topic Re: Your first and highest CL leap ... in Credit Cards

Your first and highest CL leap ...

hotpoint — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 18:41:08 GMT

Hello ...

I trust all is well. I have noticed many of you have very high CL, i.e.. 10k, 15k, 22k, etc. I am curious to learn more about your profile before you received such a CL, and you were trusted w/such a leap. What was your CL before you leaped into that zone listed above, your scores, AAOA, BK/or deleted, homeowner/renter, etc? Please share any information that would assist someone w/their journey. Purpose: many of us are learning and would like to learn from those that have made the leap -- my highest CL is 5k w/USAA, I am in the process of paying my CC down, lowering A.P.R. (w/success), and preparing for the CC that fit the best. I have no inquires for the last three years. I am hoping to be below 20% by October 2012. BTW, Congratulation, and thanks for sharing your knowledge . . . .

HotPoint

EQ -- 685 ... 7/2/2012

TU -- 687 ... 6/15/2012

EX -- 694 ... 6/29/2012 Plus -- 780 vantage Score 6/15/2012

all wounds heal except those that you pick at

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

FrugalRican — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:18:54 GMT

My highest CL, although it says BoA, is really not from BoA.

It was originally from MBNA from when I was in college. It started out as a $500 card in college and just kept growing and growing on its own. I'd charge on it all the time and unfortunately carried balances (didn't know how credit worked, nor interest). Once MBNA got bought by BoA, forget it, it's stuck at 15,900 since then.

Discover gave me a $6,000 CL partially because I asked for a 4,800 BT from the BoA card. So they probably figured I had a nice CL somewhere else and would need a bit extra.

AMEX gave me somewhat of a midpoint between the Discover and the BOA Constrictor card.

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

MrShush — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:26:42 GMT

First step for me was in 2008 just after we closed on our mortgage. Discover wouldn't touch me prior then, viola!, they approved me for a mere $5490. The next big move was in September (or maybe it was October) of 2009 when Nationwide was uber popular around this board. They sent me a "pre-appoval" so I bit and they granted me my first $10,000 limit. The final BIG one was May of last year when I asked Barclay's for a seemingly unrealistic CLI from $12,500 to $20,000. They pulled hard TU where my score was probably around 750 and it was granted.

I do believe it was the Nationwide CL that paved the way for 5 figure limits going forward. I have maybe 8 credit line of 10K or greater now. That said, my 3 Chase cards (Freedom, Slate, and JP Morgan Select) that were approved since September of last year are 6500, 7000, and 7000 respectively which matches the limit of one of my AMEX cards (Delta Gold).

Scores on most of those approvals ranged from 730-780.

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

CS800 — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:52:49 GMT

For the longest time, my highest CL was $1100 (Cap One) since I was in a rebuilding mode but also never cared to apply for a card because I was aware that my credit wasnt good enough. Once I was into my rebuilding and with the help of this board, I finally got the courage to app for a Discover more and they gave me $6500 back then.

My util was 1%

So I went from $1100 to $6500. I can honestly say that this opened the door for my other cards.

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

shorefox — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:50:29 GMT

Initially, I started out with my Citi Dividend with a $500 limit. Eventually, it worked its way up to $6,350. It sat at that for over a year and I was unhappy with the uneven number (yes, I'm not lying) and requested an increase from $6,350 to $10k. They didn't even pull my report to do that and it was granted immediately due to great history with Citi. I've never been late on any payment, had 1 other CC (low limit store card), one consumer finance account and 1 auto loan which was paid a year early. All accounts have 0 balances. Just pay your bills on time, get your utilization down, and they should have no problem raising your limit. My AAOA is around 3.3 years (less now since I applied and was approved for a Zync) and my EXP score from my AMEX pull was 737.

hotpoint wrote:
Hello ... I trust all is well. I have noticed many of you have very high CL, i.e.. 10k, 15k, 22k, etc. I am curious to learn more about your profile before you received such a CL, and you were trusted w/such a leap. What was your CL before you leaped into that zone listed above, your scores, AAOA, BK/or deleted, homeowner/renter, etc? Please share any information that would assist someone w/their journey. Purpose: many of us are learning and would like to learn from those that have made the leap -- my highest CL is 5k w/USAA, I am in the process of paying my CC down, lowering A.P.R. (w/success), and preparing for the CC that fit the best. I have no inquires for the last three years. I am hoping to be below 20% by October 2012. BTW, Congratulation, and thanks for sharing your knowledge . . . . HotPoint EQ -- 685 ... 7/2/2012 TU -- 687 ... 6/15/2012 EX -- 694 ... 6/29/2012 Plus -- 780 vantage Score 6/15/2012 all wounds heal except those that you pick at

