topic Re: Looking for second CC - need help in Credit Cards

Looking for second CC - need help

Anonymous — Tue, 12 May 2015 23:35:13 GMT

**EDITED FOR FORMATTING**

Hello myFICO!

I've recently been considering picking up a new credit card but it will only be my second card ever. Browsing around the past few days I can tell you guys like as much detail as possible, so I'll try and give as much as I can think to remember.

Background:
Like I said earlier, I only have 1 CC (BoA) which I've had for almost 7 years according to CreditKarma (all numbers will be drawn from here) but I recently started thinking another CC may be good for my file. For the life of the card I've never had a late payment and I've never had any collections, bankruptcies, liens, etc etc. I know I'm usually on the better end of the score spectrum, so I don't do any hard pulls but I did notice 2 queries pulled last year by Verizon and what looks to my leasing office on my Equifax report (right around the time I was moving, so I guess that makes sense). I also have an auto loan that's 3 years old. The loan was for 40k (I know, I know...) - came with a good rate from my credit union, never missed a payment, overpay each month and it's down to ~15k. There was also a student loan that was closed in good standing a few years ago.

The only "negative" that I see on my file is my CC utilization with is at 42% but should be down to ~30% by next billing cycle. I think the card initially came with a 1 or 2k limit but has been auto increased several times over the years to now be a 6k limit. According to CK my Equifax score is 748 and my TransUnion is 749 (I've picked up that these aren't "real" scores but estimates).

TL;DR-
- 3 total accounts: 1 CC, 1 auto, 1 closed student loan
- Average account age: 5 years
- Oldest account age: Almost 7 years
- Hard pulls (??): 2 from a year ago when I moved
- No negative marks
- 40k auto loan in good standing
- CreditKarma score: 748 EQ, 749 TU

What I'm looking for:
I initially wanted a new card with a higher limit. I don't ever plan for life to get rough, but things happen I guess. So maybe somewhere between 10-15k? I value "ease of life" (I have enough accounts and log ins already) so I initially was going to open a card at one of my banks (BoA, PenFed, USAA) and figured I may as well get some rewards out of them but they didn't offer anything really exciting. Over the past few days I've moved from a few different categories but I'm in a cash back hybrid category of sorts now - more on that in a minute.

I want something easy to use to reap rewards. I heard about the Sapphire Preferred and thought it sounded awesome, but then to REALLY earn every penny you have to transfer those points to airlines and book through them. Not to mention pairing it with the Freedom for extra points that transfer and yada yada yada. Sure I could take the time to do that, but it's more hassle than it's worth to me. While some of the rotating 5X cards looked appealing, I knew I would never be able to keep up with what month had what and I only regularly shopped in those 5X categories twice a year (depending on the card). Again, good, but probably more than it's worth to me.

Lastly, I want an every day card. Much like the last paragraph, I value stacking rewards easily. There are people much better at staying on top of which card does what and when to use certain cards than I. I'm a realist - while earning every last point possible and flipping that into every reward possible, I know I won't keep up with all of that in the long haul. I want 1, MAYBE 2 cards to keep me going (maybe 1 rewards/everyday card and 1 "oh s***" card when life happens)

What I think I've narrowed it down to:
1) Barclaycard Arrival Plus
I'll be honest, this card wasn't even on my radar until a coworker mentioned he had it and loved it. The 2% earnings on all purchases sounds nice and the 40,000 bonus miles is an added plus. Now the only things that have me second guessing this card is a) 3k in 3 months and b) annual fees. Now 3k in 3 months isn't anything too terrible as I could move some expenses to the card for 3 months just to hit the cap (or all my expenses and stop using my debit card) but B has me thinking. The annual $90 fee makes me a sad panda. I've read people being able to have the fee waived additional years after the first but that's not guaranteed.

Also, I'm not a traveler (yet) but that was mainly being due to having high CC utilization. Now that my CC is under control and should be paid off soon, opens the possibility of traveling. What better way to celebrate being able to travel again than by having enough points to get a free flight? Realistically I could see myself doing 1-3 trips a year with maybe one of those being international. I also like how you can pay for a flight, hotel or whatever with the card and basically have it removed. Super simple! I've seen post that say "you need to spend 40k to have this card edges out others". I'll be honest, I don't see myself doing 40k in CC usage every year but the card seems quite good and hits that sweet spot of perks I'm looking to take advantage of.

