Well, it's finally time for me to start making my moves! I've begun my HP-incurring actions with Citi and PenFed, then got things lined up with DCU for my next steps. It was a mixed bag of results, but mostly positive! I started with Citi because of their rule on inquiries -- no more than 5 in the last 6 months, I believe? -- and I was previously sitting at 3/6 on EX, 1/6 on TU, and 1/6 on EQ with expected inquiries to hit EQ for PenFed and DCU. Relevant scores prior to application were FICO Bankcard 8 (for Citi) EX 693 TU 672 EQ 689 ; FICO 9 (for PenFed) EQ 696 ; FICO Mortgage 5 (for DCU) EQ 672. Overall reported utilization just over 6%. Here are my results!
Home Depot CLI: Increase from $500 to $8500! HP on EQ. I've had this card for about a year and have made do with the toy limit, but of course you can only do so much with $500 at HD. Was PIF about a month ago, so it was $0 balance when I put in the CLI request. Kicking this one up was well worth the HP for upcoming home improvement and to enhance my relationship with Citi. I did it right before statement cut, so the new limit should be reporting to CRAs any day now, bolstering my low overall utilization.
Costco Visa: Instant decline, HP on EQ. Yeahhh, I was mostly sure that this one wouldn't take due to IIB Citi in 2018, but I was encouraged from seeing successes of others on this forum with filing as early as 3.5 years (I'm just shy of that by a month). As a Costco devotee, I am particularly motivated to get back with this card, so I'm not giving up on it just yet -- planning to recon when I get my AA letter, and if that doesn't pan out, then I'll look toward reapplying in a year or so. It was worth it, if only to quell the thoughts of "should I have tried for it?"...
PenFed Pathfinder: Instant approval for $10,000 (!!!), HP on EQ. Yay, my highest SL post-BK! We've got some travel coming up over the next couple years, so this will definitely come in handy. And now I've got the coveted "PenFed Trio" (sorry, Gold card).
PenFed PCR CLI: Instant decline, called into speak with a CSR and used HP from the Pathfinder. Boooo, I'm genuinely surprised by this one, didn't even get forwarded to UW review. The PCR is our daily driver (DW is an AU), so it sees the most use and lots of payment. Its current CL is $10k and its reported utilization is 3%, though I'll admit it had pretty high UTIL until recently so that may have been a factor in the automated decision. I'm going to request a manual review on Monday, as I can make a good use case for having its CL in the $15k-25k range.
PenFed Platinum CLI: Conditional pending review, also used HP from the Pathfinder. This time I was surprised that it didn't get auto-declined since I did it after the PCR request, but that didn't generate a second HP so I knew I didn't have anything to lose. This card also gets some moderate-to-high use, so additional breathing room will be much appreciated. Its current CL is $5k with reported utilization of 6%. Its statement is also about to cut, so if they can finalize the CLI soon, it should report before I take further actions. [UPDATE] Review came back as declined as well. Bummer. I may still call in for clarification on both PCR and Plat and maybe get another set of eyes on them.
DCU Membership: Approved and funded, no HP of course. This is my second CU post-BK, and I've read great things about their loan products and BK-friendliness. I wanted to get this one in after I took the hits on EQ so that I could see how my FICO Mortgage 5 changed when DCU supplies me with the score based on their membership SP. I was hoping Citi would have used EX for at least one of my apps, but I don't expect the score to swing too wildly off 672. My next steps (with DCU) are auto refi and personal loan, which I will swing on later this week -- with a new TL approved, I'm motivated to not linger too long on next apps before the Pathfinder hits my CRs.
Grats to all of your success listed here 
Congrats on your PenFed Pathfinder approval & CLI's
Congrats on your success! 🤑👍👍
