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Hey team,
Just looking for any pearls of wisdom on the best next card to add to my wallet as I continue rebuilding. Right now I have 2: Citi Dividend Platinum Select (2500 limit) and Barclay's Rewards Mastercard (3000 limit). I just got approved for the Barclay's card a couple weeks ago, and I know they're INQ sensitive, but I have very few INQs across my 3 reports from the past year (1 EX, 0 EQ, 1 TU) so I think I can afford it. I'd like to try to grow my available credit to about 10k by the end of this year, so that I could carry a balance of up to 1k if needed without hurting my util.
My latest scores are in my signature. Income is 74k. I've tried a few pre-approval sites (though I know they're not always accurate) and had the best success with Chase (Freedom & Slate both showed up as pre-approved) and Amex (Green, Gold, and Blue Sky showed up). Each report has 3-4 baddies, most recent was from 2010.
Any thoughts on another good tool to add to my wallet? I'm not sure whether a charge card or a revolver would be best. I'd also like to ask Barclays for a CLI in September, so might be best to avoid any HPs on TU if possible.
Thanks in advance!
What are you looking for from your credit card? Cashback? Points? Do you travel (if so, with a particular airline)? Stay at a particular hotel? Lots of questions to answer before deciding what the best credit card would be. Perhaps you just want a credit card with a large balance for balance transfer?
Great questions - thanks for asking. I travel 3-4 times per year (typical trip involves a r/t flight out of Boston, and 2-3 nights in budget/mid-range hotels - like Best Western, Comfort Inn, or something similar). Best carriers for me out of Boston are Delta, JetBlue, and Southwest. Right now I usually just book whatever's cheapest, but I'm open to committing more firmly to an airline or hotel chain if their credit card allows me to get a couple free nights or at least one free flight segment per year.
My Dividend Select is already decent on the cash-back front (especially since they'll send me a check rather than just a statement credit). I don't usually carry a balance, so balance-transfer and 0% APR offers don't matter as much. I was maybe leaning more towards a revolver than a charge since I do want to get the score boost from low util, but open to feedback on that.
I do eat out a ton as well, so I'd say that means I'm looking for travel and/or dining rewards, and for a card that tends to give a reasonably generous CL and CLIs over time (I'd hope for a starting limit of at least 3k with scores in the 670s - 680s)
Does that help?