2) Citi Double Cash
This was actually the first card I saw and liked after I widened the scope of what I was looking for. 2X / 2% seems to the high bar for flat rewards earning on cards, so that was a plus. Also the fact that there is no annual fee was something I liked as well. There really isn't much to say about this card - it seems to be a work horse if you use it for everything, which is good since I'm more concerned with the longevity of my credit cards (don't see myself turning and burning). Only question I couldn't find an answer to, was if the cash back expired and/or what options there were to redeem it (credit statement redemptions aren't high on my list for getting real cash back)

I THINK I'll be approved for either one but I'm not 100% sure. The fact I only have 1 card at 40%, while taking good chunks off each month, may hurt my chances. The only problem I could see is having a lower credit limit on the cards. Like I mentioned, I'd rather it be on the higher side but I don't know how all this stuff works.

So what do you think? Do you think it's possible? Should I lower my expectations? Should I be looking into other cards? I should also note that I'm not hard pressed on getting a card right this second. I was knocking out a few other life tasks and this came to mind but I could clearly apply for these in a few months.

Thanks for checking this out! Hopefully it's enough info to help figure where to go next.

Re: Looking for second CC - need help

wmweeza — Tue, 12 May 2015 22:28:51 GMT

Holy wall of text...broke it up into paragraphs a bit

QUOTE:

I know I'm usually on the better end of the score spectrum, so I don't do any hard pulls but I did notice 2 queries pulled last year by Verizon and what looks to my leasing office on my Equifax report (right around the time I was moving, so I guess that makes sense). I also have an auto loan that's 3 years old. The loan was for 40k (I know, I know...) - came with a good rate from my credit union, never missed a payment, overpay each month and it's down to ~15k. There was also a student loan that was closed in good standing a few years ago.

The only "negative" that I see on my file is my CC utilization with is at 42% but should be down to ~30% by next billing cycle. I think the card initially came with a 1 or 2k limit but has been auto increased several times over the years to now be a 6k limit. According to CK my Equifax score is 748 and my TransUnion is 749 (I've picked up that these aren't "real" scores but estimates). TL;DR- - 3 total accounts: 1 CC, 1 auto, 1 closed student loan - Average account age: 5 years - Oldest account age: Almost 7 years - Hard pulls (??): 2 from a year ago when I moved - No negative marks - 40k auto loan in good standing - CreditKarma score: 748 EQ, 749 TU What I'm looking for: I initially wanted a new card with a higher limit. I don't ever plan for life to get rough, but things happen I guess. So maybe somewhere between 10-15k? I value "ease of life" (I have enough accounts and log ins already) so I initially was going to open a card at one of my banks (BoA, PenFed, USAA) and figured I may as well get some rewards out of them but they didn't offer anything really exciting. Over the past few days I've moved from a few different categories but I'm in a cash back hybrid category of sorts now - more on that in a minute. I want something easy to use to reap rewards.

I'd apply at about 10%

I heard about the Sapphire Preferred and thought it sounded awesome, but then to REALLY earn every penny you have to transfer those points to airlines and book through them. Not to mention pairing it with the Freedom for extra points that transfer and yada yada yada. Sure I could take the time to do that, but it's more hassle than it's worth to me. While some of the rotating 5X cards looked appealing, I knew I would never be able to keep up with what month had what and I only regularly shopped in those 5X categories twice a year (depending on the card). Again, good, but probably more than it's worth to me. Lastly, I want an every day card. Much like the last paragraph, I value stacking rewards easily. There are people much better at staying on top of which card does what and when to use certain cards than I. I'm a realist - while earning every last point possible and flipping that into every reward possible, I know I won't keep up with all of that in the long haul. I want 1, MAYBE 2 cards to keep me going (maybe 1 rewards/everyday card and 1 "oh s***" card when life happens)

