topic Re: Help with my plan to Chase Marriott Boundless in Credit Cards

Help with my plan to Chase Marriott Boundless

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 15:24:10 GMT

Hi all,

I have posted elsewhere that one of my goals is to get to a Chase Marriott Boundless by spring, and I could use some input as I'm forming a plan to do that. The progress I've made thus far (+20 points in 60 days!) has been due, in large part, to insights I've read here, so thank you to everyone here for sharing your stories and insights. I look forward to any suggestions anyone might have.

My only negative credit is a slew of relatively recent medical collections. Although my oldest reporting CC activity is 11 years ago, those 4 accounts were closed years ago by the grantors due to inactivity (when my life entered turmoil 10 years ago after several deaths in my family, I stopped using credit cards altogether for fear that I'd lose track of payments/spending in the chaos) That effort to be responsible is costing me today.

I have no mortgage or auto loans reporting - so, being the only recent activity those collections took a huge toll. My scores were sub 600 (FICO 8) to 622 (Vantage 3.0) when I started re-engaging credit matters in November; but I was at solid 600 (FICO8) to mid 600s (Vantage) by the first week of this year. Interestingly, my TU FICO 9 is my highest score today (higher even than Vantage) at 671.

I'm still disputing those medical collections, and they are slowly going away. I picked up the 300 SL Cap1 in September, Credit One for the same in October, Wayfair 500 SL and Nordstrom 1K in December. Got CLIs on Credit One and Wayfair this month to 500 and 1300, respectively. I'm going AZEO for the first time this billing cycle, hoping that will give me a push.

I'm not sure where my scores will be by the end of this month, but if AZEO puts me in the right range, I'd like to take a swing at another bank card - perhaps NFCU, since my TU F9 is the strongest - before I shoot for the Boundless at Chase this spring (hopefully before that impressive SUB is gone). I'm hoping to step up to a SL that is more in line with the minimum for the Boundless (5k). That would put me at 3/24, if I'm right that Chase doesn't count the store cards.

So, is any of that viable, or am I dreaming pie-in-the-sky dreams? Any, and all, suggestions welcome.

Re: Help with my plan to Chase Marriott Boundless

Remedios — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 15:32:52 GMT

Store cards are counted, just like any other revolving credit TL

Honestly, I dont see it happening, especially with recent negatives.
Even if you were under 5/24 and your limits were higher, brand new negatives will put a screeching halt on most apps.
Focus instead on what's holding your scores down, and go from there.
I suggest you visit rebuilding subforum, and see what/if anything can be done about those collection accounts, but also your other existing negatives

Good luck!

Re: Help with my plan to Chase Marriott Boundless

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 16:03:00 GMT

Thank you, but I am confused. What "other existing negatives" do you mean? Everything else on my report, historically and currently, is "pays as agreed".

As for the medical collections, as I said, I am disputing them (they were a part of an accident settlement), and they have been coming off. Are you suggesting that I should wait until they are all gone before I app, regardless of score? If so, do you mean that only Chase, or NFCU as well?

Re: Help with my plan to Chase Marriott Boundless

TSlop — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 17:34:23 GMT

Like what was mentioned, store cards usually count. My Wolf Furniture, Dell Preferred, and Google store accounts all counted against 5/24. I've noticed the SUB may change every 2-3 months, so you could wait until close to the expiration to give you some garden time and then apply. If you get declined, you'll find out the reasons why to continue working on it.

Re: Help with my plan to Chase Marriott Boundless

K-in-Boston — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 17:40:58 GMT

Congratulations on your progress so far. Your FICO 08 scores will almost certainly need to come up prior to being approved for the Chase account, and those store cards will absolutely count toward 5/24. NFCU could very well end up with an approval, but I would suggest waiting until the medical collections have been removed.

Re: Help with my plan to Chase Marriott Boundless

CreditCuriosity — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 19:23:18 GMT

What others said i wouldnt be applying until you get those med collections taken care of or chase will turn you down quicker than counting to 1, 2 3... Also if you are just disputing them and they are accurate(not saying that is case, is it?) those things have a funny way of reappearing on your CR's by the same Collection agency or by a new one depending if they were disputed and accurate. If they arent accurate and CA agreed to remove them then i would sleep a bit better at night if I was you.

long story short take care of the medical collections before you apply for any cards...

