topic Re: CSP and Amex BCP... Shall I apply? in Credit Cards

CSP and Amex BCP... Shall I apply?

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 22:20:18 GMT

Over the years I've been trying to fix my credit and it's now at a point where creditkarma shows me at 761. mint shows me at 720 (I think they use Equifax?) and not sure about Experian. I've gone from 603 year and a half ago to 761. It had to do with old collections finally coming off, and being an authorized user on my wife's cards (BoA with 10+ years of history and her 7K CL Discover) Oddly and funny enough, my credit score is now higher than hers LOL

I've been wanting to start a structured way to use my credit cards to benefit from cash back etc. I don't see the point of a charge card (I like having the option of paying overtime with APR vs pay all at once or you're screwed idea) so from my research today Amex BCP and CSP are probably the best cards out there. Especially with CSP's promotion going on (45,000 points upon signup and use 3,000K) it will be nice to have 500 bucks on travel credit.

My plan is have myself and wife start using BCP on supermarket/gas/dept store purchases, and CSP with travel etc. (we don't travel too often though)

Where would misc stuff go in this case? which card?

also I know AMEX has some great things like 90 day return policy etc, but I saw on a post here that it's only good for items upto 300 bucks and 1,000 a year? pretty much takes out anything like a laptop out of the equiation if I need to return it for whatever reason....(or a camera lens, digital camera etc) is there any truth to this?

Lastly, where can I benefit from the CSP besides travel? we go on couple cruises a year and that's about it. probably less than 5K a year on that stuff.

I also have some other credit cards I could probably cancel, but I guess it's nice to have them open and just put them away as closing them will hurt my AAoA?

currently here is what we have (between my wife and I)

Discover - 7,000 Limit

Capital one plat - 750 Limit

Credit one - 950 Limit

BoA Plat - 4500 limit

Citicard plat - 2000 limit? (I can't remember)

I'm also bit worried I might lower my credit by getting 1 or 2 credit cards... the "simulators" drop my credit about 10-20 points if I apply for a credit card or two...

I guess I want some conformation on if this is a good idea or not. I don't like having many credit cards. Even though it's all upto me at the end of the day to use them or not, it's alot of open credit just sitting there.

should I apply to both cards? and if so, will I benefit in the end by higher open credit line etc? not even sure if I'll get them. income of about 110,000 combined

Thanks!

Edit: I see CSP is 2x on resturants which we visit way too often. so it can benefit from there...

Looking on mint we spend on avg 200 or so a month on groceries. but it varies... last year we did 381!!! This year we're at 2,800 bucks...

restaurants last month was 485... seems like a good average for us. This year it's at 4,000 dollars so far.

gas floats around 150-200 bucks (I drive a volt, so I barely need gas... it's mostly the wife's hybrid infitini lol) this year we're at 1700 bucks for it.

at around 2200 a year (this year) for travel....

I see the benefits I can get, just will have to micromanage what goes where and be on top of paying everything off, because I want my credit high since there is a large auto finance coming around feb ('15 Corvette!!!) and a house mortage probably year after that....

Thanks again!

Re: CSP and Amex BCP... Shall I apply?

joltdude — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 23:56:40 GMT

If you didn't burn amex I'd go for that, but consider closing the credit one
if your considering the csp.... Bce/bcp seem thin file friendly if you have close to a year or more of AAoA .. Still have doubts about the csp yet... Might want to get a real Fico or 3 and not rely on FAKOs

Re: CSP and Amex BCP... Shall I apply?

bigblue7722 — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 00:09:14 GMT

With the cards you have now you should have no issue getting the csp and the bcp. I personally would apply for three cards. The csp then the freedom to get the best bang for your buck with rewards. Also, many people including myself have reported only getting one HP on EX for the two apps I even did mine like 2 weeks apart.

Then for your spending on gas and the supermarket sallie mae is a much better card for you because there is no AF compared to the BCP at 75 bucks. There is a person on here who has a chart with the spending and how it works with the AF.

Sallie mae offers 5% on gas and 5% back on supermarkets up to 250 each month as well as 5% back on amazon up to 750 a month.

Re: CSP and Amex BCP... Shall I apply?

joltdude — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 00:15:37 GMT

Unfortunately most of the cards with higher limits he's only an AU, if I read correctly . I dont see a Csp chase doesn't consider AUs, and they don't like being first with highest CL... Could try Chases pre-approval but no mention of a real Fico, just FAKOs

Re: CSP and Amex BCP... Shall I apply?

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 00:15:13 GMT

I'm so impatient... I already applied and got approved on both lol. CSP @ 12K CL and BCP @ 4500 CL

I'm afraid applying for 3 cards honestly. I don't want me credit dropping rapidly. I worked very hard to get 750+ and I probably dropped 20 points by lowering my AAoA and inquieries. I know the chase freedom is a great one and works very well with the CSP, but it didn't have the 6% on groceries and 3% etc. I also wanted an AMEX card to start building credit with them as well...

