topic Re: Amex or Discover in Credit Cards

Amex or Discover

Trudy — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 20:48:12 GMT

I've not spent a lot of time seeking out new credit cards or comparing. But now I'm nearing being ready to venture outside of MC and Visa. I think I know Amex is considered best for travel rewards and balance has to be paid in full each month although I think I've read they have revolving options now. Discover is a better cash back card. I don't travel outside of the country much so foreign benefits is not a concern for me.

Regardless of my profile (age, scores, etc) and no concern about income and DTI issues, it seems I can't get a high SL. Small sample since I haven't app'd a new card since 2005 with the exception of a new CC a little over a year ago and a store card opened recently for a large purchase and a give me from the CU who financed my car a few years ago. I took it since it was a 20K SL and no addition HP.

High SL is something I'm looking for. The one card I did get over a year ago I only received a SL of 5K (profile better at this time than it was when I received a 20K card provided by the CU lender). Can't get CLI and I believe all of this is related to not spending much on cards (Don't ever want to get back in the high UTL world). However, I'd like a high CL card to allow for larger purchases I may need without maxing UTL, which is the only reason I opened the store card a few months ago because it would have exceeded the UTL I'm comfortable with on my other cards.

Summary - Looking for a different type of card (Amex or Discover), preferably cash back rewards and high SL or easy growth ability without running up my UTL.

Thoughts, suggestions?

Re: Amex or Discover

AverageJoesCredit — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 21:10:54 GMT

With your stats you could get high limits from the right lender. Sometimes, NOT using credit cards or their limits can hurt you in that some lenders want to see you can handle high limits through your credit report.

A high limit from Amex or Disco is not a surefire thing no matter ones income or profile but in the case of Amex, those things can help tremendously especially after 61 days and the vaunted 3x possibilty. Now 5k may seem small potatoes to you or some, but sometimes you need to build on what you get. I like both cards so all depends what you want to spend your money on. Good luck

Re: Amex or Discover

Nomad3 — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 21:33:34 GMT

Discover doesn't have many options for cards, current SUB matches whatever cash back you earn first year. No AF. But you have to spend in quarterly categories.

Amex blue cash everyday is a good deal for gas/groceries, no quarterly categories. No AF. And Amex is also known for 3x CLI at day 61.

Discover will offer the best cash back, unless you have tons of spend on gas. Amex will probably have a higher limit, 3x CLI at day61 and no quarterly categories to worry about.

Re: Amex or Discover

Trudy — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 21:54:30 GMT

Thanks for your response. Didn't mean to make 5K sound like pennies but the sole purpose of higher limits for me is the ability to make large purchases when needed. Hopefully this is not a regular occurrence, but I'm in need of certain items for my home that would cost near if not more than 5K. Clearly my regular spending habits won't show a need, just want a cushion in those events. Not looking for the likes of a Lowes, etc, because I don't want to be limited to a store and free to buy where I want and should a need be outside of home improvement.

I also have a 25K card but had some expensive repairs that I put on another card and transferred since this card could absorb it without too high UTL and due to a 0% balance transfer offer. All other cards are from $2800 - $8800. All opened between 12Y- 23Y+ ago. They just won't grow.

Re: Amex or Discover

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 21:44:58 GMT

I personally use discover and they were very generous with my SL even though I'm somewhat low income, I have friends that use the AMEX Everyday and they have said that SL is low but you can increase once you build history and they are pretty generous with their increases. I love Discover because of the way their CLIs go is you can request for $15,000 and if they don't approve you they give you a counteroffer ex: $7,500 instead of $15,000.

Re: Amex or Discover

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 21:49:00 GMT

I definitely don’t have your credit profile but the discover it was much more generous on the SL than my Amex bce, both being my first card with either company.

Re: Amex or Discover

JNA1 — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 22:22:09 GMT

My experience was the opposite of others in that my AMEX SL was more than double what the Disco was ($10,500 AMEX vs $4000 Disco) but my profile was thicker when I got the AMEX. My best SL was BBVA, which has a prequal site that told me what the SL and APR would be before I applied, if you are in their coverage area. Apple Card (if you have an iPhone) also lets you know what your SL and APR will be with a SP before you apply, if you want to see where you might currently stand.

