter case, you should also get a specific reason for the denial. Sometimes this will come later in the mail in the form of a written denial letter. You don’t always need to wait for this but it can be helpful to know the exact reason why the bank denied your application. This will help inform your strategy for your upcoming recon call.

If you were instantly denied, and given a reason you can go ahead and call right away. However, if the reason is going to be given to you in writing in the next week or so, it can be worth waiting for that before you call, especially if you have ever done a recon call before.

If you’re not immediately approved or denied, and told they need more time to process your application, it’s best to go ahead and await their decision before making a recon call. Typically they mean just what they said: they need a little more time and then most times your application will be approved in the next couple of days.

However, if you have a specific reason why you need the card sooner than later ( I.e. for an upcoming large expense or something) then technically you can go ahead and call right after submitting your application. You can tell the representative that you just applied online and were told that they need more time to review your application. You can then ask them if there are any questions you can answer for them or anything you can do to help move along with the application.

They should be able to pull up your application right then and discuss the reasoning for the delay. Sometimes it’s as simple as verifying your street address! But keep reading in case it’s not quite that simple….

At the end of this article, I’ll include some helpful talking points to open up your call with!

Business card Recon Calls

For Business cards, the strategy is a little bit different. With business cards specifically, it’s almost always best to wait for the written decision letter in the mail before calling recon. The bank’s process for approving business cards can be a bit different from personal cards and it’s often in your best interest to let the bank go through their process and give you a formal decision before calling recon.

Once you receive a letter in the mail stating that you were denied and giving a reason, then you can go ahead and call recon to make your case.

If you’ve been flat-out denied, you can go ahead and call right away and ask for the reasoning and be prepared (using the steps below) to ask them to reconsider.

However, if your application is just pending approval, it is likely going through the bank’s automated process before being either approved or passed on to a representative for further review. By calling recon and asking a representative to look at your application, you are essentially skipping the automated part of the process which potentially would’ve approved you anyways. Now you have an actual human looking at your application which could be a good thing, or a bad thing depending on the human.

My advice is your business card application is simply pending, leave it alone until you get a formal written decision. At that point, you may find you get approved and don’t even need to do recon. However, if you are denied, you now have a clear written reason and you can begin to strategize for your upcoming recon call.

What Do I Say During a Credit Card Reconsideration Call?

When making a credit card reconsideration call, it's important to go in with a game plan. Your strategy will be based largely on the reason the bank denied the application. This is why it’s so helpful to have that reason before you call.

Here are some general tips to help you prepare:

Know the Reason for Your Denial: Before making the call, take some time to review the denial letter or email that you received from the issuer. Review the section above in this article that details what these common reasons mean and how you can get around them. This will help you understand why your application was denied and provide insight into what you need to address in your call.
Highlight Your Credit History: Be sure to emphasize any positive aspects of your credit history, such as a long credit history or a history of timely payments. This will help to offset any negative factors that may have led to your application being denied.
Explain Your Financial Situation: If your credit history is not perfect, you can still improve your chances of approval by explaining your current financial situation. For example, you may have recently paid off a significant amount of debt or received a raise at work. This information can demonstrate to the issuer that you are taking steps to improve your financial situation and are a responsible borrower.
Highlight WHY you want the particular card: If there are specific perks that come with a çard that will be beneficial to your situation, be sure to highlight those as the reason why you want the card. This may help the representative to understand why you want the card and motivate them to approve your application.
Stay Polite and Professional: Finally, it's important to remember to be polite and professional during the call. Remember, you are talking to the individual that has the ability to approve your application. And they can and WILL leave notes in your profile if you are rude. Even if you're frustrated by the denial, the customer service representative is not responsible for your application being denied. Always treat them with kindness and respect and explain your situation calmly and clearly.
DONT bring up the welcome bonus: Even though we know you are probably wanting to open the card for the sake of the Sign-up bonus, this reason typically won’t get you far with an agent and could potentially hurt your chances. Focus on other aspects of the card and reward-earning categories.
If all else fails you can Hang up and Call again or HUCA as we commonly refer to it in the points and miles community. If you are told that the decision cannot be reversed, and you feel as though you still have a case for why you should be approved, thank the representative kindly for their time, and hang up. Then immediately re-dial the recon line to be connected with a different representative. This works great if you feel like the representative doesn’t understand your situation, or maybe is just having a bad day and doesn’t seem to be in a helpful mood. Remember to stay kind always, and simply HUCA. *Don’t be afraid to HUCA 2-3 times! You never know what can happen!

EXAMPLE SCRIPT FOR A RECON CALL

Agent: “Hi there, I see that you applied for X card and were denied on 01/01/23.”

You: “Yes unfortunately I was denied, I was really hoping that you might reconsider though.”

*This is where you would highlight the specific reason for wanting the card. Here are some examples:

You: “I am hoping to get this card because I see that it earns 3x points on dining out and my family goes out to eat quite frequently. I would love to move all of our spending onto this card in order to earn some extra rewards that we could travel with”

You: “My family recently relocated and we will be using southwest airlines very often as they have great routes from our new home city. As we’ll be flying almost exclusively Southwest now, I would love to use your co-branded card with Southwest for all of my purchases.”

*then you can highlight your financial situation and relationship with the bank

You: “I’ve been with your bank for X amount of years and have been super happy. I also have never missed a payment as I’m sure you can see. I do have some large purchases coming up that I would love to be able to put on this new card.

Agent: “Thank you for being a loyal customer, let me see what I can do for you.”

*2 Minutes later

Agent: “Congratulations I was able to approve your application for X card for $X. You should receive your card in the mail in 6-10 business days.”

You: “Thank you so much for taking the time to do that for me! I appreciate it! As I said I do have some large purchases coming up I would love to put on that card…is there any chance you could expedite it for me?”

Agent: “Sure! I would be happy to expedite your card for you for no extra charge. You should receive your card in 1-2 business days.”

Easy as that! And remember, if it doesn’t seem to be going your way, you can always thank them, and HUCA!

In conclusion, being able to have a successful credit card reconsideration call is a skill worth developing. Again there are no guarantees but if you’d like to maximize your credit card points and airline miles, you’ll want to get comfortable with them.

By following these tips and being prepared, you can increase your chances of being approved for a credit card, even if your application was initially denied. So don't give up - make that call and travel smarter, not harder!