What I think I've narrowed it down to: 1) Barclaycard Arrival Plus I'll be honest, this card wasn't even on my radar until a coworker mentioned he had it and loved it. The 2% earnings on all purchases sounds nice and the 40,000 bonus miles is an added plus. Now the only things that have me second guessing this card is a) 3k in 3 months and b) annual fees. Now 3k in 3 months isn't anything too terrible as I could move some expenses to the card for 3 months just to hit the cap (or all my expenses and stop using my debit card) but B has me thinking. The annual $90 fee makes me a sad panda. I've read people being able to have the fee waived additional years after the first but that's not guaranteed. Also, I'm not a traveler (yet) but that was mainly being due to having high CC utilization. Now that my CC is under control and should be paid off soon, opens the possibility of traveling. What better way to celebrate being able to travel again than by having enough points to get a free flight? Realistically I could see myself doing 1-3 trips a year with maybe one of those being international. I also like how you can pay for a flight, hotel or whatever with the card and basically have it removed. Super simple! I've seen post that say "you need to spend 40k to have this card edges out others". I'll be honest, I don't see myself doing 40k in CC usage every year but the card seems quite good and hits that sweet spot of perks I'm looking to take advantage of. 2) Citi Double Cash This was actually the first card I saw and liked after I widened the scope of what I was looking for. 2X / 2% seems to the high bar for flat rewards earning on cards, so that was a plus. Also the fact that there is no annual fee was something I liked as well. There really isn't much to say about this card - it seems to be a work horse if you use it for everything, which is good since I'm more concerned with the longevity of my credit cards (don't see myself turning and burning).

Only question I couldn't find an answer to, was if the cash back expired and/or what options there were to redeem it (credit statement redemptions aren't high on my list for getting real cash back) I THINK I'll be approved for either one but I'm not 100% sure. The fact I only have 1 card at 40%, while taking good chunks off each month, may hurt my chances. The only problem I could see is having a lower credit limit on the cards. Like I mentioned, I'd rather it be on the higher side but I don't know how all this stuff works.

So what do you think? Do you think it's possible? Should I lower my expectations? Should I be looking into other cards? I should also note that I'm not hard pressed on getting a card right this second. I was knocking out a few other life tasks and this came to mind but I could clearly apply for these in a few months. Thanks for checking this out! Hopefully it's enough info to help figure where to go next.

Re: Looking for second CC - need help

wmweeza — Tue, 12 May 2015 22:55:24 GMT

Hope you don't mind me breaking up your post. I'd say go for Citi since you want a no AF card

Re: Looking for second CC - need help

Anonymous — Tue, 12 May 2015 23:36:25 GMT

@wmweeza wrote:
Hope you don't mind me breaking up your post. I'd say go for Citi since you want a no AF card

No no no, that's fine. I spaced it out when I wrote it but I guess for some reason it didn't actually break it when I hit submit. I'll see if I can edit it, but you were pretty close to what I had haha.

**Edit: Done. Hopefully that's cleaner and easier to read/understand. Not sure what happened there

Re: Looking for second CC - need help

Anonymous — Wed, 13 May 2015 00:45:05 GMT

If you want to get a card with a high limit you need to get your utilization down.

Get it to 10% or less and then apply. Considering you have a high AAoA and an instalment loan, your FICO will be very high.

The Double Cash seems like it will serve you well.

One last note: consider applying for a third card although you don't want one. It is supposedly good for your FICO also. If you don't want to complicate your life by juggling multiple cards for rewards, get a PenFed Promise Visa - which has no BT fees and low interest - and keep it there for emergencies if you ever need to float a balance

Re: Looking for second CC - need help

Anonymous — Wed, 13 May 2015 00:53:23 GMT

You would definitely be approved for either one or both of those cards if you applied. You have a nice clean credit history and average age of accounts being five years is pretty good too.

The only reason I think you may not get over a $10,000 starting limit is because you don't have a credit card that high yet. "High limits beget high limits" and all...

- Go with the Arrival+ if you need a card with no Foreign Transaction fees. The annual fee after the first year is a bummer but the 40,000 bonus miles is pretty sweet.
- Go with the DoubleCash if you are really oppsed to the annual fee and you already have a card that has no FTF that you can use while traveling internationally

If you want a card that (in my opinion) meets in the middle of the Arrival+ and DoubleCash then go with the CapitalOne Quicksilver. I love my QS:
1.5% cash back on everything
No Annual Fee
No Foreign Transaction Fees
Usually give out high starting limits
Rewards add up fast if you use as your go-to card and they show up as soon as a transaction is posted and you can redeem for a check, statement credit, gift card, donation, etc. Very easy. Only con (in my eyes) would be that Capital One triple-pulls when you app for a new card. But the rest of your CLI's can be soft pulls via online luv-button every 6 months.

