You might have encountered a situation where you chance upon an attractive pink dress for your girlfriend. The moment you give the credit card to complete the transaction, the card is declined. Frustrated, you call up the credit card company only to know that the decline happened because there is not much credit on your account. So, you ask for a credit line increase. The customer service division takes your request for the increase of the credit line. There can be 3 kinds of responses in this regard:

1. Your request could be approved and you are given a credit line raise right away.

2. Your are asked to give a call within 24 hours to know the status.

3. Your request is declined right away. The reasons could be anything from a negative marking on your credit report to asking for a credit line increase within a few months of getting a credit card.

Here are 4 ways in which you can get a higher credit limit request approved:

1. Have a good record with your credit card companies: This means that you should have a good record of creditworthiness not from the particular credit card company you are asking for a credit line increase, but also with the other credit card companies that you deal with.

2. Show that you are a disciplined user of the credit card: Make it a point not to have pending balances. You should refrain from paying the minimum due and strive to pay the entire balance in full. Any kind of late fees or over the limit fees on your account reduces your chance of getting your credit line approval request granted.

3. Prove to the company that you ‘are’ using the credit card: This will be done only if you do not use the credit card once in a while but more on a frequent basis. A lot of unused credit will also make credit card companies wary about giving you a higher credit limit.

4. Time frame for the request: Most credit card companies follow a procedure in which they grant a credit line increase only after a stipulated period of time. For example, if you are a new credit card user, you can ask for a credit line increase only after six months or a year according to some credit card agreements. Also if your credit line increase request has already been granted, you might have to wait for another three months or six months (as per the terms and conditions of the credit card agreement) for your request to be approved.