topic Re: Looking for a little input.. in Credit Cards

Looking for a little input..

Anonymous — Thu, 31 May 2018 02:12:40 GMT

I'm coming up on the third statement for my Discover. Which is why I'm looking for input here since the 3rd is the earliest I've read I can get that auto increase with possible DD and I'm not wanting to screw that up. Stars didn't align with my NFCU SL and timing was off on actions that I had to take, which has me in a "dilemma" on how I should proceed.

It had a $1200 SL and since I've had it I've charged a little under $300 the first month, then a around $400 the second month and PIF before statement cuts to show a $0 balance. This month I've charged a little over $500, but also did a BT of $400 (over all use over 2x more than what I've been doing) from a QS1 card I was wanting to 0 out before the AF hit and merge with my QS. I'm also currently carrying a balance on my QS which is about 2.5x higher APR than what I have on the BT offer from Discover. I realize to not PIF the Discover and take advantage of the lower APR from that BT, would probably be finanically smarter. Especially since if I do just pay it off pretty much right after I did it, I in theory threw away the money I spent on the BT fee. And that keeping the balance on it and using that money to pay off a chunk of my QS would end up saving me a few bucks.

Do you guys think that since I have been PIF on the Discover, that leaving a balance (no more than the BT amount) could hurt my chances of getting that auto CLI that I could get in a little over a week? Realize 2-3 months isn't much of a history, but it's still a history. Could they see it as me charging more and not able to handle what I charged, or possible risk since I've been PIF? Or could it actually help leaving that balance and/or taking advantage of a lower APR showing a little bit of smarts if the auto CLI goes through and I try to call in a DD and end up explaining what I did? From what I read they seem to be all over the place on what Discover likes to see.

Like I said, I fully comprehend financially it's more than likely better to keep the BT balance and pay that money towards my QS balance and probably over all better on my profile as a whole. But I'm wanting to focus on trying to best my odds of at least an auto CLI and possible DD, if not a requested one on my Discover. Either way my over all utilization is going to go down a couple % (at 20% now), but would mean the difference between 28% on QS and 0% on the Discover, or 16% on the QS and around 29% on the Discover.

Not necessarily caring short term score changes, except to the degree that may affect the auto/manual CLI I'm hoping to get on it. Hope I made enough sense to get some insightful input. lol

Re: Looking for a little input..

FinStar — Thu, 31 May 2018 02:30:53 GMT

As you mentioned, and given I'm sure you've read multiple data points about Discover, 3 months is still a relatively short period of time to evaluate your account history.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with your current approach as far as usage and payments. Don't over think it. If after your 3rd statement you submit a CLI request and nothing happens, not the end of the world. It's a SP and you can try again in another 3 months.

Re: Looking for a little input..

pipeguy — Thu, 31 May 2018 02:41:38 GMT

Actually, auto-CLI's are not that common, especially in just 3 months. If you are that interested in a CLI on your discover if I were you I'd just request one on their site at 90, 120, 150, 180, days etc. A Discover request is a soft-pull and if they don't approve it there is a note that says you are welcome to try again - and you should. My Discover card started at $10k which was my first 5 digit credit line during my rebuild - this card is currently at a $22k CL and a lot of the steps have been $500 CLI's - I also use Discover BT's all the time and even when I carry a high utility on the card it seems to have no effect on the next CLI (admittedly I don't get a CLI every time I ask, nor do I ask every month).

Your card is new so I would not expect or be disappointed in no auto-CLI at 90 days - but then again all you have to do is ask

Re: Looking for a little input..

Adkins — Thu, 31 May 2018 02:47:45 GMT

I request a CLI from my discover card after every statement cuts and my FICO score updates. I did get a rare auto CLI last month, so when I tried for a CLI, it was of course denied. Only a SP, so I figured why not?

Re: Looking for a little input..

Anonymous — Thu, 31 May 2018 03:18:34 GMT

What is your success rate? I've seen posts about requesting monthly. Have not tried it... but I might.

@Adkins wrote:
I request a CLI from my discover card after every statement cuts and my FICO score updates. I did get a rare auto CLI last month, so when I tried for a CLI, it was of course denied. Only a SP, so I figured why not?

Re: Looking for a little input..

Anonymous — Thu, 31 May 2018 04:35:06 GMT

Thanks for the responses!

How ever, I'm a little confused - so apologies. I think the consensus is to let the BT carry and go the money saving route and chunk down the QS? If not, please correct me.

Re: Looking for a little input..

Adkins — Thu, 31 May 2018 14:51:21 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
What is your success rate? I've seen posts about requesting monthly. Have not tried it... but I might.

@Adkins wrote:
I request a CLI from my discover card after every statement cuts and my FICO score updates. I did get a rare auto CLI last month, so when I tried for a CLI, it was of course denied. Only a SP, so I figured why not?

