topic Re: Best CC to apply for? in Credit Cards

Best CC to apply for?

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 03:20:53 GMT

I'm having trouble figuring out which CC I should apply for. This summer Chase is ending their Ultimate Rewards program for my checking account and I would like to still be able to get some sort of rewards for my everyday purchases. I recently cleaned up almost all of the baddies on my credit report and last time I saw my ficos (about 6 months ago) TU and EQ were above 740. Since then my only public record has been vacated and removed, but I still have a derog from a defaulted student loan set to drop of in January. There is only one inquiry in the past year on EQ last July, but I still have 3 inquiries on all three reports from the end of 2009 all related to my mortgage and having to pre-qual with BoA to even be able to make an offer on my house (buying a foreclosure was not fun). The only open lines of credit I have are a Best Buy card at 25% utl on a 2k CL which I will probably pay off with my tax return and a 2 year old sub prime card with no balance. I'm also an AU on an Amex card that's been in good standing since 1989. I'd like to go for either a Chase Freedom or Sapphire card since I've been happy banking with them, but I haven't been able to figure out their qualification requirements and I don't really want to go fishing for prime cards and only catching empty inquiries. Any advice would be appreciated.

Re: Best CC to apply for?

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 04:15:48 GMT

I can't speak for the Chase cards but I can definitely recommend the Citi Forward!! Great rewards, No AF, and good with CLI's!

Here is the link if you want to check it out.

http://www.citiforward.com

Re: Best CC to apply for?

Creditaddict — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 05:05:26 GMT

+1 Citi Forward and maybe an amex for a 3rd card

Re: Best CC to apply for?

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 05:17:23 GMT

Thanks for the suggestions. Is that Forward card aimed at the "young adult" market? That's kind the impression I'm getting from their site. I'm all for having my APR dropping for paying on time, but I'm worried it will be one of the small starting CL cards. Monthly I have about 4-5k go across my check card and I would like to transition over to using a rewards CC in it's place and pay it off every month with the funds that aren't being spent on my check card. I'm not worried about having the util being high since it will be paid before the monthly report, but it would be nice to keep all my daily spending in one source for accounting purposes. Does BoA have any good programs I might qualify for now?

Re: Best CC to apply for?

andre181 — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 05:47:33 GMT

I also have to recommend Citi Forward.

When I got mine, it had a $3000 CL. In less than 2 years, its grown to $10,000. And my APR has dropped from 14.99 to 12.74!

It is a card marketed toward the younger market, but it is a great card for anybody.

Re: Best CC to apply for?

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 06:09:45 GMT

If you are thinking about the Freedom VS. Sapphire Chase cards, go for the Sapphire! I love it. Looks great, has a great rewards program, my interest is a low 12.24%, and it has real CSR's that will answer the phone speaking English 24/7. I also have a Citi ThankYou card that was just converted from a Diamond Preferred Rewards card, and it is OK, but not as good. The Forward card is not quite as good as either of these cards and think of that being recommended to young people just getting their first card. Good luck!

Re: Best CC to apply for?

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 08:10:10 GMT

After a little more research I've narrowed down my targets. I would like to leave the garden and open up 2 or 3 new accounts on a mini app spree and close down my FP card since it has served it's purpose. First one is an Amex Blue Cash since I already have my foot part way in the door as an AU since 2008 on an account with a perfect history since 1989 (should mitigate some of the hit on my AAoA). I'm also looking at a Citi Dividend card that would likely serve as a backup/emergency card. I considered the Forward card, but it doesn't really fit my lifestyle or my direction in life. Finally, I'm looking into a Chase Freedom card for now based on my experience banking with them (and looking into having a Sapphire card in the future when it makes more sense for my life). I'm also not against a Discover card, but haven't really done a lot of research into them. My AAoA is currently at 8.5 years and my util is at 22% total with my only balance on the BB store card. I would like to spread the inquiries around as much as I can and was wondering if anyone could comment on what CRAs these lenders pull for someone living in Nevada. As always, I'm open to suggestions and advice.

Re: Best CC to apply for?

brian2220 — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 08:45:45 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
After a little more research I've narrowed down my targets. I would like to leave the garden and open up 2 or 3 new accounts on a mini app spree and close down my FP card since it has served it's purpose. First one is an Amex Blue Cash since I already have my foot part way in the door as an AU since 2008 on an account with a perfect history since 1989 (should mitigate some of the hit on my AAoA). I'm also looking at a Citi Dividend card that would likely serve as a backup/emergency card. I considered the Forward card, but it doesn't really fit my lifestyle or my direction in life. Finally, I'm looking into a Chase Freedom card for now based on my experience banking with them (and looking into having a Sapphire card in the future when it makes more sense for my life). I'm also not against a Discover card, but haven't really done a lot of research into them. My AAoA is currently at 8.5 years and my util is at 22% total with my only balance on the BB store card. I would like to spread the inquiries around as much as I can and was wondering if anyone could comment on what CRAs these lenders pull for someone living in Nevada. As always, I'm open to suggestions and advice.

Chase will give a high limit card if they see that you have funds and alot of it going through the accounts with them.

They gave me my highest credit limit because i had a lot going through and they told me that was one of the reasons and having so many accounts with them

The citi dividend is a good card also i got instant approval and its a good rewards card but you can only redeem at 50 dollars and not 20 like chase

also citi pulls equifax in arizona

and chase pulls experian in arizona

hope this helps

Re: Best CC to apply for?

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 09:02:57 GMT

Thanks for the information. I do have a decent amount going through my Chase checking account, but some of my monthly expenditures pass through my Wells Fargo account since they hold my mortgage and I want to keep them happy for future opprotunities. I have seen that Chase likes to pull EX for people in the southwest region based on my research.