topic Re: card shopping. discover it amex everyday or... in Credit Card Applications

card shopping. discover it amex everyday or...

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 12:02:40 GMT

So I am new into the credit game but have been doing the best i can to get back on the right track. I have a 710 eq and 645 tu and am looking for a new card. I have a 17500 navy federal card since nov 2014 all payments on time and a 300 dollar cap one platinum since april 2015 all payments on time. I make about 6 to 7000 per month and am in a commission based job. I spend about 3 to 400 per month in gas since I use my own vehicle. Just trying to see what would be a good fit for my next card. Looking for some rewards and direction since I'm a little green in the credit game. Looking to purchase a house and a new car within 2 years.

Re: card shopping. discover it amex everyday or...

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 12:16:02 GMT

I've bought and paid off 2 cars too

Re: card shopping. discover it amex everyday or...

UncleB — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 12:27:32 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
So I am new into the credit game but have been doing the best i can to get back on the right track. I have a 710eq and 645tu and am looking for a new card. I have a 17500 navy federal card sincenov 2014 all payments on time and a 300 dollar cap one platinum sinceapril 2015 all payments on time. I make about 6 to 7000 per month and am in a commission based job. I spend about 3 to 400 per month in gas since I use my own vehicle. Just trying to see what would be a good fit for my next card. Looking for some rewards and direction since I'm a little green in the credit game. Looking to purchase a house and a new car within 2 years.

Welcome!

If you're looking for a cash-back card, the Discover It is hard to beat right now with the 'double' promo they are offering new card holders (they double the 5% cash back at the end of your first year, effectively giving you 10% cash back). The American Express Everyday card is good if you're more interested in earning points (specifically, MR points) that can be cashed in for travel expenses, gift cards, etc. Which would work out better for you is subjective, and you'll likely get tons of feedback on why each of them are the 'better' method.

In my case, I'm a 'cash' guy... I like the simplicity of getting cash for my purchases, without having to worry about point conversions, gift cards, etc. Since you mention you are on the road a lot with high gas expenses, you'll likely want a card that will cater to this need, and there are quite a few of them. My Sam's Mastercard gets me 5% cash back on gas purchases, and the American Express Blue Cash Preferred (a.k.a. "BCP") earns 3% cash back as well.

Many folks here use the American Express PRG for fuel, but you'll want to do the math to see if the $195 AF will work out for you. With the PRG, the MR points earned can be moved to the Everyday card, which is something many folks will do if they decide not to keep the PRG after the first year (the first year there's no AF, and there's usually a 50K MR point sign up bonus, which can be lucrative).

There are also some good credit union cards that are generous with cash back on gas purchases (I think PenFed has one) but as I don't have those myself I'll let others chime in with more details.

I've had my ups and downs in the credit 'game', and the one thing I can consistently say is when used correctly, credit cards can be a fantastic source of perks, and in my case, even cash (from cash back rewards). I was once a slave to the cards, now they are slaves to me... LOL

Good luck!

Edited to add: American Express generally pulls EX, and your EQ score looks good, but you might want to avoid TU pullers until you have a chance to built it back up a little bit. Just my 2¢

Re: card shopping. discover it amex everyday or...

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 12:32:15 GMT

Which does discover it pull it looks like my favorite so far ?

Re: card shopping. discover it amex everyday or...

UncleB — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 12:38:45 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Which does discover it pull it looks like my favorite so far ?

For me just a few weeks ago, Discover pulled Equifax, and I'm not sure if they also pulled EX (I haven't updated EX since I applied.)

I know that for me they did not pull TU... so you're in the clear there! The 'main' TU pullers I'm aware of are Barclay's, any Synchrony cards, and of course Capital One will pull from all three for any application.

Re: card shopping. discover it amex everyday or...

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 12:50:30 GMT

Should I apply for them now or wait till I get the score up.

Re: card shopping. discover it amex everyday or...

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 12:50:50 GMT

And should I wait for my credit card payment to go through first before I apply

Re: card shopping. discover it amex everyday or...

UncleB — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 13:25:55 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
And should I wait for my credit card payment to go through first before I apply

Unless your account balance is really high and you're making a large payment, it probably won't make a difference. Usually, stuff like that matters more when folks are border-line, and I don't think you will be.

Also, if you do choose to wait, you will want to wait until after the card you're paying down reports your new (lower) balance, which won't be instantaneous. Many (most?) issuers report the "new statement balance", so it may take a few weeks for your payment to be reflected on your credit bureau reports.

Re: card shopping. discover it amex everyday or...

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 13:30:08 GMT

I applied and got approved for 800 on discover it. Low but my foot in the door

Re: card shopping. discover it amex everyday or...

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 13:31:23 GMT

I made a 2000 dollar payment on my navy fed and paid cap one off.

Re: card shopping. discover it amex everyday or...

UncleB — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 13:34:47 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Should I apply for them now or wait till I get the score up.

