The Hardest Credit Cards to Get

Income counts because federal rules require it. A card issuer can’t open a card or raise its limit until it considers whether you can make the minimum payments, based on your income or assets and the debts you already have.

Issuers can meet that rule by estimating your payments as if you’d already charged the whole credit limit they’re considering. So the bigger the credit limit an issuer has in mind, the more income it takes to qualify.

The score is the other test. Card issuers report to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau which credit score range each card mainly targets, and for seven of the ten cards below, it’s 720 or higher.

Premium cards you can apply for

Each of these takes an online application.

• Chase Sapphire Reserve costs $795 a year, and Chase aims it at scores of 720 or higher. If you’ve opened five or more cards in the past two years, check Chase’s 5/24 rule before you apply.
• American Express Platinum Card costs $895 a year, and Amex aims it at scores of 720 or higher. It has no preset spending limit, so what you can charge depends on your spending, payment, and credit history.
• The Business Platinum Card from American Express costs the same $895 a year as the personal card and has no preset spending limit either.
• American Express Gold Card costs $325 a year, the smallest fee in this group, yet Amex aims it at the same 720-plus scores as the Platinum. It has no preset spending limit either.
• Capital One Venture X costs $395 a year, and Capital One lists it for excellent credit and aims it at scores of 720 or higher.
• Mastercard Black Card costs $699 a year, and Barclays, which issues Luxury Card’s cards, aims it at scores of 620 and up.
• Mastercard Gold Card costs $1,199 a year, the most in this group, and is made with 24K gold. Barclays aims it at scores of 620 and up too, so the fee is the main hurdle.

Cards you can’t apply for

None of these has a public application, so the bank decides who gets one.

• Centurion Card from American Express costs $5,000 a year plus a one-time $10,000 initiation fee, and Amex aims it at scores of 720 or higher. Its website is a sign-in page for card members, with no application.
• J.P. Morgan Reserve Card costs $795 a year, the same as the Sapphire Reserve, which you can apply for. JPMorgan Chase reports it as invitation only and aims it at scores of 720 or higher.
• Goldman Sachs Platinum Card costs $895 a year, the same as the personal Platinum Card above. American Express requires an eligible Goldman Sachs brokerage account to open one and aims it at scores of 720 or higher.

How to raise your odds

These steps improve your odds.

1. Before you apply for a card aimed at scores of 720 or higher, work on the factors that make up your score until yours is there.
2. List all the income you can count on, including a partner’s pay deposited regularly into a joint account you hold, which federal rules let issuers count.
3. Pay down other debts first, since issuers weigh what you owe against your income or assets.
4. Become a client of the bank or brokerage first if you want one of the cards you can’t apply for.
5. Run a preapproval check before you apply. American Express tells you whether you’re approved before your credit score is affected, and Capital One and Luxury Card let you check your odds without affecting it.

If an issuer turns you down anyway, call its reconsideration line for a second look.

Before you pay a big annual fee, total the credits, perks, and rewards you’d use in a normal year. A card whose fee is bigger than that total loses you money, however hard it was to get.

Compare the best credit cards for excellent credit by the perks you’d use, or the best high-limit credit cards for the biggest credit limits.

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