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Update: the state of play changed drastically in 2013 and continues in 2014. Barclays tightened up considerably for people with existing cards. There are still reports of first-time Barclays applicants getting multiple cards, however those with existing accounts by nearly all reports are having significant difficulty adding even one card. I have not been approved for a Barclays card since this application spree. Barclays credit analysts consistently cite (1) too many applications with Barclays, (2) more than enough credit already extended on existing cards, (3) too many new accounts with other banks, and (4) not high enough usage of existing Barclays cards. Even though I have consistently put about $500/month on each card these have been cited as insufficient because of not enough everyday spend. Closing accounts or offers to move credit rarely makes a difference. As always, your miles may vary.
I got 4 auto-approved before the 5th went pending. My buddy got 5 and gave up.
Barclays gets little love except for the US Airways personal card, which has a great offer (now expired) of 40,000 miles first purchase, and 10,000 bonus each anniversary for keeping the card. The card has discounted awards on US Airways and other decent benefits.
Their other cards are not known for big sign-up bonuses or great benefits, though I have argued that their Priceline Rewards Visa with no annual fee and 2% cash back across the board is the best no-hassle cash back card on the market (offer expired). If you do not want to spend your days circling stores for Vanilla Reloads or juggling category bonuses, this may be the card for you. They offer a number of confusing offers, the best includes 5x on Priceline Name Your Own Price transactions, and just recently it become available via the affiliates for that offer, my link here.
In July I did my first Barclays applications, auto-approved for US Air, but rejected for Priceline. Reconsideration was firm that I needed approximately 6 months with them before they would approve additional cards. A friend had the same experience.
Close enough to 6 months, and plenty of spend on the card due to a subsequent offer of 15,000 bonus miles for $750 spend in each of 3 months (this offer typically appears 1-2 months after receiving the card), I decided it was time to try for that coveted William Shatner image card.
My friend did the same, we both have 700+ scores on all 3 bureaus and plenty of history with other card companies. His history is much longer than mine.
I did:
- Priceline
- Choice Hotels
- US Airways personal (my 2nd)
- Virgin America
- Best Western
The first 4 were all auto-approved, interestingly, each has a higher credit limit than the prior. At Best Western, which I did not really want, just doing as an experiment, I got a review pending notice.
My friend did 5, all auto-approved and stopped for lack of interest in the others:
- US Air personal (his 2nd)
- Virgin America
- Priceline
- Choice Hotels
- Wyndham Hotels (no-fee version)
He had the same escalating credit limit experience.
The credit pulls all merged into one on our credit reports.
Why did I choose these 5?
Priceline: I spend a lot on Priceline Name Your Own Price hotel and car reservations (my affiliate link).
Choice Hotels: the 32k bonus, which does require a 1-night stay in lieu of minimum spend, could be useful in Europe or Australia. According to the Choice Privileges, their points “expire on December 31, two years after the year in which they were deposited into your account unless forfeited or canceled earlier due to membership inactivity or otherwise in accordance to these rules and regulations.” So, I will get the points in January and have effectively 3 years to use them. The offer is publicly available from the Choice Privileges homepage, or click here (affiliate link).
US Airways personal: great card for reasons listed above, best offer described above (now expired).
Virgin America: I want to go to American Samoa, see Online Travel Review. Current best offer is 20,000 after first purchase, that offer is available through affiliates (now expired, card no longer issued by Barclaycard) though Online Travel Review did the work so certainly consider giving him your click.
Best Western: nothing good about the card, the sign-up bonus is puny and benefits are measly. About the only thing the sign-up bonus will pay for a H.O.G. (Harley Owners Group) membership. I checked some of their Australia properties and the ones I saw never have any award rooms available, while it is rare to find a room in the US that the sign-up bonus will cover even one night. The public, non-affiliate link is here.
There are lots of little quirks about Barclays, for instance some offers not available for Iowa residents (see here for some detail), most cards have multiple versions and you may only be approved for a lesser version, but readers know that I love the obscure in my travels and life, so Barclays is a fun topic for me.
Readers, what are your Barclays experiences? I am not encouraging others to try to max cards with them because taking on credit is a big responsibility, but if you have stories to tell, please share them! I am curious if anyone has gotten more than 5 in one shot.
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@rapidtravelchai
Does the concept of applying for multiple cards before having a relationship with barclys and having a better chance of success still exists,or is that completely a thing of the past?
I get that now is way harder in genra, but I’m wondering if there is any value at all to trying this strategy
Thanks in advance for any input.
@Justmeha – I think mostly a thing of the past. Also, more recent, at least with JetBlue, if you’ve had the card prior you get denied for that reason when trying again, not sure if there will be a time limit when that resets.
