topic Re: Spreeing? in Credit Cards

Spreeing?

TwistedAngel — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 07:28:44 GMT

Hello.

Until last week, I only had one credit card (and thought this was a good thing, but now I know better).

Last week, I aplied for AMEX BCE (which after reading this forum, I realize was stupid) and was denied, and then for the Discover it card, for which I was approved.

I would ideally like to have four cards, 1 visa (already have a platinum preferred from my credit union), Discover (which I was approved for) AMEX (which I know better than to reapply for any time soon) and a Capital One Mastercard.

Should I extend my applying spree and go ahead and app for the Master card? I know it would add another inquiry, but if I get approved, it would mean that in a year when I reapply for AMEX I would have another account in good standing, and after a year, the app wouldn't count, where if I wait six months and apply, that would still be looked at by AMEX.

Re: Spreeing?

creditnocash — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 07:37:19 GMT

did you get the letter yet from amex?

Since you already have a couple cards I personally would stay away from cap one.

Maybe a chase freedom?

Does your cu card report too all three bureaus?

edit: btw there is a mastercard version of the chase freedom.

Re: Spreeing?

TwistedAngel — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 07:42:14 GMT

No Letter yet.

Is Captial One bad?

I will look into the Chase Freedom Master Card, thank you.

I have no idea which bureau(s) the cu card reports to. All I know is that is a "platinum preferred" visa, but I don't know if that means anything on a cu card.

Re: Spreeing?

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 08:14:04 GMT

if i remember correctly, your entire credit history is <1 year right?
If so, I'll just stay away from apps for the next 6-12months. You don't want to seem as credit-crazy or credit-desperate by any lender when you're just starting out.

Re: Spreeing?

TwistedAngel — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 08:48:31 GMT

My CU Visa is three years old. Its the Discover it Card that is less than a year, but that does cut my AAoA.

Re: Spreeing?

bettercreditguy1 — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 10:52:50 GMT

Garden and fertilize the cards you have. Yes it is spring!. It is possible to attempt to excell to rapidly. If you want an AMEX card, they like to see payment history. My suggestion is to wait for at least six months, a year would be better before apping for additional credit of any type.

Re: Spreeing?

dddewdrop — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 11:35:07 GMT

Capital One is not bad it is good. It is just that as the other poster was saying, if you were approved for a Discover IT then you are in a situation where you are eligible for other "prime" cards which have more prestige and clout than capital one. I don't mean prestige and clout in the sense of "look at me". I mean prestige and clout in that when a lender looks at your credit report they will see you in a more favorable light if you have credit card accounts with chase or citi than with capital one. Having a capital one account is better than having a say First Premier account or other sub prime fee sucker account however if you can get a "prime" card not only will it look better on your credit reports but it will also give you access to better features like cash back, warranties, discounts, etc....

There are several different opinions on how many credit card tradelines is optimal. I will give you my opinion however. I believe that between 4 and 6 is optimal. This is based on being on several forums for the last 3 months and researching this stuff. One of the major strategies of an "app spree" is to apply for a bunch of cards at once. That way you can apply before any of the inquiries hit your reports. Once it has been a day or two then the inquires will have hit your reports and the value of an app spree is over. That being said, if you don't have a whole lot of inquires, you may wish to add more tradelines now. The theory behind this is to get the optimal number of tradelines going as soon as possible so they can get to aging. The older your tradelines are, the better your score. I am not sure if amex will not hold inquires against you after 6 months. Inquires' effect on the fico formula starts to go down after 6 months, however they still appear on your credit report for up to 2 years so amex will see them there for 2 years so it is hard to say how much weight they will hold after 6 months or 1 year or a year and a half. That is open to speculation.

Re: Spreeing?

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:19:09 GMT

you dont have to limit your 4th card to be a MC.

I don't think there's a difference between MC and Visa since both are really similar and whichever place accepts visa will also accept MC and vice versa.

Your scores are good, just that your file is thin. However, I think you will be able to qualify for most CapitalOne cards. They're not that demanding, but it's best to check credit pulls database to see the approximate scores and stuff for people who got approved. Their venture card seems to be a pretty nice card in terms of rewards, so I definitely recommend that.

You can also check out Bank of America reward cards (there's a few), Citi Thank You or Diamond Prefered, US Bank (most of the cards except Cash+), Chase Freedom, etc. So your choices are actually pretty good, but try to avoid those cards that are meant for established profiles (such as Chase CSP or Citi Thank You Premium for now. If you shop at a certain store, or travel with a certain airlines or stay at a certain hotel a lot, you can even check out store cards or retail branded cards.

