Penfed or not to Penfed...

[Pilotdude]

First off let me say that I cannot qualify for the NFCU as far as I can tell.

I do know that anyone can pretty much buy their way into Penfed though.

I am considering Penfed, but I could swear that I read somewhere that they HP for merely joining.

Right now I am hanging out in the garden while I wait for the last of my cards to report their balances after I paid them off.  I thought about joining Penfed but don't want the HP prior to my current planned app spree once everything has reported.  (prolly a week or two out yet).

I am planning on Apping for:

1. Chase Freedom

2. Discover IT

3, Amex Gold Charge

4. Amex BCE if approved for Gold charge.

I am hitting the exec office again at Cap One for a CLI.  (They gave me one already with none of my pay offs reporting and the lady told me to ask again once everything is reported.  They gave me a 300% increase anyway though)

So I was thinking of joining Penfed and just letting it marinate for about 6 months before trying for any card through them....or should I maybe go ahead and join then app for a card BEFORE going after the others above?

MY scores should be somewhere around 730-750 or so once all the paid down balances report.  btw

Inquiries are:

EX: 5 over a year ago

TU  2 (1 over a year ago)

EQ  2 (1 over a year ago)

Thanks

P.S.  I really like some of the stuff I see from Penfed for things other than Credit cards.

[drkaje]

PenFed is pretty conservative if people are borderline.

I'd wait until utilization were low before aplying. The HP for joining can also be used for whatever credit product you're looking for.

[newportguy]

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@Pilotdude wrote:

First off let me say that I cannot qualify for the NFCU as far as I can tell.

I do know that anyone can pretty much buy their way into Penfed though. Do you really think that???? If so then you are mighty wrong!!!! Penfed is one of the most conservative CU you will find anywhere.

I am considering Penfed, but I could swear that I read somewhere that they HP for merely joining. Yes they HP to join,but the HP last for 90 Days

Right now I am hanging out in the garden while I wait for the last of my cards to report their balances after I paid them off.  I thought about joining Penfed but don't want the HP prior to my current planned app spree once everything has reported.  (prolly a week or two out yet).

I am planning on Apping for:

1. Chase Freedom

2. Discover IT

3, Amex Gold Charge

4. Amex BCE if approved for Gold charge.

I am hitting the exec office again at Cap One for a CLI.  (They gave me one already with none of my pay offs reporting and the lady told me to ask again once everything is reported.  They gave me a 300% increase anyway though)

So I was thinking of joining Penfed and just letting it marinate for about 6 months before trying for any card through them....or should I maybe go ahead and join then app for a card BEFORE going after the others above?

MY scores should be somewhere around 730-750 or so once all the paid down balances report.  btw

Inquiries are:

EX: 5 over a year ago

TU  2 (1 over a year ago)

EQ  2 (1 over a year ago)

Thanks

P.S.  I really like some of the stuff I see from Penfed for things other than Credit cards.

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[bs6054]

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@newportguy wrote:

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@Pilotdude wrote:

First off let me say that I cannot qualify for the NFCU as far as I can tell.

I do know that anyone can pretty much buy their way into Penfed though. Do you really think that???? If so then you are mighty wrong!!!! Penfed is one of the most conservative CU you will find anywhere.

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I believe the OP just meant, correctly, that you can pay money to join Penfed. Getting a credit card is different, but you CAN join Penfed by paying, whereas if you don't meet the requirements for NCFU, there is no way to join by paying them.

[LS2982]

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@newportguy wrote:

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@Pilotdude wrote:

First off let me say that I cannot qualify for the NFCU as far as I can tell.

I do know that anyone can pretty much buy their way into Penfed though. Do you really think that???? If so then you are mighty wrong!!!! Penfed is one of the most conservative CU you will find anywhere.

I am considering Penfed, but I could swear that I read somewhere that they HP for merely joining. Yes they HP to join,but the HP last for 90 Days

Right now I am hanging out in the garden while I wait for the last of my cards to report their balances after I paid them off.  I thought about joining Penfed but don't want the HP prior to my current planned app spree once everything has reported.  (prolly a week or two out yet).

I am planning on Apping for:

1. Chase Freedom

2. Discover IT

3, Amex Gold Charge

4. Amex BCE if approved for Gold charge.

I am hitting the exec office again at Cap One for a CLI.  (They gave me one already with none of my pay offs reporting and the lady told me to ask again once everything is reported.  They gave me a 300% increase anyway though)

So I was thinking of joining Penfed and just letting it marinate for about 6 months before trying for any card through them....or should I maybe go ahead and join then app for a card BEFORE going after the others above?

MY scores should be somewhere around 730-750 or so once all the paid down balances report.  btw

Inquiries are:

EX: 5 over a year ago

TU  2 (1 over a year ago)

EQ  2 (1 over a year ago)

Thanks

P.S.  I really like some of the stuff I see from Penfed for things other than Credit cards.

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I think your misunderstanding the OP. It is true that you can buy into a certain organization along with a HP to gain membership into PenFed. Thats what the OP was referring to.

[RyVision]

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@newportguy wrote:

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@Pilotdude wrote:

First off let me say that I cannot qualify for the NFCU as far as I can tell.

