A good credit day ...

Applied for a USAir (B of A) Visa a month ago. Was declined due to BK 7 years ago. Sent standard letter explaining situation, and noting that I have a perfect B of A Visa (13.5k) for 3 years.

Nice credit analyst states that they can't approve it ("the one we opened for you 3 years ago was the exception").

Wrote a PFB and got a call back in a week - "sorry, can't open the new account, but we could xfer some of you other card's limit to a new one..."

I said thanks, but I like my low rate and don't want to screw up my ratios, and I thought that was the end.

To my utter surprise, today in the mail is a USAir Visa with a 10k limit. My other account remains as it was.

B of A keeps pleasantly surprising me... and has earned my business.

---The other surprise

Same thing with a Fleet Visa - I received a great 0% purchase/xfer offer (as a Fleet Premier customer), responded, declined.

I didn't send a PFB on this one, but I wrote to the Exec. VP at Fleet Credit Card Services. I expected nothing, really, but in today's mail was ANOTHER nondescript envelope with that tell-tale little square of "something hard" in it (c'mon, we all know the happy feeling when one of those is in the pile of mail!) ... and there it was, albeit only for $1,500.

My point isn't to brag (although it's nice to share success on this board!) ... it's to tell everyone, PFB and letters to the executive office can - and do - work. Don't accept an "automated" system's decision.

Between Citi, Fleet, and B of A, I'm almost back to where I was at the beginning of the summer, when NextCard and Amex LOC went bye-bye.

Good luck all,
mj