So irritated by Disney credit card I could just scream!

[flechette]

That is really strange that you got that. My credit is near perfect so my credit was not the problem. And I was also told by someone else that used to work at a CC company that it is BECAUSE I have another card that has such a high credit limit that they refused me.

Now that totally is the opposite of what your telling me. I just wish that I had an answer from them. When you tell me I don't "qualify" then yes, I am offended.

Kristine

Kristine, If I understand what you've said correctly - you only have 1 credit card at a time. That can be where the problem lies.

One general way to see how much credit you are good for is to add up the limit of all your credit cards. In your case- that would be, $10,000 (if I understood your posts correctly) In my case - before the Disney CC -it was $32,000. After Disney gave us another $10K we went back and eliminated 3 newer cards we didn't use as much - brought us down to $34k available credit.

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/credit-scoring/20031104a1.asp

[bold]Amount of money you owe and the amount of available credit (30 percent) [/bold]
The second most important area is your outstanding debt -- how much money you owe on credit cards, car loans, mortgages, home equity lines, etc. Also considered is the total amount of credit you have available. If you have 10 credit cards that each have $10,000 credit limits, that's $100,000 of available credit. Statistically, people who have a lot of credit available tend to use it, which makes them a less attractive credit risk.

Carrying a lot of debt doesn't necessarily mean you'll have a lower score," Watts says. "It doesn't hurt as much as carrying close to the maximum. People who consistently max out their balances are perceived as riskier. People who never use their credit don't have a track history. People with the highest scores use credit sparingly and keep their balances low."

As stated by a previous poster - we have multiple credit cards - pd off monthly usually- and we're careful to only charge 30-35% of a cards limit. So even during a "snapshot" of our credit - we're good. Too much available credit can be bad - not enough can be just as bad.

Last year we closed another short term cc, we had NOT charged anything at all for 2 months so all credit cards were at zero balances, credit score dropped 25 points, just from reducing our available credit. I checked my credit report and scores 2 weeks after I closed the account and that was the reason given to my inquiry about my reduced score. As of April I was back up to my previous score so it recuporated pretty quick.

I'm not saying what Chase did was right - and I'd be darn angry too, but you might want to take some time and see how credit works these days ; it's really changed in the past 10 years. So while paying bills on time is still the most important part of good credit, not having multiple cards, closing accounts out too soon, not having multiple types of debt - can all effect your credit score.

And if I did misunderstand your post and you're already credit savy and are completely bored by said post my apologies! I'd rather put the info out there than not, someone else may need it.


In case anyone didn't know, you can get your credit REPORT (not score) for free once every 12 months from : https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

Credit scores will cost extra, I get reports once a year and buy the scores 2x a year. I was doing this before the free report so I was happy to free up some cash. Sept/Oct I get both March/April I get just the scores and if I were to see anything out of whack I'd get the reports. It works out cheaper than $10-$12 a month for credit monitoring


Michelle

 

[greenban]

Ours was different. I called and had them reduce our credit limit.

Our main card is a GM Master card, because of the 5% it pays versus the 1-2% for most other cards. (Yes, we're happy purchasing GM vehicles)

Let's just say the credit limit on that one is high enough I could charge a new car on it.

So that takes care of any major purchase.

We have two visa cards, the Disney card and a gas card. The gas card pays 5% when used for purchases at their station, 2% for lodging and restaurants, and 1% elsewhere.

The Disney card as everyone knows is 1%.

Both Visa accounts kept getting a larger credit limit. Seems like about every 6-months they'd raise one or the other. When both of them got over $10,000 I called and had each reduced to $3000. There's no way we'd ever spend that in one month for these 'secondary' cards.

We do pay off all the full balances each month.

They reduced the credit limits, no questions asked.

CaskBill, inquiring minds want to know:

When you say new car are you talking Yugo, Acura, Escalade or Lamborghini?

-Tony

 

[Judique]

Maybe there is something to do with the Home equity loan that is triggering a concern on your credit report.

The OP states that her credit is perfect and that she has a relatively small amount of debt, etc. My guess is that if she were in hock to her eyes and made the minimum payment each month on a bunch of debts, Chase would be sending her as high a limit as she wanted very quickly.

