@Anonymous wrote:Hi All,
First time posting on the board (though I've read many topics in the past). A little background- I'm 25 years old, and I believed I was very much in control of my financial life. I've had a discover card for 6+ years (20k limit), a somewhat recent car loan, a store card that I havent touched thats been opened for a few years, and student loans which are all paid off. According to Discover, my credit score is most recently 770, while Credit Karma is clocking it 750-760 for both of their Bureaus. I use my Discover very frequently, and do not carry a balance.
Anyways, I am planning an international trip, and figured it would be well worth it to take advantage of some of the nice card offers out there. After very extensive research, I applied for both the Chase Freedom and Chase Sapphire Preferred (your rewards are much more efficient if you do it that way and transfer them to the Sapphire). I got immediate approvals for both and was offered 16K limit for each. I then just applied for and got accepted for an Amazon store card (the 5% one), about a week or 2 after the Chase's.
I know this was alot in a short time, but my research showed me that this isn't necessarily bad in the long term (I'll have better credit utilization, more lines of credit, but I'll sacrifice credit age, and any hard pulls that were done). I figured that having all these cards would save/earn me the most money, however I am now nervous at how long it will take my score to recover. I just checked Credit Karma, and my new cards aren't showing up yet (this is about 2 weeks from my first Chase application), however my Amazon is showing up as a single hard pull (Chase's are not and they came before the Amazon).
My thinking is (hopefully) that if I want these cards at some point in time, it is best to get them as early as possible, provided that I am not going to be applying for a mortgage in the immediate future. That way they can start aging right away (I plan to keep all except for the Sapphire, which I will cancel before the fee comes due). My credit utilization is now going to be near nil, I'll have 3 extra lines of credit, however my age of credit is going to be much lower than before (especially if "average age" is looked at more importantly than "age of longest line").
You guys think I'll be ok? The last card I was looking into was the Fidelity 2% which can go toward retirement (which apparently will be available in two days), but that can wait a few months
EDIT: My primary concern is how long the low age of credit will affect me... I'm thinking the soonest I would look to buy a house is in about 18 months- (our lease ends in 6 months, and at that point we will almost definitely sign another 1-year lease).. but even at that time, the average age of my accounts will still be like only 2-3 years
This is your valid TU FICO score. 770 is quite good.
You only got 3 cards, two of which were Chase that you are planning to use together. The Amazon store card, well, you can have that one, but it's only a total of three new. As long as you stop now, your score will recover nicely over the next year or two, and you'll have three very useful cards:
Discover for category spend and BT offers, potential spend offers and 0% APR on purchases if you ask.
Freedom for category spend to build UR points.
CSP for travel expenses and to transfer UR points to partners. You might look into simply downgrading the CSP when the AF comes due, since it would require a new app if you wanted to transfer UR points later again. At that later date, simply upgrading back to CSP would open up the transfer capability again. I don't know whether the No FTF goes away, if they start charging FTF on the basic Sapphire card.
@elim wrote:
One thing... You really don't know where your Fico scores stood before the new accounts so you won't know the damage. Also, I suggest Monitoring your Fico scores and reports through myFICO or CCT to track them. You don't see the Chase HP's because they pull EX, which you aren't monitoring now.
The Discover FICO score is an accurate TU score. EQ and EX would be within close range of this 770.
@NRB525 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:Hi All,
First time posting on the board (though I've read many topics in the past). A little background- I'm 25 years old, and I believed I was very much in control of my financial life. I've had a discover card for 6+ years (20k limit), a somewhat recent car loan, a store card that I havent touched thats been opened for a few years, and student loans which are all paid off. According to Discover, my credit score is most recently 770, while Credit Karma is clocking it 750-760 for both of their Bureaus. I use my Discover very frequently, and do not carry a balance.
Anyways, I am planning an international trip, and figured it would be well worth it to take advantage of some of the nice card offers out there. After very extensive research, I applied for both the Chase Freedom and Chase Sapphire Preferred (your rewards are much more efficient if you do it that way and transfer them to the Sapphire). I got immediate approvals for both and was offered 16K limit for each. I then just applied for and got accepted for an Amazon store card (the 5% one), about a week or 2 after the Chase's.
