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Hi,
I'm kind of a lurker but I'm in need of credit advice to plan out my credit future. I'm a nineteen year old student (started building my credit since I was 18) and I currently have
1. Wells Fargo Secured $500 (will be unsecured in April 2013) 1yr 1m old.
2. AMEX ZYNC NPSL 4m old
3. Capital One Student Journey $1500 10m old
4. Chase Freedom $500 1m old
5. Chase Amazon $500 4m old
AAoA ≈ 7 months
I usually carry a very low (≈$50) balance on the Chase Amazon and leave the rest at zero. My question is, how should I proceed from here? Just stay in the garden? I do want to app for a BCE on January and close out the ZYNC as I don't want to pay the annual fee. Is this advisable?
Although I do like the idea of having a NPSL so I can buy tickets to fly back home, I don't find the reward structure of MR Express to be satisfying at all for the annual fee I pay. Instead, the cash back option of BCE seems much more attractive and I'll have the potential of upgrading it to BCP once I get a decent/high paying job after college/grad school. I would like to also keep the number of cards I have to about 5-6 cards, any more I don't think I can manage or find use for them all.
@daybreakgonesXe wrote:
I know you want to apply for BCE to get rid of the Zync, but i fear your AAoA is a little too low but since your oldest account is a year old, you may have a shot...what are your FICO scores?
Otherwise i think you're doing great so far! Itsnalways a great idea to garden, especially with the number of new accounrs you have...age is the key to great credit!
All the best in your path to a great credit history!!!!
Yes, certainly far from a sure thing, but might be worth a try, especially if you do succeed! How much is the Zync AF, something like $25? Or more? If it's not too much, I might be tempted just to pay it, and apply for the BCE in 6 months time or something. But applying now shouldn't hurt much anyway.
Thanks for the advice guys!
I think I will try for the BCE since it's only a soft pull if it's a denial. But I'm definitely aiming for a BCE next January 2013, which should increase my AAoA by a lot if approved.
For now, after BCE, I will just garden and try increasing my current limits... I guess this year will be a year of patience for me.
The Cap One Student Journey seems to be quite a good card (my daughters have it and got an auto-CLI after a few months.) The older one started getting pre-approved offers for other Capital One cards (such as Venture) after having it for 18 months, so I think that will grow.
I assume the same is true of stuff like Chase Freedom, but I don't have one, so don't know.
Edit: I DO have the chase amazon, had it for 8 years with no CLI, but I never asked for one so I don't know how easy that is.