Which Cards should I apply for?

Anonymous · ‎10-22-2011

Hey everyone, I officialy have 7 months of credit history & I have one Credit Card (Cap1 with $500 limit & 14.9% apr). And I figure it's about time to about for a few new cards. I of course want to apply for the Amex Zync. I applied a few months ago and they told me to re apply once I have 6 months of history. So I plan on applying soon. But I also have my eye on a few other cards, and I was wondering if you could tell me if you'd think I would get approved. I would like to apply for the Citi Forward, Discover More Student & a Target RedCard (not the debit card). Dicover is my last choice, but after the Zync, Citi and the Target card are my top priority. My utilization is at 9% and I PIF every month. What do you guys think? I'm open to any and all suggestions! Thanks in advance!

haulingthescoreup · ‎10-22-2011

Since AmEx told you to try again after six months, you might go for the Zync now.

I would still wait until your Cap One has reported for 12 months, meaning that your history is over a year old, before going for others. Lots of CCC's these days are very cautious about giving good cards to credit newbies (no offence intended!!)

The longer your credit history, the more likely it is that you will be (1) approved, (2) given a decent credit limit, and (3) get a good APR, if that's something that you care about (I don't, because I PIF.)

* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007

Anonymous · ‎10-22-2011

You are similar to my 19 year old!

She had Cap1 student Journey since 2/2011. She got Zync around July. You have solid 7 months now. You should get approved for Zync now.

In August she got Citi Forward and Discover More (at 6 months). She had to call both Citi and Discover to get approved. They were not instant approvals. Discover could not approve her for the student More because she is at a 2 year college. They gave her a regular More card. The student version converts to a regular More card once your CL hits $1000.

She also got a VS card in August with instant approval. She hasn't used it but wanted one store card.

Once you have them, use them right and don't apply for anything else. Don't max out your cards. You should PIF on all of your cards, except for one which should report a 1-9% utility. This will establish a great history for you, even though it will take time. The cards will all age together nicely. Most importantly, pay on time. Both my daughter and myself have our accounts set up on AUTOPAY. The feature never triggers because we pay before the statement cuts. HOWEVER, it acts as a safety-net just in case. You never know what can come up! (ex. away on vacation, no access to computer, power outage....who knows LOL).

I would personally get the Amex first, then let it report before you apply for Citi and Discover.

Anonymous · ‎10-22-2011

PS.....

just some insight on the cards.

I think your selections are good (of course I would say that....I helped my daughter and made similar recommendations). LOL!!!

Citi Forward student and Discover More student are GEARED for students. So long as you have your own income, they are little more lenient giving the cards.

As far as rewards go for student cards, the Forward card is probably one of the better student cards. It is the only card that will give you a consistent 5x points on restaurants, fast food, books, music, movies and Amazon.com. The only downside is the Thankyou reward site I find to be a pain (I have a Forward card as well), and the points don't redeem as high as they could. Also, ThankYou points expire. However, students tend to spend the most in these catagories, which make it a great card.

Discover More has nice 5% rotating catagories, but they are capped at $300 per QUARTER. Everything else is only a quarter of a percent back per dollar until you spend 3k on the card, at which time you will then get 1% back on everything else. The better student card is really the Discover Open Road card. It gives you 2% back on the first $250 spent on gas and dining EACH MONTH. Everything else is a quarter of a percent until you reach the 3K spend. A better choice really if you have a car and need gas. The rewards on both cards do not expire. You can still get extra bonus points on SHOPDISCOVER for either card. One of the best benefits IMO, and Discover is a great company to have your foot in the door with (like Amex).

Anonymous · ‎10-24-2011

Cool, thank you so much for your advice / stories!!