I know this was alot in a short time, but my research showed me that this isn't necessarily bad in the long term (I'll have better credit utilization, more lines of credit, but I'll sacrifice credit age, and any hard pulls that were done). I figured that having all these cards would save/earn me the most money, however I am now nervous at how long it will take my score to recover. I just checked Credit Karma, and my new cards aren't showing up yet (this is about 2 weeks from my first Chase application), however my Amazon is showing up as a single hard pull (Chase's are not and they came before the Amazon).
My thinking is (hopefully) that if I want these cards at some point in time, it is best to get them as early as possible, provided that I am not going to be applying for a mortgage in the immediate future. That way they can start aging right away (I plan to keep all except for the Sapphire, which I will cancel before the fee comes due). My credit utilization is now going to be near nil, I'll have 3 extra lines of credit, however my age of credit is going to be much lower than before (especially if "average age" is looked at more importantly than "age of longest line").
You guys think I'll be ok? The last card I was looking into was the Fidelity 2% which can go toward retirement (which apparently will be available in two days), but that can wait a few months
EDIT: My primary concern is how long the low age of credit will affect me... I'm thinking the soonest I would look to buy a house is in about 18 months- (our lease ends in 6 months, and at that point we will almost definitely sign another 1-year lease).. but even at that time, the average age of my accounts will still be like only 2-3 years
This is your valid TU FICO score. 770 is quite good.
You only got 3 cards, two of which were Chase that you are planning to use together. The Amazon store card, well, you can have that one, but it's only a total of three new. As long as you stop now, your score will recover nicely over the next year or two, and you'll have three very useful cards:
Discover for category spend and BT offers, potential spend offers and 0% APR on purchases if you ask.
Freedom for category spend to build UR points.
CSP for travel expenses and to transfer UR points to partners. You might look into simply downgrading the CSP when the AF comes due, since it would require a new app if you wanted to transfer UR points later again. At that later date, simply upgrading back to CSP would open up the transfer capability again. I don't know whether the No FTF goes away, if they start charging FTF on the basic Sapphire card.
Thanks everyone for the help, I think I feel a little better.. I think I would get rid of the Sapphire preferred altogether (it sounds like they dont do the standard sapphire for new people anymore)- I saw you could get the signup offer every two years, so I'm thinking my Significant Other and I can alternate off and on every other year (her score has some work to do though, but I made her an authorized user for the two chase's to help with that). Not sure what "No FTF" refers to either 
Didnt know discover would potentially give 0% APR on some purchases (I figured that a card with 0% would potentially be one of the only other items to add to my arsenal), so I'll need to look more into that if i need it down the road... Also, you say 3 new cards isnt a crazy amount, is applying for the Fidelity that is seemingly going to come out tomorrow a good idea? I probably won't be using it for at least a few months to ensure I hit the signup offers ($4500) for the Chase's, but if I plan to get it eventually (2% anywhere could fill in the gaps with my other cards, plus extra money that I am obligated to put toward retirement is nice).. If I want to get that at some point regardless, would it be better to do it now during my application splurge? Also, if so, am I significantly less likely to get approved now? (only one of my Credit Karma scores dropped, 4 points to 749 as it is showing the Amazon inquiry-- but I'm thinking once the cards show up, it may drop further)
@Anonymous wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:Hi All,
First time posting on the board (though I've read many topics in the past). A little background- I'm 25 years old, and I believed I was very much in control of my financial life. I've had a discover card for 6+ years (20k limit), a somewhat recent car loan, a store card that I havent touched thats been opened for a few years, and student loans which are all paid off. According to Discover, my credit score is most recently 770, while Credit Karma is clocking it 750-760 for both of their Bureaus. I use my Discover very frequently, and do not carry a balance.
Anyways, I am planning an international trip, and figured it would be well worth it to take advantage of some of the nice card offers out there. After very extensive research, I applied for both the Chase Freedom and Chase Sapphire Preferred (your rewards are much more efficient if you do it that way and transfer them to the Sapphire). I got immediate approvals for both and was offered 16K limit for each. I then just applied for and got accepted for an Amazon store card (the 5% one), about a week or 2 after the Chase's.
