Merrick Bank - Pre Approval (with AF)

[modernsurrender]

I got a pre approval from Merrick Bank for a "double your line" card today (I feel like I may have gotten other pre approvals in the past but ignored them as well) and after a bit of internal debate, I tore it up and threw it out... But now I'm having a few doubts.

The way I rationalized it was that the fee was $72 a year, up front for the first year then $6 per month after that.  I'm trying to weed out my AF cards that don't have specific benefits that I'm after.  The CL would start at $600 and double to $1200 though, which (if everything else I have remains stagnant until that point) would make it my 2nd highest CL - hence the tinge of regret and second guessing.

Right now I'm waiting for a few baddies to drop, two should be gone this month, another around July and then I'll have 3 more falling off in 2013/2014.  Is it rational to ignore Merrick (at least until they offer something with no AF) and operate under the assumption that what I have now will grow enough in the next year to make a $1200 line from Merrick with a high AF seem useless and/or that my scores will increase enough within the year that I'll be able to get better cards anyway?

Right now I'm working with:
Orchard (4 yrs $200 -  $35 af) - Closing in Feb 2013

BofA (4 yrs $800 - $35 af) - Possibly closing in Feb 2013

HSBC (3.5 yrs $950)

Cap1 (New $500) - Increase after 5 statements

Discover More (New $1000)  - Hoping to see an increase at 6 months after running several BTs through the card to show them good usage

Southwest (New $3000 - $69 af)

Amex Zync (New NPSL)

On the flip side, the offer from Merrick would outgrow my Orchard and BofA cards combined, with only a slightly larger fee - so maybe I should reconsider to make up for the loss I'll take when I close them next year?  Does Merrick still offer cards with no AF?  Do their cards grow regularly?

Thanks!

[oracles]

You made the right decision. You have  a discover card, amex card and a southwest card of $3000 dollars. You also have 3 baddies coming off soon.

Garden alittle and wait until those baddies come off and you will see that you can get much better cards than this merrick card.

(in an outer limits voice) you have made the right decision my child, now go forth and be happy. lol

[john398]

Since your in Primeville with Discover you probably need don't Merrick, you may even get a Chase or Citi I am curious though when you double your limits how much CL were they talking?

[oracles]

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@john398 wrote:

Since your in Primeville with Discover you probably need Merrick, you may even get a Chase or Citi I am curious though when you double your limits how much CL were they talking?

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John, do you mean "dont need" Merrick?

[modernsurrender]

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@oracles wrote:

You made the right decision. You have  a discover card, amex card and a southwest card of $3000 dollars. You also have 3 baddies coming off soon.

Garden alittle and wait until those baddies come off and you will see that you can get much better cards than this merrick card.

(in an outer limits voice) you have made the right decision my child, now go forth and be happy. lol

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Haha, thanks Oracles.  That's what I feel for the most part, there's just that little part of me that says, "Take it! Take it!"  Since it will hit $1200 after 7 months, guaranteed.

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@john398 wrote:

Since your in Primeville with Discover you probably need Merrick, you may even get a Chase or Citi I am curious though when you double your limits how much CL were they talking?

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John, it would go from $600 to $1200 - which would make it my second largest CL if nothing else grows.  My SW card is from Chase, but I've heard it mentioned a couple of times that they won't CLI if there are any collections on an account, which I have two that won't be gone until 2013 and 2014.  I'm not sure that the threads I read about that are accurate though - only time will tell haha.  This has been my dream card for 4 years though, and the CL is by far my largest, so I'm thrilled with it

The Discover was a great surprise (as well as the Chase) and I'm hoping it will grow.  I've read good things about them, so I'm hoping that just pushing continual BTs through them for the first 6 months (which I have a promo) will get me a decent increase.  Maybe they'll be inclined to match my Chase Southwest card haha

I've also been declined recently by Citi because of my baddies (impulse app!), but I imagine that I'll be able to land them in a year or two at most.

I guess I'm just trying to grab everything I want/need now so I can let them age (and let the inq's fall off) so I can start house hunting as soon as my last baddie drops in the spring of 2014 haha

[john398]

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@oracles wrote:

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@john398 wrote:

Since your in Primeville with Discover you probably need Merrick, you may even get a Chase or Citi I am curious though when you double your limits how much CL were they talking?

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John, do you mean "dont need" Merrick?

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Yes I need to go edit and put don't sorry

[oracles]

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@modernsurrender wrote:

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@oracles wrote:

You made the right decision. You have  a discover card, amex card and a southwest card of $3000 dollars. You also have 3 baddies coming off soon.

Garden alittle and wait until those baddies come off and you will see that you can get much better cards than this merrick card.

(in an outer limits voice) you have made the right decision my child, now go forth and be happy. lol

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Haha, thanks Oracles.  That's what I feel for the most part, there's just that little part of me that says, "Take it! Take it!"  Since it will hit $1200 after 7 months, guaranteed.

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I know how you feel but believe me, your discover card will grow especially since you have been treating it well and putting alot of money through it.

[modernsurrender]

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@oracles wrote:

I know how you feel but believe me, your discover card will grow especially since you have been treating it well and putting alot of money through it.

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That's what I'm hoping  

[carollee]

wanna bet it is a hoax has strings attached