Lots of people hate on CapitalOne but they have been really great to me.

Re: Looking for second CC - need help

Anonymous — Wed, 13 May 2015 02:22:31 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
If you want to get a card with a high limit you need to get your utilization down.
Get it to 10% or less and then apply. Considering you have a high AAoA and an instalment loan, your FICO will be very high.

The Double Cash seems like it will serve you well.

One last note: consider applying for a third card although you don't want one. It is supposedly good for your FICO also. If you don't want to complicate your life by juggling multiple cards for rewards, get a PenFed Promise Visa - which has no BT fees and low interest - and keep it there for emergencies if you ever need to float a balance

Hmmm, that PenFed Promise looks pretty nice, especially seeing other people's post about it. My auto loan is through PenFed, so maybe that could help if I applied for it (3 years of good standing)?

I like that suggestion for the Promise, so thank you. Would it be wise to get that one first then wait a little bit longer for one of the other two, or flip that (one of the two first, then PenFed later)? I'll probably wait until this fall to pull the trigger - my utilization should be much lower then.

Re: Looking for second CC - need help

Anonymous — Thu, 14 May 2015 23:55:33 GMT

So I went and did some research, so hopefully this looks correct:

Arrival+ == MasterCard World Elite -> NPSL

Double Cash == MasterCard World -> NPSL (??)

PenFed Promise == Visa Platinum -> hard credit limit

CapitalOne QuickSilver == Visa (no idea on category or how the credit line works)

If I read correctly, a NPSL card typically uses your highest balance as a "credit limit" which is what they report, thus how lenders see utilization. In terms of looking good to lenders, wouldn't a credit limit look better than not having one?

Also, do you have to pay the balance off in full each month for a NPSL card? I plan to do this but if I splurge a little and carry a balance, would that look bad?

Lastly, do people think the Double Cash will stay at 2%? Not sure if other cards have lowered their cash back rewards but looks like Citi regularly phases out cards for newer ones (sometimes not as good)? Sorry for all the questions, I'm new to this and it feels like I'm playing a game of Texas Hold'em in Vegas with the house always winning haha.

Re: Looking for second CC - need help

Anonymous — Fri, 15 May 2015 00:13:28 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
So I went and did some research, so hopefully this looks correct:

Arrival+ == MasterCard World Elite -> NPSL
Double Cash == MasterCard World -> NPSL (??)
PenFed Promise == Visa Platinum -> hard credit limit
CapitalOne QuickSilver == Visa (no idea on category or how the credit line works)

If I read correctly, a NPSL card typically uses your highest balance as a "credit limit" which is what they report, thus how lenders see utilization. In terms of looking good to lenders, wouldn't a credit limit look better than not having one?

Also, do you have to pay the balance off in full each month for a NPSL card? I plan to do this but if I splurge a little and carry a balance, would that look bad?

Lastly, do people think the Double Cash will stay at 2%? Not sure if other cards have lowered their cash back rewards but looks like Citi regularly phases out cards for newer ones (sometimes not as good)? Sorry for all the questions, I'm new to this and it feels like I'm playing a game of Texas Hold'em in Vegas with the house always winning haha.

That's not how it works anymore. NPSL reports your credit limit as it's limit. As far as the Double Cash staying, no one really knows. There's a possiblity that it stays, or the rewards get nerfed, or the card is discontinued an existing members can keep it. For all intents and purposes, it looks like the card will stay as is for the time being.

Re: Looking for second CC - need help

peaceonearth — Fri, 15 May 2015 01:08:24 GMT

@wmweeza wrote:
Hope you don't mind me breaking up your post. I'd say go for Citi since you want a no AF card

Thank you for taking the time to format the OP's Text.

Re: Looking for second CC - need help

CreditDunce — Fri, 15 May 2015 01:18:15 GMT

You might want to consider asking BoA for a CLI. It will typically be a TU hard pull. BoA can be generous for CLIs when asked. Getting the CLI first can help you get a larger starting limit with someone else. Not only will you have a higher limit for your existing credit card, your utilization will also be lower. Assuming BoA approves the CLI.

