topic How is my lineup? How can I make it happen? in Credit Cards

How is my lineup? How can I make it happen?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 08:37:54 GMT

Hey everyone,

Edit: I forgot, I should include my goals. I'm playing a game here, a game of trying to get as much cash/value back as possible on any purchase I make. In addition, the Club Carlson card I mention below, my goal there is to grab a good value. I realize this game I'm playing might be silly, but I'm still playing it and my goal is simply to get as much cash/value back as possible.

I'm new to credit cards, and only started really looking into it a week ago. Before 1 week ago I had:

UMCU Platinum $3000 limit, age 7 months.

Now I have:

UMCU Platinum $3000 limit, age 7 months.

Chase Freedom $1500 limit, brand new.

Discover It $1500 limit, brand new.

Fidelity Investment Rewards American Express $2000 limit, brand new.

American Express Blue Cash Preferred $7000 limit, brand new.

Eventually I want to add these cards:

Barclaycard Arrival

Barclaycard ChoicePrivileges

Barclaycard Sallie Mae Mastercard

US Bank Cash+

US Bank Club Carlson Premier Rewards

Citi Dividend

I also have no use for my UMCU Platinum but will probably keep it open to help AAoA until my AAoA is over a year.

About me, right now my CreditKarma score is 685 but it hasn't registered all of the new credit cards or inquiries yet, so I don't know how that will change. I always pay my cards in full on time, my total credit limit is 15K, my highest credit limit is 7K. I'm 23 years old and my income for 2014 is 104K, rent is $500/month, and I have about 55K in assets. I have no installment loans like a mortgage, student loans, or auto loans. In my spree a week ago I was accecpted for Chase Freedom, Discover It, Fidelity Investment Rewards Amex, and Amex Blue Cash Preferred; I was rejected for Barclaycard Sallie Mae Mastercard, US Bank Cash+ and Citi Dividend. I created a US Bank Checking account and I will move my money from my UMCU checking account and direct deposit there. My direct deposit will be $5000-$5500 a month and I'll probably have on average about $5000 in there. My credit card spending is about $1100-$1300 a month, but once I get things settled a bit more I'll be trying to get that down to something more like $1000-$1100 a month. I pay rent and utilities direct from my debit account so it's not included in that credit card spending. This also doesn't include any big purchases I make.

In January 2015 I want to apply for:

Barclaycard Arrival

US Bank Cash+

Citi Dividend

Question 1: What can I do to increase my chances of being approved for these cards?

Next, I want to check to see if my credit card line up is as good as it can be?

Re: How is my lineup? How can I make it happen?

knhorn — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 08:57:50 GMT

I have only one question; what on earth is your occupation to be making $104000 per year at age 23? If I were you I wouldn't be concerned about the measly cash back you'll receive from spending $1k per month. Sorry, I just had to ask.

Re: How is my lineup? How can I make it happen?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 09:06:25 GMT

I'm a code monkey. I just got my first professional job this January, so I was including a starting bonus in there. My salary is actually only 90K right now. When I mention work travel, it's very little travel, one week a year or so.

At any point if I decide I'm going to spend more and ramp up spending, this cash back could be more useful than it is today, and these card portfolios take time to build up. For right now, no kids, no wife, no responsibilities, I decided it was best to save most of my income, but in the future I may not have that luxury. Even still though, at $1200/month spending, if I could average 5% back that's $60 a month, compared to my 1.1% with my previous UMCU Platinum giving me $13.20, a gain of $46.80. Not huge but not inconsequential.

