I Asked for an $8,000 Credit Limit. Here's What Happened

My history with credit cards has had a lot of ups and downs. In the past, I've been known to carry a balance and pay interest on that balance -- not good. But a few years ago, I was able to increase my income and pay off all my outstanding debt, credit cards included.

This has been great for me and my bottom line. But it's less great for credit card issuers, who are now making a lot less money off my interest payments.

Early last year, I decided to ask for a higher credit limit on a travel credit card I'd had for several years. I liked the card, and at that time, I was planning my first-ever visit to the U.K. I figured the card could help me cover my travel expenses with no foreign transaction fees.

My limit on the card was $5,000, so I asked for it to be raised to $8,000. Here's how it went.

Want a credit card with a higher spending limit? Click here for our list of cards that tend to offer higher credit limits.

It's pretty easy to ask for a credit limit increase…

When I made up my mind to ask for a higher credit limit, I visited the card issuer's website. It was pretty easy to find the spot where I could fill in my details. Those included how much I was requesting, my income, occupation, and housing payment (as well as whether I was a renter or a homeowner).

At the time, my income had increased significantly from when I'd originally opened the card. I was also still a renter, so my housing payment wasn't very high. I figured it would be a slam dunk to get approved for an $8,000 credit limit.

Sure, this was $3,000 more than my existing limit. But $8,000 isn't a tremendously high credit card limit. I'd recently been approved for a starting limit of more than twice this on a brand-new card with a different issuer.

So I'd get approved, right? Alas, no.

…but approval is not guaranteed

I was turned down. Wondering if the human touch might help, I called the card issuer to plead my case with a customer service representative. They were very nice, but as it turned out, they couldn't help me either -- I got another rejection.

Based on the paperwork I later received in the mail, the card issuer had concerns that I wasn't using the card enough to justify the increase. It's true that I had paid off my outstanding balance the previous year, and hadn't used the card since. But since the reason I was after a higher limit was because I was going to be traveling more, I was definitely willing to use that card to do so.

I opened a new card instead

I'm not the kind of person who takes rejection lying down. So when that first card issuer said no to my very reasonable request for an $8,000 credit limit, I decided to explore my options. My credit score had recently crossed the 800 threshold, and the (credit card) world was my oyster.

I definitely didn't want to cancel my original travel rewards credit card. It has no annual fee, is easy to use, and I knew it would make a great backup card for my international trips. So I decided to apply for a new travel rewards card and see if I could get a higher credit limit that way. Spoiler alert: the answer was yes.

I applied for one of our favorite travel rewards credit cards -- and you could too. Click here to take a look at our curated list and explore your options.

I was approved instantly for the card I picked, and the credit limit I was given was more than $20,000 -- quite a bit more than I was asking for from that other issuer. Needless to say, I was pretty happy about this turn of events, and the new card has become my main vacation go-to. I even put an entire international trip (plane tickets, hotel stay, food, and more) on it this past spring.

What happened to the old card?

When I travel, my old travel card still comes along. Bringing more than one card on a trip is a good idea, in case you lose one or there's some kind of problem (or you just need a bit of extra spending room). I've also continued to put expenses on it, to keep the account active. Even though its credit limit isn't quite as much as I wanted, it's still a good card and worth hanging onto.

Want a higher credit limit? It could be yours for the asking. But if your request is denied, I recommend considering your options for other credit cards. You never know, a different issuer might approve you, no questions asked.