Re: Amex or Discover

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 22:35:23 GMT

I think they’re both good just in different ways.

I’m partial to Discover because they were my first big credit line. They gave me $9500 in April when my other limits were $300-500. The card currently sits at $11500. The rotating categories are easy to keep track of. I don’t like the 4th quarter one as it’s Walnart Target and amazon.com. First year they match your cash back which is cool.

Amex offers 3x CLI after 60 days so if your starting line isn’t as high as you’d like, with good history with them it can be tripled and future cards all soft pull. Good grocery cash back. as well.

Re: Amex or Discover

AverageJoesCredit — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 22:49:35 GMT

As you can see, in credit ,YMMV

If you could join Navy Federal though either your Military experience or a family member, you could see big limits. Penfed is an option anyone csn join but may be conservative at first. If you are under 5/24 and a Chase card csn work for you, Chase is known to give big limits to high income earners on their Saphire products. Boa can also start small but grow big depending on ones income and even more so with assets with them.

If you list what cards you currently have and what lenders, its possible you might get more strategic advice . Also what kind of things you like to buy. There are some big ballers here with alot of credit experience that can offer better suggestions thsn a LIEr like me

@K-in-Boston
@FinStar
@CreditCuriosity
@Gmood1
@Mahraja
@credit_is_crack

Just to name a few with vast experience with multiple lenders.

Re: Amex or Discover

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 22:52:36 GMT

During the financial crisis ten years back, Discover kept giving me automatic credit line increases when other lenders were either holding my limits the same or cutting them based on the overall economy.

Also, not sure whether anyone else mentioned it, but Discover is generally less sensitive to high-utilization than other lenders.

Re: Amex or Discover

Gmood1 — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 23:16:12 GMT

@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
As you can see, in credit ,YMMV

If you could join Navy Federal though either your Military experience or a family member, you could see big limits. Penfed is an option anyone csn join but may be conservative at first. If you are under 5/24 and a Chase card csn work for you, Chase is known to give big limits to high income earners on their Saphire products. Boa can also start small but grow big depending on ones income and even more so with assets with them.

If you list what cards you currently have and what lenders, its possible you might get more strategic advice . Also what kind of things you like to buy. There are some big ballers here with alot of credit experience that can offer better suggestions thsn a LIEr like me

@K-in-Boston
@FinStar
@CreditCuriosity
@Gmood1
@Mahraja
@credit_is_crack

Just to name a few with vast experience with multiple lenders.

All of those mentioned besides me are the true ballers. Lol

I just have a crap ton of CCs from different lenders. 😂

OP you may want to check out https://www.firsttechfed.com/credit-cards/credit-cards/choice-rewards .Or one of their other offerings.

They are known to give out some massive SLs.

Your profile sounds like a good fit. I'm a member but don't have a card with them.

However, I've seen others with similar profiles walk away with $20k plus SLs.

I believe you can request your limit.

Re: Amex or Discover

Trudy — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 23:26:19 GMT

Thanks AJC. I'm in Seattle. No military connection, well not exactly.

I have:

Capital One, 4 cards. (No CLI chance here. 3 of those are my lowest limits and ALWAYS receive CLI denial's due to limited use but all 4 are my oldest cards.)

Wells Fargo, 2 cards

USBank - MTG also (no CLI chance, same denial reason as C1)

HAPO CU - Auto Loan also

This was a good exercise as I realized my signature is wrong. I have 8 CC not 9. EX's summary includes my PLOC in the CC category.

Re: Amex or Discover

credit_is_crack — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 23:49:37 GMT

@Gmood1 is being modest. He's got business all over the place lol

Looks like this threads topic broadened so I want to circle back to your original post. You're looking to expand into Disco or Amex, but if I'm reading this correctly you're primarily looking for a high limit card. A few questions..

