I have often said that one of the best ways to get a lot of miles and points is by applying for credit cards. While you do want to do so in a measured and practical manner, the simple facts are that you will get many more miles and points from credit card welcome offers than you will by just spending on cards. It’s just so difficult to get any appreciable amount of miles and points when you get 1 or 2 miles per dollar spent, unless you are spending a LOT on your cards.
2 Reasons I Applied For The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card
There were 2 reasons that I decided to apply for the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card, with its welcome offer of 5 free nights (that has since expired). One is for the 5 free nights – I was looking to use those for a winter trip to Key West.
The other was the ability to do a product change (after 1 year) to the Ritz-Carlton card. I was looking at the Ritz card as a possible card for Priority Pass access after the disappointing Venture X changes. I hadn’t 100% decided to cancel my Venture X card and get a Ritz card, but I was looking for that as an option.
DENIED!
I applied a few days ago and got a “pending” message, but then a few days later, I got a notice from Chase that my application was denied. The reasons given were:
- Too many active accounts or too much available credit on consumer report
- Low usage of Chase credit line(s)
Calling Chase Reconsideration
Of course, I am never one to take no for an answer (at least not the FIRST answer). So I called into Chase reconsideration. I spoke with a banker there, and they took another look at my application and…. denied again :-(. This time the notice that they sent me gave an additional reason.
- Credit report shows too many recently opened accounts
- Too many active accounts or too much available credit on consumer report
- Low usage of Chase credit line(s)
The Bottom Line – What to do now?
I considered having my wife apply for the card before the 5 night offer went away, but eventually decided not to. I may try to apply again in a few months when (if?) the offer comes back. In the meantime, I am also going to go through my Chase card’s and either close some or drop the credit line on them. I have… quite a few… Chase cards and many of them have pretty high credit lines. I really don’t need that much credit on every single card.
When I asked the Chase banker about “low usage of Chase lines”, since I do use my Chase cards, he said that it was how much I was spending on the cards compared to the available credit. I asked him about moving some credit around but he said that wouldn’t make a difference for this application, but I was thinking that if I drop some of my credit now, it might make a difference in the future.
And I guess now I’m looking for some good options for Key West hotels – got any ideas?!?!? 😉
Ever been denied for a Chase / Marriott credit card? What did you do? Leave your thoughts in the comments below
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at
One thing I’ve done in the past that worked with Chase is lowering my credit limits that I don’t need a few weeks before applying. That made the low usage point moot and while I haven’t kept track of success rates it anecdotally seems to have helped me.
The active accounts I can argue with by saying that that just shows that I can handle my credit well.
For the too many recent accounts, if the above two points have been nullified or addressed I think it comes down to the person you’re talking to so a bit of The Magic 8 Ball there.
Just my two cents. Good luck!
Yeah – I am in the process of lowering all my Chase credit limits so I have more available in the future. I think that will both increase the odds of automatic approval and approval with reconsideration.
My wife and I stayed at the Truman Hotel back in 2021. Great place near Duval Street.