Re: How is my lineup? How can I make it happen?

lg8302ch — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 09:27:00 GMT

Hi Joe

Plans for cards look good to me...what I would question is the time frame. Not sure what your present AAoA is with all the new cards already. Remember credit is a marathon and not a race.. it takes a lot of time What I would do is make sure you do all on-time payments, no further new inquiries ...let's say garden 6 mo better 12 mo and not apply for anything until you have an AAoA of over 1 year. With your salary you can easily apply a PIF strategy. Patiently garden and then proceed with your plan High scores also come from established accounts not only low utilization due high limits. Patience, patience, patience is the main key to credit success..lol

Re: How is my lineup? How can I make it happen?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 09:52:12 GMT

Hey LG,

My present AAoA with all these accounts will be about 2 months. In January 2015 when I want to apply again for 3 more it will be 8 months. I know US Bank Cash+ is a tricky one to get, but I'm hoping utilizing their checking account well will help me get it. I just don't want to keep a huge amount in there and lose out on the investment value of that money for the sake of the card, so I'm not going to try and do the 25K for 6 months thing there. But with the high direct deposit and 5K average daily balance, I feel I should be pretty good.

What is "PIF strategy?" Pay in full? If so then yes, that's what the plan is. No point paying interest to try and chase cards, any benefit I get from the new cards I'd end up killing by paying interest.

Re: How is my lineup? How can I make it happen?

lg8302ch — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 10:03:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hey LG,

My present AAoA with all these accounts will be about 2 months. In January 2015 when I want to apply again for 3 more it will be 8 months. I know US Bank Cash+ is a tricky one to get, but I'm hoping utilizing their checking account well will help me get it. I just don't want to keep a huge amount in there and lose out on the investment value of that money for the sake of the card, so I'm not going to try and do the 25K for 6 months thing there. But with the high direct deposit and 5K average daily balance, I feel I should be pretty good.

What is "PIF strategy?" Pay in full? If so then yes, that's what the plan is. No point paying interest to try and chase cards, any benefit I get from the new cards I'd end up killing by paying interest.

Yes PIF is Pay In Full and by this I mean just pay before the due date and absolutely no late payments. With 8 months AAoA in January 15 I would postpone my next app spree to June 15 but that is only me. I like not only approvals but close to best terms....so far managed to never get a denial with my system...all inquiries were always successful but I know there will be a day that I will receive my first credit denial...it is just a matter of time

Re: How is my lineup? How can I make it happen?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 10:11:42 GMT

I'm fine with "worse" terms. Whatever CL they give me is fine because if I need more room I will just pay it off early and then be able to use it again, and I don't care what the APR is because I'm never paying it. The only thing I care about is approval for the card I applied for.

Re: How is my lineup? How can I make it happen?

Themanwhocan — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 12:25:15 GMT

It is often possible to obtain 2 of the same type of card. So that should factor into your future plans. 2 cash+ would allow you to solve Restaurants/Fast Food, as well as Electronics stores and another category. 2 Sallie Mae rewards mastercards should handle most Grocery/Gas/Book Store.

Amazon.com is a Book Store. So Sallie Mae Rewards Mastercards, and US Bank Cash+ with Book Stores selected, are good choices.

Consider working towards 2 Bank of America Better Balance Rewards cards. If used properly, getting $25 cash back every 3 months can be significant, since you control the spending on the card. Lower spending means higher cash back percentage. Just don't try to spend so little that you are sure to annoy the company.

At this point, you should be using the Amex BCP well, perhaps 20% or so per month and paying in full. You want to request a 3X credit limit at 2 months and 8 months. getting one high limit card will help toward future credit limits and limit increase requests. Amex uses previous month soft pulls on your credit report, so try to optimise your FICO score for the first 8 months (it can't hurt).

Your FICO scores need time to recover. And your credit reports need time to age, ie, time for the existing cards to build a pattern of responsible use.

Credit Karma/Credit Sesame scores are truely useless. And any advice they give you is also worthless. TRUELY worthless. Use them to see when Hard Inquiries and new credit cards appear on your reports, and thats about all. make sure you use the Discover It so that it will generate a monthly statements, as the Transunion score from Discover does have meaning.