 

[missymouse]

The OP states that her credit is perfect and that she has a relatively small amount of debt, etc. My guess is that if she were in hock to her eyes and made the minimum payment each month on a bunch of debts, Chase would be sending her as high a limit as she wanted very quickly.

That may be true. My DH was watching some TV show about credit cards and the companies and came out and informed me that we are considered "deadbeats" by CC companies because we pay off our cards every month and therefore never pay interest or finance charges. Basically they can't make money off of those who pay their cards off monthly.

 

[CarolMN]

I understand your frustration but, you may have cancelled the card a bit prematurely especially if you were looking forward to the perks the Disney CC would have given you. It's possible you could have used the card just as you like with the 5K limit even if you routinely spend 15k or 20k or more each month. It just takes a bit of time and knowledge of how things work to make the card do what you want it to do.

If the Disney CC works like my Amex and my GM Mastercard the credit limit for those of us who pay in full every month doesn't mean very much at all. For that matter it's more of a transaction limit than a credit limit. I've used both my Amex (625 OKW points add-on during a targeted triple Delta Skymiles promo) and my GM Mastercard (US Saving Bonds, 5% rebate) to make 40K plus purchases. In both cases my credit limit is less than 40K yet I was still able to get the purchases charged to the respective card without a credit increase or special approval. How is it done? Simply prepay...send in a payment for the amount of the large purchase then as soon as the pre-payment appears as a credit balance you can make the large purchase so long as no single charge transaction ever exceeds your stated credit limit. In the case of my add-ons at OKW, DVD was happy to run 3 seperate charges of 13.5K rather than one 40K charge and in the case of the US Savings Bonds I kept the individual transactions below my stated credit limit. In both cases I more than doubled my credit limit on one statement.

This may be more work than you are willing to do but in my case it was worth it - for my trouble I got 120K Delta Skymiles and an additional $2000 in rebate for my next truck.

Chase will not let you "pre-pay". The most you can pay online is the current balance.

People can still use your idea though by charging up to your limit and then paying online as soon as the charge posts. However, when I did this (wanted to charge our new windows and siding to get the rewards), they put a "hold" on my credit. When I called they said it was because they didn't know if the online payment was "legitimate". I had been paying them my monthly balances online from the same account for some time so go figure, LOL. Anyway, I asked for a Supervisor and made her call my bank. THe bank said the payment was legitimate and so Chase "released" my credit so that I could charge the next amount. IIRC, I did this about 3 times to get the total payment to the siding company - they were good about charging the amount in increments over a period of 3 weeks.

I know I exceeded my total credit limit during at least 2 months by using that method, so it can be done. I probably will not do it again because it was such a hassle - wasn't really worth it. Next time I just write a check and be done with it. Again, I only used the stupid card because I thought it would be nice to get a few hundred reward dollars for our next Disney trip.

FWIW, Chase wouldn't increase my credit either -I tried that first, but they said it was because they had just increased it (by a few hundred dollars 2 0r 3 months ago (but I never asked them to do that).

I'm definitely not a fan of Chase either and may cancel the Disney VISA - but I'm not sure any of the other companies are any better. Since we pay off our cards in full every month, I don't think we would be on credit card company's preferred customer list.

Best wishes -

 

[debbiepump]

OK-I've read all these replies...........anyone wonder WHY do we have to play such BS games to get a credit card if we're truly worthy of them????? Supposed to have 'multiple' cards to keep good credit! Charge only a percentage of your credit limit? No wonder our nation as a whole is in such debt. You wouldn't believe how many offers of lines of credit, preapproved credit cards we get. I ended up contacting the credit card companies and blocking inquiries on our credit without our authorization. We are fortunate enough to be debt free (house paid off, cars ours free and clear, no CC debt, kids FINALLY out of the house) and have one CC and all we plan on having, using....pay it off each and every month...want the $$ from the interest we earn in the banks, not giving that away to make these CC company gougers even yet richer. What really, really ticks me off is the practice of insurance companies running credit checks on folks for insurance (and their premiums) based on their credit score. No wonder we're a nation (again) of folks not having car insurance. I feel badly for the single parents out there trying to make it and have this against them also, those with the deadbeat moms and dads not helping them. When we had our house robbed, the first thing our insurance agent did was run a credit check on us!!!! Wanted to make sure we weren't 'faking the robbery', even though we hadn't had a single claim in 30 years and had the original receipts for our plasma, etc. By the way, we got our home owners ins. increased by 35% over this one robbery!!! OK, I feel better, enough of my rant. Let's not let these rich corporate *****s become richer off of us! While I'm ranting, I think disney and all their dining plans are contributing to a nation of obese folks-who the heck can eat that amt of food day after day after day? Geez, it's like being on a cruise with no a/c!!!

