4 Easy Tips to Increase Your Barclays Credit Card Approval Odds

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Over the past few years, I’ve had a tough time getting approved for new Barclays credit cards.  This is partly because Barclays has stricter, unofficial application rules that can be a bit vague at times.

But Barclays has some interesting and useful cards, like the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard.  If you’re in the same boat as me, here are simple tips you might want to try.  So you can set yourself up for success in earning that next big bonus!

Whether or not your credit card application is approved will depend on a lot of different factors.  And there really is nothing you can do to guarantee success.

But there are steps you can take to move the needle in the right direction.  And when you’re aiming for Big Travel with Small Money, every little bit counts!

How to Prepare for a Barclays Card Application

These tips are how I plan on increasing the approval odds for my next Barclays application.  But you can apply these steps to a credit card application with any bank.  Keep in mind that these aren’t official rules, but guidelines based on the experiences of others.

Be sure that before you apply you have a healthy credit score.  You’ll typically want it to be 700 or higher.  And if you’re not in a position to be able to pay off your credit card bills in full every month, then you’ll want to hold off on applying for any travel rewards credit card.

1.   Use Your Existing Barclays Card

I believe this is the top reason I’ve had my Barclays applications denied in the past.  I have a Barclays card that I rarely use, so I’ll be putting more of my everyday bills on my card.

There is no hard rule about how much you should spend on your card to improve your approval chances.  But I plan on spending at least a few $100 each month.

2.   Slow Down On Your Applications With Other Banks

In my experience, Barclays is very sensitive to you opening accounts with other banks.  If you’ve recently opened lots of other cards, you’re more likely to get denied.

The problem is, there is no specific rule as to how many cards you can have recently opened from other banks.  Some folks report being told they were denied for opening more than 6 new credit card accounts in the past 2 years.

But that rule isn’t applied across the board with all Barclays card applications.  It’s possible it only applies to specific cards.  And it’s possible that it’s not a rule at all, but just something certain individuals are told.  Because others have reported being approved while having opened 6+ accounts in the past 2 years.

I’m currently under the Chase “5/24” rule and I plan to hold off on new cards for ~6 months before submitting my next Barclays application.  So I think I should be good to go with this hurdle.

3.   Don’t Have Too Much Credit With the Bank

If the bank feels that you already have enough credit with them, then you’ll have a tougher time getting approved.  The amount of credit a bank will extend you depends on a bunch of factors, like your credit score and income.

If you’re denied because the bank doesn’t want to extend you more credit, you might be able to move credit from an existing account to the new card.  Or, they might let you close a card and apply that credit to the new card.  But you’ll have to call the Barclays reconsideration line (866-408-4064) to get this done.

Personally, I’ve never done this with Barclays.  But I have had success using this strategy with Chase applications.

I’ve also never had success in getting a denial reversed by calling the Barclays reconsideration line.  I’m guessing this is because having too many recently opened accounts and not using your current Barclays cards aren’t something reconsideration representatives can overlook.

Team members Jasmin & Keith have had success calling the Barclays reconsideration line with pending applications.  They just had to verify some of their application information to get the approval processed.

4.   Know the Sign-Up Bonus Rules

With Barclays, you are typically eligible for the intro bonus on most of their cards as long as you don’t currently have, or have recently had, that specific card.

But they could change this at any time, so be sure to read the terms before submitting your application.

Is Applying for Barclays Cards Worth the Hassle?

Barclays cards are appealing to me for a couple of reasons.  They have a bunch of interesting credit card partners like JetBlue, Wyndham, Hawaiian Airlines, and American Airlines.

Plus, many of their cards have low minimum spending requirement…sometimes you only need to make a single purchase and pay the annual fee to earn the bonus!  But because I’m going to be spending more on my existing Barclays card in order to get approved for another, the advantage of having a smaller minimum spending requirement is somewhat negated.

I’m looking at applying for the Barclays AAdvantage® Aviator® Business Mastercard®.  But I’ve held off on applying for a while because I’m not positive whether or not it will count toward my Chase “5/24” limit.  For most banks, however, we know which small business credit cards are reported to your personal credit report.

But it’s a bit more murky with Barclays.  Team member Jasmin has a JetBlue Business Card from Barclays and it does not show up on her personal credit report.  The problem is, whether or not a Barclays small business card appears on your personal credit report seems to vary by card.  And there may even be other factors that go into it that aren’t clear.

So if you’re having trouble getting approved for a Barclays card, there are steps you can take to increase your chances of success.  Just be aware of the other opportunities you might be missing out on.

Bottom Line

Getting approved for a lucrative travel rewards credit card is the first step to Big Travel with Small Money.  And there are lots of simple tricks for increasing your odds of success!

Barclays can be stricter than most banks when it comes to approving applications, especially if you’ve already collected a bunch of credit cards.  But if you regularly use your existing Barclays card, and limit your other credit card applications, you can increase your chances of approval for cards like the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard.

What steps do you take to increase the chances of your credit card application getting approved?  And what has your experience been with Barclays applications?