topic Re: My smartest choice from here? in Credit Card Applications

My smartest choice from here?

Damikester892 — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 08:00:39 GMT

Evening all! Doing some late night research.

Heres some information:

Scores: 632 EQ, 615 TU, 628 EX

Ult: 17%

Collections: 1 (from 2012, old phone bill when I turned 18 and was very stupid)

I have a Capital one secured card with a $551 credit line (Was $251, they recently increased it by $300 last month when I hit 6 months on time payments)

As well as a Credit One Bank with a $400 credit line that was open in June 2015, currently 3 on time payments reported

And just opened a Barclayscard that is currently in the mail on the way to me with a $500 credit line.

What to do from here? Credit karmas recommendations are the Capital One QS1 card, should I grab that one and garden the 4 cards? I didn't know whether or not to apply for the QS1 since they just gave me a credit line increase on my secured card.

Asking first before blowing up my credit report with uneducated hard pulls.

Thanks all.

Re: My smartest choice from here?

Pway — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 08:42:26 GMT

@Damikester892 wrote:
Evening all! Doing some late night research.
Heres some information:
Scores: 632 EQ, 615 TU, 628 EX
Ult: 17%
Collections: 1 (from 2012, old phone bill when I turned 18 and was very stupid)

I have a Capital one secured card with a $551 credit line (Was $251, they recently increased it by $300 last month when I hit 6 months on time payments)
As well as a Credit One Bank with a $400 credit line that was open in June 2015, currently 3 on time payments reported
And just opened a Barclayscard that is currently in the mail on the way to me with a $500 credit line.

What to do from here? Credit karmas recommendations are the Capital One QS1 card, should I grab that one and garden the 4 cards? I didn't know whether or not to apply for the QS1 since they just gave me a credit line increase on my secured card.

Asking first before blowing up my credit report with uneducated hard pulls.

Thanks all.

Go over to the Capital One site and see what cards you are pre qualified for and app. I was approved from their recommendation of the Barclay's card. Seeing that you have them already I don't see why they would deny your for another card.

Re: My smartest choice from here?

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 08:44:41 GMT

@Pway wrote:
@Damikester892 wrote:
Evening all! Doing some late night research.
Heres some information:
Scores: 632 EQ, 615 TU, 628 EX
Ult: 17%
Collections: 1 (from 2012, old phone bill when I turned 18 and was very stupid)

I have a Capital one secured card with a $551 credit line (Was $251, they recently increased it by $300 last month when I hit 6 months on time payments)
As well as a Credit One Bank with a $400 credit line that was open in June 2015, currently 3 on time payments reported
And just opened a Barclayscard that is currently in the mail on the way to me with a $500 credit line.

What to do from here? Credit karmas recommendations are the Capital One QS1 card, should I grab that one and garden the 4 cards? I didn't know whether or not to apply for the QS1 since they just gave me a credit line increase on my secured card.

Asking first before blowing up my credit report with uneducated hard pulls.

Thanks all.
Go over to the Capital One site and see what cards you are pre qualified for and app. I was approved from their recommendation of the Barclay's card. Seeing that you have them already I don't see why they would deny your for another card.

Re: My smartest choice from here?

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 13:28:36 GMT

Cap 1 pre qual... at the very least you'll get a Platinum or maybe even a QS1. Good luck!

Re: My smartest choice from here?

Damikester892 — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 15:08:50 GMT

Thanks guys! Went ahead with the pre qual and it said I was prequal'd for both the platinum and the QS1, went ahead with the QS1 and got a $500 credit line

What do you all suggest from here? Garden these 4 cards that I've got or? I'm not sure if its smartest to get a bunch of cards now to keep the "new accounts hit" on my credit score all at once or keep staggering it. Also not sure if theres even another card I should try for?

Thanks!

Re: My smartest choice from here?

datrucking210 — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 16:16:03 GMT

I say garden for at least six months.

Re: My smartest choice from here?

OmarGB9 — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 18:22:54 GMT

I would've said to garden the 3 cards you already had, rather than apping for a 4th, but what's done is done. The reason I would've held off is because you could've gone for the fourth after some gardening and probably gotten a much nicer(higher) SL and APR too probably. As it stands, I definitely recommend you to garden for *at least* 6 months, if not a year and let everything grow.

Re: My smartest choice from here?