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

HumbleLobster — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 18:42:59 GMT

I got a US Bank student Visa CC with a $500 limit back as soon as I turned 18 ~8 years ago. It grew with me over time until I hit my current limit at $8k a year or so ago. No lates or other derogs on the account in that time frame. I got a Chase Visa about 6 years ago as a $2k limit, and that has morphed into a $4400 Freedom and has sat at that for about 2 years now. I'd risk the HP to push them higher but we're about 3 months away from a mortgage and I don't want to scare any Underwriters, considering I'm only at about 4% utilization. I think I could easily push both higher if I wanted to.

FAKOs in the sig are up to date.

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

hotpoint — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 18:55:29 GMT

Thanks for the knowledge . . .

So far, I am hearing that Citi, and Discovery are some of the best cards. I understand the value of maintaining a low utilization, paying your balance in full, and creating a relationship with the same source. Of course over time your CL will increase.

On the other hand, If a person has a CC with a 6500.00 CL and a Bank/CU offer them a CC w/a CL of 22k . . . this is a huge leap.

How is this happening?

HotPoint

EQ -- 685 ... 7/2/2012

TU -- 687 ... 6/15/2012

EX -- 694 ... 6/29/2012 Plus -- 780 vantage Score 6/15/2012

all wounds heal except those that you pick at

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

xiownthisplacex — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 18:56:39 GMT

I started with a Cap1 Secured in Feb 2011 and now the max I have is a Citi Thank You of 5.3k and two others with 5k.

I just got my AMEX BCE today with 1k, so I will be doing the 3x in 61 days and again after that, so I suspect that will be my highest 9k :)

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

Reelax — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 19:12:34 GMT

My highest has always been with Chase. I have had Chase since a converted WAMU card in 2001 which started with a 1k limit. Back then WAMU auto increased my credit limits without me even asking up to 4k. In 2006 I applied for an actual Chase Visa and got a 3k limit. Since then, Chase has pretty much increased my limits to what it is today at 12100 on both cards. In that span I asked for CLI twice on both cards and the rest were from auto increases.

It helps to explain why you need a CLI in the first place to the reps. In my case, I had charged a lot on my cards so the High Balance section on my Credit report reflected 80% utilization but I always PIF before the closing date so my actual utilization used in the FICO formulas was low. I explained to the reps I needed the increase so I could charge more and noted that even though I charged so much each month, I always paid it off regardless. They saw that as a positive and was never declined a increase.

Because I was at 12k on my Chase cards, Amex matched the same limit at 12100 when I first applied with them. I did the same thing with the Amex card, I charged 8500 in one month and paid it off. My credit reports reflected a High Balance of 8500 but nothing in the actual balance column. I asked for a CLI about a year from my anniversary date and got a increase to 22700.

My Bank of America cards are another story. They were at 10k but back in 2009 when they were cutting limits, they cut it in half so I have 2 with 5k limits. I don't bother asking for increases on them since i rarely utilize them. My other cards have better rewards programs.

From my experience, talking to the reps and explaining your situation will get you farther than pressing a button on their bank site. It helps that the CSR's are also human, and who knows.... they may be or may have been in the same situation as you so they may understand you and actually make an effort to get you what you ask for. Better than asking a computer that spits out preset decisions based on a number assigned to you.

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

CS800 — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 19:55:29 GMT

hotpoint wrote:
Thanks for the knowledge . . .

So far, I am hearing that Citi, and Discovery are some of the best cards. I understand the value of maintaining a low utilization, paying your balance in full, and creating a relationship with the same source. Of course over time your CL will increase.

On the other hand, If a person has a CC with a 6500.00 CL and a Bank/CU offer them a CC w/a CL of 22k . . . this is a huge leap.

How is this happening?

HotPoint

EQ -- 685 ... 7/2/2012
TU -- 687 ... 6/15/2012
EX -- 694 ... 6/29/2012 Plus -- 780 vantage Score 6/15/2012

all wounds heal except those that you pick at

Some institutions are more generous that others.

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

Walt_K — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 20:23:50 GMT

My highest CL currently is Amex SPG at $27K. Before that, my highest was $10K. I had $10K on a Chase buy.com visa and a BofA US Air MC. Both of those started at $5K and grew to $10K on their own over several years.

