why can't i get a credit card with a credit score of 717 and i have absolutely zero debt?

Discover will give a card to almost anyone. Try that on line.

Your credit increases when you pay back a debt. The more you pay, the better your credit rating gets. When you pay all of your debt off, your credit will probably be very high, as it sounds like you had a lot of debt. If you only make minimum payments on a credit card or loan, you are usually only paying the interest, and you will never get out of debt. Your credit rate still increases, however, because the interest is part of your debt, and you are paying it. The only thing you could do which would be bad for your credit would be to not pay, or to pay late. Any time you have to make a late payment (which should be avoided at all costs), you can often avoid damaging your credit score by calling up the credit company and apologizing for the late payment and asking them to not report it to the credit bureau. They will still charge you a late fee, but most of the time they'll do as you ask and not damage your credit.

Not just your score is taken into account, you should have received a letter after applying that tells you exactly why they made that choice. If you have applied to a lot of places in a little time you are looking like a credit risk because to them it looks like you need one now and you may not have the cash to pay for things so you could default on a credit card. Also depending on you income and how high that large credit limit is could be a factor and how high the balance is compared to that limit.

It's not only your credit score that qualifies or disqualifies you. The card you have now with a large limit may be a negative factor. Even if you have a zero balance on that card, it represents a potential debt that you could incur. Include your other debts/living expenses and you may not have enough income to service additional cards.

How many times are you applying? Could be that you do not meet the income requirements, time on the job, or maybe since you only have one other card, you don't have the amount of credit history they want.

At any rate, stop applying, this will hurt your score and it is obvious that you are going to be turned down. Read the letters from whomever you have applied and see what the reason is they stated for declining you. By law, they have to send you a letter outlining why they came to their decision.

Where? - Good question :) There are lot of sources you could sprout on. But since you have very good credit score you can better go for online based credit card provider to get your credit cards. This means less paper work, quick process and card issues in couple of days.

I hope http://creditcard4u.org/ help you in getting a credit card online.

Most likely your income will not support additional debt. After you are turned down you will get a letter saying why their decision was made, and giving you the ability to get a free credit report from whatever agency they used for their decision. Should do that to see if someone is using your credit

You already have a large limit on your existing card and depending on your existing debt to income ratio other card companies are skeptical about issuing you more pretty much "why would you need it"? I'm sure you understand in these meager economic times lenders are being much more cautious and not tossing around cards and credit lines like they used to.

Probably because you are applying for too many cards. In order to be approved for any cards, you must apply for very few cards, preferably only one. If you are rejected, you should wait more than one year before you try again to apply for a card. If you apply too often or too soon, then you will continue to be rejected until you wait longer between applications.

I found out the reason why I kept getting rejected is because I keep applying. Apparently if you have too many inquiries, they will reject your request....I think that is very stupid, I mean you have to apply so why do lenders count that against you?