topic Re: Strategizing my next move in Credit Cards

Strategizing my next move

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Sep 2019 02:19:32 GMT

So right now I’m at 19 cards and about $130k CL. I’m about to plan my next two years and I’m thinking of closing cards instead of opening more. I’m looking to concentrate into growing the CLs instead of adding new cards.

Here is what I’m thinking about doing:
Chase $1500 - 2008 combine
Chase $2500 - 2008 combine
AMEX Blue $500 - 2017 converted to Blue preferred, will give it heavy use, if they don’t CLI, will be closing it.
AMEX Green 2017 - Closed it today
Discover It $1000 - 2011
Discover More $1000 - 2004 - denied CLI today, denied combining them.
Paypal $2100 - was $700 and was going to close it but CLI’ed today.

I have had the Discovers for 15 and 8 years and still at SL. I’m planning on closing the newest one and apping a year later hoping i’d get a better SL and then combining that line with the oldest account from 2004 to keep the age. Discover won’t allow a 3rd account.

Chase I want to combine those 2 and app for a CSP in a year or so.

AMEX have the platinum, blue cash everyday and green. Closed the Green Card since it was redundant and converted the BCE to Blue Preferred. In the process was approved for the Blue Business Plus (SP - $2000 SL). If I can’t improve the Blue Preferred card i’ll be closing it as well.

What is the opinion in doing this? Any long term negative effects? Goal is to have 6-8 cards with $15-$25k CLs each.

Re: Strategizing my next move

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Sep 2019 18:01:59 GMT

Taking the slim down approach can help grow things certainly as you have more focus on what's remaining.

Unless you're really using a card or dealing with an AF then it's a good choice to be cut.

Before I went on a binge of making credit work for me and collecting bonuses I was at 10 cards with ~250K CL.

In 2 years though I went a little over the edge and added another 12 cards for 300K for a total of 500K+ at this point.

Combine the Chase cards and apply for a new one if you're under 5/24.... I did something similar and the new card was 25K+ vs 5K CLI .. Today they're sitting just north of 70K combined

Amex... well, they're typically easier to grow than other but, if you've been in a rut with them then it's time to cull the heard and move on unless you can recoup the BCP $95/yr with groceries and other spending

Disco.... to combine them they have to be over a year and a CLI available on one of them... don't accept the CLI and call them to combine them at that time and they'll also give you the pending CLI amount in the process.

Save yourself the headache and kill the PP card and replace it with something better like DC

Some of the other cards that have done nicely are BOA CR (10K->65K), BBVA (15K), Regions (21K), and Uber (25K)

Even w/ 22 cards if I cut the bottom 50% (sub 20K) of the CL's I would still be right around 400K now vs the 250K menitoned above.

It can be done and just takes a little bit of effort to get it done. The easiest might be starting with what you laid out and then app for 1 and close 2 to keep the progress going. Once you start hitting the higher CL's the easier it is to make new ones appear on apps. Persistence with lenders hitting the buttons routinely to push them to the max they allow for you personally give give other lenders benchmarks to hit as well.

Re: Strategizing my next move

SouthJamaica — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 01:13:42 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
So right now I’m at 19 cards and about $130k CL. I’m about to plan my next two years and I’m thinking of closing cards instead of opening more. I’m looking to concentrate into growing the CLs instead of adding new cards.

Here is what I’m thinking about doing:
Chase $1500 - 2008 combine
Chase $2500 - 2008 combine
AMEX Blue $500 - 2017 converted to Blue preferred, will give it heavy use, if they don’t CLI, will be closing it.
AMEX Green 2017 - Closed it today
Discover It $1000 - 2011
Discover More $1000 - 2004 - denied CLI today, denied combining them.
Paypal $2100 - was $700 and was going to close it but CLI’ed today.

I have had the Discovers for 15 and 8 years and still at SL. I’m planning on closing the newest one and apping a year later hoping i’d get a better SL and then combining that line with the oldest account from 2004 to keep the age. Discover won’t allow a 3rd account.

Chase I want to combine those 2 and app for a CSP in a year or so.

