topic Re: What Is An Exceptional Score Actually FOR? in Understanding FICO® Scoring

What Is An Exceptional Score Actually FOR?

YoungFogey — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 00:50:03 GMT

I've spent years building (rebuilding) getting to scores in the 800s -- FICO 8 is 813. CC utilization around 4 percent. 24 years of credit history on the file. No bankruptcies, no late payments, no derogatory remarks anywhere. I just asked for a $1,000 credit-line increase on Cap One and the system said I owed too much debt for my income. My debt-to-income ratio is 13 %...so, in a word, that's b.s.

Apart from having a good score as a reference in case I ever get interested in a Federal government job, I don't see the point of this any longer. Good scores, low utilization, all payments on time, plenty of income...and I still can't get a lousy $1K.

Not gonna lie; I'm fed up and not going to try any longer. I'll obviously keep paying my bills on time and my mortgage and all the rest, but there appears to be zero point in watching my scores like a hawk every day in this situation.

Re: What Is An Exceptional Score Actually FOR?

RobertS2 — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 00:56:19 GMT

You won't see much of a difference between an 800 credit score and an 850 score. 800+ is effectively perfect, so all the important doors will be open to you. But when it comes to credit limits, your income and other obligations matter too. If you don't have a lot of disposable income, you're not going to get a high limit.

Re: What Is An Exceptional Score Actually FOR?

YoungFogey — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 01:42:41 GMT

But I guess that's my beef. Who says I don't have a lot of disposable income? Debt to income of 13 percent means I have more than enough income to support additional debt. If perfect payment history, a high FICO 8, and 87 percent disposable income aren't good enough for a $1,000 credit-line increase then it seems this chase for a "perfect" score is really not productive.

Re: What Is An Exceptional Score Actually FOR?

Varsity_Lu — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 10:50:07 GMT

@RobertS2 wrote:
800+ is effectively perfect, so all the important doors will be open to you.

Hah! How many people have been denied cards when their scores are over 800. Guys with 850 scores get offered Max Cash Preferred with $500 starting credit limits all the time. A high score actually closes doors for some products.

Re: What Is An Exceptional Score Actually FOR?

Varsity_Lu — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 10:49:22 GMT

@YoungFogey wrote:
But I guess that's my beef. Who says I don't have a lot of disposable income? Debt to income of 13 percent means I have more than enough income to support additional debt. If perfect payment history, a high FICO 8, and 87 percent disposable income aren't good enough for a $1,000 credit-line increase then it seems this chase for a "perfect" score is really not productive.

You're doing well, but you need to change your perspective on what the score actually is. Cap One doesn't see you as a cash cow for them. That's the reason they didn't increase your limit. Don't take the denial personally. It's a business and they want to turn a profit. That's all it is.

Re: What Is An Exceptional Score Actually FOR?

Realist — Sat, 06 Dec 2025 06:32:21 GMT

Why do you think you are the variable that actually matters in this equation?

Timing in finance is everything. Leading up to today, everything and their brother, mother, sister and cousin were extended credit, generously. Today, they are culling the field actively, and only extending credit to a select few. The lenders, the creditors, are pulling in the reigns. How many 800+ profiles have already had their behinds smacked, denied, for no valid reason other than it wasn't them, but the lenders lending practice. Fractional reserve lending practices are a bish.

Anyone today that is being balanced chased, they're pulling in the reigns on a credit profile they don't quite like. Anyone that hasn't used a card in a while, whether you are 850 score or not, they're sending letters stating - use it or lose it. We're going to cull that credit line otherwise. The entire industry today is consticting.

Your score in this scenario, matters a quite a bit less to them. This isn't your fault in any way. This is a cycle and the cards will lay, where they lay.

Re: What Is An Exceptional Score Actually FOR?

AndySoCal — Sun, 07 Dec 2025 16:03:44 GMT

@YoungFogey I have a 807 FICO score with a 2 to 3 percent utilization rate and no installment loans. I asked Cap 1 for a 500 to 1000 CLI on a card with a 3000 credit limit. The request was denied did not spend enough. Call Cap1 and asked them what amount of spend what make the account elligible forba CLInthey could not tell me. Long story short I closed the account and applied for a non Cap 1 card similiar rewards and was approved 10000. Since that time I have no Capital One cards in my wallet and never will. I am of the opinion it is not you it is Cap 1.

