APPROVED!
Credit Karma recommended I apply for Capital One's "VentureOne" card with good approval odds. I decided to apply, as I'd been working on improving my credit for the past two years. However, not wanting to just jump in, I researched both cards using Credit Karma's community reviews, credit card metrics, and other credit card boards for opinions, regarding approval. The general consesus is to use Capital One's "pre-approval" tool. Based on Capital One's questions/ remarks for defining "Excellent", "Average," or "Rebuilding," I defined my credit as "Excellent" - even though it's far from it: From Credit Karma: TransUnion Vantage Score: 687 TransUnion "New Account" (traditional FICO estimate): 629 From Capital One's report: TransUnion: 642 I chose "Excellent' based on my personal profile of not having the "Average" negative remarks/ notes. In any case, back to the pre-approval tool, they came back with the VentureOne as a recommendation. So, I figured I'd apply for the VentureOne - no lie, having Credit Karma's "recommend for you" (and the past couple years of credit rebuilding and the research) gave me the 'courage' to submit. 60 seconds later: APPROVED! Addional Credit Profile Notes: GOOD: My credit utilization, deragotory remarks, total accounts (mostly student loans), and credit inquiries were all in "Excellent" status. BAD: My payment history was very poor (95%), and my average age was poor (4y 7m). CAVEATS: All of my open/ current accounts have been on-time/ no lates for the past 2-3 years. My older accounts are student loans approaching 10 years. Lastly, I have 3 CLOSED/ REMOVED collection accounts. The most recent (and last) collection was closed less than a month before applying. I have a decent salary: $63,000. Additional Credit Card Notes: This was the first 'real' credit card I applied for in the past 2 years, after being declined. However, I took note of the reasons why I was declined (Chase Freedom (05/2013) and Macy's (03/2013) ) and worked on improving the areas noted. I chose to apply for the VentureOne card because I want to finance a trip to visit family in Florida and future flights/ trips - I live in California. I also intend to use it for higher expenses, like auto maintenance, to build miles. In the same 10min window, I applied for both the VentureOne and Quicksilver (approved for both) basically because I'd "burned" a hard inquiry anyways. I've reviewed my credit reports, and as I thought, I only have one hard credit inquiry for both cards. I was planning on applying for both eventually anyways, so this was a nice 2 for 1 opportunity. I hope my review helps some people with similar situations. I'll re-review the card, after I've had it longer. But so far, it's working as I'd expected it to, the customer service has been courteous and easy to work with (I had to update my address before receiveng the card), and the website is user-friendly.