Credit Cards

[AJC1987]

Within the last 2 years my credit has gone from the low 500's(stupid college student) to the mid 700's.  I just closed on a house and am wanting to get my limits up on credit cards.  I have recently applied for Chase Freedom card and also a card from Bank of America.  How many cards do you think I should have in order to start a better credit portfolio? I have 2 other cards but they have extremely low limits 300 and 750 and I would rather not really use those anymore due to the higher interest rates and low limits.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[visorboy1974]

To answer your question...whatever makes you comfortable and is manageable to you.  Maybe a couple more with nice limits/interest rates and then you can sock drawer the other two you don't like. 

I have 7 right now and would like to close one or two.  I don't like to manage more than 5.    

[rtw]

I would suggest getting in with American Express.

[armbenderc]

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rtw wrote:

I would suggest getting in with American Express.

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The statement above is correct.

Edit: Go for Amex PRG.

[AJC1987]

I applied for and was approved for the Amex Blue card. They are starting me with a $2500 limit so it shouldnt take me too long to get that above $5000.

[bs6054]

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visorboy1974 wrote:

To answer your question...whatever makes you comfortable and is manageable to you.  Maybe a couple more with nice limits/interest rates and then you can sock drawer the other two you don't like. 

I have 7 right now and would like to close one or two.  I don't like to manage more than 5.    

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Yes, good answer!  Too many people here just keep suggesting their own favorite cards, without considering needs and goals of the person asking.

So for the OP, things we would need to know:

1) What is your general goal for this?  You already have a mortgage and a good score, so are you trying to increase available credit in general, want to get rewards etc.

2) Where do you do most of the spending

3) If you need some type of rewards, what is important?  Cash back, travel points, specific hotel stays etc.

Without knowing these, answers can be useless, which unfortunately doesn't prevent people from answering!

So if 2 was "Groceries then gas" and 3 was cash back, Amex Blue Cash Preferred or Everyday (depending on the amount) would be a good answer, it is was gas, then Penfed is a better choice.  If you spend more on restaurants etc.  And if you want to fly on Iberia airlines, or stay at Marriotts, other cards apply!

So despite some consensus, "Amex" isn't a good answer to all!  I see you got the BCE, so presumably the reward structure does suit your spending and goals.

[AJC1987]

That is a great response.

I am going to use the card mostly on gas and groceries, etc. I am just looking to increase my overall credit limits because I was stuck at a $750 from when I was rebuilding. 

Also, cash back is something I am sort of looking for. I travel a good amount for work and I use my personal card and get re-imbursed for the charges. If I can make some money or get rewards from that I wouldnt completely hate it

[daybreakgonesXe]

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AJC1987 wrote:

Within the last 2 years my credit has gone from the low 500's(stupid college student) to the mid 700's.  I just closed on a house and am wanting to get my limits up on credit cards.  I have recently applied for Chase Freedom card and also a card from Bank of America.  How many cards do you think I should have in order to start a better credit portfolio? I have 2 other cards but they have extremely low limits 300 and 750 and I would rather not really use those anymore due to the higher interest rates and low limits.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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In response to the "how many cards", 2 or 3 is the absolute minimum to help maximize your score, but 4-6 revolving accounts puts you in an optimal spot to hit really high, if not perfect, FICO scores! however, with much age and wisdom, you can have 20+ and still get into the 800s one day! so it's all up to how you want to manage them and watch your limits grow

[bs6054]

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daybreakgonesXe wrote:

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In response to the "how many cards", 2 or 3 is the absolute minimum to help maximize your score, but 4-6 revolving accounts puts you in an optimal spot to hit really high, if not perfect, FICO scores! however, with much age and wisdom, you can have 20+ and still get into the 800s one day! so it's all up to how you want to manage them and watch your limits grow

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But of course it's not everyone's goal to get 800+ scores, 760 or so will do fine for nearly all purposes.   I find two problems with having lots of cards:

1) Just too much to track for little gain in many cases.  From time to time, you need to make sure that you still have them, there are no unauthorized charges and they haven't snuck in an annual fee when there wasn't one before.

2) Slow reward streams.

If the reason you have multiple cards is to get rewards in various segments (so card A gives cash back on groceries, card B at Amazon, card C on US air flights etc)

or to have different types of reward (cash, flights, hotel stays etc), you spread your spending out across the cards. 

This means that although the total amount of rewards may be the same or better,  if, as if often the case, there is a threshold (5,000 points to for cash back for example) you get the rewards rather slowly.

So currently, due to high grocery spending and some gas spending, I am getting $125-$175 back per month on my Blue Cash Preferred. 

Last month I moved gas to Penfed, as it has a higher reward (5% vs 3%) but it has a minimum cash redemption of 5,000 points = $1,000 on gas which takes me a while.  Penfed will also get my grocery spend when BCP gets capped, but still a little slow. 

I spread other category spending among US Bank Cash Plus (where you need to redeem $100 to get the $25 bonus), Fidelity Amex (where you need $2500 spend to get $50 redeemed) and Chase Amazon.   If I also had Citi Forward, Chase Freedom and Discover, I would be getting good points on everything, but seeing the rewards would take a long time!