Secondly, you can also request BoA to do a product change (PC) of your existing credit card to a different type of credit card. You will need to ask to see what they will allow a product change to. One popular choice is the Travel Rewards. It works very similar to the Arrival, but it is 1.65% CB (with checking account), no FTF, no AF. Only Chip-n-Sig, not Chip and Pin. If you have some funds deposited at BoA or Merril (e.g. IRA), you can enroll in the Preferred Rewards program turning the TR card in to a 1.87%, 2.25% or 2.6% depending on relationship bonus. The higher your BoA/Merril balance, the higher the CB.

I think the others have given you good options for your second or third cards. But you can probably do better with your existing BoA card.

Re: Looking for second CC - need help

Anonymous — Fri, 15 May 2015 23:04:46 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
So I went and did some research, so hopefully this looks correct:

Arrival+ == MasterCard World Elite -> NPSL
Double Cash == MasterCard World -> NPSL (??)
PenFed Promise == Visa Platinum -> hard credit limit
CapitalOne QuickSilver == Visa (no idea on category or how the credit line works)

If I read correctly, a NPSL card typically uses your highest balance as a "credit limit" which is what they report, thus how lenders see utilization. In terms of looking good to lenders, wouldn't a credit limit look better than not having one?

Also, do you have to pay the balance off in full each month for a NPSL card? I plan to do this but if I splurge a little and carry a balance, would that look bad?

Lastly, do people think the Double Cash will stay at 2%? Not sure if other cards have lowered their cash back rewards but looks like Citi regularly phases out cards for newer ones (sometimes not as good)? Sorry for all the questions, I'm new to this and it feels like I'm playing a game of Texas Hold'em in Vegas with the house always winning haha.
That's not how it works anymore. NPSL reports your credit limit as it's limit. As far as the Double Cash staying, no one really knows. There's a possiblity that it stays, or the rewards get nerfed, or the card is discontinued an existing members can keep it. For all intents and purposes, it looks like the card will stay as is for the time being.

Ah ok, thanks for explaining that. I guess I was reading outdated articles.

Re: Looking for second CC - need help

Anonymous — Fri, 15 May 2015 23:34:21 GMT

@CreditDunce wrote:
You might want to consider asking BoA for a CLI. It will typically be a TU hard pull. BoA can be generous for CLIs when asked. Getting the CLI first can help you get a larger starting limit with someone else. Not only will you have a higher limit for your existing credit card, your utilization will also be lower.   Assuming BoA approves the CLI.

Secondly, you can also request BoA to do a product change (PC) of your existing credit card to a different type of credit card.   You will need to ask to see what they will allow a product change to. One popular choice is the Travel Rewards. It works very similar to the Arrival, but it is 1.65% CB (with checking account), no FTF, no AF. Only Chip-n-Sig, not Chip and Pin.   If you have some funds deposited at BoA or Merril (e.g. IRA), you can enroll in the Preferred Rewards program turning the TR card in to a 1.87%, 2.25% or 2.6% depending on relationship bonus. The higher your BoA/Merril balance, the higher the CB.

I think the others have given you good options for your second or third cards.   But you can probably do better with your existing BoA card.

I just checked out my Special Offers from BoA and they must either still be cycling through my most recent major pay on the card or not like me. The Travel Rewards was an APR of 20.99% and the Cash Rewards was at 19.99%, both of which are higher than my current card (16 or 17%). Granted I just paid a large amount last cycle to bring me down to the now ~35% utilization but I was expecting something a little better than that. I don't plan on applying for a card until probably Oct or Nov but those number didn't leave me jumping for joy.

As for requesting a higher limit, that's a double edged sword isn't it? It will raise my current limit on a card that may be getting phased out but it will also do a hard pull on my credit. I'm all but certain I will be applying for either the Citi or the Barclaycard and then the PenFed Promise for a low APR card later (maybe next spring or summer) but don't all three cards need pretty clean application history? Looks like I've already got 2 pulls from last April, so add that to a pull from a CLI and another pull for one of the new cards and that's 4 pulls. I'm assuming 4 in 2 years wouldn't look terrible but the less I can do the better right?

