@codimom wrote:
Hi, I've been lurking for a while, and I've gleaned quite a bit of information here on this board. My question for you all, is what card do you all consider to be the "holy grail" of cards when you are rebuilding your credit profile? I've seen many posts concerning Amex, Chase Sapphire etc.
I've been rebuilding for about 3 years now. I went a total of 4 years without applying for any credit at all. Seems I attract Capital one for some reason (my kohls card shows as CapOne, as does my HSBC card...now they bought ING as well....). Last week I paid off the very last of my credit card debt.. so I will be PIF during my continued rebuild. My goal? high 7s. I'd love to share what they are now, but I haven't pulled them in a while.
Hi there! My 'holy grail' is AMEX for a number of reasons. Once you are welcomed into their family, you get the ROYAL treatment. 1) You can app for another card with them & if you get denied, its not a hard inquiry-they only give you a hard inquiry if you're approved (which can make the apping process alot less painful). 2) They backdate any new accounts to reflect that they were opened as of the date of the original account (so once your original account is more than a year old, all subsequent accounts you open will avoid the 'new account' hit). 3) Your credit line increase requests are soft inquiries, not hard.
Also, as rewarding as debt-free is (CONGRATULATIONS, by the way!!), it's best to carry-over a small balance on one card every month (less than 5% of your overall/total avail credit). Paid in full is great, but a small balance is better. Good luck to you!
