topic Re: What real credit card can I get? in Credit Cards

What real credit card can I get?

ScottL — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 12:40:56 GMT

I have been trying to rebuild my credit over the past 2 years. when I started 2 years ago, i recall my FICO score being just under 500. It is now in the low/mid 600s. So I have made some improvement. But still not where I want to be.

Mainly because of 2-3 chargeoffs. 2 of them are a couple thousand dollars and I cannot afford to pay them right now. The other just recently showed up for $167 which dropped my scores from the 650 range down to 630 range. I called them and asked for a PFD but they told me no. So I do not know what my other option is, other than just pay it, then try and dispute it again later (i did dispute it and came back valid). The other 2 more expensive ones will have to be there a little while longer.

Also I do not have much credit currently other than my mortgage and car. 2 years ago i got the Capital One secured card, then Credit One, then Capital One Quick Silver. Then just recently, I did the pre approval Express, J Crew and Overstock cards. So I now have all these cards and the credit line is around $500 on all of them. I did request increases and I think my Quicksilver went up to $750. I do carry a balance currently higher than it should be on a few of these cards. So I am going to pay them all down/off in the next month or two. Which I hope will bump me up a little as well. Even when I make a single payment of $100 i get a FICO notification my scores go up like 5 points. So i am hoping paying down more will really help.

That said, I want to be able to get an airline rewards card ultimately. But would like a real credit card with a line of $5,000 instead of $500. How far off am I? What is a good card to try for? Are there any pre approval credit cards like that similar to the JCrew, etc I did? I went on BOA and it said pre approval. But didnt give me any real information so I figured it was fake. I got the same thing with Discover but they are one of my chargeoffs. How could I possibly get approved with a current chargeoff from 4 years ago?

Re: What real credit card can I get?

OmarGB9 — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 13:55:12 GMT

With scores in the 630 range, approvals will be tough as it is; if you do get in, you'll more than likely get a low SL and high APR. If you have high UTIL as well, then that'll make it even harder to get approved. :/ I'd recommend paying down your balances as much as possible and clean your reports up a bit before applying for anything in order to give yourself the best possible odds. This may take some months.

Re: What real credit card can I get?

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 14:18:52 GMT

I'd go for Cap 1 Venture, Discover, Amex Charge Card/Delta Gold Skymiles

Who is your charge off with?

If it isn't with Chase you can try for freedom or one of their co-branded cards.

Might as well take a stab at it, but as the other poster said, you really need to pay off your debts before you need a $5000 card to take vacations with.

Re: What real credit card can I get?

ScottL — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 14:21:49 GMT

Yes, before I apply for anything, I am going to pay off all my current debt. I currently have about 59% credit line used. But the good news is, thats only about $1500.

Re: What real credit card can I get?

ScottL — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 14:23:45 GMT

and my chargeoff is with Discover.

Re: What real credit card can I get?

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 14:40:40 GMT

I know I personally just applied and was approved for a barclaycard reward 1,300 & barclaycard apple rewards for 2,000. I have some baddies and as you can see in my sig my scores are a little lower then you. Also did a kay card and was approved with a 5100 limit.

The barclaycard rewards card seems to have decent rewards also.

Re: What real credit card can I get?

TiggerDat — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 22:08:34 GMT

If this is a new chargeoff, I wouldn't expect anything right now in the way of new cards. Recent chargeoffs tend to scare new and old creditors. Regardless of the score and how much it dropped, chargeoffs will likely signal to new, and even old, creditors that you might have a hard time paying. Good luck.

Re: What real credit card can I get?

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 01:58:32 GMT

Boa and discover prequals are useless. Do not go by them.

You maybe able get synch backed cards (Walmart, Amazon) depending on your tu score. They may not start big, but my Walmart went from 600-5k in one year. Definitely helps utilization too.

But think it through and try to be smart about it. When i was 620-640s, i wasted valuable hps apping for chase, amex, barclay. It definitely kept my scores down longer. When were at that score range, every point is very valuable.

If you wait a few months and pay down utilization, your scores and report will be in a better position to apply.

Good luck!

Re: What real credit card can I get?

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 02:05:21 GMT

If you cannot afford to pay your charge offs (seeing as they are still somewhat fresh), perhaps you should reassess your credit needs. Even if your goal was attainable, would it actually, honestly benefit you?

Re: What real credit card can I get?

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 02:31:54 GMT

for real, don't go with ANYTHING rmitche8 said. that is all bogus information and you'll be instantly denied. idk why they even said that

Re: What real credit card can I get?

OmarGB9 — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 02:49:46 GMT

Yea...all the cards he listed require considerably higher scores to obtain.

Re: What real credit card can I get?

Callandra — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 02:52:56 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
If you cannot afford to pay your charge offs (seeing as they are still somewhat fresh), perhaps you should reassess your credit needs. Even if your goal was attainable, would it actually, honestly benefit you?

+1 Unpaid charge-offs tend to scare off creditors so it might be best to look into settling or paying off your charge-offs before seeking more credit. Hit the rebuilding forum for some support and advice. Good luck!

Re: What real credit card can I get?

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 07:20:05 GMT

I know the goal of the forum is to be friendly, supportive, and respectful. With that said, I have not hesitated to cross that line with people in the past, I tell it like it is. However, I hope you can take this criticism in a positive way, because I genuinely don't intend for this post to be nasty.