For Walmart, you can use the Huntington Bank Voice card for 3% cash back, if you are in their business area. I don't know if they wil allow 2 identical cash back cards.

https://www.huntington.com/regions/

https://www.myhnbrewards.com/learnmore.aspx?source=ccrwdlm

If you have lots of real small purchases each month, consider geting a Citizens Bank (or Charter One Bank) Green$ense card.

Cash+ has Cell Phone category. Also Furniture Store category. It all depends on how much you spend in these categories as to which you should select each quarter.

The annual fee on the Amex BCP reduces the real amount of cash back you are getting. Its important to do the math:

Here is a nice list of cash back categories you might want to consider: http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2012/11/09/best-category-bonuses/

What do you mean when you say "V2 Sigs" ?

Re: How is my lineup? How can I make it happen?

Themanwhocan — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 12:30:09 GMT

Consider your spending pattern when deciding what cards are best. As mentioned earlier, BCP can barely hit 4.75% cash back on Grocery due to earning caps and annual fee, and only when you spend exactly $6000 a year at grocery stores. having multiple 5% cash back cards with no annual fees is usually the best way to go.

But I did say we should do the math, so:

Re: How is my lineup? How can I make it happen?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 13:43:49 GMT

Hey Themanwhocan,

Thanks! Exactly the type of response I was looking for.

On the BCP, part of the reason I went with it is that the starting bonus pays for 2 years (alternatively, the difference between the starting bonus for it and for BCE makes the first year's annual fee only $25 instead of $75), and that it gives higher credit limits than most cards, which can help me gain other cards. Since I was unable to get the Sallie Mae Mastercard, and my annual spend on groceries is probably roughly $5000, the BCP is a good bet for me at the moment I think. Once I get one Sallie card, I will probably drop it down to BCE right before renewal time, which on $420/month is $250@5%=$12.50+$170@3%=$5.10=about 4.2% overall cash back. 2 Sallies would be optimal, but harder to get I suppose.

As for gas, my plan would be to just buy a gas card with my discover/chase card and use it over the year. My gas expense is only about $800/year, even including any non-ordinary trip I might make, so the gas isn't a big problem. If I had two Sallie Mae cards I would just put it on that, but until then this should work fine.

As for the Huntington bank card, unfortunately I don't live in their service area.

I don't have many purchases under $10 (lunch is payroll deduct where I work which would probably be the bulk of my under $5 transactions) so I don't have much use for that 25-cent per transaction card, but it's good to know it exists.

I can try for the BoA cards, but how much is an approproiate charge for them? Would $100 a quarter work?

I general, yes, getting multiple cards can really help. With 2 Sallie Mae (3 would be even better in case I had a heavy month) I would have no use for my BCP. With 2 Cash+ cards I can have Restaurants on one card, and Cell Phone with Electronics or Furnitature on the other (since neither Electronics nor Furnitature are regular purchases, I can pick which I'll buy that quarter). I'm also wondering what is that discover card you have?

Generally, how do you get two of these cards?

Also, I noticed this card from the bank you mentioned: http://www.charterone.com/cards-and-rewards/credit-cards/cashback-platinum.aspx Do you know anything about that? That looks like an insane card.

And on the Amex CLI, are you saying I should ask for a CLI in 2 months, so in August, for 3x my credit limit, so to 21K? Or were you saying in 8 months to ask for it? Or what, I'm a bit confused. I don't want my CLs to get too high because I don't want my utilization to get down below 5%, which I hear is worse than something like 10%. Additionally, I don't really care about having more than 5K CL on any card, since I'm paying them off high CLs don't do much for me in themselves.

On the Amazon is books, I believe that's only on certain categories, right? Not everything on Amazon counts as books.

V2 Cigs is a company: http://www.v2cigs.com/

Re: How is my lineup? How can I make it happen?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 13:44:27 GMT

Hey Themanwhocan,

Thanks! Exactly the type of response I was looking for.

As for the Huntington bank card, unfortunately I don't live in their service area.

I can try for the BoA cards, but how much is an approproiate charge for them? Would $100 a quarter work?