So far, 0% because I got the auto CLI a few days before my statement cut. Reading through the forums here, it seems to be every 3-6 months on average for a CLI. There are some outliers though.

Re: Looking for a little input..

Anonymous — Thu, 31 May 2018 15:24:44 GMT

Good responses here.

Also agree to not overthink it. I kept a 0% balance in the early days of my Discover that didn't seem to affect my CLI's.

Re: Looking for a little input..

K-in-Boston — Thu, 31 May 2018 15:35:36 GMT

I had a BT at the 3 month mark on mine and they more than doubled my credit line when I asked for a CLI. It's grown much slower since then, but Discover is a tricky lender to figure out with CLIs. What works for one person doesn't necessarily work for others. The only thing you can really do is ask every 1-3 months. My advice would be to do whatever is best financially, so if you can save money on interest do it.

Things that normally result in CLIs for people here: using the card a LOT, using the card sparingly, never using the card, carrying a BT, not carrying a BT, paying off a BT in the statement period prior to asking (this one has resulted in the biggest CLIs for my wife), paying the statement balance in full each month, paying less than the statement balance but at least the minimum payment each month, paying off the balance prior to the statement closing date so that a $0 balance is reported, paying off some/most of the balance before the statement closes, just letting the balance ride and paying once a month prior to the due date. Do one or more of those, and you could see a CLI soon - but usually you need to ask (often).

Re: Looking for a little input..

Anonymous — Thu, 31 May 2018 15:49:51 GMT

@K-in-Boston wrote:
I had a BT at the 3 month mark on mine and they more than doubled my credit line when I asked for a CLI. It's grown much slower since then, but Discover is a tricky lender to figure out with CLIs. What works for one person doesn't necessarily work for others. The only thing you can really do is ask every 1-3 months. My advice would be to do whatever is best financially, so if you can save money on interest do it.

Things that normally result in CLIs for people here: using the card a LOT, using the card sparingly, never using the card, carrying a BT, not carrying a BT, paying off a BT in the statement period prior to asking (this one has resulted in the biggest CLIs for my wife), paying the statement balance in full each month, paying less than the statement balance but at least the minimum payment each month, paying off the balance prior to the statement closing date so that a $0 balance is reported, paying off some/most of the balance before the statement closes, just letting the balance ride and paying once a month prior to the due date. Do one or more of those, and you could see a CLI soon - but usually you need to ask (often).

Guess I could have been a little more clear with my last inquiry, my bad. I wasn't trying to continue/push down the path I originally was. Seemed general consensus I gathered was that it was more/less a lost cause and not to hope for it as much as I was. Pretty much gathered all that information already. Pretty much many threads/posts, summed up in tidy little post there.

So I had moved on from shooting from the stars and hoping for an auto CLI and what not and was more or less asking from the over all POV. Which is where I was coming from, that keeping the majority of the balance on it, with intentions of just chipping enough of it away to put it <29% instead of over and paying off the higher APR as the best move to save the few bucks. Or would it still be better to just 0 it out?

Text can be tricky, so just want to make sure I'm not being misinterpreted. I'm not being snippy/wise/whatever. Appreciate the input and advice, so just want to make sure it's not being taken as such.

Re: Looking for a little input..

K-in-Boston — Thu, 31 May 2018 15:58:04 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@K-in-Boston wrote:
I had a BT at the 3 month mark on mine and they more than doubled my credit line when I asked for a CLI. It's grown much slower since then, but Discover is a tricky lender to figure out with CLIs. What works for one person doesn't necessarily work for others. The only thing you can really do is ask every 1-3 months. My advice would be to do whatever is best financially, so if you can save money on interest do it.

Things that normally result in CLIs for people here: using the card a LOT, using the card sparingly, never using the card, carrying a BT, not carrying a BT, paying off a BT in the statement period prior to asking (this one has resulted in the biggest CLIs for my wife), paying the statement balance in full each month, paying less than the statement balance but at least the minimum payment each month, paying off the balance prior to the statement closing date so that a $0 balance is reported, paying off some/most of the balance before the statement closes, just letting the balance ride and paying once a month prior to the due date. Do one or more of those, and you could see a CLI soon - but usually you need to ask (often).

Guess I could have been a little more clear with my last inquiry, my bad. I wasn't trying to continue/push down the path I originally was. Seemed general consensus I gathered was that it was more/less a lost cause and not to hope for it as much as I was. Pretty much gathered all that information already. Pretty much many threads/posts, summed up in tidy little post there.

So I had moved on from shooting from the stars and hoping for an auto CLI and what not and was more or less asking from the over all POV. Which is where I was coming from, that keeping the majority of the balance on it, with intentions of just chipping enough of it away to put it <29% instead of over and paying off the higher APR as the best move to save the few bucks. Or would it still be better to just 0 it out?