In your case depending on what other credit cards you have I might look for another card. Also do not put much stock in the credit utilation percentage. Percentages can be skewed and lenders understand that. This percentage is affected by the amount of credit card debt and the total credit card limits. So depending on which of two numbers you change the percentage changes. Lenders are looking at the dollar amount of the debt not the percentage.

Re: What Is An Exceptional Score Actually FOR?

BrutalBodyShots — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 17:06:47 GMT

Hey there @YoungFogey. See the reply from @AndySoCal. Regarding your [denied] CLI with Capital One, it seems you're putting far too much weight on your FICO score, income and DTI. Your overall profile is what is considered when it comes to lending decisions. Capital One is one of the most conservative issuers out there when it comes to CLIs. The main driving force behind them on strong credit profiles is high statement balances monthly that are paid in full. They look for low risk Transactors that are using their product heavily, also showing an actual "need" for a greater limit due to high existing statement balances. If you aren't presenting that look to them, the odds of CLI success are small. It doesn't matter if your DTI is 1%, your FICO scores are 850 and your income is $1M a year. As far as FICO scoring alone goes, you're absolutely correct in your viewpoint that greater scores at your stage of the game don't matter. Your CLI denial here is a great example of how credit profile is King to score.

Re: What Is An Exceptional Score Actually FOR?

Patient957 — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 17:17:58 GMT

@YoungFogey

You can't make any broader judgments about the value of a high Fico score based on Cap One's CLI policies. Cap One is just weird. It says nothing about you or your profile. Go over to Amex. They will very likely give you all the CLIs you want and more.

Re: What Is An Exceptional Score Actually FOR?

BrutalBodyShots — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 22:18:11 GMT

Agreed. If one is after monster limits and CLIs, Amex is the play. Capital One is at the other end of the spectrum on that front.

Re: What Is An Exceptional Score Actually FOR?

TrapLine — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 00:09:56 GMT

@AndySoCal

Similar experiences with Capital One! Just closed the accounts and moved on to much better financials and never looked back.

They do offer some good card products but their view of banking and the like is not mine. Kicked them to the curb and no one cried.

Re: What Is An Exceptional Score Actually FOR?

Varsity_Lu — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 00:24:24 GMT

@TrapLine wrote:
@AndySoCal

Similar experiences with Capital One! Just closed the accounts and moved on to much better financials and never looked back.

They do offer some good card products but their view of banking and the like is not mine. Kicked them to the curb and no one cried.

Seems like I've been one of the few Cap One fans around here lately, but it's probably because I've had a very different experience with them than most. They have been very generous to me. My Savor has grown to $21,500 in a little over a year. I also love their banking app and HYSAs. However, this Disco merger has me worried.

It's funny how peoples experiences shapes our opinions of brands. It is hard to change those opinions, too. For example, I will never, ever, ever use Wells Fargo for anything because of the crap they have been pulling the last few years. My opinion of them will probably never change. But I like Cap One and some of you hate them to the core.

Re: What Is An Exceptional Score Actually FOR?

BrutalBodyShots — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 00:32:33 GMT

I'd say more than half of the negative opinions of Capital One come from those that are unable to grow their card limit(s) to what they feel is an acceptable amount. With many other issuers (like Amex) making it super easy to grow monster limits in a short time frame, Capital One is often made to look like the bad guy. The same thing goes with how they use the "dreaded triple pull" for apps, where most issuers just HP one bureau report. I don't personally have a problem with it in the least, but it's things that like that where Capital One doesn't necessarily align with the norm where they tend to catch heat from the masses.

Re: What Is An Exceptional Score Actually FOR?

MrsCHX — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 14:55:17 GMT

One more vote for "it's not you, It's CO"

Go to a different issuer...NFCU if you can, other CUs, Fidelity, AMEX...Capital One is so weird about their limits and how they make those decisions.

Re: What Is An Exceptional Score Actually FOR?

DXness — Sun, 25 Jan 2026 07:26:05 GMT

I agree, Capital One has been a breeze for me and is often misunderstood. They started me at $5k, let me go to $10K in 3 months after only hitting 14% utilization, and probably could have kept growing without any effort had I kept up engagement with them. Most of the tricks people try, like maxing out limits and PIFing, aren't actually necessary, but you have to understand how Capital One thinks in order to get the best results out of them.