Re: Help with my plan to Chase Marriott Boundless

Aim_High — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 21:23:10 GMT

@Anonymous wrote: ... one of my goals is to get to a Chase Marriott Boundless by spring ... Is any of that viable, or am I dreaming pie-in-the-sky dreams?

Listen to all the above advice.

You have open medical collections.

Your file is thin with little recent credit activity.

You have four new revolving accounts within the past five months.

You have low limits.

Your scores are sub-700.

Chase is a more picky lender. You aren't ready for them yet, even by the spring. Honestly, I think it will take you at least a year or two to have a decent chance with them, but you can get there. Just make it a little more of a long-term goal. I suggest working on clearing up and/or aging off the medical debts. Build a history on your existing cards by regular spend-and-pay. Build those limits further also if you can. Don't apply for new accounts for at least another year. With your file, four new accounts within six months is already a LOT. When you apply for new credit in a year or so, Navy FCU might be a good option to further your credit profile, much better than apping with Chase at that point. Be patient and you can eventually get that Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, but I don't see it happening within the next two years if not longer. Good luck and keep us posted!

By the way, your TU score alone won't help much with Chase. With your profile and no prior history with them, I would expect a double-pull, so a single bureau score is not enough by itself. They pretty much ALWAYS pull EX and often EQ or TU, so your EX score has to be solid also.

Re: Help with my plan to Chase Marriott Boundless

Harvey26 — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 23:48:03 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi all,
I have posted elsewhere that one of my goals is to get to a Chase Marriott Boundless by spring, and I could use some input as I'm forming a plan to do that. The progress I've made thus far (+20 points in 60 days!) has been due, in large part, to insights I've read here, so thank you to everyone here for sharing your stories and insights. I look forward to any suggestions anyone might have.

My only negative credit is a slew of relatively recent medical collections. Although my oldest reporting CC activity is 11 years ago, those 4 accounts were closed years ago by the grantors due to inactivity (when my life entered turmoil 10 years ago after several deaths in my family, I stopped using credit cards altogether for fear that I'd lose track of payments/spending in the chaos) That effort to be responsible is costing me today.

I have no mortgage or auto loans reporting - so, being the only recent activity those collections took a huge toll. My scores were sub 600 (FICO 8) to 622 (Vantage 3.0) when I started re-engaging credit matters in November; but I was at solid 600 (FICO8) to mid 600s (Vantage) by the first week of this year. Interestingly, my TU FICO 9 is my highest score today (higher even than Vantage) at 671.

I'm still disputing those medical collections, and they are slowly going away. I picked up the 300 SL Cap1 in September, Credit One for the same in October, Wayfair 500 SL and Nordstrom 1K in December. Got CLIs on Credit One and Wayfair this month to 500 and 1300, respectively. I'm going AZEO for the first time this billing cycle, hoping that will give me a push.

I'm not sure where my scores will be by the end of this month, but if AZEO puts me in the right range, I'd like to take a swing at another bank card - perhaps NFCU, since my TU F9 is the strongest - before I shoot for the Boundless at Chase this spring (hopefully before that impressive SUB is gone). I'm hoping to step up to a SL that is more in line with the minimum for the Boundless (5k). That would put me at 3/24, if I'm right that Chase doesn't count the store cards.

So, is any of that viable, or am I dreaming pie-in-the-sky dreams? Any, and all, suggestions welcome.

I totally agree with the clearing up the medical collections. I would app for NFCU they are notorious for giving a high SL. That way you can show chase that you can handle a high SL.

Re: Help with my plan to Chase Marriott Boundless

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 03:09:27 GMT

Thanks all for your input.

To be clear, it was always my intention to continue to clear up those med collections. Most of them have been or are being paid as a result of an accident settlement, any that it turns out I'm actually responsible for I'll negotiate to pay for immediate removal. They are going away so quickly, I'm being optimistic that they'll all be gone by February.

Also, I didn't mention that there is a Chase account among the 4 old CC accounts that that are still reporting. Back then, my mortgage was with Chase as well, but it was paid off in 2008 (no longer reporting). That Chase card, and the 3 others, were also all paid off - in 2010 - but didn't stop reporting until 2011 when the accounts were closed. The others were with Barclay and Capital 1. No late payments for any of them, and I'd had them all for 10+ years. Although it helps significantly with my AAoA, I know that ancient payment and balance history has no bearing on my score today.

Based on that, I was going to pull the trigger with them as as soon the collections stopped suppressing my scores, even if there was one one still reporting. Thanks for advising me to wait.