Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I have the same question and read the credit 101 report. It did not say whether asking for an increase will hurt or help (although it did indirectly say that util = bal/limit, so an increase in limit has to be good, correct?) Anyway, i have a 751 score, want to buy a house and want to get into the 760 range to get the best rate. According to myFICO, my amount of new credit is not good (I recently got a costco amex card about 6 months ago.) I had one late payment 4 years ago. My balances are zeroed out and my util is at 1%. Will asking for a credit increase reduce or improve my score? I may need the extra credit since I will be buying lots of stuff for my new house. I have 9 total cards (mostly store cards). I want those extra 9 points!!