Text can be tricky, so just want to make sure I'm not being misinterpreted. I'm not being snippy/wise/whatever. Appreciate the input and advice, so just want to make sure it's not being taken as such.

Text can always be hard to decipher. I meant my second paragraph to be one of frustration rather than sarcasm. It really is difficult to say if you do A, Discover will do B, because there are so many people that have done A with no success. Putting it at under 29% doesn't usually seem to be the key thing with Discover; I see as many increases here from moderate-slightly high utilization as I do from low or no utilization.

Re: Looking for a little input..

Anonymous — Thu, 31 May 2018 16:19:58 GMT

@K-in-Boston wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@K-in-Boston wrote:
I had a BT at the 3 month mark on mine and they more than doubled my credit line when I asked for a CLI. It's grown much slower since then, but Discover is a tricky lender to figure out with CLIs. What works for one person doesn't necessarily work for others. The only thing you can really do is ask every 1-3 months. My advice would be to do whatever is best financially, so if you can save money on interest do it.

Things that normally result in CLIs for people here: using the card a LOT, using the card sparingly, never using the card, carrying a BT, not carrying a BT, paying off a BT in the statement period prior to asking (this one has resulted in the biggest CLIs for my wife), paying the statement balance in full each month, paying less than the statement balance but at least the minimum payment each month, paying off the balance prior to the statement closing date so that a $0 balance is reported, paying off some/most of the balance before the statement closes, just letting the balance ride and paying once a month prior to the due date. Do one or more of those, and you could see a CLI soon - but usually you need to ask (often).

Guess I could have been a little more clear with my last inquiry, my bad. I wasn't trying to continue/push down the path I originally was. Seemed general consensus I gathered was that it was more/less a lost cause and not to hope for it as much as I was. Pretty much gathered all that information already. Pretty much many threads/posts, summed up in tidy little post there.

So I had moved on from shooting from the stars and hoping for an auto CLI and what not and was more or less asking from the over all POV. Which is where I was coming from, that keeping the majority of the balance on it, with intentions of just chipping enough of it away to put it <29% instead of over and paying off the higher APR as the best move to save the few bucks. Or would it still be better to just 0 it out?

Text can be tricky, so just want to make sure I'm not being misinterpreted. I'm not being snippy/wise/whatever. Appreciate the input and advice, so just want to make sure it's not being taken as such.
Text can always be hard to decipher. I meant my second paragraph to be one of frustration rather than sarcasm. It really is difficult to say if you do A, Discover will do B, because there are so many people that have done A with no success. Putting it at under 29% doesn't usually seem to be the key thing with Discover; I see as many increases here from moderate-slightly high utilization as I do from low or no utilization.

LOL. Guess I'm still not being clear. I'm more or less now focused on the financial/profile aspect results of what I should do and not worried about the CLI anymore.

Do you think it'd just be best over all to go the "financial" route of saving a few bucks and forget about the CLI odds of the Discover? Since I would end up saving me some money, albeit just tens of dollars (if even that) and not hundreds. And would at least make me feel a little better and that the BT fee was warranted and not an absolute waste of money. Or would just zero'ing it out and keeping the higher balance/apr QS reporting a balance be the best thing?

Again, forget the Discover CLI topic. *waves hand* This is not the topic you're looking for! (get it? )

Thanks in advance and sorry for changing it around and not being clear enough. Hopefully this time I am. lol

Re: Looking for a little input..

Anonymous — Thu, 31 May 2018 16:24:48 GMT

@K-in-Boston wrote:
@Anonymous
Text can always be hard to decipher. I meant my second paragraph to be one of frustration rather than sarcasm. It really is difficult to say if you do A, Discover will do B, because there are so many people that have done A with no success. Putting it at under 29% doesn't usually seem to be the key thing with Discover; I see as many increases here from moderate-slightly high utilization as I do from low or no utilization.

LOL. Guess I'm still not being clear. I'm more or less now focused on the financial/profile aspect results of what I should do and not worried about the CLI anymore.

Do you think it'd just be best over all to go the "financial" route of saving a few bucks and forget about the CLI odds of the Discover? Since I would end up saving me some money, albeit just tens of dollars and not hundreds. And would at least make me feel a little better and that the BT fee was warranted and not an absolute waste of money. Or would just zero'ing it out and keeping the higher balance/apr QS reporting a balance be the best thing?

Again, forget the Discover CLI topic. *waves hand* This is not the topic you're looking for! (get it? )

Thanks in advance and sorry for changing it around and not being clear enough. Hopefully this time I am. lol

And apologies if this ends up being a double post. I went to edit this to clean up some of the old quotes and fiddle with my SWs joke and my post seemed to disappear saying it was awaiting approval, but then I had nothing waiting approval. And post no longer showing up, so think I may have deleted it did something funky. lol