Credit Cards

[mikka1]

mmmmmm, I had the same short-list of cards I wanted to apply for, and overall my situation is somewhat similar to yours (I also have less than 1 yr history, but around 6-7 credit cards with small limits and scores around 700-720 across all CRAs). I started with Discover More, got instantly approved for $2500; a couple of weeks later applied for Chase Amazon, approved instantly for $3000, but decided to wait a little bit more before applying for BCE (maybe until November, when most of my inquiries will pass 1 year mark and my total credit history will be 15 months long). I would say you have good chances, your scores are even higher than mine.

Good luck!

P.S. A good thing is also that Chase and Discover pulled different CRAs (Chase -> EX; Discover -> EQ) in my case (I live in NJ). Not sure if that's the case everywhere.

[mmmmmm]

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webhopper wrote:

I definitely include my bonus in there when I apply. I always apply using the income reported on my w2 as well as the gross income from my side business. All of that income is taxable so you definitely should include it since you're paying taxes for it. Autos mortgages cards; I always use it. On my paystubs it does delineation what money is bonus money vs regular.  My bonus was 17k last yr, and it was included part of my initial employment contract as a percentage of my base pay. There's no way I'd leave that much money off the table, especially as the bonus has helped us pay off two vehicles that we own free and clear and helps us have money to invest in retirement accounts.

Was the bonus part of your initial employment offer? if yes then include it.   My husband recently apped for Platinum, and his incentive changes from month to month, so we took his gross pay for the first six months of the yr and doubled it, and that's the figure he put on the app along with his VA disability pay.

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Yeah, that's where I was a little fuzzy on, what actually counted as income.  I asked one of their chat reps a week or two ago about including bonuses, and the chat rep said only include your actual wages/salary, but I don't know if that was correct.

At my current position, I can earn a bonus for my performance every month, and atlhough it's obviously not guaranteed, I get it almost every month maybe missing it once or twice a year.  There are 3 levels to the bonus, based on percentages, 5%, 10%, and 20% on all wages earned for that month.  So for instance if I earned the 20% bonus, and made $2,000 that month, I would actually get paid $2,400.  Again, it's not guaranteed like a wage or salary is, but I can say with confidence my yearly income is much higher than just my hours worked times my hourly wage.  I just don't want to falsify anything or have them ask me to verify it when I can't actually prove I would make that much guaranteed.

I also can't go off a W2 or anything because I only started this position last Oct. I suppose I can take my pay through the first 6 months of 2012 and simply multiply it by 2?  I don't know.  I guess I would just rather shoot lower than too high, but maybe that's the wrong way to look at it as well.

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mikka1 wrote:

mmmmmm, I had the same short-list of cards I wanted to apply for, and overall my situation is somewhat similar to yours (I also have less than 1 yr history, but around 6-7 credit cards with small limits and scores around 700-720 across all CRAs). I started with Discover More, got instantly approved for $2500; a couple of weeks later applied for Chase Amazon, approved instantly for $3000, but decided to wait a little bit more before applying for BCE (maybe until November, when most of my inquiries will pass 1 year mark and my total credit history will be 15 months long). I would say you have good chances, your scores are even higher than mine.

Good luck!

P.S. A good thing is also that Chase and Discover pulled different CRAs (Chase -> EX; Discover -> EQ) in my case (I live in NJ). Not sure if that's the case everywhere.

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Yeah, I actually applied back in Jun last year for Chase Freedom (bad idea) for my first CC, and when I was denied I got approved for a Discover Student More card instead.  Chase hit my EQ and EX, and Discover hit my TU.  It's funny because I even asked a Discover rep over the phone which one they mainly pull, and they said they usually pull EX, but I think it just really depends on location or maybe even timing.  Good thing for me, my TU is my highest score at the moment.

TU: 730   EQ: 726

Once my Discover account hits the 1 year mark, and my last inq falls off my reports, along with a 1% util, I think I can make it into the 740s or 750s (that's why I said that in my OP), at least I'm hoping.

Thanks for all the comments guys.

[JusdoNit]

Amex likes to see atleast a year of positive tradelines.

[mmmmmm]

A year of positive trade lines with them, or any lender/creditor?

[Revelate]

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mmmmmm wrote:

A year of positive trade lines with them, or any lender/creditor?