[…] instant approval on a third card. (Did you know: In 2012, Stefan at Rapid Travel Chai once got 5 cards in one day, but he hasn’t been approved by Barclay’s […]
[…] The more spend you put on existing Barclaycard products and the less recent inquiries you have with all credit card issuers, the more likely you are to be approved. Barclaycard used to be a lot less strict, but gone are the days of getting instantly approved for 5 cards in one day. […]
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[…] wrote a detailed post on Barclays. I was curious how many I could serially get. I got 4 auto-approved, the 5th is pending […]
[…] in the past you could get 4 or 5 Barclays cards (sometimes all at once!), they’ve really tightened up their rules. If you’ve had a lot of recent credit […]
[…] mid-2012 I got my first US Airways card, and in December 2013 I got 4 cards at once, penning Barclays Credit Cards 101, and How Many Can You Get at Once, 4, 5 or More? Many had similar […]
[…] existing accounts, succeed much less frequently than with other issuers. In contrast, in 2012 I got 4 cards from them at once and others got more. It was also relatively easy to get multiples of the same cards and many have […]
[…] card is issued by Barclaycard, which has tightened up its underwriting since the days of Rapid Travel Chai’s 5 simultaneous applications. Note also that Best Western points expire if your account has been inactive for 12 months. The […]
[…] apply for a Barclaycard US Airways Credit Card every 3 months to receive the sign up bonus. Rapidtravelchai reports he applied for five Barclaycards and was approved for four credit cards. However, it seems like Barclaycard has caught up with […]
Is it still possible to be approved for multiple Barclay’s applications on the same day? I heard this has stopped working .. any very recent experiences?
@Titan Limousine – most recent experience I can verify is last month tried for 2 for my wife and rejected for both after pending for a few days and she was not willing to try calling reconsideration. The US Air would have been her 2nd and that was specifically rejected because she already has one open. I might still try cards as long as they are auto-approved but best at this point to assume that if multiple go to pending that they may be rejected.
[…] Traveler discusses The quirkiness of Barclays. I have explored Barclays a fair amount and the only rule is […]
[…] values sooner or later. This is not a great card but may fit into a massive Barclays spree, see my Barclays credit cards 101 for detail on getting 4 or possibly more in one credit pull. Also see my review of the Wyndham […]
I have had my first US Air with them for 6 months, but I barely used it. That was their decision point on the recon call. I’ll have to amp up my usage of the 1 card and then try again in a few months.
Hmm tried to replicate, and 3 apps all went to pending. Must not be my day. Thanks anyway for the good info
@MrAlexMoore – reconsideration with them is really hit or miss, but may be worth a try. Have you had any cards with them for at least 6 months? That seems to help.
Reading this, it does not sound like you cancelled the first US Airways personal card. So you received a bonus for the first and then six months later a bonus for the second? Wow. Can you confirm I understand correctly? Thanks.
@Elaine – that is correct. Good luck.
@RTC Thanks for the confirmation. I am in the midst of my own spend $750/month for three months offer but when I am done I will try again!
Thanks – that’s what I was hoping to hear. : )
Hey, how does Barclays treat it when you apply for the personal AND business version of the same card? Most issuers (eg Chase) treat Personal Card A and Business Card A as different products. Based on your experience with them, how do you think Barclays would view that?
I got the Barclays USAir personal MC 4 months ago. In another 2 months, I’m planning to get a different Barclays personal MC, but ideally I’d like to also get a Barclays USAir Business MC on the same day. Any advice?
@Asterisk – I did some research and come across this thread on MilePoint with someone who did both, the biz was on hold for a day and then auto-approved.
[…] The 40,000 miles Barclays Arrival card is a good option for the $400 to $440 sign-up bonus. You may even be able to get more than 1 Barclays card (different card types) based on Rapid Travel Chai’s experience. […]
[…] reports of rewards indeed being forfeited and even accounts closed. An example is reader Dave, who wrote: got choice card then airtran personal and business pre merger…they cancelled my Choice card […]
Hi, thanks for all your great ideas 🙂 I am new to this and still do not get it.. YOu applied to Barclay US Air card, same card, same day 5 times? one after the other? I tried it with them too ( same day, same card applied twice) and I was denied the second time, they said “you applied duplicate for this card”.. did I do soemthing wrong or just no luck? thanks a lot!!
Anat
@Anat – I did 5 totally different cards, though 1 was a 2nd US Air, my prior US Air was 6 months ago. A reader did try 2 US Air at the same time and also got rejected for duplicate.
[…] few Barclays cards at once, and all get combined into a single hard credit pull. For example, see this post by Rapid Travel Chai in which he describes how he got 4 cards at once, and a friend of his got 5. So, I might as […]
@Matt – the six months is anecdotal, I don’t have evidence that it is a hard rule, as always, YMMV. Personally, I would just wait till the 6 months unless there were some great offers, though worst-case you burn some credit pulls, hard to know what is best, the public reports on Barclays are too limited. Let us know if you try.
Does it has to be 6 months exactly? I applied for US Air card in Sept and it’s now only 5 months and I want a couple more Barclays cards.