Generally, how do you get two of these cards?

Also, I noticed this card from the bank you mentioned: http://www.charterone.com/cards-and-rewards/credit-cards/cashback-platinum.aspx Do you know anything about that? That looks like an insane card.

On the Amazon is books, I believe that's only on certain categories, right? Not everything on Amazon counts as books.

V2 Cigs is a company: http://www.v2cigs.com/

Re: How is my lineup? How can I make it happen?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 13:49:35 GMT

Hey Themanwhocan,

Thanks! Exactly the type of response I was looking for.

On the BCP, part of the reason I went with it is that the starting bonus pays for 2 years (alternatively, the difference between the starting bonus for it and for BCE makes the first year's annual fee only $25 instead of $75), and that it gives higher credit limits than most cards, which can help me gain other cards. Since I was unable to get the Sallie Mae Mastercard, and my annual spend on groceries is probably roughly $5000, the BCP is a good bet for me at the moment I think. Once I get one Sallie card, I will probably drop it down to BCE right before renewal time, which on $420/month is $250@5%=$12.50+$170@3%=$5.10=about 4.2% overall cash back. 2 Sallies would be optimal, but harder to get I suppose.

As for gas, my plan would be to just buy a gas card with my discover/chase card and use it over the year. My gas expense is only about $800/year, even including any non-ordinary trip I might make, so the gas isn't a big problem. If I had two Sallie Mae cards I would just put it on that, but until then this should work fine.

As for the Huntington bank card, unfortunately I don't live in their service area.

I don't have many purchases under $10 (lunch is payroll deduct where I work which would probably be the bulk of my under $5 transactions) so I don't have much use for that 25-cent per transaction card, but it's good to know it exists.

I can try for the BoA cards, but how much is an approproiate charge for them? Would $100 a quarter work?

I general, yes, getting multiple cards can really help. With 2 Sallie Mae (3 would be even better in case I had a heavy month) I would have no use for my BCP. With 2 Cash+ cards I can have Restaurants on one card, and Cell Phone with Electronics or Furnitature on the other (since neither Electronics nor Furnitature are regular purchases, I can pick which I'll buy that quarter). I'm also wondering what is that discover card you have?

Generally, how do you get two of these cards?

Re: How is my lineup? How can I make it happen?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 14:20:59 GMT

As one of their customers I know they have what is termed and internal "relationship score". It is used for specials and preferred products. Not sure it would help with the US Bank Cash+ VS. Was told you need a minimum income of $30K (guide) and they like a history in the CBs of a year and they like to see CLs of $5K. Note there are exceptions to this and it was a guideline. So... it may not be cast in stone. The US Bank Cash+ VS is suppose to be an in branch app for their customers. Many exceptions listed on this site. Went in to the bank after 1 1/2 months as a customer and had a US Bank Personal Banker submit my app which took two days and was approved. Food for thought.

Re: How is my lineup? How can I make it happen?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 14:27:41 GMT

I'll be using their checking account exclusively when I get everything set up (probably sometime early in the week after July 4th) but I can't in good conscious keep an average daily balance of 25K in there (an amount someone else told me). That's just a waste of the potential for that money. I usually keep an average daily balance of 5K (which is really about 3.5K most of the time, and much more whenever I'm moving money around and I have to keep it there briefly). But they'll see a big direct deposit, and withdrawls for rent and utilities and paying off cards.

Re: How is my lineup? How can I make it happen?

Themanwhocan — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 14:51:10 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hey Themanwhocan,

Thanks! Exactly the type of response I was looking for.

On the BCP, part of the reason I went with it is that the starting bonus pays for 2 years (alternatively, the difference between the starting bonus for it and for BCE makes the first year's annual fee only $25 instead of $75), and that it gives higher credit limits than most cards, which can help me gain other cards. Since I was unable to get the Sallie Mae Mastercard, and my annual spend on groceries is probably roughly $5000, the BCP is a good bet for me at the moment I think. Once I get one Sallie card, I will probably drop it down to BCE right before renewal time, which on $420/month is $250@5%=$12.50+$170@3%=$5.10=about 4.2% overall cash back. 2 Sallies would be optimal, but harder to get I suppose.