The key to Capital One (YMMV though) is your profile has to match what they are looking for and they are mostly looking to make gobs of money off you. The ideal profile is someone who will habitually carry balances and rack up interest, but not default. This type of person is typically found in the middle of the score range, from the 600s to the 700s, on dirty profiles. Capital One also wants to be top-of-wallet, they want you to use the card. High scores suggest a profile that won't carry any balances, which is a negative factor to them. Profiles with tons of cards also suggest their card won't get much use, another negative factor. A profile with under 4 existing cards is particularly favorable, these first 3 slots are special, with the highest odds of going and staying top-of-wallet. The vast majority of people who complain about growing Capital One cards...just weren't what Capital One really wanted at the time of card origination. Nobody wants to be told that, but them's the bricks.

However, the OP's issue appears to be that they originally got their card with badish credit and then kept the card when it recovered to the 800s, which is a different issue. Capital One's asset-backed securities business model assigns your card's bucket at origination and then in most cases, it stays there regardless of what happens to your credit later. Even getting a perfect credit score won't change anything here cause they bucket cards, not people. These things are being rolled up into securities and sold to investors with terms. Low buckets are essentially junk-grade investments, so not many resources are committed to those buckets, that's one reason CLIs tend to be small. You can drudge through their SEC filings to see exactly how many resources are available to each bucket, although you probably won't be able to match a series issuance to what your card is actually in. You can guess your bucket by your SL and the difficulty of CLIs. They probably also don't want high exposure to someone with a higher risk of defaulting.

The top strategy I recommend to getting big CLIs from Capital One is to just...stop trying if the card sits in a lower bucket. Not worth the effort. You want to just open a new card, even the same card, if your credit profile matches what they want, that's when you get the big SL in a top bucket that can get easy 2x CLIs without really doing anything.

There are people who do see some results after many months of maxing their limits and paying them off, but there's an opportunity cost to grinding spend out for paltry CLIs vs putting that spend toward SUBs or other cards with higher category multipliers. It's like bashing your head against a brick wall vs finding a door to walk through somewhere else along that wall. Your head does work as a battering ram, but strategy often works better than brute force. There are drawbacks to a new account and the triple pull, but I view them as worthwhile if the payoff is the very goal desired, a high bucket card that grows big and easy. I also view inqs as tools, not penalties - what good is a credit score if it doesn't get used?

It's also worth noting that credit profile matching what the issuer wants gets the best results at every issuer, but what they are looking for varies considerably and isn't static, so you want to target your plays to a bank's current desires when and where both of your desires align, less like applying for something and more like dating. This is a major reason so many people falter with Capital One, they are a different type of date vs the Chases and Amexes of the world. One size doesn't fit all and high creditworthiness doesn't really tickle their pickle.

Timing can have an outsized impact. When the economy is tanking, what you should have qualified for may not come, likewise when the economy is roaring, you may get what you weren't qualified for. If you have time and desire to over-analyze things like I do, internal workings of the target bank can also have an outsized impact. A bank is likely to bend and break their own rules when they have a particularly intense need to acquire customers and originate more cards. Sometimes, this is overthinking it and you should just hit the luv button, but credit building is a hobby to me so I like to investigate what a bank is thinking so I can get the maximum payoff possible or avoid disappointment/wasting a pull/etc.

I am just months away now from going clean and into excellent FICO territory. I used to look forward to that day, but now I realize my profile could look unprofitable! It could be harder to get approved for what should be gimme's at certain banks. This is why I show all my spend and leave some points on the table - spend is how a high score transactor shows profitability. Dangle that "BUSINESS OWNER!!!" spend out there and the offers should keep rolling in...

Re: What Is An Exceptional Score Actually FOR?

FicoMike0 — Sun, 25 Jan 2026 18:53:09 GMT

As far as the ops original question, high scores don't seem to be a qualifier for clis. my personal experience is, "it's the bank, not you". I think I'm in the majority in getting small clis from Capone and large from amex.

@Varsity_Lu is our outlier in getting large clis from capone. We might focus on what he's doing differently.

Here are two cards I consider similar and their history,

Capone, qs pced to savior issued Feb 23,

3% restaurants

$2000 to $4200, mostly $400 each

Commerce bank special connections sig visa, issued 6/23

4% Cash Backfootnote1: Streaming and Cablefootnote5
3% Cash Backfootnote1: Restaurants, Fast Food and Coffeefootnote5
2% Cash Backfootnote1: Grocery & Gas Stationsfootnote5
1% Cash Backfootnote1: On all other purchasesfootnote3

$1000 to $10,000, +$1000 at 6 months, +$2000 every 6 months, all auto cli.

