Discover unOfficial Data Points

[Anonymous]

Seems like the Discover CLI well has dried up for me some.  I went from $4k increases for 3 months in a row to 3 months of $0, $500 and $0.  Last month I dropped my spend from $1500-$2000 down to $89 (following the $500 CLI cycle) thinking that the lower spend could help.  No luck, $0 given this month.

[austinguy907]

G00se eggs aren't that much fun but, then again you're hitting it every month.  Maybe they decided to take a break with the frequent requests and space them out a little bit.  

[newhis]

A friend tried after 75 days and the response was not enough experience ($1,000 SL)

He just tried again after 105 days and got $1,500, new limit $2,500.

Heavy use, more than $1,000 each month.

TU score increased in the last 3 months from 600 to 645.

His other card, Amex BCE, started at $1,000 3.5 months ago and he got 3X CLI. EX reported 690, up from 650.

$2,000 SL to $5,500 in just over 3 months, not bad at all.

I told him to skip 1 month before asking Discover again.

[Anonymous]

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@austinguy907 wrote:

G00se eggs aren't that much fun but, then again you're hitting it every month.  Maybe they decided to take a break with the frequent requests and space them out a little bit.  

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I'll probably move to an every other month cycle now and see what happens.

Do we have any data points on the impact of a goose egg month?  What I mean is say you have two otherwise identical Discover files, both request a CLI on January 1st.  The first person continues to request a CLI on the 1st of every month where the second requests every other month (second request of the year on 3/1, then 5/1 etc). 

Say the second person receives a $2k CLI every other month, every time they ask.  Conversely, say the first person receives a CLI every other month, with every other month being a goose egg.  Does that goose egg impact the following month's CLI opportunity... in other words, would they fall short of the $2k increase that the second person gets like clockwork every other month? 

While it would be difficult to know since this scenario of two otherwise identical profiles is next to impossible, I would think the goose egg months DO impact the following CLI... otherwise people would simply continue to hit the button every month if it meant in the end the total of all CLIs at the end of the year would be the same.

I guess my point is that there certainly could be some value in showing restraint, that is, only hitting the button every other month as opposed to every month.

[Anonymous]

to sexyblue: what were your debt levels ?

[austinguy907]

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@Anonymous wrote:

While it would be difficult to know since this scenario of two otherwise identical profiles is next to impossible, I would think the goose egg months DO impact the following CLI... otherwise people would simply continue to hit the button every month if it meant in the end the total of all CLIs at the end of the year would be the same.

I guess my point is that there certainly could be some value in showing restraint, that is, only hitting the button every other month as opposed to every month.

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Well, the only thing I can say is that when I was hitting the button more frequently it seemed more like a gamble.  Since the last 4 attempts every other month since August have been fruitful instead of not getting anything.  Also, the last 3 attemtps have been for a combined 18K+.  When I got the 2nd one for 6K+ I made the comparison that if I moved to an every other month approach on avg 6K/increase that's 36K/yr vs the more frequent approach yielding 2-3K/increase less often coming out to 12-18K/yr.

I mean really?  We both have stoopid CL's already... Is time really going to hurt you other than landing a huge fish?  We know it's not a science but, the numbers speak for themselves.  When I started out on this adventure I always get 2-day messages after the first manual CLI was approved.  Knowing now that there's actually people sitting there having to apporve/deny them there's more incentive to not bug them every week.  I know if I were getting an e-mail every week from someone about the same thing all the time eventually I'd setup a filter to send them to their own folder.  

[Anonymous]

I find Discover CLIs to simply be a fun game.  It's all about finding out what works best with the game I suppose.  For now I'll go to every other month and see how that goes.

[austinguy907]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I find Discover CLIs to simply be a fun game.  It's all about finding out what works best with the game I suppose.  For now I'll go to every other month and see how that goes.

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You're right it's a fun game!

It's always a SP unless you get greedy and want to push the HP with them over the phone.  With our documentation and experiences in this thread it's helping others while we poke the bear.  At least you're playing the game only changing 1 variable at a time to figure out if spend or time is the key to your success.  I've consistently been a low spender with them considering my 2016 year end showed less than 5K in spend and tons of CLI.  Odd duck they are but, they're a friendly duck for sure.  

[Anonymous]

Absolutely, of your annual CLIs are several times greater than your annual spend, I'd say you made out quite well! 😃

[austinguy907]

For some it might be unbelievable to get over 10X your original limit in under a year and half.  Disco has been very generous and an excellent choice.  When I picked it up it was just a goal since they had been denying me entry to the club for many years along with AMEX.  I figured that if one approved the other would as well.  It's been a smooth ride with both coming up to the 50K bar on each.  

It's been a good game with both of them but, figuring out some of the intricacies with Disco has been more rewarding.  I don't know how far they will go but, I'll keep hitting that button every other month until it grinds to a halt for 3-5 tries with no results or them insisting on a HP which doesn't really matter at this point. It's just been nice to put the big banks to shame around here with the limit and progression I've seen.  I refuse to give the big banks that needed to be bailed out any swipes!  I haven't been with any of them for checking at least in over 10 years.  They really don't offer anything special other than low limits and high fees.  

The exclusivity of Disco makes them a rare breed when it comes to credit.  With them licensing their network access to other banks it's increased the acceptance of them across the board.  V/MC don't run their own banks which makes them generic compared to D/AX.  Lurking and observing the other banks in the market hasn't shown much value in the chase of a decent CL for the average person.  Just because a bank has billions in assets doesn't mean they're looking out for the consumers best interest.  I find it interesting that Disco when you call them on the Lending side to ask for a HP will actually talk someone out of it if the reason to not increase isn't credit related.  If you were to contact any other sizable bank for a CLI they sure are happy to just hit the button and charge you a couple of points.  Or the banks that HP for CLI's of $500 a pull and the insanity of places like Cap1 that go every 6 months for a couple of hundred here and there.  

Sure, there's some around here that whine about those low CLI's or no CLI's but, if they hang in there they will eventually get the ball rolling and be happy with the increases.  Sometimes it's the Disco Dartboard situation and other times it's like a bus schedule.  The key to success though is sticking with it and having some faith that things will eventually go your way.