Shopping Cart Trick

[mato01]

I have 16 inquiries on TU, 11 inquiries on Experian, and 6 inquries on EQ so I definitely don't need to do any more applications. However, is it is a bad thing for me to add accounts by AU, or for example shopping cart trick to increase my credit limits thereby increasing my utilization. By the way my AAOA is a average of 8.2 years on TU, EXP, and EQ.

[dursty87]

It is up to you.  I would personally add a solid AU account before doing shopping cart tricks.  IMO unless you shop at one of the stores religiously it is a waste of a hit to you AAoA.  I understand that it is a SP, but you probably won't gain a whole lot of padding on your util as most CL's are only a few hundred bucks.  

IMO, wait for your scores to rise up and apply for a card you want.  Doing the shopping cart trick is cool and all at the time, but you will most likely regret it later.

[mato01]

You're right. I think for me its best to just continue my gardening and wait it out. I've managed to get 2 paid collections deleted from my credit reports this week, so the work continues to pay off. 

[dursty87]

I think that would be the best bet.  Continue cleaning up your reports and you will be happy in the long rung.  Congrats on your recent success.