Damikester892 — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 18:54:03 GMT

Appreciate it Omar, that was the option I was weighing out but ultimately I decided to go with applying for the 4th after reading numerous people getting their QS1 switched to regular QS at around a year. I figure they won't transfer my secured card so I might as well build some history with their QS1 card and ask for that to be advanced to the no AF quicksilver card in about 11 months right before the next annual fee hits. From my understanding that will result in a soft pull which would be ideal. Think that's logical thinking?

Re: My smartest choice from here?

OmarGB9 — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 06:30:59 GMT

Yes just be sure to show the card lots of love.

Re: My smartest choice from here?

Damikester892 — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 06:38:41 GMT

So they prefer to see lots of daily use and paying it off at the end of the month rather then just putting say a bill that comes out monthly and paying it off?

Re: My smartest choice from here?

OmarGB9 — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 14:06:04 GMT

Absolutely. Pretty much all companies do. Although with cap1 you can pay multiple times a month. But yes heavy use is definitely a plus with capital one. Especially if you want to be considered for a CLI.

Re: My smartest choice from here?

Damikester892 — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 14:45:59 GMT

Alright I'll take advantage of the rewards and use the card instead of cash, I'm a waiter so I usually pay cash for every outing haha. I should still pay the card off at the end of the month though right? Or so they like to see a statement balance when it comes to CLI's?

Re: My smartest choice from here?

OmarGB9 — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 15:21:28 GMT

Yes use it for everything! Haha. Anywhere you used to use cash or debit, use your card. No you don't have to report a balance. You can pay in full. They own the account, they know what's going on with it. What I was trying to say is that rather than making one lump sum payment before the due date, you can make smaller, more frequent payments throughout the month, if you want. Whatever works for you though. Just be sure to pay on time of course and more than the minimum if not PIF.

Re: My smartest choice from here?

Damikester892 — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 20:59:01 GMT

Gotcha! Thanks for the clarification ! One last question, do you happen to have experience with Cap1 and Barclay? Since I have bother of their cards now I'm not sure which one to use the most, or should I use then equally? If one of them is known to give better CLI's I'd probably use their card more haha

Re: My smartest choice from here?

Pway — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 21:07:54 GMT

From my experience, I was approved for Barclay's first and they still have not grown with me. I am still stuck at that 750 limit I was given at the time of approval. I was approved for Capital One weeks after and they have been the best on all three of my accounts. I used the hell out of them, putting every charge I could put on them and paying them off. I saw the most results with my Capital One cards, some months I would allow a balance to report and others I would pay it in full.

Re: My smartest choice from here?

Damikester892 — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 21:18:25 GMT

Thanks for the info! Did you use the Barclay just as much as the cap one and they still didn't bump your limit? If that's the case I'll just throw a recurring bill on my Barclay and use the hell out of my cap one!

Re: My smartest choice from here?

OmarGB9 — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 21:35:37 GMT

Sorry for the late reply. I had school. But anyway, I have cards from both banks, and so far Capital One is by far my favorite lender lol. They give SP CLIs, awesome starting limits on certain cards, and don't seem to spook nearly as easily as Barclays. Barclays can be a good bank, but they like being "your only one." Lol. Like a jealous significant other. They also spook easier if you seem to be in financial strains. Still a good bank though, and they do offer SP CLIs, although you have to call in and ask for a "retention specialist" (not the frontline CSRs). You can ask that analyst for any SP APR reduction offers as well as SP CLI offers.

Re: My smartest choice from here?

Damikester892 — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 21:53:18 GMT

Thank you again for the info!
So after gathering you guys' info I've come up with this game plan:
Use the hell out of my QS1 and in 11 months ask for it to be made into the normal QS without the AF
Put my insurance and phone bill on my Barclay which will give Barclay $250 worth of love monthly.
Put my smaller items like Six flags season pass, Pandora and myfico account on my Secured cap one card which will show it roughly $60 a month. (I only have $99 secured into this card and I plan on keeping it open a long time and barely using it just for the fact it's the oldest account)
Lastly I'll spend $50 a month or so on my credit one bank card until, I plan on canceling that account in about a year or two once I'm able to get higher end cards and don't need the credit one bank card for building anymore.

Pretty solid plan for the year?

Re: My smartest choice from here?

OmarGB9 — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 22:15:11 GMT

Sounds good to me. Definitely close Credit One ASAP though as you're losing money on that deal. Lol.