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Hi Everyone!
First off I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend. And hello to the members on this board. I've spent most of my time on the rebuilding forum and I owe them a huge thank you for the tips for getting my credit back on track.
I was wondering if you all could help me with suggesting what cards (if you feel it's appropriate to apply for any) would be beneficial for my situation.
Here are my stats:
3 inq. 1 will fall off next year and the other 2 will be a year old.
About 5 store cards (Macy's JCPenny, Sears, Best Buy, Firestone) ranging from $800-2200--Balance on the best Buy is $400 with a CL of $2200
Student loan $22K
Cap1 $2000--No balance
Chase Freedom $4500 (just got an automatic CLI a couple of weeks ago and I got the card in Jan '12 from $3K) Balance--$1100 ( but will have that paid off by the end of Jan '13)
I have an old Cap1 card with 2 baddies (30 day late and a 60 day late) and those are both scheduled to fall off late next year (I want to believe that these are not affecting my credit score too much).
I do travel for work and I was using the corp card but I can use my own personal card (but my credit was terrible when I first got the job so I asked for a corp card because I didn't qualify for a better credit card) so maybe a Chase Slate for that? I don't know if I could get an American Express.
I also need to get some expensive dental work done (jaw surgery so maybe it's medical and it's a no go on my medical insurance) and would like to get some rewards for that. I saved up for most of it so I would have to charge about $3K on a card for the remainder. Would prefer to go the route of a no interest card with some rewards. (CareCredit has some horror stories so I would rather avoid that card) Then I have to make another large purchase later on in the year and would probably charge about $6K.
Don't know what my real Fico score is. I use freecreditreport.com as I just needed something to help me with tracking what was happening on my report while rebuilding and I've done as much as I can. But the score on that site says I'm at 732. Since I know it's a FAKO I take it with a grain of salt. I figured until I got ready to buy a house is when I will get my real one since right now, the only thing I can do is pay down more balances as Cap1 ain't budging with my GW's for those lates.
Income is $66K
So I know I don't have any high limit cards I dunno if I have a chance to get approved for one. But I'd be grateful if you have any suggestions for cards or even what next steps I should take.
Thank you all again and have a safe and happy holiday weekend!
Profile seems good, if you have no baddies then I would suggest a Discover card, More or IT. They tend to pull TU and the card grows with you.
Is there any particular airline or hotel chain you stay with mainly for this job? Perhaps a co-branded card?
Thank you thank you thank you all for the great replies!
I usually fly delta because of the skymiles, but at one point I couldn't really afford the annual fee. I've got some wiggle room now because of the raise. The hotel is usually whatever is closest to our client, which has been Marriott lately.
I did look at Discover. Would you recommend that to use for travel and for the surgery? I am trying to be careful about charging too much on one card so I was thinking maybe I should look at getting 2 different ones but wasn't sure if that was smart?
And yes, next month I plan on getting those balances down. They are just up for the holidays but they will be gone soon enough. I plan on applying next month anyway but wanted to make sure I knew which cards to look at. Game Plan baby!
Question about my baddies. Are they really that bad since they are 6 years old? I was hoping since they weren't major lates it wasn't too bad. But I guess any late is a bad late.
The Sapphire is attractive but I do like the freedom as my fun card. Do you think it's ok to just get another one?
Also, do you think I have a chance for a larger CL? I don't really have use for a lot of credit except for these upcoming events (and then I will have enough credit for any other emergencies).
I read these threads like crazy and thank you all for taking the time to give advice. Truly grateful to you all.
3 inq's. One will fall off next year and the other 2 will be a year old.
I do like the Discover card. It looks like it will be what I need for some international travel I'm going to do next year.
As far as AMEX, that's a grown up card! haha. I don't know if I would be approved for that. I've always had a question about those products. Like what the difference between an AMEX for Delta and what a BCE is versus the other cards. And why some have no credit limit? I never wanted to apply because I didn't understand it.
@Anonymous wrote:3 inq's. One will fall off next year and the other 2 will be a year old.
I do like the Discover card. It looks like it will be what I need for some international travel I'm going to do next year.
As far as AMEX, that's a grown up card! haha. I don't know if I would be approved for that. I've always had a question about those products. Like what the difference between an AMEX for Delta and what a BCE is versus the other cards. And why some have no credit limit? I never wanted to apply because I didn't understand it.
American express charge cards are great because they have no pre set limit... also no interest. Amex likes you to charge a lot and then pay the bill in full every month. I wouldn't apply for the delta or BCE at this time... I'm not sure you would be approved without prior amex history. The tiers of charge cards are green; gold; pr gold; and platinum. The platinum has some high level perks such as dedicated service reps and 24 hour concierge with lounge passes. The pr gold is good for business travlers because you earn 3x points on all travel expenses and 2x points on gas. I started with the zync because I didn't know if I would like the concept of a charge card but I found that I enjoy it. Charge cards have a much more lenient approval criteria than American express credit cards. They also like high incomes... you would have a 95% chance of being approved for a charge card with amex.
Also; one neat feature of a charge card is that you could have a 3k balance report and your utilization would not be affected... this is great for folks who use their personal credit for reimbursed expenses. Your utilization % would not swing up and down... also your charge card has an internal limit that grows like crazy. Ive charged up to $5174 with no issues and it didn't affect my utilization. My zync is the bottom tier charge card that is no longer available...