Check out our Top Rewards Cards to boost your points earning and travel more!
The onslaught is about to begin as the Barclaycard-branded Hawaiian Airlines Business MasterCard has entered the affiliate channels. By full disclosure, I still have an active affiliate account though have not been actively promoting cards, which is how I received this news. This is not a new or better offer for the card, just new to the affiliate channel. The offer has been the same since the card was launched earlier this year.
Barclaycard has gotten very tough on card approvals since 2012. Those new to Barclaycard and credit cards find some success, however many of us keep getting rejections.
The main reasons for denials:
- Too many applications with Barclaycard;
- Too many new accounts with other banks;
- More than enough credit already extended on existing cards;
- Not long enough history with existing Barclaycard cards;
- Not enough usage of existing Barclaycard cards.
If you fall into one or more of these categories, you may be wasting a credit pull. At minimum it seems 6 months are needed between Barclaycard applications.
Also, based on my experience, Barclaycard does not distinguish personal and business cards in terms of making the decision. Meaning, having a bunch of personal cards but no business card with them is not a way to get a business card approved.
Please see my occasional coverage on Barclaycard and the 3 new Hawaiian credit card (Barclaycard personal, Barclaycard business, Bank of Hawaii personal issued by Barclaycard):
- Barclaycard Arrival Hype – Beware of Ruining Your Best Shot at Barclaycard
- The New Bank of Hawaii Hawaiian Airlines Cards Are Really Barclaycards (and May Rescue Orphan Business Accounts)
- There Are 3 New Hawaiian Airlines Credit Cards, Not 2, Can You Get Them All? Note: now there are 4, with the new BOH business card
- BOA Hawaiian Airlines Business Card Conversion…to BOA
- HawaiianMiles Share Miles for Personal and Business Accounts
- Reduce Barclaycard Credit Limits to Get Approvals?
Please submit your experiences to benefit other readers.
If you plan to apply and wish to support me, these are my affiliate links which are the best offers of which I am aware for these cards. I will be compensated if you are approved for the cards.
The Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite MasterCard®
- Earn 35,000 bonus miles when you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days*
- Enjoy a complimentary 1st checked bag for the primary cardmember when you use your card to purchase eligible tickets directly from Hawaiian Airlines
- Receive a one-time 50% off a companion discount on roundtrip coach travel between Hawaii and North America on Hawaiian Airlines
- Earn 2X miles on direct purchases from Hawaiian Airlines and 1X miles on all other purchases
- No foreign transaction fees on purchases
- Get $100 off a companion ticket for roundtrip coach travel between Hawaii and North America on Hawaiian Airlines at each account anniversary
- Earn 5,000 annual bonus miles after $10,000 in annual spend
- See Terms and Conditions for details
- Apply here
Hawaiian Airlines® Bank of Hawaii World Elite MasterCard®
Virtually identical to the Barclaycard branded card and also issued by Barclaycard so approval procedure may be the same. Apply here (not an affiliate link).
Hawaiian Airlines® Bank of Hawaii Business MasterCard®
Originally there appeared to be two versions of the business card mirroring the personal, now there appears to only be the Bank of Hawaii-branded version. Apply here (not an affiliate link).
Check Out Our: Top Rewards Cards ¦ Newsletter ¦ Twitter ¦ Facebook ¦ Instagram
[…] The business card has only one version that I have found, with Bank of Hawaii branding. Even the Barclaycard website links to it. (Update: there is now a Bank of Hawaii-branded business card, see here.) […]
[…] cards from Barclays already and they may not approve you for another. Here are a couple of other warnings to consider from Rapid Travel […]
@Aaron Hurd – with my NJ address I put about $500-$600 value on an Experian hit. The freeze never worked for Amex and Citi, and now on life support with Chase. For Equifax and TU maybe $300. For Barclays the Arrival card is a one-year deal for me, not gonna MS to justify the annual fee. The others like Hawaiian (still have 140k haven’t figured out how to use) and Lufthansa, etc are appealing in theory but a hassle to learn the ins and out and maximize them. But yes, I should drop at least Choice, maybe the US cards,… Read more »
@Aaron Hurd – yeah, it seems that way with them. The trading or credit reallocation approach doesn’t work with them. Too bad that I actually have uses for those cards however the uses do not outweigh collecting new bonuses.
What’s your threshold for taking the hit on your credit report? If (signup bonus) – (opportunity cost) > (threshold), then close the card. If not, don’t. 🙂
Don’t believe Gary and Rick. You gotta close those cards, Chai. 😛
@Aaron Hurd – I think that has been one of my biggest issues with Barclays. The first thing they cite with me is I have sufficient credit with them. I have 2 US Airways cards with the 10k anniversary bonus that I haven’t wanted to cancel despite the annual fees. I also still have Priceline, which I am using less than planned but it is grandfathered in with 2x cash back. I really need to dump the Choice Privileges. I was keeping it until I cleaned out my points stash since the Gold status gives a bigger booking window, but… Read more »
Thanks for the heads-up. I’ve actually been quite successful with Barclay’s lately; just signed up for my second USAirways card. Did the Arrival card. Did the NFL Extra Points card twice. (Hey, I don’t care about Vikings football, but I’ll be a fan of anyone who will give me $400.) I’ve also been declined for a few; they called me out for not using the card after getting the signup bonuses.
It will be interesting to see if this Hawaiian Airlines Business Card starts getting A LOT more coverage. 🙂
@Aaron Hurd – interesting to start hearing some positive stories. Have you been closing the accounts or keeping them open? It seems where I hear success other than first-timers is people that have aggressively closed their Barclays cards in advance of new application.
My general strategy is to close a card if I no longer have a use for the card, but no sooner than about 9 months after application. For me, I want $400 in value to open a card and $100/year to keep it open. The exception to this is if I have a no-fee card that I can move credit lines to as I close accounts; I’ll keep one of those around per issuer to keep large credit lines reporting. My actions with Barclay’s have been consistent with this strategy.
[…] Travel Chai wrote Caution on the Hawaiian Airlines Business Cards Everyone else will be pumping this Barclays card but this bank is weird and this is good […]
Just an additional data point — I was turned down for a USAirways card from Barclays about three or four months ago. I reapplied after a few months and received an immediate acceptance.
[…] MAYBE GO EASY ON THE HAWAIIAN AIRLINES BUSINESS CARD: If you see a bunch of articles extolling the virtues of the Hawaiian Airlines business card, it’s because that card just started offering money to bloggers via affiliate links. Rapid Travel Chai encourages you to think twice before applying: […]
@Bill – great to hear someone is doing well with them, a rare success report from someone other than a first-timer. Can you provide more details on your patterns with them, how much you use the cards, how much you are applying for other cards, etc? Were these auto-approvals? Maybe there is a pattern others can use.
I hate to be the naysayer, but I’ve been approved for every Barclay card for which I’ve now applied in the last year: Arrival, Miles & More, USAir Premier, USAir business, and most recently the Hawaiian Air World Elite, and Hawaiian Air business.
Barclay’s is the bane of my existence (in the credit card world).
Never had a problem getting approved for a card.
4+ cards w/ Amex, 5+ w/ Chase, god knows how many w/ Citi and BOA.
Yet I consistently get denied from Barclay’s. I’ve been approved for one USAir card, and the rest is history (that is, the history of never getting another Barclay card).
The only thing more annoying: Club Carlson and their pseudo-approvals.