It’s been about a year since I got my first credit card, and I was recently searching for a new credit card that would hopefully offer me some better rewards. I did not have a credit all throughout college and I somewhat regret not applying for my credit card sooner even though I didn’t have a steady income. It would have established my credit history earlier and increased the overall age of my accounts. Maybe it’s a also good thing I didn’t have one to not getting into any bad spending habits, though I’ve always been pretty responsible with money. I just know if I did have a card throughout college and had been using it responsibly, I probably wouldn’t be writing this post right now.
I applied for my first credit card shortly after getting my full-time position after college, wanting to finally take advantage of some credit card rewards. I went with the Capital One “Newcomers” card as it seemed to have the least confusing rewards structure as it just gives a flat 1% cash back on everything. You also just needed good credit and not having a credit history wasn’t important, as obviously this was the purpose of the card. I was pre-approved for this card and received it shortly after.
I’ve been sticking to this card ever since, but I know there are better reward credit cards out there, at least when it comes to straight cash back. I’m sure there are even better points rewards cards that can be used for travel, but I haven’t done my full research on those types of cards yet. I believe a lot of those points cards get their value from the sign up bonus or spending X amount with 6 months or 1 year. With my current spending patterns and living at home, I don’t see those as being viable options for me at this point in time.
A while ago, Capital One just released their Quicksilver Cash Rewards card, which is a flat 1.5% rewards on every purchase. I thought this was the perfect opportunity, and I had read about some people successfully upgrading their cards or other version of Capital One cards. I tried just doing the upgrade from the online control panel, but it told me their were no available offers for me. I tried doing the same thing through the online support, but they led me to the same conclusion. I also tried calling in the phone and they said I would have to actually apply for the credit card and get approved, but my chances were high as a current customer even with my somewhat limited credit history. They said I could then call back once accepted and have the accounts combined and they would take the age of my first credit card through them and apply that to the account.
So I went ahead and applied for the Quicksilver Cash Rewards card and hoped for the best like they had told me on the phone. It turned out that luck wasn’t on my side, and I received a rejection letter in the mail about two weeks later. The reason was exactly what I figured, a lack of credit history which is something I had read Capital One is notorious for. So it seems like the customer service representative I had talked to on the phone ended up being wrong, but not a huge deal – they did not guarantee me a card they just said I stood a better chance. It sucks that I wasted a “hard” credit pull to only be rejected, but I don’t think it will be a big deal in the overall picture.
I now plan on waiting until at least January or maybe even later to apply for a new credit card, and I’m looking at applying to a completely different card this time. I know that my lack of credit history is holding me back, my I also know that my debt to income ratio isn’t great but as time moves on this part of my credit will only improve, especially as I eliminate loans thereby reducing monthly debt payments. I think this time around I will take a look at some rotating category rewards cards, especially the ones that offer 5% cash back on gas which will always be useful for me.
photo credit: Images_of_Money via photopin cc
Leave a Reply