Capital One Rewards - Higher Limit?

[cbr shadow]

I have a Capital One Visa Rewards credit card which I've been using for a long time.  My wife and I put everything on our credit card which makes it easy to track, plus we get lots of rewards.  She travels a lot for her job so our credit card bill is very high many months of the year.  Her company reimburses her, so we get the 'free' rewards.  The deal w/ this card is 1% back on everything, 2% on everything once you hit $1000 for that month. 
We also have a Chase Rewards card which is 1% back on everything and 5% back on certain items depending on the month.  We only use that one for the 5% back, Capital One for everything else..

Here's the issue.. We have a $5,000 limit on our Capital One card despite our excellent credit scores.  Other cards have higher limits but we like the capital one for the simplicity of the rewards system and pretty good return (2% most months).  We've had the card for probably 4 years.  I called Capital One and put in a request for a higher limit and they denied it saying that you have to have the card at least 6 months to be considered. Fine.  After 9 months I made the request again and they denied it again.  I did the request every 6 months with no luck!  I had to pay off the credit card twice in one month so that my wife could keep using it on her travels.. it's just a huge pain in the butt to have to worry about it.  I finally spoke to a supervisor there and she just told me it's their policy not to raise the limits for a certain period of time.  I threatened to cancel the card if they wouldn't raise it but they still wouldn't.

So I'm wondering if I just stop using it for a month or 2 if they'll raise it for me.. or if I actually call to cancel it if they'll ask why, I'll tell them, and they'll raise it to keep me?

I feel like I'm almost the ideal customer for them.. I spend a LOT on their card making them a small percentage with every purchase, then I pay it off every month.  I know the ideal customer for them is someone who pays them a lot interest, but they're still making a fair amount of money off of me using their card so much.

Are there any other ways you'd suggest to get the limit raised?  If they wont do it I'll actually cancel the card and move to something else since my wife's job is requiring her to start traveling more again.

[freelancerNfulltimer]

Don't cancel it. Keep it paid off and keep it open.

It's kind of like asking someone, "Why don't you love me? Please love me!" Capital One just isn't that into you. Find another card that is. There should be lots of cards that offer 1% in rewards.

[cbr shadow]

There are tons that offer 1%, but we generally get 2% because we're over way over $1000 every month with her travel.  Not many that I've seen offer 2% on all purchases.

If we do switch cards (maybe use one of Chase's options) what is the purpose of keeping the Capital One card open?  Is it because I've had it so long and it's $5000 of available credit?  I assume that would look good on a credit score?  Just curious..

I guess I'm just not ready to accept that Capital One just isn't that into me... lol

[freelancerNfulltimer]

... what is the purpose of keeping the Capital One card open?  Is it because I've had it so long and it's $5000 of available credit?  I assume that would look good on a credit score?  Just curious..

Yep.

[DocCyane]

I feel like I'm almost the ideal customer for them.. I spend a LOT on their card making them a small percentage with every purchase, then I pay it off every month.  I know the ideal customer for them is someone who pays them a lot interest, but they're still making a fair amount of money off of me using their card so much.

This.

You aren't the ideal customer. In the business, you are literally known as a "freeloader". (I am too. I never pay interest.)

You're getting a great cash back deal and they know it. They also know they aren't making much money off of you. It's just not financially in their best interest to give you more opportunities to make money off this card.

[Paul der Krake]

Probably a stupid question, but could you each have your own capital one card with the exact same benefits?

[cbr shadow]

That's a reasonable question, but unfortunately it wouldn't work in our situation because she spends the gross majority - I use it for a few small things like gas 1x per month and groceries.  Most of the spending is related to her job.
Also I can see everyone's point about not being the ideal customer.  That probably explains why they're not upping the limit!

[simonsez]

Maybe their algorithm for making a decision to raise your limit or keep it the same is perhaps more heavily influenced than it should be by the debt utilization ratio.  And maybe with a high utilization ratio, they actually deem you as slightly risky.  Or maybe it's specific to the one card.  Who knows?  Try a few months at a much lower balance on your Capital One but still use it and then call back again.  If they still don't budge, you might be able to beat the 2% over $1,000 rewards with your Chase card.  5% back on groceries was a pretty sweet quarter.

I've had my Chase Freedom for 2 years and my original limit was 3k.  I was 24 with no real credit history other than my school loans when I received the card.  I called them up this spring, spoke with someone and said I was going on a honeymoon and needed a higher balance to be able to swallow the bump that one month.  I asked for 10k and got 7.5k.  Before my limit was bumped, I rarely ever had more than $600 on it at any one time and likely averaged ~$300.  I'm not sure if the honeymoon anecdote was a factor or if only utilizing a small proportion of the limit to show I wasn't a risk was a factor but it worked for me.  I plan on trying a similar spiel in the spring again to attempt 12-15k (now I typically put about $1000 on it per month).

Remember, at the end of the day, this is an awesome "problem" to have so don't sweat it if Capital One won't play ball.

[matt_g]

fidelity rewards amex, 2% cashback on everything.  The only catch is that you have to setup a fidelity account (free) and you can just xfer the money out if you want or write yourself a check from there.