Re: Spreeing?

b_seeker — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:33:58 GMT

@TwistedAngel wrote:
No Letter yet.

Is Captial One bad?

I will look into the Chase Freedom Master Card, thank you.

I have no idea which bureau(s) the cu card reports to. All I know is that is a "platinum preferred" visa, but I don't know if that means anything on a cu card.

Just FYI, I believe the only way to make sure you get the MC version is to apply from the link on Mastercard's website. Usually Chase will send out a Visa, but sometimes they will ask you which you want. The MC link should always give MC version.

As far as the above poster mentioning no difference between Visa and MC: It's always good to have multiple cards. Some places take Visa but not MC, or vice versa. Some places only take Discover. I like having multiple cards in case. I've read this is more on an issue going overseas.

Re: Spreeing?

a3quit4s — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:39:24 GMT

Capital One is often referred to as "Crapital One" on these boards. I've been hating on them since '09. They did give me my first card after my scores started to come up but when I called after 2-3 years of spending and no late payments EVER they wouldn't PC the card into something with rewards or even give me a CLI.

Everyone seems to say that they are getting better now; but do yourself a favor and get a national Bank (Chase, BoA) and start building a relationship with them. They offer everything from mortgages to car loans.

The Visa/Mastercard/Amex/Discover thing is pointless IMO, just get the cards that suit your spending. Why have an AMEX with an annual fee when you don't spend enough to justify it?

The first thing I would do in your shoes is hit up the credit union that has you at 1K that you have had for 3 years and get a CLI

Re: Spreeing?

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:51:24 GMT

what good mastercards are there by the way? The only good ones I can find are Chase CSP and Freedom (offered in both visa and MC), Citi Prestige, and maybe the Citi Diamond Prefered and Dividend Card. Everything else seems to be Visa or Amex.

If anyone can recommend some, let me know!

Re: Spreeing?

creditnocash — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:18:44 GMT

+1 guys, i wasnt bashing capital one. as other poster stated, if you got approved for discover it, they should explore other cards.

plus cap one pulls all three reports soo.

i was guessing if the it was brand new, his aaoa would be 1.5 years. and i got approved for my freedom with about the same amount of aaoa.

@op i would suggest pulling your reports from annualcreditreport dot com too see if the cu(credit union) card is reporting too all three, also too make sure there is nothing out of the ordinary.

Re: Spreeing?

sccredit — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:22:25 GMT

If you really want a MC here is the Freedom app link. I love my Freedom card

https://applynow.chase.com/FlexAppWeb/renderApp.do?SPID=DWXL&CELL=6H8X&AFFID=EhraRx8K_BE-A0_sd8kXj7iUKrnyinb5Ng&pvid=1125d3882013b8045403134e20ba28&jp_cmp=cc/265343/aff/3-10001767/na

Re: Spreeing?

TwistedAngel — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 21:54:52 GMT

Thank you for the link. We do have places around here that accept only VISA or only Discover, so I figured there would be places that only accept MC. Thats the only reason I want a MC version.

Credit Karma says my odds of getting a chase card with my current report are only "fair" (which my mind translates to don't bother because you have a thin file) but my odds of getting the Capital One Platinum Prestige are "Very Good" (Highest possible odds) which is why I asked about the capital one card.

Would it be a bad idea to get the Capital One Platinum Prestige card now, so that I don't have to worry about not having a card that somewhere will take (I do not ever carry cash with me and my bank does only VISA for credit and debit) and go for the chase card (which I want after looking at it) in one to two years when I go for the AMEX (I want the blue everyday, the one without an annual fee) and then sock-drawer the capital one card, keeping a monthly bill on it to keep it active but PIF each month or cancel the card if Capital One looks bad enough on my report to warrant taking that hit?

And what exactly is a "prime" card?

Re: Spreeing?

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 21:56:34 GMT

Credit karma "chances of approval" is not accurate. It says my chances of getting approved for freedom is low even when my ck score is 756. My actual Fico is 760ish for TU so it's not too different compared to CK score. I applied for freedom and was approved instantly.

Just look at credit karma review section to see users credit score when they are approved, and use other data sites such as who gave me credit and credit pull database.

Btw, are there any other good mc besides freedom and csp?

Re: Spreeing?

b_seeker — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 01:20:57 GMT

Depends on what you define as good and what you are looking for in a card.