Applying for several cards and need advice please

[Superduper2014]

Hi guys, 

I am helping my gf clean her credit and now apply for cards and needed advice on which cards I should advice her to apply

Scores are 730 credit karma and income is around 70k

She already has a Wells Fargo, Chase and Citi cards. Max credit limit is 8k and has zero balances. 

No collections or public records 

30k student loans that she does not have to pay yet. 

That is in a nutshell. 

I have read about the crazy CL for the venture Cap one, but I guess you have to want to pay the annual fee for that one. 

If you could lead me in the right direction for those cards that give highes initial CL and she has a good chance to get approved for based on her credit and income, I would greatly appreciate it. 

Thanks a lot!!!

[Anonymous]

There are many different paths you can take on this. IMO, she should apply for the cards that will fit her spending habbits the best. What kind of rewards is she looking for, or does that even matter? With the CK score (do not pay any attention to that), her FICo score will be completely different, could be better or worse. Take me for example, I like more cash back cards than point cards or travel (although I do have some of both), but most of my cards are cash back. Yes, the Venture card has been giving some pretty high limits and could be one way to go.

If you don't mind giving a little bit more information of her spending habbits, we can probably help.

[Anonymous]

$59 AF for the Venture that kicks in the second year....it is worth it if you both plan to use it a lot and accumulate the bonus points for traveling (and travel).  This AF is small compared to many other cards!  And she may get 20k CL.

[Anonymous]

Oh, and purchase a 3B report from MyFico as the CK scores do not reflect where you really stand in scoring. 

[Superduper2014]

Hi James, 

Her spending habits will be to use them and pay them off each month.

Although, since she wants to do a masters degree it will be nice to have the highest possible CL across the board so she can put some school expenses at a low APR on a card and still have a low debt to available credit ratio. Also, have the ability to transfer a balance to another card in the future once the higher APR kicks in on whichever card she has a balance on. 

This is more or less how she may be using the credit. 

I would like to see at least 4 cards with high CL come out of a round of applications. That is reasonable, based on what I've read other's sprees are, isn't it?

Thanks for your input. 

[Anonymous]

4 is definitely doable.

try to double up and save HP's though. like if she goes for venture, also do the plat prestige. or is you go chase, do csp and freedom. amex also does this as well.

you also may want to spread the hp's by combining amex (usually experian) with barclays, which is usually transunion (nfl card gives high limits, the ring has a really low rate)

capital one will hit all 3 though most likely, so definitely get 2 cards for your trouble.

wouldn't worry too much about the rate right now though, as at least 1 (if not all 4) cards will have a promo 0% offer.

also, check the preapproval sites first, and try the credit match tool (google it) to check for better singup bonuses. 

good luck

[Superduper2014]

thanks a lot for the suggestions. 

I did the cardmatch tool and she has several recommended for Good/Excellent score. 

Capital One® Venture® and Capital One® VentureONE (which one is the one that gives higher CL?)

Chase Sapphire Preferred 

Chase Freedom®

Capital One® Platinum Prestige

Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards

Thanks for also suggesting Barclay and Amex to hit different reports. 

I am now wondering which cards to apply first on one sitting. 

Would Capital One not give a high CL if they see I have a couple HP for applying for Barclays and Amex or Chase?

Also, which Amex is good to start with?

[Anonymous]

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@Superduper2014 wrote:

Hi James, 

Her spending habits will be to use them and pay them off each month.

Although, since she wants to do a masters degree it will be nice to have the highest possible CL across the board so she can put some school expenses at a low APR on a card and still have a low debt to available credit ratio. Also, have the ability to transfer a balance to another card in the future once the higher APR kicks in on whichever card she has a balance on. 

This is more or less how she may be using the credit. 

I would like to see at least 4 cards with high CL come out of a round of applications. That is reasonable, based on what I've read other's sprees are, isn't it?

Thanks for your input. 

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When I mentioned spending habits, I meant what type of purchases (grocery, gas, retail, etc....). This plays a big role in determaning the best possible rewards for cc use.

[Superduper2014]

Groceries, gas, amazon, restaurants mainly

[CreditDunce]

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@Superduper2014 wrote:

Groceries, gas, amazon, restaurants mainly

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For cash back rewards when she can PIF:

Gas, Groc and Amazon fit the Sallie Mae from Barclay very nicely (TU pull).

I would also consider the Discover IT (maybe EQ pull) and Chase Freedom (probably double pull of two at random).   The rotating categories normally cover restaurants for one quarter each year.

BoA's Better Balance Rewards is a very nice card for someone who doesn't spend a lot of money on the card (EX pull).

When she can't PIF,  she may want a card or two from a local credit union.  CU's normally have the best rates.  She can also check to see if her college has a credit union.  

Barclay's Ring is also known for good interest rates, but I would only apply for one Barclay card at a time.  

The above cards may not have the biggest starting credit limits, but they should be big enough.  Having a 20k limit when you are a poor college kid  is not ideal.  By the way, it is much easier to get approved for credit cards once you are 21.   If she is 21, then she can try the various pre-qual sites to see if there are any offers for her.