In 2008 I went through a period of unemployment and fell behind on all my credit cards and my mortgage. My CCs were all closed by the creditors, but I managed to find work again before anything was charged off/went to collections/went into foreclosure. But having gone 150 days late on at least one account, and 60-120 days late on six other accounts, my scores obviously were not very good. Once I paid everything current, I got a capital one platinum CC with $39 AF. I believe the initial CL was $500 and it was in their credit steps program. At the time, my scores couldn't have been much above 600, if even that high.

Almost two years later, I applied for the Amex PRG and was approved. At the time, my EQ FICO was about 650. I did not know it at the time, but my EX FICO currently sits about 50 points higher than my EQ FICO, so I am sure that helped with the approval. I used the PRG fairly heavily for 6 months. My scores continued to improve because my lates were all aging past the two year mark. I then applied for the SPG card and was given an initial CL of $19.6K. At the time of application, my EQ and TU scores had cracked 700 if I remember correctly, and I estimate that my EX FICO was around 750. I still had significant lates on 7 accounts, but they were over two years old. By that time my Cap One card had grown to a $2500 CL, but that was the only CL for an open tradeline on my report. I also had the Amex PRG, and I had the closed accounts with the $10K CL. I put a fairly large amount of business expenses on my CCs, so in my case, I think the heavy usage with the Amex PRG played a significant role in the initial CL. I also think the fact that my EX report scores so much higher than EQ and TU helps, since that is what Amex pulls.

6 months later, I asked Amex to increase the CL to $25K and was approved. Just last month, Amex gave me an auto CLI to $27K.

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

webhopper — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 21:17:13 GMT

For me the jump was crazy. I had had discover since 1999. It grew through auto clis to 4200. Then this yr chase gave me a 5k limit on amazon and amex gave me a NPSL that ive used to a Max of 5200. Nfcu gave me the 22k limit in march. I think my perfect cc payment history and income helped. I had sent in bank statements and investment statements.that showed over 100k in liquid assets for my truck refi and they approved me for the card using that info. I think the higher limit is just because ive kept my house in good financial shape. We bought a house we could easily afford on just one income and. We only have 1/3 vehicles that still have a note. I'm curious to find out if chase and discover eventually raise my limits. My high balance on the.cash.rewards card has.been 7k. I'm sitting at 3k now and it will be at 0 at the end of this month.

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

CreditScholar — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 04:03:50 GMT

My largest CL leap was with Bank of America back in 2007.
Previously I had a Platinum Visa with a 10k limit from 2004-2007, a Visa gold with a 4k limit in 2001-2003, and a vanilla Visa with a 1k limit in 2000. I started doing a lot more travelling so I applied for my US Airways Visa Signature and was instantly approved with $18,200.
At that point my FICO was ~780 and I'd been pushing through about 50-60k a year on my platinum card. I also had about $250,000 invested with them as a wealth mamagement client. I'm fairly certain all of those helped.

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

SanjeevR — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 04:59:50 GMT

My biggest break came two-fold.

Prior to entering prime territory, my highest limit was $2,500 with Juniper.

First, when my credit improved significantly, I was approved for the Amex Premier Rewards Gold card. (BK from 2002 and 2 CO's were still showing at this time; FICO around 630; AAOA 6 yrs.)

After having this card for six months, I applied and was approved for the Chase United MileagePlus Explorer card with a $10,000 limit. (Note that I also had cleaned up BK and CO's from reports; FICO around 760; AAOA 6 yrs.) This was a major break through from low limits.

Next, I started applying for Amex revolvers and was approved for BCP and Hilton Surpass with $20,000 limits each. I think these limits really set the pace for future limits on my high end cards.

During this time, I also apped for the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Approved for $5,000 since the United card was new. After 3 months, I apped for a CLI and was increased to $20,000 limit!

YMMV, but Amex and Chase have been great to me. (And the secret is that they compete with each other! When you cross a major hurdle with one, you can be sure that the other is close behind.)

Honorable mention - Barclays has also shown love. I recently went from a $5,000 limit on my Ring card to $14,000 in the span of 1 month!

Hope this helps! My progress has been helped tremendously by these boards!

