topic Re: Purpose of multiple CC's in Credit Cards

Purpose of multiple CC's

Anonymous — Mon, 14 May 2012 03:51:50 GMT

Since being on the rd to recovery and very close to trashing my FP and OB cards, I have been able to get a couple prime cards Chase Freedom 2300CL and CO CR 2000CL in the last couple of weeks. This year I plan to get an NFCU CC and I was hoping a SWA Visa because I fly SWA a lot but Im not sure about that. Maybe Ill come away from gardening in a few years and try to get an AMEX finally.

Now that I have the ability to diversify my portfolio I wanted to know how do you all use your cards? I typically pay them off monthly so I dont usually make very large purchases. I guess one would potentially use their best rewards card for most of their purchases and maybe their travel card for miles, maybe a certain card for restaurants etc. But with splitting your purchases over so many cards, how do you rack up any solid number of rewards?

Sometimes it seems easier to just get a really good card and use that only. But then what happens to the other cards CL's? Will they be lowered because of non use? Im just wondering because I see people with 10's of 1000s of $'s in credit card CL's over 9 CC's and Im wondering whats the purpose of it all?

Re: Purpose of multiple CC's

Anonymous — Mon, 14 May 2012 04:07:02 GMT

well you have a nice stack of cards already. if i were you if you have a chance in with navy federal i would do it like right now! also their rewards are so so but the credit limit will be ridiculously high. I plan to apply for their platinum card which has no rewards but lower apr (as low as 7.99) in case i ever need to carry a balance. do you have a chase checking account? are you planning on doing the chase combo or chase trio as they call it? What card CO are you talking about im running the list in my mind lol and cant figure it out. Honestly I think one of the best rewards cards out is the amex bcp but i think its the hardest to get. others will chime in and give opinions

edit. i edited the response cause i re read your post and really didnt answer your questions. people with 10 cards with low limits have what they call the "app itch" most have it some dont. its simple if you dont need credit dont apply for it. like i stated earlier my goal is to get a navy plat. card low apr zero rewards in case i need to carry a balance. chase freedom has nice quarterly bonuses. chase southwest is good for travel, there might be better ones though. and well pick a nice fuel card.

Re: Purpose of multiple CC's

r34dy2fly — Mon, 14 May 2012 04:05:08 GMT

I personally use all of them depending on if I'm working or if I'm just out and about except for my USAA. I highly doubt USAA is every going to lower my limit even if I don't use it so I don't worry about them much.

Chase = Work

Discover = Backup Balance Transfer card.

AMEX Platinum = Flights

AMEX SPG = Personal

USAA = Non-use

Every now and then I'll rotate the uses between the Chase card and SPG to even out usage but generally this is how I roll. I have two wallets as well to separate the two.

Re: Purpose of multiple CC's

Anonymous — Mon, 14 May 2012 04:06:57 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
well you have a nice stack of cards already. if i were you if you have a chance in with navy federal i would do it like right now! also their rewards are so so but the credit limit will be ridiculously high. I plan to apply for their platinum card which has no rewards but lower apr (as low as 7.99) in case i ever need to carry a balance. do you have a chase checking account? are you planning on doing the chase combo or chase trio as they call it? What card CO are you talking about im running the list in my mind lol and cant figure it out. Honestly I think one of the best rewards cards out is the amex bcp but i think its the hardest to get. others will chime in and give opinions

Well because I dont have an income I cant get the NFCU yet. Im a full time student and will get it this summer when Im working. Are you saying people are better off getting the card sooner than later if possible? If so why are you saying that? I hope they wont be less generous with CL in a couple of months. I do have a chase checking account. Im not sure sure what you mean by the trifecta however. lol. please educate me. Sorry I have the CO cash rewards platinum.

Re: Purpose of multiple CC's

Anonymous — Mon, 14 May 2012 04:12:25 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

Well because I dont have an income I cant get the NFCU yet. Im a full time student and will get it this summer when Im working. Are you saying people are better off getting the card sooner than later if possible? If so why are you saying that? I hope they wont be less generous with CL in a couple of months. I do have a chase checking account. Im not sure sure what you mean by the trifecta however. lol. please educate me. Sorry I have the CO cash rewards platinum.

im sorry now i remember you. usually i respond late at night lol. usually people say join navy now like right now well you want to build a relationship with nfcu. i dont think it matters if you get the card now or in the summer prob will be better cause your accounts will age a little you might get a small score bump thus increasing your chances of a higher limit again this is just my guess but i see it all the time. the chase trifecta lol is the checking accout with chase freedom and chase saphire preferred. usually its a hot topic there was a post not too long ago on how to properly use it seems interesting

Re: Purpose of multiple CC's

Anonymous — Mon, 14 May 2012 04:19:06 GMT

aah.. wont be getting a chase sapphire.. lol.. def dont qualify for one and probably wont be able to get approved for at least 5 more years when all my sallie mae lates fall off... yeah the NFCU hopefully will be better after the account has aged.. "aged" seems kind of strong but 3 months from now with 3 direct deposits going in. Hopefully that will make a difference. I really would like that CL to be $10k. I know thats probably wishful thinking, but we shall see.

Re: Purpose of multiple CC's

Anonymous — Mon, 14 May 2012 04:26:16 GMT

well whats your credit profile look like? it cant be that bad if you have a chase freedom card. lol i know i asked this once but what is a CO card?