Here I was thinking I had almost everything sorted out and then I join this crazy world of credit cards haha. I do appreciate all the help everyone is providing though!

Re: Looking for second CC - need help

CreditDunce — Sat, 16 May 2015 01:13:29 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@CreditDunce wrote:
You might want to consider asking BoA for a CLI. It will typically be a TU hard pull. BoA can be generous for CLIs when asked. Getting the CLI first can help you get a larger starting limit with someone else. Not only will you have a higher limit for your existing credit card, your utilization will also be lower.   Assuming BoA approves the CLI.

Secondly, you can also request BoA to do a product change (PC) of your existing credit card to a different type of credit card.   You will need to ask to see what they will allow a product change to. One popular choice is the Travel Rewards. It works very similar to the Arrival, but it is 1.65% CB (with checking account), no FTF, no AF. Only Chip-n-Sig, not Chip and Pin.   If you have some funds deposited at BoA or Merril (e.g. IRA), you can enroll in the Preferred Rewards program turning the TR card in to a 1.87%, 2.25% or 2.6% depending on relationship bonus. The higher your BoA/Merril balance, the higher the CB.

I think the others have given you good options for your second or third cards.   But you can probably do better with your existing BoA card.
I just checked out my Special Offers from BoA and they must either still be cycling through my most recent major pay on the card or not like me. The Travel Rewards was an APR of 20.99% and the Cash Rewards was at 19.99%, both of which are higher than my current card (16 or 17%). Granted I just paid a large amount last cycle to bring me down to the now ~35% utilization but I was expecting something a little better than that. I don't plan on applying for a card until probably Oct or Nov but those number didn't leave me jumping for joy.

As for requesting a higher limit, that's a double edged sword isn't it? It will raise my current limit on a card that may be getting phased out but it will also do a hard pull on my credit. I'm all but certain I will be applying for either the Citi or the Barclaycard and then the PenFed Promise for a low APR card later (maybe next spring or summer) but don't all three cards need pretty clean application history? Looks like I've already got 2 pulls from last April, so add that to a pull from a CLI and another pull for one of the new cards and that's 4 pulls. I'm assuming 4 in 2 years wouldn't look terrible but the less I can do the better right?

Here I was thinking I had almost everything sorted out and then I join this crazy world of credit cards haha. I do appreciate all the help everyone is providing though!

You are absolutely right it is a two edged sword to apply for a higher CLI. There is no guarantee you will get anything. However, the INQ will almost certainly be on TU. Penfed will pull EQ and not see the INQ. In any case, I think Penfed cares much more about new trade lines than INQs. I think of Citi as a EQ puller, but I can't promise that. I have heard Citi will deny apps if they see more than 5 or 6 INQs in the past 6 months. Barclay is a TU puller and will more than likely see the INQ on TU. Barclay doesn't like to see a lot of new accounts, but I don't know how INQ sensitive they are. I think I had 2 TU INQs when I applied for the Arrival+ last year (instant approval). Assuming you don't have a lot of INQs in the past 6 months, your utilization and payment history is much more important than the number of INQs.

On balance, I think the CLI would be worth it to you. If you can get a higher limit from BoA, it will likely help give you higher limits for any new card you are approved for by other CCC's. Higher limits beget higher limits. It will also make your utilization much better. Note: the Citi Double cash is known for small starting limits. Often it requires another HP/INQ to increase the limit after you have been approved.

The way a product change works is you normally keep the same terms (interest rate, CL, existing balance, etc) that you currently have. BoA will just change the type of card you have. I am not recommending you apply for a new card from BoA. It does not matter what cards or terms BoA is offering on their website. A PC does NOT require a INQ/HP. You can find out if they are willing to do a PC for your existing card via the chat feature. Last year I PC'd my Cash Rewards card to the Better Balance Rewards card. It took about 6 weeks to get the new card, but it was very painless. If you like, you can request the PC after you have other cards. On the other hand, it doesn't make sense to BoA card, if you still plan to close it after you get your new cards.

One last thing, since you only want two new cards, I would apply for them on the same day. It does reduce your AAoA more in the short term. In the long term, it will give you a slightly better AAoA. It works especially well when the CCC's pull different CRA's.