As for gas, my plan would be to just buy a gas card with my discover/chase card and use it over the year. My gas expense is only about $800/year, even including any non-ordinary trip I might make, so the gas isn't a big problem. If I had two Sallie Mae cards I would just put it on that, but until then this should work fine.

As for the Huntington bank card, unfortunately I don't live in their service area.

I don't have many purchases under $10 (lunch is payroll deduct where I work which would probably be the bulk of my under $5 transactions) so I don't have much use for that 25-cent per transaction card, but it's good to know it exists.

I can try for the BoA cards, but how much is an approproiate charge for them? Would $100 a quarter work?

I general, yes, getting multiple cards can really help. With 2 Sallie Mae (3 would be even better in case I had a heavy month) I would have no use for my BCP. With 2 Cash+ cards I can have Restaurants on one card, and Cell Phone with Electronics or Furnitature on the other (since neither Electronics nor Furnitature are regular purchases, I can pick which I'll buy that quarter). I'm also wondering what is that discover card you have?

Generally, how do you get two of these cards?

And on the Amex CLI, are you saying I should ask for a CLI in 2 months, so in August, for 3x my credit limit, so to 21K? Or were you saying in 8 months to ask for it? Or what, I'm a bit confused. I don't want my CLs to get too high because I don't want my utilization to get down below 5%, which I hear is worse than something like 10%. Additionally, I don't really care about having more than 5K CL on any card, since I'm paying them off high CLs don't do much for me in themselves.

On the Amazon is books, I believe that's only on certain categories, right? Not everything on Amazon counts as books.

You can get two identical cards by either calling the number on your credit card and asking if the card can be changed to a different card. or you can just apply for the exact same card you already have.

For Barclaycard (they handle the Sallie Mae cards) you can just apply for a card you already have. Make sure you are likely to get an auto approval, since trying to convince a customer service rep to overide the computer to give you a card you already have, would be a tough thing to sell. But word on the Internet is that someone once had 4 identical Barclaycards, so more than 2 is possible. Just spread the applications at least 6 months apart, and show Barclaycard lots of steady spending and paying, at least until you get all the cards you want from them.

For US Bank, I asked them to convert my no rewards Platinum card, and thats how I got my second Cash+. You need a $5000+ limit on the card to get a Cash+, plus it has to have been reviewed and approved ahead of time. But its definitely doable.

Bank of America Better Balance Rewards you can get via either converting a card, or just by applying for it a second time. Someone here has 3 of those cards, once by each method. My plan is to obtain a BOA Cash Rewards card, mainly for the $100 sign up bonus. Then after 6-8 months or so, I will probably realize I don't use that card as much as I thought I would, and I'll call BOA to see if I can switch it to a Better Balance Rewards card...

On the BOA BBR card, $100 a month spend would equal 8.33% cash back every 3 months ($25 / $300). I plan to put a $46 DSL utility bill on mine, which is 18.1%, but at first I will show some good usage. Its the people that ask "wow, can I charge 15 cents a month and get $25 !!!" that concern me. Yes, yes you can. And yes, credit card companies can close your cards for any reason, as well as for no reason. I would think getting 8.33% cash back on things that you don't have a 5% cash back card to use on, would be a fine idea. Eventually get 2 or 3 cards, and be able to cover $200-$300 or so of utility bills, or maybe Walmart purchases, etc... Great way to fill in the gaps on your credit card 5% coverage. PS: $166.66 average spend per month equals 5% cash back on the BBR card.