I was approved with an EQ of 708, with lower income than yours, and was given a SL of $5.5K. With a higher score you might get a higher SL or lower APR (after promo), but as with most things 'credit' YMMV. Also, Discover is known to be friendly with lowering the APR for established accounts, as well as generous with CLIs.

It's always a 'toss-up' as to app or wait (or, at least it is with me) but I went for Discover now vs. waiting due to the 'double cash back' promotion. It was said to end on July 31, so I rushed to apply, but it didn't end. Some folks here have reported that it's going to end in September, but who knows. This being said, getting double the cash back was attractive enough that it made sense to 'pull the trigger', but that's just me. After the APR promo, my APR will be 19.9%, which is high, but I know they'll likely lower it later (and I PIF anyway)... and I have "locked in" the double-cash promotion.

Re: card shopping. discover it amex everyday or...

UncleB — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 13:36:26 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I applied and got approved for 800 on discover it. Low but my foot in the door

Congrats!!

The limit will grow... and you've locked in the 'double cash', which can be really lucrative!

Re: card shopping. discover it amex everyday or...

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 14:07:29 GMT

Well the 800 limit was disappointing but the double cash and having the card for my work gas usage is very nice. So I should use it for 6 months then apply for limit increase? I plan on treating it like my cap one and only putting 20 percent per month and paying it in full. So why did navy fed give me 17500 and cap one and discover only give 300 and 800

Re: card shopping. discover it amex everyday or...

UncleB — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 14:34:24 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Well the 800 limit was disappointing but the double cash and having the card for my work gas usage is very nice. So I should use it for 6 months then apply for limit increase? I plan on treating it like my cap one and only putting 20 percent per month and paying it in full. So why did navy fed give me 17500 and cap one and discover only give 300 and 800

As I'm a fairly new Discover card holder as well, I don't have personal experience with their CLI process... yet.

From reading the posts on this board, there seem to be times where Discover is very generous (as in, more than usual) with CLIs. Most recently, folks figured out that one could get a CLI with Discover every 17 days or so, without a hard credit pull. That is no longer the case, but I suspect you'll see some serious generosity in time. As for myself, I plan to check back in a few months to see if there is a SP CLI available on my account (it's said that if you're asking for the CLI online, it will tell you if a HP will be required before moving forward (usually it's just a SP), so you will have a chance to cancel if you don't want the pull).

As for your high CL with Navy Fed, they are known (along with USAA) for giving very generous credit lines. When USAA approved my Visa, it was the highest credit line I had by far (as in, almost triple my <then> Capital One limit). Hang in there... the others will grow!

Re: card shopping. discover it amex everyday or...

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 15:06:27 GMT

How long should I wait to apply for a cli with discover. Cap one wants 6 good payments first . Navy fed I'll probably keep that limit for 2 years then go up.

Re: card shopping. discover it amex everyday or...

UncleB — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 15:26:48 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
How long should I wait to apply for a cli with discover. Cap one wants 6 good payments first . Navy fed I'll probably keep that limit for 2 years then go up.

With Capital One, I received a $2K CLI on my new QS Signature Visa after the 4th statement was generated, so you don't always have to wait 6 months before the first CLI request. Folks say that once you've received a CLI, you have to wait at least 6 months before the next one, which has been my experience. With Capital One, there's no harm in trying earlier (it's just a SP) but most folks agree you won't get anywhere unless it's been 6 months.

With Discover, I plan on waiting until the 4th month or so... again, as long as it's just a SP there's no harm, and folks say it will give a warning if a HP is necessary, allowing you to cancel if you want. That's just me, though... do what you feel is right for you.

Re: card shopping. discover it amex everyday or...

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 15:43:03 GMT

When I first applied for Discover they approved me at 500 limit. I declined it, then reapplied a month later and got 1500. They also pulled TU for me.

Re: card shopping. discover it amex everyday or...

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 15:45:02 GMT

I figure just getting my foot in the door is fine

Re: card shopping. discover it amex everyday or...

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 16:21:18 GMT

What is a good number of credit cards to have before I purchase a car or home to get the best benefit

Re: card shopping. discover it amex everyday or...

UncleB — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 16:34:38 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
What is a good number of credit cards to have before I purchase a car or home to get the best benefit

This is a bit subjective... it's like Goldilocks; you want enough, but you don't want too many.

Lots of folks seem to think 3-4 is the 'magic number', but again, it depends on more than just number of accounts. I would say a minimum of three, to demonstrate you are able to handle multiple accounts (anecdotally, the FICO model does best with at least 3).

Once you've been around a bit (have a longer history) your score won't be as sensitive to multiple cards. I have plenty of cards to 'buy' what I need/want, but I have different cards for different purchase types based on the rewards. For example, I use my American Express BCP at Kroger/Publix almost exclusively, and I use the Sam's Mastercard for travel/gas expenses. Right now, with the Discover promotion making it basically a 2% all-purpose card, I am using it for "everything else".

Other folks might have other thoughts, and of course your situation may call for more/less, but this seems to be the 'concensus' around here.