Credit feels harder to get. Heres what to do before applying for a new credit card

Holiday shopping isn’t slowing down for most Americans this year. Sixty-four percent of U.S. adults expect to spend the same or more than they did last holiday season, according to PayPal’s 2026 Holiday Shopping Survey.

Credit cards can be a great way to help accomplish all your holiday shopping while earning rewards on your purchases. However, approval can be tricky depending on the card you’re interested in.

A Federal Reserve Bank of New York survey published in September found that more Americans report credit is harder to get than a year ago — a feeling that is backed by evidence.

According to a separate Federal Reserve survey from October on bank lending practices, 6.0% of bank respondents — and 10.5% of large banks, in particular — said that standards for credit card approvals have tightened somewhat.

If you’re worried about getting approved for a new rewards card ahead of the holiday shopping season, CNBC Select walks through a few things to consider before you apply.

Also ask yourself whether you really need another credit card, or if you should try to tighten your holiday budget. Holidays can easily tempt you into overspending, which also makes it a great time to start budgeting if you don’t already.

Quicken Simplifi is a budgeting app that lets you connect to over 14,000 different financial institutions, with categorized breakdowns of your spending, savings and income. It can also track your subscriptions, rent and credit card payments. While it doesn’t offer a free trial, it does come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Before you begin looking at credit cards, make a list of a few non-negotiables. For example, if you travel abroad a lot, a card with no foreign transaction fees should be high on your list.

Also, decide which type of rewards you want to earn based on the redemptions you’re most likely to make. If you want to use your rewards toward airfare or hotel bookings, look for points or miles-earning travel cards. Or, if you’d prefer to stick to statement credits or direct deposits, research cash-back credit cards. There are even cards that offer both options.

For instance, the Citi Double Cash® Card earns a flat 2% cash back on all purchases: 1% when you buy and another 1% when you pay your bill. The card technically earns Citi ThankYou® Points that can be redeemed for cash back or used for travel, including transfers to Citi’s hotel and airline partners.

Getting approved for a credit card depends on multiple factors, so there isn’t one simple way to increase your approval odds. While your credit score will likely be the largest factor in most applications, things like your current debt, income, number of recent credit applications and more can all play a part.

Review your credit score and credit report

If you need to improve your credit score a bit in order to get approved for the card you want, tools like *Experian Boost® could help you close the gap.

Experian Boost is a free tool that lets you report payments for bills like your cellphone, utilities, streaming services, rent and more. Just connect your bank account and select the bills you want to be counted. Even better, Experian Boost works retroactively, meaning you’ll get credit for past eligible bills.

It’s also good practice to periodically review your credit report for mistakes, which could affect your approval chances. If your report has incorrect information on it — like a missed payment that never happened or an inaccurate balance — these are things you’d want to get fixed before applying.

Check your eligibility

Using a prequalification or preapproval tool can help you get a good idea of your approval chances. Neither of these methods guarantees approval, but they’re strong indicators that you might qualify for the card.

A full application generally involves a hard credit check, which may temporarily lower your credit score by a few points. Prequalification and preapproval use a soft credit check, which doesn’t impact your score.

Before you officially apply, narrow your options down to one or two cards before putting in a formal application. Applying for too many credit cards in quick succession isn’t good for a few reasons. Not only does it result in more hard credit checks, but multiple applications could signal to lenders that you’re risky to lend to.

Choose a card that fits your current finances

If your main priority is getting access to more credit, you don’t have to apply for a flashy rewards card. You might be drawn to cards with large statement credits or complimentary airport lounge access, but odds are you don’t need all of that. Premium credit cards can be difficult to manage; if you don’t use enough of a card’s benefits, its value may not outweigh its annual fee.

If you have a limited or poor credit score, a secured credit card may be your best option. Secured cards require a security deposit — typically a few hundred dollars — to open, which acts as your line of credit.

The Discover it® Secured Cash Back Card is one of the best secured cards on the market, and you don’t need a credit score to apply. You can open the card with a refundable deposit as low as $49, and you’ll still have access to at least a $200 credit limit. The card also earns an excellent cash-back rate on rotating bonus categories, and at the end of your first year, Discover will match all of the cash back you’ve earned.

There are also unsecured cards available for limited-to-fair credit. The Chase Freedom Rise® (see rates and fees) is one such option, earning 1.5% cash back on everything you buy for no annual fee. Plus, you can increase your approval chances if you have a Chase bank account with at least $250 in deposits.

While you might only have an estimate for your potential credit limit, that can still be enough to influence your decision. Issuers don’t typically advertise average credit limits, but third-party sites like Reddit are full of cardholders sharing their approval stories and credit limits they’ve received.

Consider whether a card’s estimated credit limit meets your needs. If the average credit limit of the card you’re looking at is significantly lower than what you need, it might not be a good fit.

Approval timeline

Not all cards can be added to your digital wallet right away. Sometimes you need to receive the physical card in the mail in order to activate and use it. Consider this if you need to make the purchase sooner rather than later.

Some cards offer virtual card numbers as soon as you’re approved. With this, you can add the card to your virtual wallet and start spending immediately.

Welcome bonus

Credit card welcome bonuses are often very valuable and can be a significant draw to sign up for a card. Take note of the spending requirements and timeframe you have to hit the bonus. Calculate how much you’d have to spend per month on average, and if you’re not comfortable with that amount, that could be a sign to consider a different card.

Some cards, like the Discover it® Secured Cash Back, or its unsecured counterpart, the Discover it® Cash Back, offer automatic welcome bonuses. With either of these cards, Discover will match all the cash back you earn within the first year of card ownership — with no cap on the amount you can earn.

Catch up on CNBC Select’s in-depth coverage ofcredit cards,bankingandmoney, and follow us onTikTok,Facebook,InstagramandXto stay up to date.