alliant vs usaa mastercard-- what are the differences in credit cards?

[johnpalley]

lilmirth, thanks for your advice. just so you know every single derog on my report will be gone next year do to the 7 year mark. that is except for this $1500 unpaid judgment from 06. my situation isnt as bad as you think it is. i got like 6 cc accounts all with perfect history. a 10 year old macys, a couple thats 5 years old. my equ only shows the judgement and i woulda been paid that off but i dont even know how to go about payin it without makin it current. i got real good credit exept for that, thats why i was trying to see what i can accomplish now. if i cant accomplish something i like then il wait a little while. i just have better stuff to do with my money right now then to pay off that judgement. if it wasnt for that i prob would have a 725 score with perfect credit

[Anonymous]

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@johnpalley wrote:

lilmirth, thanks for your advice. just so you know every single derog on my report will be gone next year do to the 7 year mark. that is except for this $1500 unpaid judgment from 06. my situation isnt as bad as you think it is. i got like 6 cc accounts all with perfect history. a 10 year old macys, a couple thats 5 years old. my equ only shows the judgement and i woulda been paid that off but i dont even know how to go about payin it without makin it current. i got real good credit exept for that, thats why i was trying to see what i can accomplish now. if i cant accomplish something i like then il wait a little while. i just have better stuff to do with my money right now then to pay off that judgement. if it wasnt for that i prob would have a 725 score with perfect credit

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I believe LilMirth is referring to the following:

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1.  if i ever get into emergency situations then il have money to survive in tuff times.

2.  also trade stocks for a living and if times are ever rough and i see i good deal in the stock market i can take out some cash.

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1.  Some might wonder how credit cards should be used to survive on absent the very real ability to pay back the debt according to the terms of the credit card contract.  Using a credit card as a piggy bank is often what leads people to serious problems down the road.  Nobody is saying that's what you will do, but the way you worded the sentence does give that impression to others on this thread who are not as responsible as you in trying to keep A+ credit.

2.  Credit card arbitrage can be a wonderful thing.  However, one needs to take into account the possible 5% cash advance fees and what would probably be close to a 25% APR.  I'm sure, though, you already know that, but others reading this thread may not.

[score_building]

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@johnpalley wrote:

i wasnt gonna apply for anything else untill like 6 months from now. would these inq today hurt me at that time? i already opened an account at alliant today so i got the inq already right? if i apply for a card monday am i gonna get a second inq?

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If you app alliant cc the chances of approval seem v. low and it would cost another inq.

Ideally you can wait a few months and app w/ your clean report for best results.

Otherwise, so long as you understand going in that you may have no better odds at decent CL approval than a slot machine payoff.  

Certain types of derogs are pretty much deal breakers (in the absence of a lot of luck) regardless of the fact that you have clean reports otherwise.

The other thing is even if they approve for 500-2000 now, you may have missed out on a 5k+ initial CL which would be possible if you gain approval after neg info drops.

[Anonymous]

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@score_building wrote:

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@johnpalley wrote:

i wasnt gonna apply for anything else untill like 6 months from now. would these inq today hurt me at that time? i already opened an account at alliant today so i got the inq already right? if i apply for a card monday am i gonna get a second inq?

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If you app alliant cc the chances of approval seem v. low and it would cost another inq.

Ideally you can wait a few months and app w/ your clean report for best results.

Otherwise, so long as you understand going in that you may have no better odds at decent CL approval than a slot machine payoff.  

Certain types of derogs are pretty much deal breakers (in the absence of a lot of luck) regardless of the fact that you have clean reports otherwise.

The other thing is even if they approve for 500-2000 now, you may have missed out on a 5k+ initial CL which would be possible if you gain approval after neg info drops.

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I believe there is the possibility of no further INQ since the CC application would be within a day or two of the INQ it cost him to join Alliant.

[score_building]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@score_building wrote:

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@johnpalley wrote:

i wasnt gonna apply for anything else untill like 6 months from now. would these inq today hurt me at that time? i already opened an account at alliant today so i got the inq already right? if i apply for a card monday am i gonna get a second inq?

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If you app alliant cc the chances of approval seem v. low and it would cost another inq.

Ideally you can wait a few months and app w/ your clean report for best results.

Otherwise, so long as you understand going in that you may have no better odds at decent CL approval than a slot machine payoff.  

Certain types of derogs are pretty much deal breakers (in the absence of a lot of luck) regardless of the fact that you have clean reports otherwise.

The other thing is even if they approve for 500-2000 now, you may have missed out on a 5k+ initial CL which would be possible if you gain approval after neg info drops.

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I believe there is the possibility of no further INQ since the CC application would be within a day or two of the INQ it cost him to join Alliant.

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Unfortunately unlike Penfed at Alliant each new app after joining is typically a hard inq.

I'm not saying there isn't someone out there somewhere who got lucky with Alliant but the rule of thumb with them is to expect a HP for anything after membership if you didn't accept the offer upon preapproval while joining (unless this policy has changed recently) it's a new HP--this includes deposit accts.

[johnpalley]

score_building, so what your saying is that when i open an account with alliant and then i apply for a credit card the next day then i get 2 hard inq?

[score_building]

Yes.

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@johnpalley wrote:

score_building, so what your saying is that when i open an account with alliant and then i apply for a credit card the next day then i get 2 hard inq?

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[johnpalley]

damn, thats horrible. do you think i should try applying over the phone and tell them the situation and see if i can try to not have the second one pulled? instead of applying on the internet and having the system automatically pull it you know

[Anonymous]

If you call on phone and speak to an LO, you can ask them to use the previous pull if it is recent.  Often they will do this.  If you apply online, you will get hit with an INQ for each and every application, including initial membership.

So, it is best if you do not get offered credit upon membership, to call an LO and ask them to use the membership CR pull to consider you for credit.  In this way you will minimize the INQ damage.

NOTE:  In prior posts it was discussed about how long INQ's will hurt your applications.  In truth, they will hurt you for at least 1 year, because they affect FICO for 1 year.  As for as number of inquiries and how recent, that will vary from lender to lender.

But, FICO will begin to punish you with a combination of 1) past derog, 2) multiple recent inquires 3) new account(s), 4) short AAoA

FICO has a bit of cascading effect...one thing can cause another to be more of an issue.  The past derog will cause your inquiries and new accounts to be FICO dings moreso than if you did not have the derog.  And each of the new inq's will have a synergistic "ding" effect with new accounts appearing on your CR.

SECONDARY NOTE:  I agree with Lilmirth:  it is better to establish and make regular contributions to a cash emergency fund than it is to rely upon credit as the emergency backup.  just an IMO note.

txjohn

[johnpalley]

thanks tx! i already got the inq so im gonna call them mon to see if i can avoid the second one when applying. i just wish i never applied with usaa, what a waist of an inq