Re: Purpose of multiple CC's

Anonymous — Mon, 14 May 2012 04:36:35 GMT

CO is capital one. Well lets see.. EX 656 TU 633 EQ 664... I have 11 sallie mae derogs. 8 90 day lates and 3 120+ day lates...most of these were in 2009 with one being in 2010... .. and a verizon charge off (oct 2009) which was fraud that I paid anyway and I wrote a letter to the CEO of verizon last week so well see if he helps me remove it.

util: 20% I pay in full each month. I shoud be better about catching them before the report.

Ive had 2 FP and one Orchard for 3 yrs, never late, $1300 CL total between the 3. I applied for a barclays last friday but was denied, hoping I can recon tomorrow.

$128k current debt.---med school and counting

Re: Purpose of multiple CC's

Anonymous — Mon, 14 May 2012 04:44:14 GMT

so youve had credit for the last 3 years yes? im surprised chase approved you but thats good. barclays prob denied you for too many inquiries. you should prob stop applying for anything and when the time comes in the summer and your working if your up to it get in with navy then stop applying again for the next year. if you keep applying and getting denied your just digging a deeper whole. congrats on your success though and work on good willing those lates if you havent already

Re: Purpose of multiple CC's

Anonymous — Mon, 14 May 2012 04:50:23 GMT

Yes Ive only had CC's for 3 yrs. You are me both are surprised about chase! lol. IDK if it has anything to do with me having a chase checking account. Barclays pulled my TU which I only have 2 inqs: Cap one recently and my old apt from june '11. Im sure it probably has to do with all the lates. Hopefully its maybe just the charge off because I have a letter from verizon stating they are having it removed. It might be dated march 2010, lol but they said it and Im trying to hold them to it. If its just that I can explain and send them the letter.

Re: Purpose of multiple CC's

Anonymous — Mon, 14 May 2012 05:17:13 GMT

I auto-pay bills with a different card for each bill. Some bills may not be much, like say, Netflix, but it shows usage and they get their transaction fee each month.

With that said, since all of them are showing usage without my really having to do anything I use my best cash back card for most of my purchases, i.e. Chase Freedom.

I keep an eye on the utility and if it looks like I'm getting close to the 15% utility mark I'll pay for any additional purchases for the month with the card with the highest credit limit.

Re: Purpose of multiple CC's

Anonymous — Mon, 14 May 2012 07:05:23 GMT

I only have 2 CCs right now.... one of which was opened recently because of the idiots managing my other card I was previously using exclusively. It's definitely a lot easier to manage one card especially if the company managing the card portfolio knows what they're doing. I use to only carry around my BoA card but it's been a large hassle lately. They temporarily froze my account 3 times this year because they let some jackass try out his/her naive fraud strategies.

I think realisitically you only need 2-3 cards but as i've discovered, it's a mistake to have only one.

Re: Purpose of multiple CC's

Anonymous — Mon, 14 May 2012 10:01:49 GMT

perfectuniverse1 wrote:

Sometimes it seems easier to just get a really good card and use that only. [...] Im just wondering because I see people with 10's of 1000s of $'s in credit card CL's over 9 CC's and Im wondering whats the purpose of it all?

I think you are correct about your thinking, and ideally that would be true. If you could get one card with a comfortable limit, good benefits, and good rewards, then theoretically you wouldn't ever need another card so long as you live.

But, there are many other variables. Practical reasons include: Banks change, lower limits or cut them off completely - so its always good to have a backup. Your credit score/profile rewards you (over time) for having/using/managing a number/variety of accounts and having large credit lines compared to usage (util). Having and using specific cards provides discounts/rewards/perks for using and/or opening in the first place.

Some other reasons to have multiple cards include: Bragging rights. They look cool. They make you feel worthy. People like you and I come on here and read about all of these great cards everybody else has and we decide we just have to have them even though our current cards are essentially the same and serve us fine...

Re: Purpose of multiple CC's

Lambo23 — Mon, 14 May 2012 10:15:29 GMT

I've always been a fan of 1 card and 1 bank card. Now that I see what else is out there, I realize that say if you have amex or discover than you will need a backup Visa/MC incase the merchant does not accept them. I plan on having Amex as primary and Visa/MC with good rewards and no AF as a backup. When I first started reading this forum I became obsessed and wanted every prime card out there. What for? So I can juggle around the rewards for a year and earn a few dollars? Kind of pointless unless I am spending a TON of money on a monthly basis. Maybe someday.

Re: Purpose of multiple CC's

GST2008 — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:02:23 GMT

I have six personal cards all together. I have two older cards with OB, which I opened when I was rebuilding. I don't use them too much, but since they are my oldest accounts and the limits are decent (2.2k and 2.4k), I keep them open and periodically give them some small use. This actually worked out well since one of them converted to a rewards card at the end of 2010. My OB Gold MC started giving cashback rewards w/ an introductory 5% on all purchases and I was able to do all of my holiday shopping on it and max it out for the $300 cash back cap.

I have two department store cards with Bloomingdale's and Nordstroms (7.9k and 6k, respectively) as that is where I shop for clothing. I pay these in full each month but keep them because the limits are large and some of the perks to having the cards can be amazing. The free gift wrap at Bloomingdale's during the hollidays is god sent and they do an amazing job and spare no expense on the paper and ribbon!

Finally, I have my two everyday use cards, both are Barclays (4.1k and 6.5k). I use one card for everyday purchases and the other is a back-up or for unexpected purchases. These are the only two I really have to worry about paying or keeping track of with regards to purchases. The others all get PIF at the end of the month.

I also have an AMEX Business Gold charge, which I use frequently for work.