I’m no stranger to point hacking having churned over 60 cards. However right now I’m stuck all thanks to a Qantas Premier Platinum Credit Card. I had a Qantas Premier Platinum and they do a dumb thing that when you close it, it doesn’t actually “close” on that date. Instead it shows as “Pending Closure” on their site until your next statement is issued. I am sure it is still showing up on credit reporting agencies even though I closed it weeks ago because after I closed it I did my usual and reapplied for another card about a week later, but it got rejected. So I tried another card, and got rejected again. I am certain it is this Qantas Card that is the problem as it isn’t completely “closed” yet I presume, and is still showing up on the credit reporting agencies.
To my question, once this card completely closes on my next statement date, how long do people wait between the actual closure date and re-applying so that the credit reporting bodies are aware it’s been closed?
I would hazard a guess that the credit reporting bureaus probably take up to a month to update (assuming some update monthly). I’d give it 6-8 weeks for good measure.
However, Citibank (now NAB) used to be a strange beast. Not sure whether any strangeness have been inherited into “now NAB” cards. Some people reports that they have zero luck with Citi managed cards. Some people say you can only apply for Citi managed cards every 6-9 mths. Did you encounter such a pattern/trend in your experience of 60 cards?
Wow @graham … 60+ cards takes the cake! Mega effort there. Super impressive.
You may already be aware of this, but if you want to check which cards/loans are still on your credit record you can view it via a number of online services.
The Australian government has a number of resource pages that point you towards free services for this:
I’ve never had an issue with Citi cards. In fact a couple of years ago Citi had forgot to put the usual condition that if you’d held the card in the past 12 months you were ineligible to reapply for another 12 months. So you could get a Citi card, get the points and cancel the card, then just immediately reapply for exactly the same card. Did it a few times one after the other. They’ve fixed it since then unfortunately. Virgin cards are the ones I have never got approved for.
Based on my understanding, Citi (now-NAB) managed cards includes most cards that’s not provided by a financial institution directly (e.g. Woolworths, Coles, Qantas Money, Virgin Money).
My understanding is that the reporting agencies don’t care about when you cancel a credit card, but when you apply. Definitely don’t apply for 2 cards within 3 months - or even 6 (advice received directly but candidly from bank staff).
