Credit card analysis and strategy advice please

[Anonymous]

Howdy! Recently have taken a bigger interest in the world of credit and have done some financial cleaning. Been asking around on a few forums, however this one seems to be quite active so I am taking a thread from a different forum to see some of the responses here. Great website by the way

First, a brief background. I am a 22 year old male. I am an army officer with a good income. My credit score with the 3 companies is ~740 each. I have 4 credit cards currently:

-2 generic VISA cards through Usbank and wells fargo (both of them around 4 years old with terrible rewards)
- an Escape discover card (recently acquired within the past 3 months, on an off note I have been told that acceptance for this card is relatively difficult?)

I have one installment loan (loan to pay for a bad semester in college where I thought it would be fun to ditch classes and lost my full ride for a semester, haha).

I have not applied for any other credit cards or anything else recently. My credit limit on my cards is in the 5 digits. My credit report with all companies is flawless: no missed or late payments, nothing. Average age for the cards is 2.3 years, with the longest card being 4.5 years. Debt utilization is always under 10%.

After having browsed through this website, I have decided that my near term goal (within the next year) is to obtain, in order of importance, the following credit cards:

Amex blue cash preferred card
Penfed travel card
Penfed gas card

With those combined, that would more or less cover every expense I make excluding rent. I plan on eventually moving to and opening up a business in central or south america, hence my preference for the quality airline rewards. Now for the actual questions!

1. First of all, the capitol one card I have only had for 4 months: long story short I did not intend on getting both the venture one card and the discover card. I have not even used the capitol one card, nor do I intend to. Since it is only 3 months old, would I be better off closing that card now and just sticking with the discover card (which I have, and plan on continuing to use)? 

2. Given the credit statistics I mentioned, were I to apply for the blue cash card now, any insight on the likelihood that I would be accepted for it?

3. With the 2 credit cards I have had for the 4 years, I have never requested, or needed to request, a CLI. Should I do that now before trying to get the other cards or not?

4. What suggestions or strategy would you suggest for acquiring the 3 cards that I would like, in the least amount of time, with the least effect possible on my credit score? Any tips appreciated 

[laboi_22]

Welcome!

1. First of all, the capitol one card I have only had for 4 months: long story short I did not intend on getting both the venture one card and the discover card. I have not even used the capitol one card, nor do I intend to. Since it is only 3 months old, would I be better off closing that card now and just sticking with the discover card (which I have, and plan on continuing to use)?  Since the Venture One card does not carry an annual fee, I would keep the card open. Closing it on the other hand would not affect you in a negative way so the choice is up to you. Again I keep all CL's open to help out with AAOA.

2. Given the credit statistics I mentioned, were I to apply for the blue cash card now, any insight on the likelihood that I would be accepted for it? I would say that you would although AMEX can be peevish at times. I was accepted with lower scores and less AAOA. The only concern would be the recent accounts and inquiries to open those accounts however there is always the ability to recon. Based on the info you provides your chances are great!

3. With the 2 credit cards I have had for the 4 years, I have never requested, or needed to request, a CLI. Should I do that now before trying to get the other cards or not? not unless you want to lower your UTL even more. If you are at or below 10% then there is no reason to request CLI at this point in order to get accepted for new cards. Also check with each card to see which ones are HP's or SP's. If they are indeed soft and you would like to see CLI then go for it by all means.

4. What suggestions or strategy would you suggest for acquiring the 3 cards that I would like, in the least amount of time, with the least effect possible on my credit score? I hear that penfed is harder to get accepted for. I have no knowledge of this or personal experince. Getting an AMEX now given your current situation should not hurt your score much. You will lower your AAOA a bit by opening a new account. Keep in mind UTL and on time payments make up a larger bulk of a FICO than AAOA and inquiries. If I were in your situation, I would app for all 3 in the same day. That way you will get hit with HP after you're hopefully approved. Take the hit on the AAOA and go to garden mode.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the quick reply! 

I hear that penfed is harder to get accepted for. I have no knowledge of this or personal experince. Getting an AMEX now given your current situation should not hurt your score much. You will lower your AAOA a bit by opening a new account. Keep in mind UTL and on time payments make up a larger bulk of a FICO than AAOA and inquiries. If I were in your situation, I would app for all 3 in the same day. That way you will get hit with HP after you're hopefully approved. Take the hit on the AAOA and go to garden mode.

Does a hard inquiry show up on a credit score based on the day or was done, or the amount of times it was done? Basically, are you saying that if I applied to all 3 on the same day then it would only show up as 1 inquiry on my report? Would being denied by one or more of the issuers further lower my scores?

And lastly... garden mode?

[Creditaddict]

I would apply for the Amex now.

You could try Penfed but they seem to not like new accounts or inq.

I would ask USBank for an increase but it will cost you a hard pull so I would do it after Amex or if you go for Penfed, after Penfed.

also if you want to try Penfed now, I would do them before Amex, they don't seem to be quite as picky with inq usually.

I also might check at least one of your real Fico Scores, I'm assuming the scores you gave us are not Fico?

[mxp114]

Three inquiries one per lender and garden mode = letting your cards grow from seeds into tomatoes/flowers. At least I think that's what it means :?

[laboi_22]

No all 3 will post eventually. What I mean is if you apply for AMEX, then PEN FED in the same day within the same hour, it takes some time before the HP posts to your CR. So Penfed won't know you just applied for AMEX. At the end of the day though you will have 3 inquiries that will post as HP's. But if you get approved for all 3 cards then those HP's don't really concern you anymore and you can then go into garden mode. It's what we use to describe the period of time that you do nothing with your credit but let it grow, no new apps, let HP's fall off etc. This will increase your FICO and allow you to move from garden mode to hunter mode!! LOL Was happy to help!

[Anonymous]

Scores I gave were PLUS scores. Will probably cop the money to get a TU fico score before applying just as a gauge.

[laboi_22]

myfico offers your scores free for 14 days then you have to sign up for the program. You can cancel at anytime before the 14 days. That's what I did so that I could get an idea on where I stood with my scores.

[Anonymous]

Just took a look. My EQ fico is 729. Does that provide any insight?

[Creditaddict]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Just took a look. My EQ fico is 729. Does that provide any insight?

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yeah go for all 3!