How long to wait before churning again?

[yojohnny]

I started churning pretty consistently last year and then in April had several rejections so decided to sit things out for a while. My salary is plenty high and expenses are low so I suspect it's the several credit enquiries over a short period that resulted in the rejections.

Does anyone have a feeling for how long to wait things out? 3 months? 6 months?

 

[piratematerial]

I started churning pretty consistently last year and then in April had several rejections so decided to sit things out for a while. My salary is plenty high and expenses are low so I suspect it's the several credit enquiries over a short period that resulted in the rejections.

Does anyone have a feeling for how long to wait things out? 3 months? 6 months?

Have you closed the cards from last year? How much do you have in credit limits? If you have a big existing limit on other cards it will affect new applications.

 

[yojohnny]

Cheers. I was always closing before applying for new cards. I waited for the reporting agencies to update before putting in the last few attempts so I don't believe it's because of having too many cards or an overly high limit.

I now only have the one $6k card so I at least get some benefits until I can get another card.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Have you checked your credit score?

With a high income churning 6 cards a year shouldn't be an issue.

'I suspect it's the several credit enquiries over a short period that resulted in the rejections'

This has never been an issue for me. I average 10 new enquiries a year.

 

[yojohnny]

Yes - the scores have dropped of course but I churned more than 6 last year.

Post automatically merged: Jun 26, 2021

I was trying to push almost every dollar through churned credit cards but that doesn't seem doable.

 

[Bolt]

Further to this topic, I have a card that I cancelled at the start of August. I thought I'd wait for a month for my credit line to be updated as closed. Yesterday I did some credit checks to make sure it was closed. To my dismay it's still open, despite having a $0 balance since early July. I also note that if I log in to QANTAS Money, the issuer of the card, it's still showing as pending closure. There have been no new transaction on the card since early June.

The question: Has anyone had experience with applying for a new credit card while one of your existing credit lines is pending closure?

 

[Dr Ralph]

Further to this topic, I have a card that I cancelled at the start of August. I thought I'd wait for a month for my credit line to be updated as closed. Yesterday I did some credit checks to make sure it was closed. To my dismay it's still open, despite having a $0 balance since early July. I also note that if I log in to QANTAS Money, the issuer of the card, it's still showing as pending closure. There have been no new transaction on the card since early June.

The question: Has anyone had experience with applying for a new credit card while one of your existing credit lines is pending closure?

This is common, especially with Citibank based cards.

As long as you have the cancel letter there is no need to worry. Sometimes your new bank will indicate that you have open accounts that you haven't disclosed for your new card application. Just give them the letter and all will be fine.

 

[Spongbob]

I also note that if I log in to QANTAS Money, the issuer of the card, it's still showing as pending closure. There have been no new transaction on the card since early June.

The question: Has anyone had experience with applying for a new credit card while one of your existing credit lines is pending closure?

Somebody had the QANTAS Money card!

 

[Peppas]

Is it getting harder to churn cards? I've had 2 rejections in the last year, previous years I had none... not sure what's going on. Got rejected for a Westpac card in March so got an ANZ card instead, and just recently got rejected for a St George card.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Is it getting harder to churn cards?

No change for me.

 

[albyd]

Haven’t applied recently but in case you didn’t know, Westpac and St George are the same bank. As much as they say their credit departments don’t talk, they’ve been merged for long enough now that they likely do talk and have one and the same policy.

 

[Peppas]

Haven’t applied recently but in case you didn’t know, Westpac and St George are the same bank. As much as they say their credit departments don’t talk, they’ve been merged for long enough now that they likely do talk and have one and the same policy.

Thanks, makes sense now. Odd that I all of a sudden this year no longer meet their lending criteria though but oh well... I'll try with a different bank. Sadly that removes all my no fee churning options for the moment though

 

[woodyren]

No change for me.

Nor me. Just held ANZ FF Black, ANZ rewards Black, Qantas Amex, NAB Qantas rewards signature all at the same time. I first applied for the ANZ rewards Black at the end of April while awaiting my 12/18 months sabbatical to end on the others. As soon as I qualified for sign up bonus on the other 3 I applied for all on the same day. That is my go to plan as they don't show up as cards held until they are awarded.

ANZ rewards, NAB both since cancelled and I will cancel the ANZ FF Black in the next few days after receiving my bonus. As I don't expect to earn enough to qualify for another Amex in 18 months I will finally bring my Amex churning to an end. The only rejections I have received over the years have been occasional cards issued by Citibank or Macquarie who for some reason now and then take a dislike to my application.

Moving on to Westpac Altitude Qantas Black next month as my 12 months is up and may have another shot at Citi at the same time. Citi Qantas or Velocity will depend on what(or if) Velocity come up with as far as new partners go.

 

[HSB44]

This is common, especially with Citibank based cards.

As long as you have the cancel letter there is no need to worry. Sometimes your new bank will indicate that you have open accounts that you haven't disclosed for your new card application. Just give them the letter and all will be fine.

What if they don't ask?
Is it common for them just to run the algorithm and not crosscheck against your application?
I've had applications in the past where they didn't ask anything, and others where they only asked about tweaking the income and expenses

I just closed a couple of cards but they didn't have zero balance so they closure letter doesn't prove zero balance. I guess in that situation they would hopefully assess the credit limit as equal to the outstanding balance? (or ideally trust me that it's been fully paid off)

 

[Dr Ralph]

What if they don't ask?
Is it common for them just to run the algorithm and not crosscheck against your application?

It's not common to not ask in my experience. But it has happened for me.

 

[blackcat20]

Is it getting harder to churn cards? I've had 2 rejections in the last year, previous years I had none... not sure what's going on. Got rejected for a Westpac card in March so got an ANZ card instead, and just recently got rejected for a St George card.

I just got knocked back by westpac, for a much lower balance than my previously closed Qantas CC No change in my finances and all they can say is I don’t meet the eligibility criteria, which is BS. Going to sit for a few months before I try anywhere else, as they were adamant my QF card was still open despite credit report etc all showing it as closed months ago.

 

[Dr Ralph]

I just got knocked back by westpac, for a much lower balance than my previously closed Qantas CC No change in my finances and all they can say is I don’t meet the eligibility criteria, which is BS. Going to sit for a few months before I try anywhere else, as they were adamant my QF card was still open despite credit report etc all showing it as closed months ago.

Westpac knocked me back within the last 3 months as well. Worth questioning it with them by making a formal complaint on the basis that they have assessed your application based on incorrect information. I did this with Westpac and had the decision reversed and the new card offered with no annual fee as compensation. Complaints section were remarkably helpful, even told me it was clear that the assessment team had made an error.

 

[yojohnny]

Westpac knocked me back within the last 3 months as well. Worth questioning it with them by making a formal complaint on the basis that they have assessed your application based on incorrect information. I did this with Westpac and had the decision reversed and the new card offered with no annual fee as compensation. Complaints section were remarkably helpful, even told me it was clear that the assessment team had made an error.

How did you report the issue?

 

[Dr Ralph]

How did you report the issue?

Email to their complaints section.

 

[blackcat20]

Westpac knocked me back within the last 3 months as well. Worth questioning it with them by making a formal complaint on the basis that they have assessed your application based on incorrect information. I did this with Westpac and had the decision reversed and the new card offered with no annual fee as compensation. Complaints section were remarkably helpful, even told me it was clear that the assessment team had made an error.

I lodged a complaint on Monday, so we shall see. I went through the process of proving that I only had one card and not the three they insisted I have, but it didn't get me anywhere. I thought being a long time customer was in my favour but clearly not.