I know this was alot in a short time, but my research showed me that this isn't necessarily bad in the long term (I'll have better credit utilization, more lines of credit, but I'll sacrifice credit age, and any hard pulls that were done). I figured that having all these cards would save/earn me the most money, however I am now nervous at how long it will take my score to recover. I just checked Credit Karma, and my new cards aren't showing up yet (this is about 2 weeks from my first Chase application), however my Amazon is showing up as a single hard pull (Chase's are not and they came before the Amazon).
My thinking is (hopefully) that if I want these cards at some point in time, it is best to get them as early as possible, provided that I am not going to be applying for a mortgage in the immediate future. That way they can start aging right away (I plan to keep all except for the Sapphire, which I will cancel before the fee comes due). My credit utilization is now going to be near nil, I'll have 3 extra lines of credit, however my age of credit is going to be much lower than before (especially if "average age" is looked at more importantly than "age of longest line").
You guys think I'll be ok? The last card I was looking into was the Fidelity 2% which can go toward retirement (which apparently will be available in two days), but that can wait a few months
EDIT: My primary concern is how long the low age of credit will affect me... I'm thinking the soonest I would look to buy a house is in about 18 months- (our lease ends in 6 months, and at that point we will almost definitely sign another 1-year lease).. but even at that time, the average age of my accounts will still be like only 2-3 years
This is your valid TU FICO score. 770 is quite good.
You only got 3 cards, two of which were Chase that you are planning to use together. The Amazon store card, well, you can have that one, but it's only a total of three new. As long as you stop now, your score will recover nicely over the next year or two, and you'll have three very useful cards:
Discover for category spend and BT offers, potential spend offers and 0% APR on purchases if you ask.
Freedom for category spend to build UR points.
CSP for travel expenses and to transfer UR points to partners. You might look into simply downgrading the CSP when the AF comes due, since it would require a new app if you wanted to transfer UR points later again. At that later date, simply upgrading back to CSP would open up the transfer capability again. I don't know whether the No FTF goes away, if they start charging FTF on the basic Sapphire card.
Thanks everyone for the help, I think I feel a little better.. I think I would get rid of the Sapphire preferred altogether (it sounds like they dont do the standard sapphire for new people anymore)- I saw you could get the signup offer every two years, so I'm thinking my Significant Other and I can alternate off and on every other year (her score has some work to do though, but I made her an authorized user for the two chase's to help with that). Not sure what "No FTF" refers to either
Didnt know discover would potentially give 0% APR on some purchases (I figured that a card with 0% would potentially be one of the only other items to add to my arsenal), so I'll need to look more into that if i need it down the road... Also, you say 3 new cards isnt a crazy amount, is applying for the Fidelity that is seemingly going to come out tomorrow a good idea? I probably won't be using it for at least a few months to ensure I hit the signup offers ($4500) for the Chase's, but if I plan to get it eventually (2% anywhere could fill in the gaps with my other cards, plus extra money that I am obligated to put toward retirement is nice).. If I want to get that at some point regardless, would it be better to do it now during my application splurge? Also, if so, am I significantly less likely to get approved now? (only one of my Credit Karma scores dropped, 4 points to 749 as it is showing the Amazon inquiry-- but I'm thinking once the cards show up, it may drop further)
It is pretty incredible. Following advice here, I chatted (I think...maybe called) and asked if there were any offers to lower the APR on my account (again, I think...I'd read up more on here when the time comes if you go for it) meaning thinking my regular APR from whatever it is, down a couple points. I don't carry any balances without 0%, but I was just doing the 'bored while gardening' things...trying to get SP CLI's and APRs reduced. They asked if I wanted 0% for a year on purchases. Yes please! It came at a perfect time with the Apple Pay deal, and since I got in on the double cash offer when they were offering it to existing account holders. New tv and iMac at 0% and 22% back (along with plenty of groceries and Panera). I digress. Bottom line, if you think you might carry a balance, don't be afraid to ask Discover.