What are credit cards for "good but not great" credit scores?

[Qisma]

Hi, newbie but longtime lurker on the boards. Rebuilding my credit after 2 collections, a bunch of late payments on several credit cards and student loans and a chargeoff on my report 4 years ago. Chalk it up to the financial crisis of '08 and my ex getting laid off, so I wound up being the sole supporter for the two of us at the time. Suffice it to say my credit was pretty horrible. I've been working in baby steps since then to rebuild, starting off with a secured Cap One card and a low limit. I worked off that card for a year, then applied for their Classic Platinum cash reward card and was approved. Waited another year while using the card responsibly with no late payments and paying off in full, then decided to expand my credit types by applying for store cards. Was approved for a TJX/Marshall's retail card, Amazon and Banana Republic instantly. 

That was a year ago and I'm at the point where I'd like to expand my prime revolving credit now. Since then, I've become an AU on my fiance's SPG card and Ink Bold, as well as being a corporate Amex cardholder. I think all of that has really helped in my relationship with Amex. I had a Blue card with them back in my early 20's that was closed due to late payments and thought I'd never get back into their good graces again. Lo and behold, I applied for a BCE and was instantly approved! I also applied for a Chase Freedom on the same day and received a review status, at which point I called into the Recon line. I expected this to happen, as the charged-off account 4 years ago was a Chase/Wamu account. They said that I had been declined but when I asked for a recon, they approved me, albeit with a low credit limit. 

I'm happy that I'm at a point where lenders are starting to view me as a better candidate for credit than in the past, as my ultimate goal is to get my scores and credit history to a point where I can get prime rates on a mortgage in 3-4 years from now. But aside from the Amex and Chase Freedom, are there any other cards I should think about applying for, perhaps another year or so from now? I would love to eventually obtain Chase Sapphire and my own SPG card because I want to start maximizing on points. My strategy was to also expand my credit types by obtaining an auto loan a year from now, since my fiance and I have plans to purchase a new vehicle after we're married. Are there any other cards that would be good in the road towards building excellent credit and would appear as a positive on my credit report, aside from the ones that I already have?

[Themanwhocan]

What are your credit scores? If you have the letters that came with the new cards, they should indicate what the score was when they approved the card (before it went down due to the Inq and new card). And how old are those scores/cards?

If I'm reading you correctly, the only cards you have that give cash back or miles or whatnot are the BCE and the Chase Freedom. Are you interested in more Cash Back opportunities, or ?

A credit report doesn't show what card you have, just the contact info for whomever issued each card to you. But obviously they can recognize American Express and Chase if they care to.

[Qisma]

Hi, thanks for your reply. I'll respond to your questions below:

What are your credit scores? If you have the letters that came with the new cards, they should indicate what the score was when they approved the card (before it went down due to the Inq and new card). And how old are those scores/cards?

I pulled my FICO scores 2 weeks ago and reported as 699 EXP, 686 TU, 687 EQ. I am still waiting for the cards to be mailed to me, so I don't know what score was used at the time, but presume it was similar to what I pulled myself through FICO. My AAoA is 6 years, though I am going to make sure Amex will backdate my card to 2001, since that is when I first became a cardmember (and is the date that shows up on my current Amex accounts) so that should help increase my AAoA.

If I'm reading you correctly, the only cards you have that give cash back or miles or whatnot are the BCE and the Chase Freedom. Are you interested in more Cash Back opportunities, or ?

I only looked at cash back for now, but would like to graduate up to a points/rewards card later on. I want to be more strategic about those, since I'd like to take advantage of bonus signups and collect a lot of points that way. The only other card I am considering for cashback is the Fidelity Amex or Visa, since I have a Fidelity account. I am not sure if I would be approved for that card though and wondering if I need to garden for a little bit longer.  

[Themanwhocan]

Well, with scores that low and now even lower due to the recent new cards, I wouldn't apply for at least 4 months and 6+ months would be better.

I would consider the Sallie Mae World Mastercard, and the Discover It. Both are good cashback cards to have and relatively easier to obtain (I haven't dared to apply for the Chase Freedom myself yet, so Kudos on that one).

For now, remember that you can apply for the 3X credit line increase on the BCE after 61 days and then every 6 months after that, its a soft pull (so no reason NOT to request it) and they will counter with a lesser amount if necessary. You accept the lesser amount, no matter what it is, of course...

[Qisma]

Ok, good to know regarding the Amex CLI. I was afraid to apply for any other cards after my approvals in the last week with Amex and Chase, so I will follow your advice and my gut on gardening for another 6 months to a year before applying for anything else. I will look into the Sallie Mae and the Discover IT in the meantime, thanks. 

[enharu]

You can try chase freedom, discover it, Bank of America bank americard, and maybe something from citi as well.