AMEX have the platinum, blue cash everyday and green. Closed the Green Card since it was redundant and converted the BCE to Blue Preferred. In the process was approved for the Blue Business Plus (SP - $2000 SL). If I can’t improve the Blue Preferred card i’ll be closing it as well.

What is the opinion in doing this? Any long term negative effects? Goal is to have 6-8 cards with $15-$25k CLs each.

I don't see any compelling need for doing it. I think you're probably better off just leaving things alone and letting things age and grow on their own. I would try to avoid applying for more cards later. And I would want to have a good number of accounts reporting zero balances, since that can be helpful to some of your scores.

Re: Strategizing my next move

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 01:16:53 GMT

@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
So right now I’m at 19 cards and about $130k CL. I’m about to plan my next two years and I’m thinking of closing cards instead of opening more. I’m looking to concentrate into growing the CLs instead of adding new cards.

Here is what I’m thinking about doing:
Chase $1500 - 2008 combine
Chase $2500 - 2008 combine
AMEX Blue $500 - 2017 converted to Blue preferred, will give it heavy use, if they don’t CLI, will be closing it.
AMEX Green 2017 - Closed it today
Discover It $1000 - 2011
Discover More $1000 - 2004 - denied CLI today, denied combining them.
Paypal $2100 - was $700 and was going to close it but CLI’ed today.

I have had the Discovers for 15 and 8 years and still at SL. I’m planning on closing the newest one and apping a year later hoping i’d get a better SL and then combining that line with the oldest account from 2004 to keep the age. Discover won’t allow a 3rd account.

Chase I want to combine those 2 and app for a CSP in a year or so.

AMEX have the platinum, blue cash everyday and green. Closed the Green Card since it was redundant and converted the BCE to Blue Preferred. In the process was approved for the Blue Business Plus (SP - $2000 SL). If I can’t improve the Blue Preferred card i’ll be closing it as well.

What is the opinion in doing this? Any long term negative effects? Goal is to have 6-8 cards with $15-$25k CLs each.
I don't see any compelling need for doing it. I think you're probably better off just leaving things alone and letting things age and grow on their own. I would try to avoid applying for more cards later. And I would want to have a good number of accounts reporting zero balances, since that can be helpful to some of your scores.

Thanks for the advice. Only 1 card is reporting balances right now. Some of the cards aren't getting CLIs on their own and they have been opened for 11 years so far and I believe the strategy of applying later for a new account with the creditor will help get a better SL if I can combine them.

Re: Strategizing my next move

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 01:27:46 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Taking the slim down approach can help grow things certainly as you have more focus on what's remaining.

Unless you're really using a card or dealing with an AF then it's a good choice to be cut.

Before I went on a binge of making credit work for me and collecting bonuses I was at 10 cards with ~250K CL.

In 2 years though I went a little over the edge and added another 12 cards for 300K for a total of 500K+ at this point.

Combine the Chase cards and apply for a new one if you're under 5/24.... I did something similar and the new card was 25K+ vs 5K CLI .. Today they're sitting just north of 70K combined Right now I have 1 account in the last 24 months. I have a paid charge off pending removal. Once that's done I`ll do as adviced.

Amex... well, they're typically easier to grow than other but, if you've been in a rut with them then it's time to cull the heard and move on unless you can recoup the BCP $95/yr with groceries and other spending Amex has been good. Platinum has very decent usable line. Blue Preferred is strugling at $500 but Im planning to do heavy usage on that to take advantage of the 6% in rewards. Closed the green and will be using the BBP for business with heavy use and PIF to see if I can take advantage of the 3X CLI.

Disco.... to combine them they have to be over a year and a CLI available on one of them... don't accept the CLI and call them to combine them at that time and they'll also give you the pending CLI amount in the process. This has been my biggest struggle. One is 8 years old and other is 14 years old. Both at $1k. DW gets a $12k SL with a lower credit score. I'm not sure on what you mean with "don't accept the CLI". Do you mean a manual CLI through luv?

Save yourself the headache and kill the PP card and replace it with something better like DC I burned city a few years back so I'm not sure I`ll get much love from them.

