When to make the next big move

[smc733]

Hi everyone,

So far everyone has always given me spot on advice when it comes to my cards, and I'm gearing up to make my last credit move for a while.

I currently have

-Citi Forward $1200 (5/10)

-BofA Plat Plus $700 (6/10)

-Banana Republic $1000 (3/10)

Never missed a payment, always pay in full, reported balances usually have put my util at <10%

My FICOs were 650s-670s and I have 42k in student loans.  My income in college is $17k.

I do have a few inquiries in the last 6 months, probably 3 on each report or 4.  When should I app for the Discover Student card.  (I'm failing to see reasons to get the Zync).

[Creditaddict]

The biggest reason to get an amex right now is yes while a student you probably can't spend enough on it to make the annual fee worth it, but you could get the gold free for one year, that would put your join date 2010, then later when you get out of school and can actually afford the card you will be in good with amex,  you could add a credit card and get the same 2010 backdate and downgrade the gold to zync for lower annual fee or close the charge card all together but you will always be able to get amex to backdate to 2010.

As far as Discover, have not really had any experience with them so I will bump that for someone else.

[smc733]

I understand that, but I'm still failing to see why I would ever need an AmEx in the first place.

[Wolf3]

IMO,  You don't necessarily need a card from American Express bank or a AMEX network card from someone else.  The AMEX network is not accepted nearly as much as VISA and MC.   You have to evaluate each cards perks and expenses on their own.  In general they aim for customers who travel a lot.  

Some like the American Express bank cards because they backdate new cards to original date of first cards.

I don't think anyone needs a Discover card either.  It is accepted the least of the 4 networks.   

If you think you might travel outside of US or buy something internationally, I would go for a Capital One card which has 0% foreign exchange fee.