topic Re: Big Spree Results w/ Data Points!!..& Questions in Credit Card Applications

Big Spree Results w/ Data Points!..UPDATE

RonM21 — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 17:16:19 GMT

So, the last 3 months, I've gone on super spree of sorts (for me at least). Overall it hs been very successful! I'm posting the results, hoping others can use this info for data points. By all means, you can ask me any questions or even criticize me. It's all good I have a couple of important points at the bottom, and actually need some guidance. This is mainly where your suggestions come in. I'm not done just yet

At the beginning of this: Fico Scores: Between 670-690 / Total Credit - 23,000 / Util - 34% / Inquiries - EX:4, TU: 2, EQ: 2. My updated sig is at the bottom. These are the results in order of when they occurred.

MAY:

* BoA Cash Rewards - Auto CLI from $1K to $3K

* Best Buy MC - Auto CLI from $2.5K to $3.6K

* Penfed Membership (HP EQ Approval, My score 690/Theirs 713 is a EQ Fico NG 2)

*Approved Online for Cash Rewards $2K

*Recon bump limit to $4K

* Alliant Membership

*Approved Online for Visa Plat $15K (HP EQ 690)

****I transferred the balances I did have to this card.

*Citi Diamond - Auto CLI from $1.6K to $2.4K

JUNE:

* NFCU Membership (TU HP - 721)

*Approved Online for Go Rewards $19.2K (TU HP - 718)

* Discover IT - Luv Button CLI from $4.4K to $6.4K (TU SP - 721)

* Lowe's - Approved Online for $3K (TU HP - 728)

*Called in recon and bumped limit to $17K

* Citi DC - Luv button CLI from $1.2K to $2.3K (SP)

* Walmart MC - Luv button CLI from $4k to $6K (SP)

JULY:

* Penfed Luv Button CLI from $4K to $6K (SP)

* BoA Online HP CLI. Asked for $10K, but approved from $3K to $7K (TU -729). Note: I did try the immediate request after approval method, but it did not work. Got 7-10 day message. Then called and they said it was a double request so it auto declined. No extra HP.

* Barclay NFL Visa - Called for CLI by Phone. Asked for $10K, but approved from $1.4K to $7.5K (TU HP - 729)

*Walmart MC - Called Credit Solutions for CLI. Asked for $10K, but approved from $6K to $8K. (TU HP - 729)

* Chase

*Called in and Closed Slate with $2K line. They moved $1.5K of it to my Freedom. The Freedom was at $2K and bumped to $3.5K because of it.

*Then asked for CLI on the Freedom. Asked for bump to $10K and immediately approved. Rep acknowledged I left money on the table...ugh

* Discover IT - Luv Button CLI from $6.4K to $9.4K (TU SP - 729). This was 49 days after the increase in early June. I put 1 tiny transaction on it last month.

*Used chat later that day and got a 4.75% APR reduction

* Best Buy MC - Called for CLI. Requested jump from $3.6K to $12K. Immediately approved for $12K. Again, rep acknowledged he would have given me more had I asked for it. (EQ HP - 740)

Notes:

* I never even thought about asking for APR reductions until a few days back with Discover. I'll do some of that after a month or so.

* My Cap1 QS1 is sitting at $2800 and no increase since May last year. I'm getting approvals for $2K right now. It got tot $3K when I checked in early June, but their creditwise score suddenly dropped 30 points for some reason, and the approval was back down to $2K. I should have taken the $3K. They also said I have no offers on my account to PC to the QS, which is very frustrating. I've seen people with scores 100 points lower (I kno that's not all to it) get offered to upgrade by them only a few months in. This is after talking to everyone but an EO.

*Citi - On the chopping block. Their increases have been frustrating from day one. I've tried calling, etc., but get nowhere. Sock drawered for now. I'd like to combine the DC with the Diamond also, but am not going to take a HP to do it, especially if I can't get an increase on either card.

*Through all of this, I only have one baddie on my report. It is a paid car loan That Santander took over in the final year. A few late payments once they took it over. This is due to fall off around February!!!!!!

I said I was not done. My last goal is still out there, which is to get an American Express card. I've been getting a ton of offers. I want either the BCP or BCE. I'm not sure which one because it seems the BCP is a bit tougher to get, and may give lower limits, just from reading the threads. But maybe someone knows something different? Does anyone think I shouldn't go for this card, or even a different type of card from them? My sig at the bottom has updated info as of a week ago. And what would you do if anything about Cap1 and Citi? And yes, the garden awaits after this.