I've put much more spend on the savior, still mostly under 10% cl.

I actually like Capone in general, otherwise I'd close savior, since I have a ready replacement.

Re: What Is An Exceptional Score Actually FOR?

BrutalBodyShots — Sun, 25 Jan 2026 19:47:40 GMT

@DXness, good comment above and I agree with just about everything you said regarding Capital One.

Question for you though when it comes to their annual reviews (for CLDs). In your opinion, do those only happen with certain bucketed accounts or certain profiles (assessed at the time of account approval) and not all? Said differently, if you're an ideal Capital One customer (in their eyes) and you have a (say) $20k limit VX but are only spending 3-figures on it monthly, will your account still be assessed annually for a potential CLD that you need to "opt out" of within the ~6 week time frame stated?

Re: What Is An Exceptional Score Actually FOR?

Zoostation1 — Sun, 25 Jan 2026 21:36:44 GMT

@Varsity_Lu I'm also someone who's been pretty happy with Capital One. Technically it's my second go around with them as my first CC was a $300 no rewards MC with them in opened 1998 and closed in 2000. Nonetheless I don't really count that since that was long before any of my credit woes and still progressing rebuild after a CH7. I waited 4yrs to after filing to start rebuilding butgot $2k on QS1 (3 months in and 1st unsecured in my rebuild) and $3k on what was then the no sub version of SavorOne 7 months later. Those cards were in a lower tranche bucket but not the lowest. Shortly after that QS1 was opened I started putting all my spend in CCs with the vast majority going to C1 and always PIF. Another 10 months later after the SavorOne I was approved for VX. It was the min $10k and highest APR but still plenty usable and my first double digit in the rebuild (I would think this card is in a medium high bucket but not the highest). Around this time is when I stopped micromanaging AZE1 and started letting balances report more naturally on the cards I use most and I think it's paid off and was a factor 9 months later when I opened up a Savor (in part to replace the bucketed SavorOne as a daily driver and got $20k and the middle tier APR.

@DXness Also regarding your comments on the key to C1 I generally agree, I would say while those people with middling scores and revolving balances have been getting relatively strong limits, in the current environment they're riskier (maybe even more risky than the sub prime and starter/new to credit). In the latest earnings call a belt tightening on high balance revolvers was mentioned. I don't know if that means balance chasing or just means tightening up on CLIs with that segment. I'd also note that while I generally agree fewer cards is favorable, I don't think it becomes a major problem until double digits. For me my stronger limit cards from them were my 5th and 6th cards (though 3rd and 4th with them). I'm a bit leery of asking for a CLI though (haven't asked C1 for a CLI since opening the Savor in Apr 2024 and almost 2yrs since I asked on VX. I don't know how C1 treats TCL relative to income and with my Discover included I'm at 50% of my stated income (actual was slightly higher but I just used my base salary since the rest isn't guaranteed). I'll be curious to see how much your scores pop once your reports are clean. I've still got 21 months to go till my BK7 is gone.

Re: What Is An Exceptional Score Actually FOR?

DXness — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 03:22:30 GMT

@BrutalBodyShots I could not find any DP for account reviews happening on cards with CLs under $5K, so there may be a threshold where they don't trigger. I also don't know of any DP for this happening on a VX. Regular Ventures get hit all the time, though.

@Zoostation1 If you need the limit or its util padding, I would just go for it. It's hard to figure out Capital One's max exposure relative to income since people don't usually post their income along with their TCL unless it's an Amex FR thread. "Income is insufficient" is an actual C1 negative reason code, but the person who posted that was only at 1/3 of their income and you're at 50% so that's clearly not the max for everyone. There is additional confusion from people thinking they have reached max exposure, but what they really hit was max number of cards. And then there's DTI...which is very important and few people ever post it. Your individual cards can certainly go much higher if they'll allow it. I've heard of $100K+ Ventures/VXs and never seen "Too much available credit" as a negative reason code with them.

Re: What Is An Exceptional Score Actually FOR?

Zoostation1 — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 03:36:19 GMT

@DXness At this point I'm planning to wait at least until March when I will see any raise I get this year. At that point I may give it a try on the VX just to pad a little more to even it out with my Savor. As for DTI I've got no debt that would show on my reports.