How to get approved
I am definitely not a credit genius but I did come back from a very ugly score. After an accident, I lost everything. By the time I started receiving disability, my car, house, credit cards and credit score were gone. During the credit rebuild, I learned a little bit. Over a very long time, you can get your scores back as bad stuff falls off but by the time that happens, most of your good info will have fallen off your reports. So, here are some tips for people getting denied: 1. Don't trust recommendations for cards if you have a thin file. I think they just look at scores when giving recommendations. All 750 scores are really not looked at the sameThe lenders look at a lot more. Search "credit bucketing", It helped me understand what was really going on as I went down the long lonely road of rebuilding credit. 2. After your score comes back, don't go applying for everything. If possible, wait to app until you have no recent inquiries. Some lenders are crazy sensitive to them and I think CITI is one of them. 3. This worked well for me. Only app for a new card when you have around 5 percent usage on one card and zero on everything else. 4. This isn't a starter card so even if you have a good score, try to have a few years of CC payments reporting with no missed payments b4 doing an app. I applied for this card when all of my scores were over 730. I started with a secured card. Had about 3 years of on time payments on one card and 1.5 years on another card. Also had about 8 missed payments still showing from my old car loan. The missed payments were 5-6 years old and I still have 5 on my report. I had 5 % balance on one card at time of app, no inquiries and no other loans. Instant approval. $8600. Now at $10,000 and enjoying the 2% back. I sure can't explain the negative experiences for people who have used the card. I have had zero bad experiences Some people don't like having to wait for rewards to build up to $25. I would only say, if you find yourself short $25 on a regular basis, you probably won't qualify for this card.