Re: Looking for second CC - need help

Anonymous — Mon, 18 May 2015 23:02:03 GMT

@CreditDunce wrote:
You are absolutely right it is a two edged sword to apply for a higher CLI. There is no guarantee you will get anything. However, the INQ will almost certainly be on TU. Penfed will pull EQ and not see the INQ. In any case, I think Penfed cares much more about new trade lines than INQs. I think of Citi as a EQ puller, but I can't promise that. I have heard Citi will deny apps if they see more than 5 or 6 INQs in the past 6 months. Barclay is a TU puller and will more than likely see the INQ on TU.   Barclay doesn't like to see a lot of new accounts, but I don't know how INQ sensitive they are.   I think I had 2 TU INQs when I applied for the Arrival+ last year (instant approval). Assuming you don't have a lot of INQs in the past 6 months, your utilization and payment history is much more important than the number of INQs.

On balance, I think the CLI would be worth it to you.   If you can get a higher limit from BoA, it will likely help give you higher limits for any new card you are approved for by other CCC's.   Higher limits beget higher limits. It will also make your utilization much better. Note: the Citi Double cash is known for small starting limits. Often it requires another HP/INQ to increase the limit after you have been approved.

The way a product change works is you normally keep the same terms (interest rate, CL, existing balance, etc) that you currently have. BoA will just change the type of card you have. I am not recommending you apply for a new card from BoA. It does not matter what cards or terms BoA is offering on their website. A PC does NOT require a INQ/HP.   You can find out if they are willing to do a PC for your existing card via the chat feature.   Last year I PC'd my Cash Rewards card to the Better Balance Rewards card. It took about 6 weeks to get the new card, but it was very painless. If you like, you can request the PC after you have other cards. On the other hand, it doesn't make sense to BoA card, if you still plan to close it after you get your new cards.

One last thing, since you only want two new cards, I would apply for them on the same day. It does reduce your AAoA more in the short term.   In the long term, it will give you a slightly better AAoA. It works especially well when the CCC's pull different CRA's.

Well, I went ahead a pulled the trigger on a CLI...

6k to 12k with instant approval (I just requested 12k, clicked the button and it said congratulations). I think I would have rather gotten approved for a new card but like you said, this raise will probably help me get better rates/limits on other cards.

Now the question is how long do I wait before I apply to new cards? I was originally shooting for Oct/Nov. Will that be too soon to apply for the PenFed card and one of the rewards cards? I think I'm leaning towards the Barclay as of right now for "rewards" but I'm sure which ever way the wind blows might sway my opinion.

Re: Looking for second CC - need help

someone379 — Tue, 19 May 2015 00:14:31 GMT

I don't know if your in a state that you can apply for it, but if you are you might consider the BNBO 6.25% AMEX card - It seems that you carry balances so 6.25 APR might be beneficial to you (along with the 1.5% cash back.

https://www.firstnational.com/common/shared/amex/amex_march_landing.html?ecid=150204OMACRD0073PTMMS1NAA

For carrying balances, if you can't do the FNBO maybe a Barclay Ring (also for low APR)

If I have misread, and you nromally don't carry balances, maybe these are not the best choices for you, but if you do carry balances I tend to think that rewards take a back seat to the APR.

Re: Looking for second CC - need help

CreditDunce — Tue, 19 May 2015 02:18:06 GMT

If I recall correctly, your utilization is currently ~40% with the plan to reduce it down to 30% next billing cycle. With the CLI, you utilization should drop down to ~15%. I think your credit score just zoomed right up! Congratulations!

You will want to wait at least a week or two after your next CC statement before applying for anything new. That will give time for the CRA's to update your new CLI. Any time after that, you can apply for your new credit cards (just try to get your reported utilization down as much as possible (but not zero) before applying. If you are thinking about applying in a couple of months you may be able to get well below 10% util.

I don't remember if you currently have any Penfed loan products. If you do, be sure to check your pre-approval's on Penfed's website in July. Since you don't have any new accounts, I am sure Penfed will approve you even without the pre-approval. But it is nice to know you are pre-approved. Note: You may need to be a member with Penfed for a long time before they offer any pre-approvals. Don't worry if you don't have any.

You can also check Citi's, CapitalOne, etc to see which cards they have you pre-qual'd for. Just remember the pre-qual is not guaranteed. But it is a good yardstick to measure where you are at.

