Find the Best Rewards Credit Card Offers
Edit: See why it’s harder to get some of these Chase travel cards.
I know a lot of readers are applying for The US Airways® Premier World MasterCard®, Arrival World MasterCard, The Lufthansa Premier Miles & More World MasterCard®, and Barclaycards.
First of all, Barclays is a quirky bank. There, I said it. They can be wishy-washy and it’s hard to know exactly how they will handle you. Many people have been apping (applying for the same card over and over again) the US Airways card, but that has become more difficult as of late.
It appears the best method is to cancel your current US Airways card before applying for it again. I have two US Airways cards and I got them 4 months apart. I was instantly approved for the first one, but not the second.
I ended up calling the Barclays reconsideration department and was approved for my second card in 2 minutes. It was even easier than Chase’s reconsideration, and you know how much I like their reconsideration department.
I actually tried for a third US Airways card (without closing my current two), but I was denied. During the reconsideration call, I was told it was because I already held two of the same product. I can’t argue with that, and they weren’t rude about it at all. They did bring up my recent inquiries for other cards, but that wasn’t the reason I wasn’t approved.
However, I have heard horror stories from people about Barclays’ reconsideration department, so ymmv. In my experience, they have been easy to deal with.
Find the Best Rewards Credit Card Offers
My plan for my next app party is to apply for the Arrival card and if I’m instantly approved, to then apply for the NFL card. That’s if the current offers are still around. If somehow I’m instantly approved for both, then I may try for another US Airways card (if I cancel one of mine before).
Applying for multiple Barclay cards is possible on one day, but it’s not guaranteed. The great thing is that multiple Barclay inquiries have been known to be combined into one. That’s huge. But since Barclays is getting more aggressive with their offers, you may end up needing to check on a pending status or call the reconsideration department after applying for multiple cards.
How to check a pending Barclaycard application
If you want to check the status of a pending credit card application with Barclays, all you have to do is click the link below. Easy.
Barclays online status checker
You can also check the status of your application by calling Barclays at 1-888-232-0780.
Handling the Barclays reconsideration phone call
If you didn’t get an instant approval or received a denial, don’t cry. You can always reconsider a denial or expedite a decision on a pending application. If you’re not up to speed on the beauties of the recon call, see this post for a full explanation on personal cards and this post for business cards.
Just remember to be polite, know what you’re going say (reasoning for the new card), point out your great credit history (if you can’t, then you shouldn’t be applying for a card anyway), and be confident.
If you’ve applied for a version of a Barclaycard that you already have (much harder to do now), then be ready to explain how you need to separate spending, etc.
If you don’t get the answer you’re looking for, then politely hang up and try back in a couple days.
The Barclays reconsideration phone number is 866-408-4064.
I hope this helps you with a pending status or denial on one of the Barclaycards. If you enjoyed this post please sub to my newsletter below, and stay up to date on all rewards news. As always, email me or comment below if you still have questions or want to share your Barclaycard story.
— Geoff Whitmore