So awesome to look back 5-6 years ago where I couldn't get approved for anything over 300-500 dollars... and here I am now getting approved for over 10,000 on a card...

Re: CSP and Amex BCP... Shall I apply?

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 00:14:13 GMT

oh can someone tell me HP, EX and AU mean lol.

Re: CSP and Amex BCP... Shall I apply?

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 00:15:42 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Over the years I've been trying to fix my credit and it's now at a point where creditkarma shows me at 761. mint shows me at 720 (I think they use Equifax?) and not sure about Experian. I've gone from 603 year and a half ago to 761. It had to do with old collections finally coming off, and being an authorized user on my wife's cards (BoA with 10+ years of history and her 7K CL Discover) Oddly and funny enough, my credit score is now higher than hers LOL

I've been wanting to start a structured way to use my credit cards to benefit from cash back etc. I don't see the point of a charge card (I like having the option of paying overtime with APR vs pay all at once or you're screwed idea) so from my research today Amex BCP and CSP are probably the best cards out there. Especially with CSP's promotion going on (45,000 points upon signup and use 3,000K) it will be nice to have 500 bucks on travel credit.

My plan is have myself and wife start using BCP on supermarket/gas/dept store purchases, and CSP with travel etc. (we don't travel too often though)

Where would misc stuff go in this case? which card?

also I know AMEX has some great things like 90 day return policy etc, but I saw on a post here that it's only good for items upto 300 bucks and 1,000 a year? pretty much takes out anything like a laptop out of the equiation if I need to return it for whatever reason....(or a camera lens, digital camera etc) is there any truth to this?

Lastly, where can I benefit from the CSP besides travel? we go on couple cruises a year and that's about it. probably less than 5K a year on that stuff.

I also have some other credit cards I could probably cancel, but I guess it's nice to have them open and just put them away as closing them will hurt my AAoA?

currently here is what we have (between my wife and I)

Discover - 7,000 Limit
Capital one plat - 750 Limit
Credit one - 950 Limit
BoA Plat - 4500 limit
Citicard plat - 2000 limit? (I can't remember)

I'm also bit worried I might lower my credit by getting 1 or 2 credit cards... the "simulators" drop my credit about 10-20 points if I apply for a credit card or two...

I guess I want some conformation on if this is a good idea or not. I don't like having many credit cards. Even though it's all upto me at the end of the day to use them or not, it's alot of open credit just sitting there.

should I apply to both cards? and if so, will I benefit in the end by higher open credit line etc? not even sure if I'll get them. income of about 110,000 combined

Thanks!

Edit: I see CSP is 2x on resturants which we visit way too often. so it can benefit from there...

Looking on mint we spend on avg 200 or so a month on groceries. but it varies... last year we did 381!!! This year we're at 2,800 bucks...

restaurants last month was 485... seems like a good average for us. This year it's at 4,000 dollars so far.

gas floats around 150-200 bucks (I drive a volt, so I barely need gas... it's mostly the wife's hybrid infitini lol) this year we're at 1700 bucks for it.

at around 2200 a year (this year) for travel....

I see the benefits I can get, just will have to micromanage what goes where and be on top of paying everything off, because I want my credit high since there is a large auto finance coming around feb ('15 Corvette!!!) and a house mortage probably year after that....

Thanks again!

First, welcome to the forum. You'll learn alot here and come across MANY great people. In the beginning of your post, you mention scores that are considered "FAKOS" or, not real FICO scores. Credit Karma, Mint, etc. give you a range but it's good to know your real FICO scores going into an app spree (no matter how big or small). If you're that high with them, you're probably looking okay on your real scores. It may be worth a look, though.

As far as 'should you apply'... it's hard to say without knowing your real scores, AAoA, derogs (sounds like they are all gone) and cards/limits in your name only. If you're an AU on your wife's cards, they'll likely not count for anything when you apply. I say this because you'll likely want/need a CL 5K+ for the CSP and I've read Chase doesn't like to be first. Depending on where you are, Chase is likely to hit EX and either EQ or TU (many times a double pull but they do like EX alot) and Amex will hit EX. If you decide to app for the two you mentioned, I would do Amex first then Chase.

It sounds like you're up to speed and done good research on the cards. I love my BCP but have no use for a CSP other than the sign up bonus but my AAoA can't take short lived cards right now.

What other general spend categories are you trying to cover? If you give us a few more specifics about your credit and your end goal, we may be able to help you more.

Re: CSP and Amex BCP... Shall I apply?

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 00:16:54 GMT

Haha... it took me longer to post my response than it did for you to app X 2. Congrats on your approvals. If you're going to be a bear, you might as well be a GRIZZLY.... go for a third! You've got this....