When you are ready, do both applications on the same day. It would be nice if the two credit cards pulled different CRA's. But with only two app's, it will not matter. Penfed will probably be manually reviewed, so do not worry if it isn't an instantly approval.

You can also request BoA to do a product conversion whenever you like. Assuming BoA has a card you like. The PC does not affect your credit report. I don't think the CLI will effect when you can request a PC.

Goodluck!

PS Sorry if I was a little pushy on the CLI. I am glad it worked out for you.

PS2 Someone379 is recommending a low interest card from FNBO. I don't know much about the card, but it could replace the Penfed app if you like. Personally, I would stick with Penfed since you are already a member. But they are both good companies to have credit cards from.

Re: Looking for second CC - need help

Anonymous — Tue, 19 May 2015 02:39:25 GMT

@someone379 wrote:
I don't know if your in a state that you can apply for it, but if you are you might consider the BNBO 6.25% AMEX card - It seems that you carry balances so 6.25 APR might be beneficial to you (along with the 1.5% cash back.

https://www.firstnational.com/common/shared/amex/amex_march_landing.html?ecid=150204OMACRD0073PTMMS1NAA

For carrying balances, if you can't do the FNBO maybe a Barclay Ring (also for low APR)

If I have misread, and you nromally don't carry balances, maybe these are not the best choices for you, but if you do carry balances I tend to think that rewards take a back seat to the APR.

That doesn't seem like a bad card. I would like to not carry a balance anymore, so that will be my new goal once this card is paid off. That being said, I am looking at getting a new computer before next spring, so that may end up carrying a balance. I'll do some digging to see if there is one around but PenFed may be my best bet for a low APR right now. Much appreciated!

Re: Looking for second CC - need help

Anonymous — Tue, 19 May 2015 03:01:34 GMT

@CreditDunce wrote:
If I recall correctly, your utilization is currently ~40% with the plan to reduce it down to 30% next billing cycle. With the CLI, you utilization should drop down to ~15%. I think your credit score just zoomed right up! Congratulations!

Reported as: 42%

Pre CLI: 35%

Post CLI: 18%

I would say those are pretty good numbers seeing as how I was almost at 100% 2 months ago. Thanks for the advice!

@CreditDunce wrote:
You will want to wait at least a week or two after your next CC statement before applying for anything new. That will give time for the CRA's to update your new CLI. Any time after that, you can apply for your new credit cards (just try to get your reported utilization down as much as possible (but not zero) before applying. If you are thinking about applying in a couple of months you may be able to get well below 10% util.

I may be able to squeeze one more payment in before the cycle ends but are you saying I shouldn't pay it completely off if I'm looking at applying in a few months? Credit Karma already picked up on the inquiry, so I'm assuming everyone else isn't far behind?

@CreditDunce wrote:
I don't remember if you currently have any Penfed loan products. If you do, be sure to check your pre-approval's on Penfed's website in July. Since you don't have any new accounts, I am sure Penfed will approve you even without the pre-approval. But it is nice to know you are pre-approved. Note: You may need to be a member with Penfed for a long time before they offer any pre-approvals. Don't worry if you don't have any.
[...]
PS Sorry if I was a little pushy on the CLI. I am glad it worked out for you.

Yup! Auto loan/savings account for 3 years. The preapproval was actually the driving factor to the increase. Looks like PenFed does quarterly FICO scores, which would mean this quarter is close to being ready (possibly end of the month), so I wanted to try and squeeze this new increase/utilization in before the end of the quarter. That way if I decide to apply for their card early, it should be closer to that FICO than where it was in Feb.

You weren't pushy, I did some long thinking this weekend about it and decided to pull the trigger today. Worse case scenario I didn't get an increase and I had a TU inquiry, which hopefully wouldn't have played a huge factor if I decided to shoot for the Barclay.

Certainly appreciate everyone's advice. Guess I just sit back for a few months to decide which card to apply for next. Hopefully there's some added sign on bonuses around that time (not sure if banks have certain months they do extra bonuses or not).

Re: Looking for second CC - need help

SouthJamaica — Tue, 19 May 2015 03:11:48 GMT

In my opinion you should take a shot at the Barclaycard Ring card.