Re: Big Spree Results w/ Data Points!!..& Questions

AverageJoesCredit — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 01:07:52 GMT

Wow, great job on everything RM!! Happy for you, as with Music Lover enjoy your posts so am glad everything is going in right direction for ya. Hope you get your Amex! Cant really say if you should go for your Amex but if i had to say id say go for it now so you can go to your garden with a full belly and can chill in the lawn chair with the water sprinkler doin all the work for ya haha lol.

Re: Big Spree Results w/ Data Points!!..& Questions

tcbofade — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 01:11:15 GMT

First, that's awesome! And yay you!

I believe that with your FICOEX score that you have listed in your signature, you can have whichever Amex card you desire. Have you checked their prequal site?

Re: Big Spree Results w/ Data Points!!..& Questions

thom02099 — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 01:29:32 GMT

@RM21 wrote:
So, the last 3 months, I've gone on super spree of sorts (for me at least). Overall it hs been very successful! I'm posting the results, hoping others can use this info for data points. By all means, you can ask me any questions or even criticize me. It's all good I have a couple of important points at the bottom, and actually need some guidance. This is mainly where your suggestions come in. I'm not done just yet

At the beginning of this: Fico Scores: Between 670-690 / Total Credit - 23,000 / Util - 34% / Inquiries - EX:4, TU: 2, EQ: 2. My updated sig is at the bottom. These are the results in order of when they occurred.

MAY:
* BoA Cash Rewards - Auto CLI from $1K to $3K
* Best Buy MC - Auto CLI from $2.5K to $3.6K
* Penfed Membership (HP EQ Approval, My score 690/Theirs 713 is a EQ Fico NG 2)
       *Approved Online for Cash Rewards $2K
       *Recon bump limit to $4K
* Alliant Membership
       *Approved Online for Visa Plat $15K (HP EQ 690)
       ****I transferred the balances I did have to this card.
*Citi Diamond - Auto CLI from $1.6K to $2.4K

JUNE:
* NFCU Membership (TU HP - 721)
       *Approved Online for Go Rewards $19.2K (TU HP - 718)
* Discover IT - Luv Button CLI from $4.4K to $6.4K (TU SP - 721)
* Lowe's - Approved Online for $3K (TU HP - 728)
       *Called in recon and bumped limit to $17K
* Citi DC - Luv button CLI from $1.2K to $2.3K (SP)
* Walmart MC - Luv button CLI from $4k to $6K (SP)

JULY:
* Penfed Luv Button CLI from $4K to $6K (SP)
* BoA Online HP CLI. Asked for $10K, but approved from $3K to $7K (TU -729). Note: I did try the immediate request after approval method, but it did not work. Got 7-10 day message. Then called and they said it was a double request so it auto declined. No extra HP.
* Barclay NFL Visa - Called for CLI by Phone. Asked for $10K, but approved from $1.4K to $7.5K (TU HP - 729)
*Walmart MC - Called Credit Solutions for CLI. Asked for $10K, but approved from $6K to $8K. (TU HP - 729)
* Chase
       *Called in and Closed Slate with $2K line. They moved $1.5K of it to my Freedom. The Freedom was at $2K and bumped to $3.5K because of it.
       *Then asked for CLI on the Freedom. Asked for bump to $10K and immediately approved. Rep acknowledged I left money on the table...ugh
* Discover IT - Luv Button CLI from $6.4K to $9.4K (TU SP - 729). This was 49 days after the increase in early June. I put 1 tiny transaction on it last month.
       *Used chat later that day and got a 4.75% APR reduction
* Best Buy MC - Called for CLI. Requested jump from $3.6K to $12K. Immediately approved for $12K. Again, rep acknowledged he would have given me more had I asked for it. (EQ HP - 740)

Notes:
* I never even thought about asking for APR reductions until a few days back with Discover. I'll do some of that after a month or so.
* My Cap1 QS1 is sitting at $2800 and no increase since May last year. I'm getting approvals for $2K right now. It got tot $3K when I checked in early June, but their creditwise score suddenly dropped 30 points for some reason, and the approval was back down to $2K. I should have taken the $3K. They also said I have no offers on my account to PC to the QS, which is very frustrating. I've seen people with scores 100 points lower (I kno that's not all to it) get offered to upgrade by them only a few months in. This is after talking to everyone but an EO.
*Citi - On the chopping block. Their increases have been frustrating from day one. I've tried calling, etc., but get nowhere. Sock drawered for now. I'd like to combine the DC with the Diamond also, but am not going to take a HP to do it, especially if I can't get an increase on either card.

*Through all of this, I only have one baddie on my report. It is a paid car loan That Santander took over in the final year. A few late payments once they took it over. This is due to fall off around February!!!!!!