Some of the other cards that have done nicely are BOA CR (10K->65K), BBVA (15K), Regions (21K), and Uber (25K) BOA had given me 5k and 10K but closed those lines once I closed my bank account.

Even w/ 22 cards if I cut the bottom 50% (sub 20K) of the CL's I would still be right around 400K now vs the 250K menitoned above.

It can be done and just takes a little bit of effort to get it done. The easiest might be starting with what you laid out and then app for 1 and close 2 to keep the progress going. Once you start hitting the higher CL's the easier it is to make new ones appear on apps. Persistence with lenders hitting the buttons routinely to push them to the max they allow for you personally give give other lenders benchmarks to hit as well.

Re: Strategizing my next move

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 03:17:21 GMT

Disco.... if you want to combine them you have to be eligible for a CLI when you go online and ask for one... just don't accept it before calling them to combine them. I'm not 100% on the CLI being available on the donor or recipient card though for the combination to go through but, once you combine them you're able to apply for a new card again and maybe match your DW's 12K CL on the new card.

BOA.... that doesn't make sense unless there were issues with the CC's in the past. You don't need checking/savings accounts with them to have a CC. Maybe the banker was inept or assumed that all accounts were to be closed or something along those lines.

Re: Strategizing my next move

Aim_High — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 04:28:18 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
So right now I’m at 19 cards and about $130k CL. I’m about to plan my next two years and I’m thinking of closing cards instead of opening more. I’m looking to concentrate into growing the CLs instead of adding new cards.

What is the opinion in doing this? Any long term negative effects? Goal is to have 6-8 cards with $15-$25k CLs each.

This is an excellent plan and exactly something I have done before. In the last couple of years, I've been adding cards and diversifying but a few years ago, I was selectively closing accounts and simplifing. We talk about "gardening" to grow our cards but IMO it also applies to culling out the "weeds" that are choking the premium flowers we want to thrive. I am still working on this plan and growing my limits. My goal is to have a high-quality selection of relevant cards for my spending patterns with high credit lines of minimum $25K. I purposefully got rid of lower CL store cards since I felt they were distracting from my overall credit profile and objectives.

And I agree with @ObscureExpert. Higher limits lead to higher limits. Lenders often extend new lines of credit based on what you've shown you can manage. And lenders don't like to be out of the "norm" in your lineup so you won't drop them. If Card A gives you a higher limit, Card B will be more likely to follow suit.

@Obscure-Expert wrote: "Once you start hitting the higher CL's the easier it is to make new ones appear on apps. Persistence with lenders hitting the buttons routinely to push them to the max they allow for you personally give give other lenders benchmarks to hit as well."

Re: Strategizing my next move

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 18:24:02 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Disco.... if you want to combine them you have to be eligible for a CLI when you go online and ask for one... just don't accept it before calling them to combine them. I'm not 100% on the CLI being available on the donor or recipient card though for the combination to go through but, once you combine them you're able to apply for a new card again and maybe match your DW's 12K CL on the new card.

BOA.... that doesn't make sense unless there were issues with the CC's in the past. You don't need checking/savings accounts with them to have a CC. Maybe the banker was inept or assumed that all accounts were to be closed or something along those lines.

I applied to the BOA Americard last night and got the "We are sorry, at the moment your application could not be approved" and ignored the rest of the message. I then called the BOA recon line this morning and and spoke to an Analyst. She said the application was turned down since my EX was frozen, asked if she could pull TU and I said yes, instant approval for $7,500! Asked if she could match the previous $10k, she said no. I then asked about the other two cards and she said since I had called back in 2018 to inquire about lower rates/hard ship programs that my account was flagged and terminated for high risk once I paid them off. Asked if the old account could be reopened, she 'submitted it' and said it could not be reopened since I had previously closed a credit card account I had with them (back in 2010). Interested situation and data points. Overall happy I think I can grow this $7,500 quiet fast.

So far added over $30k+ this month in CLs with just 2 HPs.

Thanks for all the feedback.

Re: Strategizing my next move

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 18:25:34 GMT

@Aim_High wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
So right now I’m at 19 cards and about $130k CL. I’m about to plan my next two years and I’m thinking of closing cards instead of opening more. I’m looking to concentrate into growing the CLs instead of adding new cards.

