Transfer

You'd be given whatever limit the lender felt was appropriate for your circumstances.

Credit limits tightened quite a bit after the credit crunch. I used to get £10k from just about everyone, had a long spell I never applied for any cards and then have been playing the market a bit more in the last couple of years. Limits I have been given have ranged from £4k to £7.5k.

Personal circumstances dictate that though, so there's no guarantee that you will get similar. Try it and see is the best option! Check the eligibility checkers and they will give you an idea of likelihood of acceptance. MBNA is often seen as the most generous and they gave me my biggest ever limit when I was with them.

TheShape wrote: »

If you applied for another credit card with the Barclaycard still open, would that not potentially reduce the credit limit offered as the new provider will see £14.5k of available credit?

Would it help to close the card or reduce the credit limit prior to making an application?

I don't think so, and that certainly hasn't been my experience. If you have a high credit line it gives a lender confidence that someone else trusts you. I've spent the last 15 years at least with credit card limits in excess of my salary, sometimes over twice my salary. I've never been refused a credit card, sometimes I've been offered one without asking, as when I opened a Nationwide current account.

I also fundamentally disagree with reducing limits. Other lenders don't know who has reduced the limit, it could have been the credit card company because they have lost faith in you or you could have done it because you don't trust yourself with a credit card burning a hole in your pocket. I can see no circumstances where I would reduce a limit. It's either keep it or close it.