I said I was not done. My last goal is still out there, which is to get an American Express card. I've been getting a ton of offers. I want either the BCP or BCE. I'm not sure which one because it seems the BCP is a bit tougher to get, and may give lower limits, just from reading the threads. But maybe someone knows something different? Does anyone think I shouldn't go for this card, or even a different type of card from them? My sig at the bottom has updated info as of a week ago. And what would you do if anything about Cap1 and Citi? And yes, the garden awaits after this.

If I were in your shoes, I would garden now. Let all of what you've received mature some. And let that one remaining baddie fall off. So...garden until March 2017, or the baddie falls off. That's 8 months. For the AMEX cards, assess which would best fit your spend pattern over the next 8 months. AMEX will still be there, and you'll likely be in a much better place in 8 months of gardening.

Re: Big Spree Results w/ Data Points!!..& Questions

RonM21 — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 02:45:50 GMT

@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
Wow, great job on everything RM!! Happy for you, as with Music Lover enjoy your posts so am glad everything is going in right direction for ya. Hope you get your Amex! Cant really say if you should go for your Amex but if i had to say id say go for it now so you can go to your garden with a full belly and can chill in the lawn chair with the water sprinkler doin all the work for ya haha lol.

Thank you AJC! I appreciate that. I hope I get too. That garden is calling my name for sure. My thoughts were the same on going for the Amex then hitting that Garden.

Re: Big Spree Results w/ Data Points!!..& Questions

RonM21 — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 02:48:06 GMT

@tcbofade wrote:
First, that's awesome! And yay you!

I believe that with your FICOEX score that you have listed in your signature, you can have whichever Amex card you desire. Have you checked their prequal site?

Thanks!! And yes I've been checking their prequals for the last couple of months. The offers and cards keep switching. I think they have offered me almost every card at some point in this span. Both BCE and BCP have been on there several times.

Re: Big Spree Results w/ Data Points!!..& Questions

RonM21 — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 02:53:50 GMT

@thom02099 wrote:
@RM21 wrote:
My last goal is still out there, which is to get an American Express card. I've been getting a ton of offers. I want either the BCP or BCE. I'm not sure which one because it seems the BCP is a bit tougher to get, and may give lower limits, just from reading the threads. But maybe someone knows something different? Does anyone think I shouldn't go for this card, or even a different type of card from them? My sig at the bottom has updated info as of a week ago. And what would you do if anything about Cap1 and Citi? And yes, the garden awaits after this.

If I were in your shoes, I would garden now. Let all of what you've received mature some. And let that one remaining baddie fall off. So...garden until March 2017, or the baddie falls off. That's 8 months. For the AMEX cards, assess which would best fit your spend pattern over the next 8 months. AMEX will still be there, and you'll likely be in a much better place in 8 months of gardening.

Point well taken and I have thought about doing it that way. Not sure which direction to go. My gut says app it now, but to your point, that would be a way to go that would definitely work also.

Re: Big Spree Results w/ Data Points!!..& Questions

Anonymous — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 04:29:59 GMT

Congrats!!! You def did an amazing job.

You would be a shoe in for any AMEX you want. Please keep us posted on what you finally decide to do.

Re: Big Spree Results w/ Data Points!!..& Questions

Anonymous — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 04:42:29 GMT

You've definitely been active in the last 3 months with new accounts and getting CLIs, no doubt there!

How thick is your file? Oldest account? AAoA before May and AAoA now? Before May how many accounts had you opened in the last year? two years? three years?

I ask because it seems that your scores have improved if you were around 690 pre-May and you're 730 or so now which I find interesting since you opened a good amount of new accounts, added inquiries, no doubt dropped your AAoA, etc.

I started a thread yesterday in this very forum and with the simple addition of 2 revolving accounts I lost 22 FICO 08 points which seems very different than what happened to your scores when you obtained quite a few new accounts.

Re: Big Spree Results w/ Data Points!!..& Questions

Anonymous — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 05:02:17 GMT

Awesome job OP!

Re: Big Spree Results w/ Data Points!!..& Questions

RonM21 — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 12:19:55 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Congrats!!! You def did an amazing job.

You would be a shoe in for any AMEX you want. Please keep us posted on what you finally decide to do.

Thank you!! I'll be sure to update!

Re: Big Spree Results w/ Data Points!!..& Questions

RonM21 — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 12:25:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
You've definitely been active in the last 3 months with new accounts and getting CLIs, no doubt there!

How thick is your file? Oldest account? AAoA before May and AAoA now? Before May how many accounts had you opened in the last year? two years? three years?

I ask because it seems that your scores have improved if you were around 690 pre-May and you're 730 or so now which I find interesting since you opened a good amount of new accounts, added inquiries, no doubt dropped your AAoA, etc.