What is the opinion in doing this? Any long term negative effects? Goal is to have 6-8 cards with $15-$25k CLs each.
This is an excellent plan and exactly something I have done before. In the last couple of years, I've been adding cards and diversifying but a few years ago, I was selectively closing accounts and simplifing. We talk about "gardening" to grow our cards but IMO it also applies to culling out the "weeds" that are choking the premium flowers we want to thrive. I am still working on this plan and growing my limits. My goal is to have a high-quality selection of relevant cards for my spending patterns with high credit lines of minimum $25K. I purposefully got rid of lower CL store cards since I felt they were distracting from my overall credit profile and objectives.

And I agree with @ObscureExpert. Higher limits lead to higher limits. Lenders often extend new lines of credit based on what you've shown you can manage. And lenders don't like to be out of the "norm" in your lineup so you won't drop them. If Card A gives you a higher limit, Card B will be more likely to follow suit.

@Obscure-Expert wrote: "Once you start hitting the higher CL's the easier it is to make new ones appear on apps. Persistence with lenders hitting the buttons routinely to push them to the max they allow for you personally give give other lenders benchmarks to hit as well."

What usage do you suggest on these cards to justify increasing CLs?

Re: Strategizing my next move

Aim_High — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 19:01:04 GMT

@Anonymous wrote: "What usage do you suggest on these cards to justify increasing CLs?"

That really varies widely. Some lenders will give those periodic SP CLIs with little to no recent usage! As long as you're current and allowing the account to age, that is sometimes enough. I would suggest at least a little usage on all your accounts every six months to a year if you want to be sure they are CLD'd or closed for lack of usage. (Some lenders will do that; some won't.)

One bank that likes to see at least moderate usage for three months prior to requesting a CLI is Capital One. It seems with them that it doesn't have to be heavy utillized (as a % of CL) as much as heavy number of swipes.

One suggestion if you want a CLI badly on one card would be to use it exclusively for a month or two to ramp up UTI rate which might trigger or justify an increase. You might have to temporarily give up optimizing rewards but you'd get the CLI you are seeking. Your other cards won't take AA or reduce limits if you SD them temporarily. You can give them some love later.

Discover and Bank of America have given me large increases over many years. At one point, I had some large balance transfers on those accounts but have never been close to my current limits. Regardless, they have still grown.

Chase is convervative about CLIs. They will give you automatic CLIs with heavy usage as a % of your current CL. If you ask for CLI, it's always a HP and I've often been denied anyway. But I have managed to grow some of my Chase lines by applying for new credit and moving limits, which they allow.

I can't speak personally about AMEX as even though I've had them, it's not been recently. See this thread about AMEX CLI's.

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/The-Definitive-Amex-3X-CLI-Guide/td-p/1811071

Re: Strategizing my next move

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 19:38:33 GMT

Congrats on the $7500 w/ a TU pull!

Treat it right and put some spend on it to grow it!! -- my example was 12-18 months of what I call minimal use but consistent use to keep the computer happy with the requests... doesn't take much but activity counts when asking for more spending ability.

If you list out more of your cards we can do a deep dive on them to see where the fat can be trimmed and optimized a bit.

Re: Strategizing my next move

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 20:02:02 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Congrats on the $7500 w/ a TU pull!

Treat it right and put some spend on it to grow it!! -- my example was 12-18 months of what I call minimal use but consistent use to keep the computer happy with the requests... doesn't take much but activity counts when asking for more spending ability.

If you list out more of your cards we can do a deep dive on them to see where the fat can be trimmed and optimized a bit.

Thanks for the feedback. Will give it some daily use over the next 3 months and see how it goes.

Here is my card profile as of today:

Re: Strategizing my next move

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 20:13:10 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the feedback. Will give it some daily use over the next 3 months and see how it goes. I wouldn't say daily unless there's incentive to do so like Disco Miles 3% first year... Just needs to be active every month if you want to grow it quickly every 90 days if they remove the flag from your account of course w/ consistent use.

Ok...