 

[snowbunny]

I honestly don't do anything that requires anyone to check my credit on a regular basis. Gosh I cannot even remember the last time someone had to check my credit.

Do you get unsolicited credit card offers in the mail? If so, you are getting "soft" hits on your credit report.

 

[mamatojon]

OK-I've read all these replies...........anyone wonder WHY do we have to play such BS games to get a credit card if we're truly worthy of them????? Supposed to have 'multiple' cards to keep good credit! Charge only a percentage of your credit limit? No wonder our nation as a whole is in such debt. You wouldn't believe how many offers of lines of credit, preapproved credit cards we get. I ended up contacting the credit card companies and blocking inquiries on our credit without our authorization. We are fortunate enough to be debt free (house paid off, cars ours free and clear, no CC debt, kids FINALLY out of the house) and have one CC and all we plan on having, using....pay it off each and every month...want the $$ from the interest we earn in the banks, not giving that away to make these CC company gougers even yet richer. What really, really ticks me off is the practice of insurance companies running credit checks on folks for insurance (and their premiums) based on their credit score. No wonder we're a nation (again) of folks not having car insurance. I feel badly for the single parents out there trying to make it and have this against them also, those with the deadbeat moms and dads not helping them. When we had our house robbed, the first thing our insurance agent did was run a credit check on us!!!! Wanted to make sure we weren't 'faking the robbery', even though we hadn't had a single claim in 30 years and had the original receipts for our plasma, etc. By the way, we got our home owners ins. increased by 35% over this one robbery!!! OK, I feel better, enough of my rant. Let's not let these rich corporate *****s become richer off of us! While I'm ranting, I think disney and all their dining plans are contributing to a nation of obese folks-who the heck can eat that amt of food day after day after day? Geez, it's like being on a cruise with no a/c!!!

Well, I'm not going there with you on the dining plan, LOL, but I totally hear you on the credit stuff. I understand the "rules" and will play their game because I don't have much choice, but I do think some of this stuff is so arbitrary and silly really, especially when you know how to tweak it.

The insurance thing is driving me nuts right now, the insurance industry needs to be accountable for this thing they call an "insurance score" - supposed to be based on credit scores but tell me how does an 803 FICO translate to a 620 insurance score? We're moving in a couple of weeks and looking for new homeowners insurance, quotes are miles apart based on different "insurance scores". Blech.

 

[greenban]

OK-I've read all these replies...........anyone wonder WHY do we have to play such BS games to get a credit card if we're truly worthy of them????? Supposed to have 'multiple' cards to keep good credit! Charge only a percentage of your credit limit? No wonder our nation as a whole is in such debt. You wouldn't believe how many offers of lines of credit, preapproved credit cards we get. I ended up contacting the credit card companies and blocking inquiries on our credit without our authorization. We are fortunate enough to be debt free (house paid off, cars ours free and clear, no CC debt, kids FINALLY out of the house) and have one CC and all we plan on having, using....pay it off each and every month...want the $$ from the interest we earn in the banks, not giving that away to make these CC company gougers even yet richer. What really, really ticks me off is the practice of insurance companies running credit checks on folks for insurance (and their premiums) based on their credit score. No wonder we're a nation (again) of folks not having car insurance. I feel badly for the single parents out there trying to make it and have this against them also, those with the deadbeat moms and dads not helping them. When we had our house robbed, the first thing our insurance agent did was run a credit check on us!!!! Wanted to make sure we weren't 'faking the robbery', even though we hadn't had a single claim in 30 years and had the original receipts for our plasma, etc. By the way, we got our home owners ins. increased by 35% over this one robbery!!! OK, I feel better, enough of my rant. Let's not let these rich corporate *****s become richer off of us! While I'm ranting, I think disney and all their dining plans are contributing to a nation of obese folks-who the heck can eat that amt of food day after day after day? Geez, it's like being on a cruise with no a/c!!!