I do know that anyone can pretty much buy their way into Penfed though. Do you really think that???? If so then you are mighty wrong!!!! Penfed is one of the most conservative CU you will find anywhere. 

I am considering Penfed, but I could swear that I read somewhere that they HP for merely joining. Yes they HP to join,but the HP last for 90 Days

Right now I am hanging out in the garden while I wait for the last of my cards to report their balances after I paid them off.  I thought about joining Penfed but don't want the HP prior to my current planned app spree once everything has reported.  (prolly a week or two out yet).

I am planning on Apping for:

1. Chase Freedom

2. Discover IT

3, Amex Gold Charge

4. Amex BCE if approved for Gold charge.

I am hitting the exec office again at Cap One for a CLI.  (They gave me one already with none of my pay offs reporting and the lady told me to ask again once everything is reported.  They gave me a 300% increase anyway though)

So I was thinking of joining Penfed and just letting it marinate for about 6 months before trying for any card through them....or should I maybe go ahead and join then app for a card BEFORE going after the others above?

MY scores should be somewhere around 730-750 or so once all the paid down balances report.  btw

Inquiries are:

EX: 5 over a year ago

TU  2 (1 over a year ago)

EQ  2 (1 over a year ago)

Thanks

P.S.  I really like some of the stuff I see from Penfed for things other than Credit cards.

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Well, you can buy into a membership but not into their credit products, not sure what the OP meant exactly.  On lending, they can be one of the most conservative lenders you'll find, as mentioned.   And yes with an HP just to become a member, which as stated, they'll use for 90 days (unless they decide to HP another CB).

You'd want to know what is actually on your reports before applying, just a slightly high score won't grant you (staying) credit with them, and you can't really guess your FICO scores. They don't like a lot of INQ's before OR after you apply btw.

You could try the AMEX charge\BCE same day combo in hopes of a single HP on EX (sometimes happens).   Chase isn't fond of INQs or new accounts either actually.   If you open 4 accounts within 6 months of PenFed, there's a chance PenFed would close you for attempting to "pyramid debt".  And actually, any of those 5 lenders might do a double take at 5 different new accounts so close together if you were approved for all of them.  You may want to consider the idea of spacing them out a bit if you really want those 5.  That's a lot of "big game" to go after all at once.

[Pilotdude]

Yea.  i was referring to simply being able to "buy" into Penfed by joining one of the non profits they have listed on their "join Penfed" screen.  Not buying into credit products.

I am still undecided about the timing of everything. 

I have a relationship with Discover as an AU on my wife's account and with Chase since its where I have banked for the past decade or so.

I am an AU on Amex for the past two years as well. 

There are no baddies on my report anywhere.

Currently I am just waiting on the last three cards to report their lower or zero balances and then my file will be as good as I can make it without having other TLs.

When it comes to spacing I was thinking,

I would app for the following same day:

Discover IT

Chase Freedom

Amex Gold

then wait six months for the Amex BCE unless folks think it won't freak everyone out.

Penfed I am fine with just joining and letting it marinate for 6 months to a year before asking for a card.  Actually, by doing that, it gives the new TLs a chance to develope a bit of history anyway. 

However the spot I am really unsure of is whether or not to forgo the Amex Gold and Chase Freedom in favor of joing Penfed and apping for a card from them instead.

Like I said, I am already an AU on my wife's Amex charge so it does not really hurt me any to wait on Amex for another 6 months or so. 

In the next 6 months, 5 of my EX and one each of my TU and EQ inqs will fall off.

So joining Penfed and apping for a card AFTER letting everything report and IF my scores hit mid 700s would be wise or unwise? (given the substitution of amex and or Chase Freedom for penfed) 

I am not apping for anything until I have verified via MyFico, preceisely what my current scores are.  I will also direct pull Ex to insure everything has reported there as well.

[Pilotdude]

Let me clarify and rephrase a bit:

How about:

1.  Waiting for everything to report (about two weeks still)

2.  Confirming via MyFICO scores and an EX report that everything is showing the paid down amounts.

3.  Apping for Discover IT and Chase Freedom same day.

4.  Joining PenFed same day as Disc and Freedom app.

  4a:  App for Penfed card and if approved, call it a day for six months

                                                 or

  4b:  App for Amex Gold Charge and then call it a day for Six months

Going this route, I hopefully get 2 revolvers, 1 charge and my membership with PenFed.  Or I get 3 revolvers (if approved for the Penfed card) and a membership to Penfed

Also...would a higher deposit amount to open a Penfed account hold any sway with them?  Let's say depositing 10K versus just 1K?

Does that sound better?  Worse?  wtfgotosleep?

[drkaje]

I don't believe deposit amount affects approval for PenFed's products.

They love low utilization, clean reports, and low DTI.

[boomhower]

If you truly want a good shot at a PendFed approval I wouldn't have any new accounts within a year and no inquiries within six months preceeding the app.  They are the tightest lender I know of.  They give good limits but are extremely tight.  Their classic fallback line is pyramiding debt.  Pretty much any new credit before or after getting their products is a shot of getting shut down. Take a look at DCU as well.  Better interest rate on the CC card and still generous limits but not the place to go for rewards.