Does this new high limit card need to come from Disco/Amex specifically?
Have you check the prequal sites for both of them?
Are you going after travel or cashback? (you mentioned not traveling out of the US, I personally think Chase has a more user friendly setup for this)
Are you really just looking for a high limit card and want perks attached to it, but don't really care what that reward structure is?

Knowing this will help get you some specific feedback on what would be good. Your score is solid, but you may have a "thin profile/strong score" setup which can be limiting, but having those scores certainly opens up some doors.

Re: Amex or Discover

Gmood1 — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 00:10:10 GMT

OP if you want the big boy. Go for the https://www.firsttechfed.com/credit-cards/credit-cards/odyssey-rewards . Limit is up to $100K.

Crackman you are killing me. lol I was just about to PM you for a personal loan.

Re: Amex or Discover

Trudy — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 00:08:45 GMT

Yes, more often than not the subject line becomes irrelevant at some point in many posts

@credit_is_crack wrote:
@Gmood1 is being modest. He's got business all over the place lol

Looks like this threads topic broadened so I want to circle back to your original post. You're looking to expand into Disco or Amex, but if I'm reading this correctly you're primarily looking for a high limit card. A few questions..
Does this new high limit card need to come from Disco/Amex specifically? No, but I specifically stated these 2 because of what I've read to be high SL and quick CL growth with them. Didn't think I'd have a chance with a high SL with a bank card considering where I am with those I have, including WF with several products and USBank with several products including my MTG, all aged well with great history.
Have you check the prequal sites for both of them? Not yet.
Are you going after travel or cashback? (you mentioned not traveling out of the US, I personally think Chase has a more user friendly setup for this) Cash back, if anything
Are you really just looking for a high limit card and want perks attached to it, Yes but don't really care what that reward structure is? Travel rewards would not serve me at this point
Knowing this will help get you some specific feedback on what would be good. Your score is solid, but you may have a "thin profile/strong score" setup which can be limiting, but having those scores certainly opens up some doors.
Hmm, didn't think the # of accounts I have translated to a thin file. Clearly not as hefty as many but thought I read it was sufficient to not be considered thin. Throw age on top of that I thought I was solid.

Re: Amex or Discover

Andypanda — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 00:54:05 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I personally use discover and they were very generous with my SL even though I'm somewhat low income, I have friends that use the AMEX Everyday and they have said that SL is low but you can increase once you build history and they are pretty generous with their increases. I love Discover because of the way their CLIs go is you can request for $15,000 and if they don't approve you they give you a counteroffer ex: $7,500 instead of $15,000.

Amex has been more generious with me. My discover is older and is at $5,000, my amex bce is at $25,000.

Re: Amex or Discover

AllZero — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 01:01:45 GMT

Have you researched these credit unions?
BECU
Inspirus Credit Union

Re: Amex or Discover

staticvoidmain — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 01:10:53 GMT

@Trudy wrote:
But now I'm nearing being ready to venture outside of MC and Visa.

I do not understand the rationale for wanting AMEX/Discover for the reason that it is neither Visa nor Mastercard. Comparing them to MC/Visa means you are concerned about the network? If I can have my AMEX cards use the Visa network, I'd be so happy. Acceptance on either card network is far from ubiquitous.

Re: Amex or Discover

credit_is_crack — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 01:50:04 GMT

@Trudy wrote:
Yes, more often than not the subject line becomes irrelevant at some point in many posts
@credit_is_crack wrote:
@Gmood1 is being modest. He's got business all over the place lol

Looks like this threads topic broadened so I want to circle back to your original post. You're looking to expand into Disco or Amex, but if I'm reading this correctly you're primarily looking for a high limit card. A few questions..
Does this new high limit card need to come from Disco/Amex specifically? No, but I specifically stated these 2 because of what I've read to be high SL and quick CL growth with them. Didn't think I'd have a chance with a high SL with a bank card considering where I am with those I have, including WF with several products and USBank with several products including my MTG, all aged well with great history.
Have you check the prequal sites for both of them? Not yet.
Are you going after travel or cashback? (you mentioned not traveling out of the US, I personally think Chase has a more user friendly setup for this) Cash back, if anything
Are you really just looking for a high limit card and want perks attached to it, Yes but don't really care what that reward structure is? Travel rewards would not serve me at this point
Knowing this will help get you some specific feedback on what would be good. Your score is solid, but you may have a "thin profile/strong score" setup which can be limiting, but having those scores certainly opens up some doors.
Hmm, didn't think the # of accounts I have translated to a thin file. Clearly not as hefty as many but thought I read it was sufficient to not be considered thin. Throw age on top of that I thought I was solid.

