Here was my strategy for my latest US Airways application… I had one other open US Airways card at the end of December. My 10K anniversary bonus and 15K spend bonus had just posted and so I decided to downgrade my card to one of their fee free offerings (there were three choices). Although Barclays considers your total credit line when deciding whether to approve a new application, I didn’t want to lower my credit score by simply losing my entire line of credit with Barclays. I also figured that my credit line of 12.5K wouldn’t necessarily prevent me from obtaining an additional card.
I had the new fee free card within three days and then started a 30 day clock (a number I randomly selected). Lately, Barclays has been considering a few main factors for new application approvals:
1) Do you currently have an existing US Airways card? I figured after 30 days my answer would be no (there are still reports of approvals for current cardholders obtaining an additional card but they are a lot less common than just a few months ago).
2) Do you have too much outstanding credit with Barclays? At $12,500 I felt that I was comfortable with this metric as well (my total lines with Chase, AMEX, and Citi are much higher) and didn’t send them a direct message to lower my credit line.
3) Has it been at least 6 months between applications? Yes, my last Barclays card (arrival+, since cancelled) was obtained in May 2015 and the US fee free downgrade to another product was not considered a new application.
Result – This morning I was instantly approved with another credit line of $12,500 for my 5th US Airways card! I used all the same information as my previous cards – US Airways account number, email address, phone number, etc.
Between spend and anniversary bonuses, I’d say I’ve received at least 250,000 US Airways miles courtesy of Barclays!
No one knows for sure when this card is going away, but I decided to apply now prior to any AAdvantage / Dividend Miles integration.
Check out this Flyertalk thread for full details on strategies and the best current offers. I went with the 50,000 first purchase offer with an annual fee of $89. There are currently no live no-fee offers available.
Worried about your credit score? Mine is currently 840, check out the posts below to see how to maintain a high credit score while applying for new cards.
Related –
- Building Up US Miles for the AA Merger – Time to Take AAdvantage, Full List of Offers! (Disregard the credit card offers in that post, they are no longer valid)
- Part 1 – Credit Card App Advice from a Senior VP of Credit Approval & Risk.
- Part 2 – Revealing Credit Card Interview – Senior VP of Credit Approval & Risk
- Part 3 – Revealing Credit Card Interview – Senior VP of Credit Approval & Risk – Reader Questions
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
15 comments
Can you still obtain the bonus offer if you’ve had a US Airways Barclays card in the past? I assumed like most of the other cards, once you received the card / bonus offer, it wasn’t valid again. Is there any time grace period you must have before applying for a new card then? Thanks so much!
@Larry Laband – Yes, this is my 5th US Airways Barclays card. Check out the links to the previous posts and Flyertalk for details. This card is churnable.
Fantastic! Is there a grace period for which you have to wait before applying for a new card?
Congrats. I got my 4th one in December….
Nice work! I got denied and after 2 reconsideration calls still could not get an approval 🙁
I’ve got a US Airways card but was denied for a second one last week. I’m going to close my first one before trying for the second one again, but do I need to wait a certain period of time following my rejected application?
@Jake – 90 Days. Better luck next time!
Just gave it a shot and approved instantly for 10K limit. Last I applied was in September of 2014.
How many are open at one time?
@Walter – I closed my prior card before opening this one – see the post for the full details!
JasonP, did you close your card from 2014 before applying? Thanks!
Your last application was in May, but you already got your anniversary bonus? Or did you get a different Barclays card in May?
@Mike – Exactly, sorry about the confusion. That was the arrival+. I updated the post to make that clear.
[…] is sort of perfect for my recently approved 5th Barclays US Airways card. I would normally place the card in a drawer after my first purchase in the hopes of being […]
i closed my us air card in oct and applied for it last night. sadly, i wasn’t instantly approved, it says pending review and will hear back in 7-10 biz days.