[…] pending. A few days later, only one Barclays credit pull appeared according to Transunion. In fact, Rapid Travel Chai had already posted his findings on the subject, getting approved for 4 before his 5th came back as “pending.” If you […]
[…] check out Rapid Travel Chai’s post on getting different Barclays cards (Frontier, Priceline etc.) if you apply for them after the 1st […]
Regarding the Priceline Card you stated, “If you do not want to spend your days circling stores for Vanilla Reloads or juggling category bonuses, this may be the card for you.”
How does the Priceline card substitute for Vanilla reloads?
Thanks.
@Kent C – sorry for not being clear, I meant that only as an aside that the Priceline card’s 2% cash back may be suitable for the person who does not want to bother with multiple cards and such things as chasing around for Vanilla Reloads.
[…] cards. I found this Rapid Travel Chai blog post stating that he got 4 Barclays cards in one day. http://boardingarea.com/rapidt…e-4-5-or-more/ I had not heard of this. Reading on Flyertalk, I see posts saying that Barclays is one of the […]
@Kalboz – great to hear!
Lo & behold … they did finally send my first Barclays MC card for US Airways after a call to their reconsideration line. Thank you RTC! 🙂
I used your link today and applied and got approval immediately on the Priceline Barclays card. That is a good 2% card. I also applied for the US Airways card and got a deferred on that. I applied for business and personal on that one so maybe I pushed my luck. Both deferred. I mentioned previously I have the Travelocity card. That card had a zero balance when I applied for these. That might be a decent strategy with Barclays.
got choice card then airtran personal and business pre merger…they cancelled my Choice card without notice for being inactive for 6 months!!!! I then cancelled my airtran cards in retaliation (plus we got Southwest cards and companion pass and the merger still hasnt combined the FF programs)…I was able to get the $400 NFL card before it disappeared, it is my only Barkleycard now.
@Dave L – it is great info for me and others that Barclays is really serious about the 6-month activity item, I have set up quarterly calendar reminders to exercise my cards.
[…] my Barclays credit cards 101, and how many can you get at once, 4, 5 or more? for more information on maximizing Barclays […]
[…] PedroNY followed-up on my Barclays multi-card applications, with a 2-browser test of 2 US Airways Premier World MasterCard, he wrote: …I figured I’d […]
Nice! Did my EOY AOR today. Applied for 3, and used your affiliate link for the Priceline one. Applied for Priceline, NFL(no more $400, but there is a $200 offer available currently), and US Airways personal(my 2nd).
I did first AOR 3 months ago for my wife and myself. We did inlcuded the NFK card. First Barclays card for both and both instant approval. My Credit Karma was about 740 and 780 gor my wife. Just now did next AOR and i had to call for approval for US Airways card but my wife instant approval. Credit karma for me 714 and 750 gor my wife.
@robertw – is their service any worse than Citi? I do anything I can to avoid calling Citi.
I personally have never had more than one Barclays card at a time. Kalbotz- They are a weird issuer. I have 750-790 credit and got turned down for US Air last AOR. But I have some money charges on the Travelocity card. Their service sucks but they had some sign up bonuses and if you care good transfer balance programs.
For the US Air 2nd card, did you fill in your US DM number (same as on the 1st card) or leave it blank?
@Kroozer – I filled it in, after asking friends that had done it before with no issues.
Chai,
any ideas on churning barclays cards? how long you would need to wait and if you can have multiple of the same card?
[…] week started with a end of year credit card churn, 11 Approved, 2 Pending, and follow-up posts Barclays credit cards 101 and Freezing your credit report to manage credit inquiries. I flew to China for business on […]
[…] According to Rapid Travel Chai, you may actually be able to receive 4-5 Barclays credit cards, AT ONCE! […]
@SgFm – good to know on the NFL offer, sorry it didn’t work for you.
@john – Yes, serially, both my and my friend, no multiple browsers or anything, no simultaneous submissions, did it over the course of about 2 hours as I went about my day.
so you did not do any special tricks to apply for five cards in one day? You did it serially? One card then the next then the next and they all went through!? Am I missing something here?
I applied for the NFL card using a link from Dan’s Deals about three weeks ago. I got a letter from Barclay’s two weeks later telling me in essence, the link was dead, so no card for me.
The NFL card is absolutely the second-best Barclays card, if not the best. Not only have they often offered a $400 credit with a limited initial spending requirement, but a few months later they usually offer another $200 credit if you spend $500 per month for 3 months.
We have RT flight booked to PPG (from HNL) in May, but we did these on Hawaiian and AA miles. Will go read up via the link you provided now.
@ Rapid Travel Chai – How long did you guys wait in between applying for your 2nd US Airways personal cards to get approved again?
@Jerod – 5 months for me, a little longer for my friend. I don’t have hard data on the minimum, this was just when I was ready to do new apps.
My FICO score is well above 700, and Citi, Chase, and AMEX have consistently given me credit … and, yet I have been denied the U.S. Airways cards at least three times in the past two years!!!
@Kalboz – it does seem the hardest card with Barclays is the first, maybe try a different card, a no-fee one that might have some marginal benefit, get a 6-month record with that, and try again?