There is a guide to the American Express CLI requests in the "helpful threads" in the green section at the start of these posts. Basically your very first request can occur at 61+ days, and at 6 month increments after that. they are soft pulls, so there is no reason not to ask. Maximum you can get is 3X your current limit, and the computer will automatically offer a lesser amount if they can't give the full 3X, so just ask for the 3X.

Sorry, but there is no such think as a card that gives cash back on books. The credit card company doesn't know what you are buying. They do know you charged a certain amount, and the transaction came from a Book Store. So, you can get cash back from all purchases made at Book Stores, but not specifically books. So, make sure you buy your books from Book Stores, and then it shouldn't be a problem...

Re: How is my lineup? How can I make it happen?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 17:41:35 GMT

A few more questions Themanwhocan,

Should I apply now for the BoA card? Or should I wait and apply with the others in January?

Other than what I've said before and asking for the CLI on the Amex, is there anything else I can do that will help my odds of getting those cards in January?

And thank you, you've been a big help to me here.

Re: How is my lineup? How can I make it happen?

Themanwhocan — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 17:55:42 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
A few more questions Themanwhocan,

Should I apply now for the BoA card? Or should I wait and apply with the others in January?
Other than what I've said before and asking for the CLI on the Amex, is there anything else I can do that will help my odds of getting those cards in January?

And thank you, you've been a big help to me here.

Its best to wait on any more applications. 6 months of credit card history is absolute bare minimum, and you only have 7 months, and now a bunch of inquiries and a bunch of new cards to temporarily pull down your scores. And scores are not the only thing that matters.

Re: How is my lineup? How can I make it happen?

Themanwhocan — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 17:59:08 GMT

Oh, and and as long as you have 6 months to kill, you should read this old post: http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-do-I-play-the-1-9-Utilization-Game-Please-Help/m-p/2471295#M703454

Re: How is my lineup? How can I make it happen?

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 22:04:05 GMT

Last question on strategy, does this sound like the correct strategy to be applying?

In January, apply for:

Barclaycard Arrival, wait for decision. If I don't get it, apply for Sallie Mae Mastercard. (or should I apply simultaneously)

Apply for US Bank Cash+ (if they don't give it to me, I expect they'll offer me something different, if they do I'll ask for the Visa Platinum card (or should I ask for a different one) and charge $300ish a month on it. If they give me the Cash+ then jsut use it normally.

Then apply for Dividend after hearing back from US Bank. If I get it cool, if not, try again in July.

Then apply for BoA Better Balance Rewards. If I get it cool, if not try again in July.

In July:

If I got the Barclaycard Arrival apply for a Sallie Mae Mastercard. If I got a Sallie Mae Mastercard apply for Arrival. If I got neither apply for Sallie Mae Mastercard (means it's really hard to get a card from there, I need to start easy)

Then, if I got the US Bank Cash+ card, apply for the Visa Platinum Card (or a different one if another is better). If I got the Visa Platinum card, apply for the Cash+ card. If I got no card then apply for the Cash+ card, and take a different card if I can. Tell them I'm also interested in the Club Carlson Premier Rewards card, and I'd like that if they'll give it to me. Try and get that one from them.

Apply for Dividend if I don't have it. If I get it, cool. If not, try again in January.

Apply for BoA Better Balance Rewards if I didn't get it last time. If I got it last time, apply for whatever has the best starting bonus then.

In January 2016:

If I don't have Arrival, apply for that. If I have Arrival but not Sallie Mae apply for that. If I have both apply for ChoicePrivileges.

Then, if I don't have Cash+ apply for that. If I have Cash+ and some garbage card I don't want apply for Club Carlson (bide my time, might be easier to PC with a longer history with them).

Apply for Dividend if I don't have it.

Either PC to Better Balance or whatever I'm looking at at the moment.

Obviously this planning is pretty far out and circumstances will change (new card comes out that it more useful or one of those gets discontinued or something) but as a preliminary does this sound right. On the points where I'm not sure (what card should I want if I don't get Cash+ for PCing to Cash+ later), what is the best option?