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What is the worst card you had when rebuilding, i.e. lowest limit, annual fees, maintenance fees; and what is your best card and highest limit? How long did it take you to get there?
I'll go first; My worst card was the Orchard Bank Mastercard, with an application fee something like 35 bucks, plus a 79 dollar annual fee. The limit was 300 so I was near 40% utilization before I even activated it. This was June of 2008.
My highest tier card is Chase Freedom Signature,10k limit, no fees. I was approved for the freedom exactly three years after the Orchard card, but at a lower limit. Later they let me go up to 10k, and recently the EO changed it to Signature at my request.
I'd say my worse was my Credit One card with a $75 AF and $450 CL (might have started at $300). However, it wasn't the worst of the Credit One cards since it didn't have the monthly maintenance fees.
So far, my best card is my PayPal Extras only at 2K, but I hope to obtain other cards that will soon take the "best card" title.
I suppose it took me about 6 years to get here.
@p- wrote:What is the worst card you had when rebuilding, i.e. lowest limit, annual fees, maintenance fees; and what is your best card and highest limit? How long did it take you to get there?
I'll go first; My worst card was the Orchard Bank Mastercard, with an application fee something like 35 bucks, plus an 85 dollar annual fee. The limit was 300 so I was at 40% utilization before I even activated it. This was June of 2008.
My highest tier card is Chase Freedom Signature,10k limit, no fees. I was approved for the freedom exactly three years after the Orchard card, but at a lower limit. Later they let me go up to 10k, and recently the EO changed it to Signature at my request.
Looking at some of your earlier posts it looks like you had an initial CL of 2k on your freedom. How long did it take you to get the increase to 10k and how did you go about it? Was it all at once or a couple of CLIs?
Worst: Credit One
Best: J. Crew since I shop there often....lol.
My Worst: Capital One Platinum, started off at a $500 CL ..now only up to $750 and have had it about 5 years.
My Best: Discover it, highest tier for me... 6k CL ..no fees
My worst was probably the now closed BoA $500 secured card. It did offer some kind of rewards, but with that credit limit I wasn't using it much, and it definitely wasn't enough to offset the $39 annual fee. A close second is the exact same card (same $500 limit, same $39 fee), only unsecured, that they randomly sent me a month or two after I closed the secured one. That was just odd.
Best - I don't yet know if it will be "best" per se, but definitely the one I'm currently the happiest about, is my $2K Amex BCE. Not the highest credit line, not the best rewards, but I'm just so happy to be with Amex! A year ago Chase wouldn't touch me with a stick when I apped for an Amazon credit card, and wouldn't even give me a $500 limit after a recon, so the BCE approval felt like a rite of passage.
@red259 wrote:Looking at some of your earlier posts it looks like you had an initial CL of 2k on your freedom. How long did it take you to get the increase to 10k and how did you go about it? Was it all at once or a couple of CLIs?
I think it was three hard pulls, for a raise to 3,000, then 5,000, then 10,000. I would have to look back at the log to see for sure. I think it was about every six months. Definitely a soft pull for the PC to signature.
My worst card was by far my CRAPital one secured card. God, that card was completely useless. Well, maybe not completely, as it did help me get the Discover IT, XD.
My best card is the Discover IT. I've gotten a ton of cashback with the 5% categories, and I really like being able to spend the cashback directly on Amazon. I do wish they'd give me some auto CLI luv though.
Worst is definitely Orchard Bank, although I'm going to try for a CLI once the merger with Cap1 is complete.
I guess my best would be Cap1.. Despite all the negative comments about them (most are deserved, though), they've treated me relatively well. I'll be applying for an AMEX revolver next fall, so until then I technically don't have a "credit" card with them.