AAoA - When to Apply?

[M_Smart007]

@VintageMel, Every 6 months you should be able to get a SP CLI of $1500 or more on The DC card.

[AllZero]

---

@M_Smart007 wrote:

@VintageMel, Every 6 months you should be able to get a SP CLI of $1500 or more on The DC card.

---

+3. Was thinking about that too. Those SP CLI are nice.

[VintageMel]

---

@M_Smart007 wrote:

@VintageMel, Every 6 months you should be able to get a SP CLI of $1500 or more on The DC card.

---

This is good to know. Thank you!

[M_Smart007]

---

@VintageMel wrote:

---

@M_Smart007 wrote:

@VintageMel, Every 6 months you should be able to get a SP CLI of $1500 or more on The DC card.

---

This is good to know. Thank you!

---

@VintageMel, You are welcome, enjoy your new card

[Anonymous]

Congratulations indeed! Not 3 more just 2 more, as a matter of fact, a Discover and an American Express would round you out nicely. The reason I say 5 is it allows you to get the best scores on the mortgage versions when you need it.

[Anonymous]

And that’s a nice SL, as well. It will grow.

[AllZero]

[FishingGuy]

I may not have as much knowledge as many here,  but I would apply now, before the old car loan is marked closed and the new one appears.  With a thin file, this would lower your AAOA, and could cause a substantial credit drop..... though nothing really negative, the combination of a lower AAOA and a higher limit on a new account, may result in a drop.

[VintageMel]

As a bit of an update to this and what is sort of a part b of this conversation in this thread I went ahead and applied for Discover, and despite the pre-approval with a firm interest rate I was declined. Reading about others' experiences here I suspect this was because of my other recent app. In the current economic climate I can hardly blame lenders for being cautious about this.

So, all things taken together I think I'm not going to apply for anything else right now. This is after fully considering @Anonymous advice in the sense that I'm going to have to live with this decision for a few years. Either I'll just have to be happy with the cards I have, or accept that applying for more in 6 months or a year will prolong the hit of new accounts and further damage my AAoA.

I now have top tier rates on home and auto loans, and the credit cards I want most (plus the Citi DC I was just approved for has a relatively good APR). Considering that in March of 2017 my scores were in the 590s, I have a lot to celebrate. I just can't justify the risk of more hard pulls with nothing to show for it.

[Anonymous]

@VintageMel Yes you’re probably correct. I assume both hit Experian. And discover likes to be first, LOL.

Respect your decision, but understand that a hard inquiry is only a few points and they come back in 12 months and some are binned and do not charge any points.

If an inquiry is the only thing you’re worried about, I think you’re worrying about the wrong thing, to be honest, just my opinion.

At worst you lose a couple more points. If you wait a year down the line, you lose 10 or 15 for a new account penalty, PLUS the inquiry points.

But if you understand all the dynamics, you’re making an informed decision and you have to make the decision that suits you best. No matter what I wish you the best and that’s wonderful how far you’ve come with your scores, congratulations!