Debbie:

I think you started great thread, and have shared alot of good info, especially with some of the replies this threas has generated. I'm also so sorry to have heard about your robbery!

I disagree with the one credit cardfor several reasons:

1) I think each adult should have credit in their own name, to keep alive their credit history. Death, Divorce, Theft all happen.

2) AT&T just closed their Universal Card line. No options to change to a new card! With all these corporate mergers, this may happen to another line of CCs.

3) What if you loose your card, or it gets stolen or misused by a clerk at a store. What will you do while waiting for a replacemnet, new line of credit. You know, this will be when you need to rent a car (Murphy's Law). For a really fun time, try renting a car without a credit card!

4) Computer Glitches. What if they accidentally show you over limit, stop charging for security issues, etc.

IMHO, a 2 card minimum is safer!

All the best,

-Tony

 

[SLM]

I worked for a large bank in the CC area for several years and the credit limit assigned is usually (as several posters pointed out) low in the beginning. The reason for this is that the banks have to set aside money based on these limits-in theory if everyone with a 20,000 limit charged that amount the bank has to have the funds available to cover these charges.They earn much higher interest if the money is invested elsewhere. One year we actually lowered people's credit lines if they had inactive accounts or rarely used the entire line of credit. So I wouldn't take this personally, I'm sure once you established a history with them (in a short amount of time) they would've been happy to raise your limit.
From the responses to your original post, maybe you are better off not dealing with them! I get a solicitation from them every so often and have been tempted by the 50.00 Disney Dollar reward (especially if we have an upcoming trip!).

 

[connorlevismom]

I am starting to that tell them to cancel my card was the best thing to do! Wow, what a PITA company to deal with! I have had my Wells Fargo card for years and have NEVER had a problem with them, or the card itself. It gives me the same % back as the Disney card but I can choose from several different way to use those points. So I think that I will stick with what I have.

As for only having one card, I have a company CC as well that if I were ever in a bind, I could easily use it. My husband has one as well. So I don't think that is an issue.

I agree with the PP poster that is furious about the fact that people who are in debt up to their ears get CC's thrown at them. While those of us who do everything we were taught was right get screwed in the end. It is really sad that our world is that way. But I guess I am happy not having to have debt as a worry in my life. I would not sleep well if my credit was wracked up and I could only pay minimum's. But, that is just me. I wont get into it on this thread.

Kristine

 

[keishashadow]

When we were in Nassau last Dec. we had previously paid off a credit card with the intention of using it for our time @ WDW & then on the Wonder.

In a store in Nassau, the card was rejected??? Try finding a phone @ the port that takes anything but a credit card. Finally, I paid cash for a phone card & contacted the card issuer.

Apparantly, the day we left someone used the card @ home airport to purchase needle & thread (where we had used it to buy breakfast). The day we set sail (5 days later) someone tried to purchase several thosand dollars worth of jewelry in Isabella, Spain.

So glad, the CC company was sharp enough to shut the card down. They did kindly offer to have a replacement card waiting for us @ a bank in the next port of call or an emergency cash advance.

So glad we brought another card for emergency back-up. It's scary to think how our CC info made it to Spain so fast.

BTW, I worked in Commercial Lending @ a major bank for years...soft pulls don't affect your credit. Many lenders routinely check every few months. I've had erroneous info listed on my credit report before (that I only discovered when one of my CC issuers told me my credit score had dropped over 100 points!) Wasn't difficult to correct, just disturbing to think it could occur when you're shopping for a loan, etc.

 

[rigsby25]

We were given a pre-approved credit card with no annual fee for citi bank. We were going to use it for an airline ticket. The only problem was that the credit limit was only 3,000.00. How in heaven's name can you charge enough for an airline ticket when you only have a 3,000.00 credit limit? We called right away and asked for an increase. Other credit cards have us under 20,000.00 limits, and we don't charge nearly that much. But 3,000.00/month was just not enough for us. We just stopped using the card, plain and simple. If they wanted our business, they would've increased the credit line. We actually have an American Express card now, which pays 1% on regular purchases, 2% on travel, and 3% on dining out. We are totally happy with this card. We only got the Disney card because there was a 50.00 gift certificate as a reward for applying. Big deal. The Disney Stores changed owners and we were never able to use that card.

 

[connorlevismom]

Can I ask what kind of Amex card this is? Or could you send me a link so that I could check it out? That is a pretty good deal!