Knowing this helps. Disco and Amex can grow quickly, but they want you to earn it from them so it's hit or miss with them. Some folks may disagree with me on what I'm about to say, but these are just some of my thoughts aiming towards some type of uncomplicated cash rewards and a propensity to get a higher starting limit.

Chase:

Freedom ($0 annual fee) gives you 5% on rotating categories a quarter (usually Groceries and Gas Stations make an appears there so you could get some good return on a few key items if you don't mind tracking the quarters)
Depending on the profile this card can yield some instant high limits
It's quite versatile so if you decide in a year a two that travel becomes relevant again, you can easily product change between this and the Chase Sapphire Preferred/Reserve, and the points you earn go further (each point is worth more when used on their travel portal)
Try their prequal site and the more cards it says you're prequalified for, the better your chances of a higher limit -- YMMV indicator
Freedom Unlimited ($0 annual fee) is no categories but gets you 1.5% flat on everything you buy. This does fall in the "chase suite" so same as the freedom you can change it to the Freedom, CSP or CSR

Bank of America

Cash Rewards ($0 annual fee) card is tiered (3% on your choice of Dining, Gas, Travel, Home Furnishings, Online Shopping or Drug Stores). Then 2% on groceries and 1% on everything else automatically. You can change your 3% choice every month so this one is quite easy to manipulate
BofA is a "relationship" bank so over time it will grow substantially, but they like customers who also have checking, investments or savings with them as well. However same as Disco and Amex, they offer SP CLI's every 90 days

BECU credit union

They offer a 1.5% card as well ($0 annual fee), but they are known to offer high SL's right out of the gate, but requires you to become a member
A little research on here and you'll see anyone can join. They are sensitive to new applicants outside their service area so brace yourself for a little extra vetting from them, but once you're in, you're golden

PNC Cash Rewards

This is a solid card if you're in their service area ($0 annual fee). It is also tiered but includes 4% on gas, 3% dining, 2% groceries and 1% everywhere else. They are also know to start folks of with decent limits $5k-$10k range, but I know I recently saw someone was approved for $30k so they are not afraid to toss some cash your way

HSBC

This one is also a 1.5% card, but they have an intro rate of 3% on everything for the first year (or until you hit $10,000 - whichever comes first). They are known to be generous as well and offer SP CLI's

There are tons of banks who will give out great limits, but these above will get you a good return on various categories without having to play the credit card game and are known to be generous. Citi DoubleCash is 2% on everything, but they are definitely known to be quite stingy with starting limits, but some (few) have squeezed in with $5k or more right off the bat, but it's not normal. Regions bank actually has a prequal page that will tell you the exact SL and APR you'd get before you have to go thru with the full application. You can always poke around there and see what kind of return you'd get (and it's also a good gauge of how "banks" view your profile).

Hope this helps!

Re: Amex or Discover

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 01:54:48 GMT

@staticvoidmain wrote:
@Trudy wrote:
But now I'm nearing being ready to venture outside of MC and Visa.
I do not understand the rationale for wanting AMEX/Discover for the reason that it is neither Visa nor Mastercard. Comparing them to MC/Visa means you are concerned about the network? If I can have my AMEX cards use the Visa network, I'd be so happy. Acceptance on either card network is far from ubiquitous.

As long as one has a Visa or MC for those circumstances, you're fairly well covered with Amex or Discover in the US. I wouldn't advise having either of them as a one-and-only card, but they're fine as a daily driver.