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In general, any creditor; *however* Amex (like all lenders but arguably more so) also wants to see income levels... and 20K / yr isn't much.  Go figure, they like discretionary spending power.

I know you want the BCE, and it's a good card; however, it's a non-trivial approval and it's not targetted towards people in your situation as a student.

What you could do, and it might work:

- Apply for Zync

- If approved, immediately apply for BCE.

Might be same pull, might not, but 2 inquiries vs. 1 no biggie, and since most folks have needed to wait 6 months to a year with the Zync or other charge product before applying for a revolver, the inquiry damage will be minimal to non-existant.  Also if you just apply for the BCE in January you'd just be backdated to 01/12 anyway on it so it's not like you're losing time score wise by doing this at least for AAoA calculation.  This presumes you can get a Zync, and I'd be very surprised if you were denied for that.  It's marketed as Amex's short-history or entry-level card... and it's actually pretty good unless you need travel rewards.

[jsickz32]

im 21 28k yearly income and got approved for amex instantly for 2500...

[mmmmmm]

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Revelate wrote:

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mmmmmm wrote:

A year of positive trade lines with them, or any lender/creditor?

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In general, any creditor; *however* Amex (like all lenders but arguably more so) also wants to see income levels... and 20K / yr isn't much.  Go figure, they like discretionary spending power.

I know you want the BCE, and it's a good card; however, it's a non-trivial approval and it's not targetted towards people in your situation as a student.

What you could do, and it might work:

- Apply for Zync

- If approved, immediately apply for BCE.

Might be same pull, might not, but 2 inquiries vs. 1 no biggie, and since most folks have needed to wait 6 months to a year with the Zync or other charge product before applying for a revolver, the inquiry damage will be minimal to non-existant.  Also if you just apply for the BCE in January you'd just be backdated to 01/12 anyway on it so it's not like you're losing time score wise by doing this at least for AAoA calculation.  This presumes you can get a Zync, and I'd be very surprised if you were denied for that.  It's marketed as Amex's short-history or entry-level card... and it's actually pretty good unless you need travel rewards.

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Thanks for the suggestion.  If I apped for BCE first and was denied, I would have to wait 30 days before applying for the Zinc, correct?  Is there a CL on the charge cards?  I'm still a bit fuzzy as to how they work, how they report limits, etc.

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jsickz32 wrote:

im 21 28k yearly income and got approved for it instantly for 2500...

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Mind if I ask what your FICO scores looked like?

[jsickz32]

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mmmmmm wrote:

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Revelate wrote:

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mmmmmm wrote:

A year of positive trade lines with them, or any lender/creditor?

---

In general, any creditor; *however* Amex (like all lenders but arguably more so) also wants to see income levels... and 20K / yr isn't much.  Go figure, they like discretionary spending power.

I know you want the BCE, and it's a good card; however, it's a non-trivial approval and it's not targetted towards people in your situation as a student.

What you could do, and it might work:

- Apply for Zync

- If approved, immediately apply for BCE.

Might be same pull, might not, but 2 inquiries vs. 1 no biggie, and since most folks have needed to wait 6 months to a year with the Zync or other charge product before applying for a revolver, the inquiry damage will be minimal to non-existant.  Also if you just apply for the BCE in January you'd just be backdated to 01/12 anyway on it so it's not like you're losing time score wise by doing this at least for AAoA calculation.  This presumes you can get a Zync, and I'd be very surprised if you were denied for that.  It's marketed as Amex's short-history or entry-level card... and it's actually pretty good unless you need travel rewards.

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Thanks for the suggestion.  If I apped for BCE first and was denied, I would have to wait 30 days before applying for the Zinc, correct?  Is there a CL on the charge cards?  I'm still a bit fuzzy as to how they work, how they report limits, etc.

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jsickz32 wrote:

im 21 28k yearly income and got approved for it instantly for 2500...

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Mind if I ask what your FICO scores looked like?

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 idk...ive had ccs since i was 18 and checking account since 16 maybe thats why....

[webhopper]

Zync is a great card. I have the connect pack. You get 1 pt for every dollar, plus you get bonus points for your pack catagories. I have connect pack, which gives me 3x bonus on my security system, cell, internet, and direct tv, and netflix. Also, eco pack is free, and other packs are free, so you get bonus points for using those "green" vendors