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

discernment — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 05:24:19 GMT

hotpoint wrote:
I have noticed many of you have very high CL, i.e.. 10k, 15k, 22k, etc. I am curious to learn more about your profile before you received such a CL, and you were trusted w/such a leap. What was your CL before you leaped into that zone listed above, your scores, AAOA, BK/or deleted, homeowner/renter, etc? Please share any information that would assist someone w/their journey. Purpose: many of us are learning and would like to learn from those that have made the leap -- my highest CL is 5k w/USAA, I am in the process of paying my CC down, lowering A.P.R. (w/success), and preparing for the CC that fit the best. I have no inquires for the last three years. I am hoping to be below 20% by October 2012. BTW, Congratulation, and thanks for sharing your knowledge . . . .

STILL waiting for a high leap here....:smileyvery-happy:

My question is -- do you really USE your $20,000 + limit every month?

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

CreditScholar — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 05:56:55 GMT

discernment wrote:
hotpoint wrote:
I have noticed many of you have very high CL, i.e.. 10k, 15k, 22k, etc. I am curious to learn more about your profile before you received such a CL, and you were trusted w/such a leap. What was your CL before you leaped into that zone listed above, your scores, AAOA, BK/or deleted, homeowner/renter, etc? Please share any information that would assist someone w/their journey. Purpose: many of us are learning and would like to learn from those that have made the leap -- my highest CL is 5k w/USAA, I am in the process of paying my CC down, lowering A.P.R. (w/success), and preparing for the CC that fit the best. I have no inquires for the last three years. I am hoping to be below 20% by October 2012. BTW, Congratulation, and thanks for sharing your knowledge . . . .

STILL waiting for a high leap here....:smileyvery-happy:

My question is -- do you really USE your $20,000 + limit every month?

Sometimes. In December I typically push through 40-50k, but otherwise it averages around 5-6k per month.

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

hotpoint — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 07:53:42 GMT

Thanks to you all . . . this is great info and helpful to us all. Sanjee, very interesting journey. I have read throughout this forum that Amex is challenging to obtain w/a BK -- thanks for breaking the curse.

HotPoint

EQ -- 685 ... 7/2/2012

TU -- 687 ... 6/15/2012

EX -- 694 ... 6/29/2012 Plus -- 780 vantage Score 6/15/2012

all wounds heal except those that you pick at

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

SanjeevR — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 20:27:45 GMT

hotpoint wrote:
Thanks to you all . . . this is great info and helpful to us all. Sanjee, very interesting journey. I have read throughout this forum that Amex is challenging to obtain w/a BK -- thanks for breaking the curse.

HotPoint

EQ -- 685 ... 7/2/2012
TU -- 687 ... 6/15/2012
EX -- 694 ... 6/29/2012 Plus -- 780 vantage Score 6/15/2012

all wounds heal except those that you pick at

No problem. Glad to help!

At the time of applying for my first Amex, I had not signed up for these boards yet. So, I had no awareness of the Amex/BK fear. Fortunately, I was approved. Amex has been great to me. Gotta love Amex (and Chase)!

To the other OP, no I never even come close to the $20,000 limits on my cards. But, because I have high limits, I'm not afraid to use my cards. I'm currently carrying about $8,000 in debt, but it's only 7% utilization. High limits are all part of leveraging the credit scoring system to your advantage!

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

bribro — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 16:09:46 GMT

I started with a Citi Student Dividend card in college way back in 2005 - this was in the old days of credit where CCCs had kiosks on college campuses and were approving basically everyone. That student card graduated to an MC Platinum, then MC World, and eventually MC World Eite, and the CL went from $500 to $20k. I received occasional auto-CLIs, but would also log in to manually check the CL and request increases if the option was available. Now that I have a decent CL it helps me leverage other CCC into matching it. It just took time and discipline.

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

Walt_K — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 18:15:00 GMT

discernment wrote:
hotpoint wrote:
I have noticed many of you have very high CL, i.e.. 10k, 15k, 22k, etc. I am curious to learn more about your profile before you received such a CL, and you were trusted w/such a leap. What was your CL before you leaped into that zone listed above, your scores, AAOA, BK/or deleted, homeowner/renter, etc? Please share any information that would assist someone w/their journey. Purpose: many of us are learning and would like to learn from those that have made the leap -- my highest CL is 5k w/USAA, I am in the process of paying my CC down, lowering A.P.R. (w/success), and preparing for the CC that fit the best. I have no inquires for the last three years. I am hoping to be below 20% by October 2012. BTW, Congratulation, and thanks for sharing your knowledge . . . .

STILL waiting for a high leap here....:smileyvery-happy:

My question is -- do you really USE your $20,000 + limit every month?

I use it every month by keeping my utilization down without having to worry as much about paying before statement closes.