I believe you should reassess your credit needs. From the sound of your post, you have a problem with spending more than you can afford to pay. I believe that the creditors are making a proper decision to limit your TLs to $500, both for you and for them.

Credit is intended to be used and paid back in a reasonable timeframe. Obviously the best case for a consumer is to make a purchase and PIF. However from a creditors perspective, they would love for you to make a purchase - say a new laptop - and pay it off plus interest over the course of 6 months - a year. The reason that I believe you are struggling with your credit is because you make a purchase for things you can't afford without a solid plan to pay it off, and this is disasterous to your credit and not the intended use of a credit card.

Once again, I apologize if I'm overstepping my bounds here. I understand that life happens. However following your chargeoffs (which may or may not have been a "life happens" scenario), you find yourself in more credit card debt.

I understand the want for an airline credit card, however if you are carrying a balance in the thousands of dollars, your 22.99% APR will very quickly outweigh all of the benefits of an airline card.

With $1500 in credit card debt, if you were approved for a an airline card today, would you be able to resist the temptation to book a trip using your shiny new plastic, thus further getting yourself into debt?

My suggestion is not a quick solution, however it will help prepare you for higher credit lines if and when they do come. Create a budget for yourself. First, pay off your existing debt. Next, work on paying off your chargeoffs, whether you are able to PFD or not, they are your debt and at one point you agreed to pay them.

At that point, you will be at $0 revolving debt. Make an attempt to maintain that $0 debt for 6 months to a year while using your cards for everyday purposes. This will help build the habits necessary to manage much larger trade lines. If you are unable to maintain this with lower limit cards, in my humble opinion you should reconsider your use of credit cards.

Re: What real credit card can I get?

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 10:02:45 GMT

Honestly your cap1 QS is a great card. If were you I would concentrate on growing that, paying off the old debts, and gardening. You can keep pushing the limits on that card as your score improves and eventually get the no fee version if that isn't what you have.

When you get your score into the 700s you will be able to go for better cards but until then I think anything you will get will be a step down.

My general response to anyone is don't apply for new credit until you have your existing credit under control, meaning paid in full monthly, living within your means. It is easy to say, hard to do, and the risk of adding credit before you have really done it is real, and life wrecking.

Re: What real credit card can I get?

ScottL — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 12:44:19 GMT

Thanks for all the suggestions.

For the record, I was not intending on applying for anything right away. I wanted to wait until I have $0 balance on my credit cards. The only reason I even have them charged up is because of a few unexpected expenses lately. They will all be paid off in the next month or two.

Believe it or not, I do not live on credit anymore. I have learned alot since I was a teenager blowing money I didnt have, then going through a divorce and letting things go unpaid has hurt me for a long time now. I do not want that ever again. Ultimately, i want a 700 score so that when I go get a car or a house, I can always be approved with a good rate. And if i want to ever finance something else, i never have to worry about being approved. I do want a high limit airline credit card that I can use for everyday purchases, then pay it off each moth with the money that would have been used.. rack up airline miles for free flights. at least that is my goal.

Just yesterday, I went to my bank and opened up a separate checking/debit card account. I changed my direct deposit from my work to have a certain amount of money go to that account. The remaineder of my check goes into my old account where all my bills are automatically withdrawn. As long as I dont dip into this account for extras and stick to using my allocated amount from my new account, I should have an extra $1000-$1500 a month in that account... then I can pay off debt, chargeoff and collections over the next year.

Re: What real credit card can I get?

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 12:54:45 GMT

@ScottL wrote:
Thanks for all the suggestions.

For the record, I was not intending on applying for anything right away. I wanted to wait until I have $0 balance on my credit cards. The only reason I even have them charged up is because of a few unexpected expenses lately. They will all be paid off in the next month or two.

Believe it or not, I do not live on credit anymore. I have learned alot since I was a teenager blowing money I didnt have, then going through a divorce and letting things go unpaid has hurt me for a long time now. I do not want that ever again. Ultimately, i want a 700 score so that when I go get a car or a house, I can always be approved with a good rate. And if i want to ever finance something else, i never have to worry about being approved. I do want a high limit airline credit card that I can use for everyday purchases, then pay it off each moth with the money that would have been used.. rack up airline miles for free flights. at least that is my goal.

Just yesterday, I went to my bank and opened up a separate checking/debit card account. I changed my direct deposit from my work to have a certain amount of money go to that account. The remaineder of my check goes into my old account where all my bills are automatically withdrawn. As long as I dont dip into this account for extras and stick to using my allocated amount from my new account, I should have an extra $1000-$1500 a month in that account... then I can pay off debt, chargeoff and collections over the next year.

This is my goal also. For the past year I've been learning how to budget and living by PIF.

Re: What real credit card can I get?

Broke_Triathlete — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 14:22:07 GMT

There are a lot of great posts in this thread! I will say that I personally had luck with Barclay Rewards. 2 years post CH7 and a 602 FICO (score they gave me) I received a 1,300 CL. I'd definitely echo others posts about getting utilization down a bit before applying. Good luck!

Re: What real credit card can I get?

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 15:58:56 GMT

I have have to chargeoff still on my report theyre with Citibank.

Bofa will say no even with 800.
Us bank same.
Citibank I burned, but they are that way.

Barclays, chase, capital one, comenity and synchrony will be your friends until your goodwill letters work.

If you have a bankruptcy, its better than a charge off. I regret my plans of action in the past. I should have filed.