Credit Card Journey

[adoak]

Hi everyone,

Prior to joining the forum, I had thin, if any, credit history. I simply did not use credit cards! In the past 18 months I've gradually obtained several cards.

In October I got approved for a Chase Sapphire with a $6K credit limit and the credit card finaly posted to my credit report. My credit score jumped 12 points. Woo Hoo!

At the same time in October, I did a product upgrade from a capital one platinum to the Quicksilver, but my credit line did not increase. I only have a $1,500 credit line with C1 Quicksilver.  C1 told me that as a result of the product change that I can't pursue any C1 offers for at least 6 months.

Note, Chase and Capital One are my only credit cards.

Finally, I got Macy's to increase my credit line from $1000 to $2000. I'd like to get a few of my other retail cc's to give me a CLI above $2,000. Everytime I pull my Experian credit report it says that one of the things that is a "negative" is that I have few cards with credit lines over $2,000.

I'm supposed to be gardening until March 2014. By that time most all of my credit cards should be paid down in full, from any overuse during the holiday shopping season.

In preparation for March 2014, I'm curious about the following:

(1) Should I ask C1 for a CLI that is equal to or above my Chase Sapphire credit line increase of $6K?

(2) Should I apply for another Chase credit card? If so, which one should I earmark to app in March 2014?  (I'd like a 3rd credit card to round out my "portfolio")

(3) Does each time I request a CLI on my retail cards, negatively affect my credit? I want to approach Nordstrom ($1000) / Bloomingdales ($900) / Saks ($505) for CLI to get past that $2,000 mark

[myjourney]

---

@adoak wrote:

Hi everyone,

Prior to joining the forum, I had thin, if any, credit history. I simply did not use credit cards! In the past 18 months I've gradually obtained several cards.

In October I got approved for a Chase Sapphire with a $6K credit limit and the credit card finaly posted to my credit report. My credit score jumped 12 points. Woo Hoo!

At the same time in October, I did a product upgrade from a capital one platinum to the Quicksilver, but my credit line did not increase. I only have a $1,500 credit line with C1 Quicksilver.  C1 told me that as a result of the product change that I can't pursue any C1 offers for at least 6 months.

Note, Chase and Capital One are my only credit cards.

Finally, I got Macy's to increase my credit line from $1000 to $2000. I'd like to get a few of my other retail cc's to give me a CLI above $2,000. Everytime I pull my Experian credit report it says that one of the things that is a "negative" is that I have few cards with credit lines over $2,000.

I'm supposed to be gardening until March 2014. By that time most all of my credit cards should be paid down in full, from any overuse during the holiday shopping season.

In preparation for March 2014, I'm curious about the following:

(1) Should I ask C1 for a CLI that is equal to or above my Chase Sapphire credit line increase of $6K? Yes ask Cap1 (EO)

(2) Should I apply for another Chase credit card? If so, which one should I earmark to app in March 2014?  (I'd like a 3rd credit card to round out my "portfolio") CSP or Freedom your choice whichever suits your spending 

(3) Does each time I request a CLI on my retail cards, negatively affect my credit? I want to approach Nordstrom ($1000) / Bloomingdales ($900) / Saks ($505) for CLI to get past that $2,000 mark Only if they result in a HP would it affect your CR's but if the amount of CLI is good then it's worth the HP

---

[FinStar]

---

@myjourney wrote:

---

@adoak wrote:

Hi everyone,

Prior to joining the forum, I had thin, if any, credit history. I simply did not use credit cards! In the past 18 months I've gradually obtained several cards.

In October I got approved for a Chase Sapphire with a $6K credit limit and the credit card finaly posted to my credit report. My credit score jumped 12 points. Woo Hoo!

At the same time in October, I did a product upgrade from a capital one platinum to the Quicksilver, but my credit line did not increase. I only have a $1,500 credit line with C1 Quicksilver.  C1 told me that as a result of the product change that I can't pursue any C1 offers for at least 6 months.

Note, Chase and Capital One are my only credit cards.