I started a thread yesterday in this very forum and with the simple addition of 2 revolving accounts I lost 22 FICO 08 points which seems very different than what happened to your scores when you obtained quite a few new accounts.

If I remeber correctly, my AAoA was around 3.8 at the beginning of this and it now stands at 3.4. During this spree I got 4 new cards. Are you asking about my oldect CC account?

I think the utilization dropping helped in this situation. I was paying it down going in to this. So that hitting my reports, combined with the higher limits hittng, is what I think helped increase the score. I also had balances at one point on almost all of my cards, but now I only report on one as of the beginning of the spree.

Re: Big Spree Results w/ Data Points!!..& Questions

RonM21 — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 12:26:12 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Awesome job OP!

Thanks!!

Re: Big Spree Results w/ Data Points!!..& Questions

driftless — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 12:42:12 GMT

Nice job all around. See you in the Garden Club after you app for Amex.

Re: Big Spree Results w/ Data Points!!..& Questions

Anonymous — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 13:20:28 GMT

@RM21 wrote:

If I remeber correctly, my AAoA was around 3.8 at the beginning of this and it now stands at 3.4. During this spree I got 4 new cards. Are you asking about my oldect CC account?

I think the utilization dropping helped in this situation. I was paying it down going in to this. So that hitting my reports, combined with the higher limits hittng, is what I think helped increase the score. I also had balances at one point on almost all of my cards, but now I only report on one as of the beginning of the spree.

Your oldest CC account or oldest account in general; just trying to gauge your file thickness as the thicker the file usually the less volatile it is score wise to account changes. Your AAoA it seems remains unchanged (3 years - rounded down to nearest integer) so that definitely didn't impact your score.

Understood on your number of accounts reporting. How about your overall utilization pre-spree and now?

Re: Big Spree Results w/ Data Points!!..& Questions

RonM21 — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 13:22:50 GMT

@driftless wrote:
Nice job all around. See you in the Garden Club after you app for Amex.

Thank you. No doubt I'll be joining you! Once I'm in there, I don't see myself moving for a good while, with one exception. Sometime in he spring I'll be going for a new car. The one I have is almpst paid off and has 120,000 miles on it right now. It has been very reliable and never had a machanical issue, but you can see the problems starting to develop from a physical standpoint. It is just a metter of time (I would assume) before I start having issues with it mechanically. More than likely, I'll go through one of the credit unions when the time comes.

Re: Big Spree Results w/ Data Points!!..& Questions

RonM21 — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 13:28:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@RM21 wrote:

If I remeber correctly, my AAoA was around 3.8 at the beginning of this and it now stands at 3.4. During this spree I got 4 new cards. Are you asking about my oldect CC account?

I think the utilization dropping helped in this situation. I was paying it down going in to this. So that hitting my reports, combined with the higher limits hittng, is what I think helped increase the score. I also had balances at one point on almost all of my cards, but now I only report on one as of the beginning of the spree.
Your oldest CC account or oldest account in general; just trying to gauge your file thickness as the thicker the file usually the less volatile it is score wise to account changes. Your AAoA it seems remains unchanged (3 years - rounded down to nearest integer) so that definitely didn't impact your score.

Understood on your number of accounts reporting. How about your overall utilization pre-spree and now?

My oldest CC account is my Quicksilver One from January 2013. It was converted over from a Platinum last year. The oldest overall account is a paid car loan from my first car in late 2005 that I paid off in 1 year. But it is only reporting on my EQ for some reason, and generally, this has kept my EQ up by several points over the others. The next oldest is a paid car loan from 2006 that is on all 3 bureaus.

My utilization going in to May was somewhere around 25-30%. It may have been even a few points higher. Currently it is at 6%.

Re: Big Spree Results w/ Data Points!!..& Questions

RonM21 — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 13:38:13 GMT

Thank you!!! I'll be updating soon. Hoping for the best.

Re: Big Spree Results w/ Data Points!!..& Questions

RonM21 — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 17:23:26 GMT

UPDATE: Well, I went off to church then came back and still felt the same about applying, and chose the Amex BCE over BCP after reading up on the approvals for both.

Amex BCE Approved!!!! $10,000 Limit!! I went to the preapprovals again and the BCP was on there but not the BCE. I stayed with my thought process and went for the BCE anyway. It just seemed like too many approvals I read on the BCP had posts where they were given low limits, even with scores way higher than mine. Just my hunch.

So now, the garden. The only things I am watching is what to do about Cap1 and Citi. I'm not too thrilled with either at the moment, and still don't know what I'll do with them yet.

Re: Big Spree Results w/ Data Points!..UPDATE

BeeH11 — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 19:23:30 GMT

Great job!