Greetings everyone,
Yesterday was a damning day for the points churner known as ThePointsOfLife. Barclays recon rejected me for my 4th US Airways Card. Not since being put on hold by the US Bank fraud department while fueling THEbird, have I felt such embarrassment.
Friends on Twitter, blog colleagues, and total strangers have sympathized with my plight sending me well wishes and similar horror stories of their own rejections.
The reasons for not being approved are as bogus as multiple criminal charges for the same offense:
- public intoxication (too many inquiries)
- disturbing the peace (maximum credit extended)
- open container (cards not open long enough)
- disorderly conduct (too many revolving accounts)
The explanation for all those things (I was intoxicated, I’m addicted to points) used to be so easy to overcome. Somehow I came before a judge determined to teach me a lesson; hard time in the clink with no possibility of points parole.
One day removed as a points outcast, I began to wonder if my accomplice REDbird had anything to do with my sad state of affairs. Could it be that my revolving accounts which had recently taken a 15k shopping spree at Target had anything to do with my rejection?
While I have concluded that it most likely had not, I did began to think that flying with THEbird every month could create a pattern of healthy spending that could hypothetically increase an average credit score to a great one or make a great one greater.
It will take time to find out the effects of using the prettyBIRD for this purpose and the final results still may be ambiguous even if my score increases as all the other charges against me may be dropped due to good behavior.
Either way, at least I can take solace in knowing THEbird is on my side until he’s locked up in a cage for abuse as well.
Using a lot of your revolving credit will decrease your score. I know this because I work in credit for a large bank. The person who doesnt carry large balances has the higher score. It computes a percentage of available credit vs usage.
That is understood. What REDbird let’s you do is show how responsible you are by charging a lot and paying it right off.