Finally, I got Macy's to increase my credit line from $1000 to $2000. I'd like to get a few of my other retail cc's to give me a CLI above $2,000. Everytime I pull my Experian credit report it says that one of the things that is a "negative" is that I have few cards with credit lines over $2,000.

I'm supposed to be gardening until March 2014. By that time most all of my credit cards should be paid down in full, from any overuse during the holiday shopping season.

In preparation for March 2014, I'm curious about the following:

(1) Should I ask C1 for a CLI that is equal to or above my Chase Sapphire credit line increase of $6K? Yes ask Cap1 (EO)

(2) Should I apply for another Chase credit card? If so, which one should I earmark to app in March 2014?  (I'd like a 3rd credit card to round out my "portfolio") CSP or Freedom your choice whichever suits your spending - I concur with myjourney

(3) Does each time I request a CLI on my retail cards, negatively affect my credit? I want to approach Nordstrom ($1000) This typically is SP/ Bloomingdales ($900) This could be SP or HP (DSNB is the underwriter, same as Macy's) - most folks have reported SP on these forums, YEMV / Saks ($505) This will be HP, but not a triple pull (Capital One is the current lender) for CLI to get past that $2,000 mark Only if they result in a HP would it affect your CR's but if the amount of CLI is good then it's worth the HP

---

---

+1

[adoak]

Thanks everyone. Thought I'd share a follow-up on my credit card journey.

I took the advice I received and applied for the Chase Freedom to complement my Chase Sapphire. I did so now vs. later (I was supposed to be gardening for 6 months) because Chase Freedom was offering a 0% for 12 months and other perks to apply now. I got approved!  My limit with Chase Freedom is $1,500. When I got the card in the mail it came with a statement that read something like this "call us if the credit line does not meet your needs".  So I called. I asked for a credit line increase upon activation so that my Chase Freedom could at least be above $2K.  I got denied. My Chase Freedom was opened with a credit line of $1,500 (which I think is low) and this will have to suffice for now. Good news is my credit score increase 6 points. Yay!

Because I did a product upgrade with Capital One to the "Quicksilver", I can't pursue any deals with C1 until March 2014. I've already marked my calendar in March 2014 to request a CLI from Capital One to at least match my Chase Sapphire CL of $6K.

I got a CLI increase from Nordstrom from $900 to $2000 and I also got a CLI with Macy's from $1,000 to $2,000.  Woo Hoo!!   

Bloomingdales and Saks would not budge and my CL remains at $900 and $505, respectively. I'm marking my calendar to make another request for CLI with Bloomingdales and Saks in six months time!  

Because of holiday shopping this past month, my overall UTL increased to about 35%. I've budgeted upcoming bills and I should drop to 30% utilization in about a week. Then, drop to 20-25% by mid-January and confidently drop to 0-10% by end of February. I may carry a balance on Chase Freedom until April-May (worst case scenario) since I took advantage of the 0% for 12 months to buy furniture.

[notfancy]

If you contact the Cap 1 EO, yes you absolutely can request a limit increase even after the product change.  Search the forums for Cap 1 EO and you'll see many examples of that. Often they're willing to upgrade your product, and your credit limit with in one or two calls to you. You can then ask for credit limit increases through them every 6 months and you are more likely (in my opinion) to get them if you keep your UTL low.

[adoak]

Thanks! I will definitely contact the Cap 1 EO next time. I'm afraid if I ask for the CLI now it'll look like I'm just shopping.  I am going to wait until at least late-February to do so, at which time I've paid down my balance with Cap 1 (and other cc's) from holiday shopping.

[myjourney]

---

@adoak wrote:

Thanks! I will definitely contact the Cap 1 EO next time. I'm afraid if I ask for the CLI now it'll look like I'm just shopping.  I am going to wait until at least late-February to do so, at which time I've paid down my balance with Cap 1 (and other cc's) from holiday shopping.

---

They want you to shop Lol

I would contact them now 

[Themanwhocan]

You did get the $200 bonus when you spend $500 in the first 3 months, right?

Thats another good reason to have applied now.

[adoak]

Yes, exactly the reason I applied now was the combination of 0% for the 12-months and the $200 bonus when you spend $500 in the first 3 months.