Paying it down quickly would be the best way. A consolidation loan could be considered as it would reduce revolving utilization but he would have to be certain not to charge up more credit card debt while paying down the loan or else he will be in even more trouble. It's really his call to make as he knows himself better than anyone else.
@Anonymous wrote:
But he needs a starting limit of basically 7,000. ..
Utilization matters on a card being BT'ed to as well. He does not want to max out a new card. Also, approvals, high limits and low APR's are less likely with very high utilization. With a low score to begin with, a card that has already been balance chased and utilization on that card now at 97% I wouldn't recommend applying for another credit card.
He also needs to ensure that he is budgeting and sticking to the budget to avoid this in future and to make progress Even before being balance chased he was at 65% on that card which is high. General advice is do not exceed 30%. He should aim to pay in full.
