@ibull wrote:
Hello all,
Does ones current credit card limits affect how much you'll be approved for with new cards?
I have a 1.1k secured capital one card (only card). Would maxing the limit out to 3k help me get approved for a higher limits on new cards?
Credit:
EX 702
EQ 691
5 negative tradelines, 4 old $0 balance student loans and an auto chargeoff
10+ positive tradelines. SLs, current auto loan ect...
AAoA 8 years
Thinking with my recent score increases its time to apply for a few unsecured cards. Want to get the best/highest I can. Are Sallie May and DCU(auto refinance+card) a good place to start?
It might help, but 3K isn't 5k and historically that's the magic number. If the money is just sitting in a slush fund or whatever it's not a HP to add to Cap One so there are certainly worse uses of the money.
That said, as CreditAddict suggests, get another card or two but depends how long you've had the Cap One secured for: if it's less than a year go for the targets you have, if more than a year, maybe something like Freedom is more appropriate too.
From a competitive standpoint, credit providers look at your other open lines of credit when considering how much to offer you.
I went from having zero credit to having two lines with $25k CLs (another with $11k and another with $8k, neither of which I have attempted to raise yet) in about two years. Here's how I did it:
I applied for a Wells Fargo credit card about 28 months ago. I was originally declined, but offered a secured credit card, which I accepted. I paid $300 into the account to start off. Wells Fargo graduates secured cards to unsecured cards twice per year and typically does it for any accounts older than one year and in good standing. I gradually increased my CL to about $3000 by depositing more money into the account. Around the time I hit my one year mark, I upped the limit to $10k (had to deposit in to a secured account $1 for every $1 of CL), it was no doubt a pain in the ass to not have access to that much money. When I would call to ask questions about the card, the agents would always be flabbergasted to see a secured line with $10k CL. 
A few months later, the card graduated to an unsecured line with $10k CL. Awesome! So now when I would apply for other cards, they would want to match that limit to stay competitive. I applied for a Visa card and an Amex Blue card (trying to stay away from annual fees so I can increase account age without having to worry about making payments). I was accepted for both and received CLs of 8k and 8.8k respectively. I don't believe I would have received such high limits without the high Wells Fargo limit.
A few months later, I did the AMEX 3x trick to increase my AMEX limit to $25k. I asked for a Wells Fargo CLI and they increased me to $17.5k. Then I applied for another card and received an $11k limit. After about six more months, I called Wells Fargo again and upped the limit to $25k.
Companies DO look at each other's limits when determining how much to offer and how trustworthy you are with big wads of cash. I'd suggest you increase your CL as much as possible, but only really if you know you'll graduate eventually.
I just app'd and got approved for 5 new cards - Discover $10k, Chase Freedom $6k, Chase Sapphire Preferred $11.6k, Amex $2k, and Sallie Mae $4.6k
Before I apped, my scores were similar to yours, I have 4 30 day lates from 2012, and 1 paid collection. The limits on my existing cards were $500, $700 (Cap1 Sec), $300, $2000.
Try checking for preapprovals. It doesn't hurt your score, as it's not a HP.
Amex
Bank of America
Chase
Discover
Hover over card to see limits
It's somewhat of a good judgement, but not definite by any means. I was PA'd for some, but not all of the cards I app'd for a couple days ago. It almost never hurts to wait another month, especially if your util will be lower, another month of on time payments, etc. If you don't feel comfortable apping for the cards you weren't PA'd for, give it 30 days, and check again. It seems once you check for PA, the lender may do their own SP's on you down the road, since you showed some interest. I checked Discover a couple months ago and wasn't PA'd, but it wasn't until after that that I started receiving PA offers in the mail from Discover. Just some food for thought.