USAA Auto CLI vs. Requested CLI

[Anonymous]

Just wondering your thoughts on this...

I've had my USAA CC for 1 yr, and today I discovered they'd given me an automatic CLI from $3000 to $4200 (wasn't expecting this). I was actually just about to request a CLI, which I was hoping would increase my CL to $5000 or $6000. Maybe I should just be glad to have avoided a hard pull by receiving the auto CLI, even though it's less than I was hoping for had I requested one myself? Is it also probably true that the amount they gave me in the auto CLI is the max I would have gotten either way?

My first thought is to just be glad for the auto increase without a hard pull and to wait for another auto increase or to request a CLI in the future. What do you guys think?

[Ron1]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Just wondering your thoughts on this...

I've had my USAA CC for 1 yr, and today I discovered they'd given me an automatic CLI from $3000 to $4200 (wasn't expecting this). I was actually just about to request a CLI, which I was hoping would increase my CL to $5000 or $6000. Maybe I should just be glad to have avoided a hard pull by receiving the auto CLI, even though it's less than I was hoping for had I requested one myself? Is it also probably true that the amount they gave me in the auto CLI is the max I would have gotten either way?

My first thought is to just be glad for the auto increase without a hard pull and to wait for another auto increase or to request a CLI in the future. What do you guys think?

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Congrats!!!!  I never got any CLI from them. I've had my USAA CC for over 2 years.

Ron.

[Revelate]

Hrm, kinda tough call.  It's absolutely to your advantage to get a CL at 5K or above for future underwriting issues and possible qualification on various Visa Sig / World MC products which have a 5K CL minimum for entry.  If you have some additional tradeline at 5K+, then I'd simply leave well enough alone and take the auto CLI with a smile on my face personally.

Then again I'm not a CLI hunter yet and probably never will be; I have no idea how I would justify it to a lender if they asked me the reasonable question of  "What do you want the credit limit increase for?"

- I want to lower my total utilization for FICO scoring purposes (haha, no)

- I want to be able to qualify for future Visa Sig prime cards with some other lender (durr, so many things wrong here).

- I'm expecting an increase for my monthly expenses as a result of a possible new job, and I'd like to be able to run additional, reimbursable expenses thorugh this card without having to pay multiple times in a month.

Hrm that last one could actually work .

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Ron! It was completely unexpected.

Thanks, Revelate--yeah, that was my thinking exactly. It's my only revolver, and I wanted it at 5K before applying for future cards since I know new CLs are sometimes based on your current CLs. I also think my card would be eligible for upgrade to a World if it had a 5K limit, and that was actually what I planned to use as my reason for requesting a CLI. I'm just wondering if they already increased it as much as they would have even if I had requested an increase; I'm guessing they softed my report before the auto increase (I noticed they softed all 3 of my reports when the CC was 6 months old).

[CS800]

You could call and ask if they could do a CLI to $5k without a HP.

I think it's advantageous to have CL's at $5k and over. It can either make other creditors feel more secure in granting you similar CL's or make them nervous since they will be increasing your available credit.

[Anonymous]

That's a good idea. I'll try calling them about it tomorrow. If calling in doesn't work out, I'm happy with the current auto-increase and will just wait at least 6 more months before requesting another CLI.

Thanks, guys.

[bamagirl1]

That's awesome they did that..I asked 2 different reps this question and she said they no longer did auto CLI, keep in mind this was about 1 1/2 - 2 years ago so maybe they changed that.  I know before I got my USAA cards they used to do AUTO CLI but I think maybe when the economy started to go sour they stopped them for a while, but guess per your post maybe they started back!!

Congrats!! That's awesome.