Kristine

 

[Disney-Kim]

If I said I had no credit in a previous post I was mistaken. I meant that I have no debt besides my home and home equity loan. I have plenty of credit. Hope that clears things up.

Kristine

yes it does. sorry. if you have plenty of credit...then I don't see why they were low to start. but then I am not surprised.

 

[Disney-Kim]

I never want to worry about not having enough credit on my credit card....Thats why I carry AMERICAN EXPRESS....

prez65...oh if you only read creditboards.com about "financial review" you would think twice about Amex always being available. my friends over at that board have many thoughts about amex. lol.

I too carry Amex for travel, but I don't believe them when they say "no pre-set spending limit anymore"

but...Amex Blue Sky is great for travel rewards.

 

[rigsby25]

Can I ask what kind of Amex card this is? Or could you send me a link so that I could check it out? That is a pretty good deal!

This is the Costco AMEX (I think its called 1-2-3). You get a check and you can either spend it at Costco, or cash it at the service desk. You have to be a Costco member to get it, but if you buy the executive membership for 100.00, you get 2% cash back on your purchases. We buy a lot of Christmas presents at Costco, and really, we've made out pretty good.

 

[Groucho]

A couple observations:

First, no one has talked about the fact that the rewards cards have annual rewards limits, and that limits their usefulness anyway. I agree with the "should have 2-3 cards" theory, because you can max out the rewards and then the card is no better than any non-rewards card.

I have three cards. I mainly use my Chase Subaru card, which gives 3% towards Subaru parts, service, or new cars. However, the most you can get a year is $500, which I can usually get in about six months. The rest of the year, it stays untouched.

Next, the Chase Disney card - 1% with a max of $750/year. I won't max this out because 1) I don't charge that much and 2) I go back to the Subaru card as soon as it starts giving rewards again. By my math, you'd have to average over $6,250/month to go over the Disney limit. I guess I don't understand why you'd be upset that you don't have a $13,000-20,000 credit limit on such a card? For me, the 1% is not the reason to have the card (you can get 1% cash back on other cards) but the discounts. They're not always offering a lot, but I did get 20% off a tour when we were there in January, which saved a good amount of money and was a bigger discount than you could get any other way.

My last card is a regular non-rewards credit union card with a much lower APR (and not tied to prime), that's where I'll put a big purchase that I expect to take a few months to pay down. Curiously enough, of the three, the Disney has easily the largest available credit at the moment.

Trying to keep a "specialty" card like the Disney one as your solo card seems like not a great idea under any circumstance.

My second observation is... it sounds like some people seem to be saying:

"I never carry a balance therefore I never pay interest. I am upset that the credit card companies, who make not one penny from me, give me a card, monitor my credit, support me on the phone, send me statements, send me quarterly Disney newsletters, offer me Disney discounts, and essentially give me a several thousand-dollar loan every month - I'm upset that they have the nerve to not give as big of an interest-free loan as I demand!"

Don't get me wrong - I hate the credit card companies as much as anyone, I think that yes, we SHOULD try to not pay any interest (unfortunately, I'm not there - yet!), and that they do try to take advantage of you and you have to watch them like a hawk.

BUT they are companies, and anyone who's not paying interest is a bad investment for them. Not that you're costing MUCH money, but look at it from their viewpoint - you pay nothing, and someone else pays $20, $50, $100 or more in interest a month - of course, they're more interested in them, not you.

Ultimately - I say, get the Disney card, don't carry a balance, and enjoy the occasional discounts and whatever Disney dollars you do accumulate. But don't have it as your only card.

 

[connorlevismom]

Just another interesting update. A week after I cancelled my Disney card we decided on the Costco American Express card (thanks for the info Rigsby25!). Not only did we get approved for this card. But were given a credit limit of $17,500. That is well over the $5000 that Disney said I qualified for. I am quite certain they did not want to give me more since I pay it off every month and then reap the rewards. Oh well!

Kristine

 

[sjdisneywedding]

I just cancelled all of my chase accounts last week. The company is an absolute joke. After the merge with bank one I started to see an increase in the APR and a decrease in the credit limit, when I called they could not care less-not that I expect them to-and said if I wanted to revert everything back to the way it was I needed to submit a letter with my credit report stating why I felt that way.

I just said forget it and closed them all.