Amex.... do you use the Platinum benefits enough to offest the AF? If not, close it or downgrade at least to Gold if you eat out a bit for less than 1/2 the AF Is there any overlap in benefits w/ BBP??

Disco.... we know

Chase... Slate is useless after the initial perk of $0/0%... Either swap it for a CFU for 1.5% or if you're thinking about another Chase card it could be that card w/o a bonus or combine them into a single card..

PP EX.... not familiar but, unless it's really providing some value....

PF - HP CLI's usually... kind of a 50/50 split on opinion around here depending on who you ask about keeping a card with them

BBSC - good for a discount but, with premium cards in your pocket you might offset them with offers unless you're using it for extended financing on appliances or something...

Sync... older card but.... where can you use it and what benefit is it providing?

FB... gussing this is FNBO co-brand for somewhere?

NFCU.... combine them unless they're offering a hidden value by having 2 accounts... this will give you your mega CL to bring the other up to though not all will see them as an equal for lending since they give out CL's like candy... but it's a start to showing you can manage a 50K CL

Re: Strategizing my next move

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 21:23:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the feedback. Will give it some daily use over the next 3 months and see how it goes. I wouldn't say daily unless there's incentive to do so like Disco Miles 3% first year... Just needs to be active every month if you want to grow it quickly every 90 days if they remove the flag from your account of course w/ consistent use.

Ok...

Amex.... do you use the Platinum benefits enough to offest the AF? If not, close it or downgrade at least to Gold if you eat out a bit for less than 1/2 the AF Is there any overlap in benefits w/ BBP?? Im a frequent traveler plus the uber credit, flight credit etc it pays for itself. It's my daily. The BBP I just got and will be using for business expenses exclusively.

Disco.... we know

Chase... Slate is useless after the initial perk of $0/0%... Either swap it for a CFU for 1.5% or if you're thinking about another Chase card it could be that card w/o a bonus or combine them into a single card.. I'm thinking about calling in and combining these two and do a PC into the FU. What happends to the old tradelines when you combine them?

PP EX.... not familiar but, unless it's really providing some value.... Useless. Got it when I thought I needed it. 28% APR and zero perks. Close it?

PF - HP CLI's usually... kind of a 50/50 split on opinion around here depending on who you ask about keeping a card with themTheir products have been good I'm thinking about growing this one with them.

BBSC - good for a discount but, with premium cards in your pocket you might offset them with offers unless you're using it for extended financing on appliances or something... I enjoy the 0% APR for 18 months. That's the only reason It's still alive.

Sync... older card but.... where can you use it and what benefit is it providing?Zero benefits other than a relationship with Zynchrony and account age.

FB... gussing this is FNBO co-brand for somewhere?Yes. This is the FNBO.

NFCU.... combine them unless they're offering a hidden value by having 2 accounts... this will give you your mega CL to bring the other up to though not all will see them as an equal for lending since they give out CL's like candy... but it's a start to showing you can manage a 50K CL I can combine them into the new Amex rewards which provides 3X in categories I can benefit from. Not a bad idea to combine them to a $44K credit line, and apply down the road for second CC with them. If I combine it into the new Amex rewards one would it keep the older account age?

Re: Strategizing my next move

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 21:54:54 GMT

Chase - pick the oldest and fold the CL into that one and then PC it to the one you want to keep the age.

-- I do it online so there's a paper trail if they mess things up.

-- move the CL into the older card (new messaage)

-- convert the older card (new messaage)

PP - it's an age thing for now... if you don't use it they'll close it for you eventually

NFCU - some of the nuances are you might have to push them a bit to combine them as it's not their policy to do it normally... if you want age then you move the CL into the older account similar to Chase above.... then you can try to convert it later on to the Amex version for the increased earnings.

-- since one of them is new... wait it out a bit before you try to combine them into a single card... I know there some 3/90 thing that gets mentioned around here for AR's and CLI's.... they might shoot it down for a combination/conversion if you do it too soon... maybe swing all but 5K over to the Amex for the time being to report the higher limit in the meantime. Not sure how shifting the limit will affect any potential CLI in the near term but, the increased CL is nice to have so you're not shooting up to 87% like your SS shows right now.