Re: CSP and Amex BCP... Shall I apply?

joltdude — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 00:21:12 GMT

hp.. Hard pull that stays on credit report that says you applied for credit... au is authorized user.. Means your not liable for charges... ex is experian a credit reporting agency or CRA. Did you try the respective pre approval sites for both chase and Amex before you applied? Both are pretty accurate...

Re: CSP and Amex BCP... Shall I apply?

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 00:18:45 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
oh can someone tell me HP, EX and AU mean lol.

HP - hard credit pull

EX - Experian

AU - Authorized User

And so you know...

EQ - Equifax

TU - TransUnion

Those were coming....

Re: CSP and Amex BCP... Shall I apply?

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 00:19:12 GMT

Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure what my general spending is. I can tell you we make alot of purchases on amazon, best buy and some gun places, really hard question to answer. I will tell you our biggest spending is at restaurants and groecries, followed closely by gas. I see that freedom has random times where u get cashback etc from amazon, but Im not sure if I'm willing to wait to hit right times to make purchases...

Re: CSP and Amex BCP... Shall I apply?

bigblue7722 — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 00:20:29 GMT

@joltdude wrote:
Unfortunately the cards with higher limits he's only an AU.. I dont see a Csp chase doesn't consider AUs

my highest limit at the time when i got my csp was 3k with discover. Honestly its really not that hard to get a csp. Ive seen people on here get a 11k csp and get denied for a sams club mastercard and only get the store version. Chase has given me 19.2k in credit lines over 4 cards in less than a year time. I make about 40k a year and my fico score is not even over 700.

And one more thing for the OP a 2015 corvette with a combined income of 110k not a very good idea. You should finance about 35% of your income so unless you have a trade in or a large down payment i personally would not reccomend buying that much car with that income.

Re: CSP and Amex BCP... Shall I apply?

bigblue7722 — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 00:22:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure what my general spending is. I can tell you we make alot of purchases on amazon, best buy and some gun places, really hard question to answer. I will tell you our biggest spending is at restaurants and groecries, followed closely by gas. I see that freedom has random times where u get cashback etc from amazon, but Im not sure if I'm willing to wait to hit right times to make purchases...

apply for the freedom right now!!! If chase only pulled EX you should get it no problem with no other pull!

Re: CSP and Amex BCP... Shall I apply?

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 00:23:57 GMT

bigblue, thanks for the response. We have a hefty down payment going on that car, so it won't be too high. I'm willing to squeeze a little hard on a dream car.

Re: CSP and Amex BCP... Shall I apply?

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 00:25:00 GMT

freedom or sally mae!?!?!?

sally mae sounds really good too!

at this rate, I might just cancel my creditone and capitalone, this many cards are scaring me!

Re: CSP and Amex BCP... Shall I apply?

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 00:25:48 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
bigblue, thanks for the response. We have a hefty down payment going on that car, so it won't be too high. I'm willing to squeeze a little hard on a dream car.

Save a few thousand and get a Dodge Challenger Hellcat. You'll still have over 700hp from the factory with money in your pocket. Just sayin' (a huge Dodge fan here).

Re: CSP and Amex BCP... Shall I apply?

bigblue7722 — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 00:27:49 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
freedom or sally mae!?!?!?

sally mae sounds really good too!

at this rate, I might just cancel my creditone and capitalone, this many cards are scaring me!

100% close credit one. What capital one card do you have?

Go for both. The damge has been done already one or two cards really wont make a difference. The freedom should be a no pull. Sallie mae is a great card!

Re: CSP and Amex BCP... Shall I apply?

joltdude — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 00:29:11 GMT

Blue is right, you might be able to get a two for one pull, and get a Freedom card (freedom works well with Sapphire) .. You do want to try to use less hard pulls esp if you want a mortgage anytime soon. Also you want to try for the 61 day Amex 3x CLI.. Family member with established but thin file got 9k from his 3k starter Cl

Re: CSP and Amex BCP... Shall I apply?

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 00:30:29 GMT

lol... Always been a corvette guy. Just sold my Z06 recently and got in a Volt to save on gas. I think I'm sticking with the vette lol...

back on track. I tried to apply to freedom and it says thanks for application but it's pending? I haven't applied for freedom yet... I did get the you're approved 12K CL email.

Watch your mailbox; we'll contact you within 7 to 10 days to let you know what we've decided. If we approve your application, we'll also send your card and other important information in the mail.

Please note that, in some circumstances, it can take up to 30 days to reach a decision. There's no need to resubmit your application; we'll contact you as soon as we can.

Want to apply for an additional card? Close and reopen your browser before you begin.

Re: CSP and Amex BCP... Shall I apply?

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 00:33:04 GMT

capital one is the starter one. Platinum. 750 CL

credit one is 950 CL. It was one of my first cards to get me back on track

isn't my score going to drop though? if i get rid of my 2 older cards? drop that AAoA?