How much does Average Age of Accounts Matter for Apps?

[lnacen]

I've been out of the game for a while. My oldest card is 4.5 years old, but my AAoA is 2 years and 11 months. I noticed on my FICO scorecard that I am being dinged for this. Everything else is great and I have 11 cards open. 

Has anyone noticed a correlation bt low AAoA and sub-par credit card approvals? I havent applied for anything in 2 years and have no inquiries at this point. My limits are mediocre though and was hoping to score several 10K plus cards. I dont have any Chase cards, so looking to score with them. 

[coldfusion]

With oldest card at 4.5 yrs, an AAoA of just under 3 years, and no inquiries or new accounts over the last 2 years AAoA probably isn't something to be concerned with.     Reading between the lines here but my guess is that you went too fast too soon when starting to build out your credit profile, which contributed to getting low starting limits with your approvals.   Do any of your current cards have a CL of $5K or more and do you have any derogs reporting?

If you applied and were denied for a Chase card I think you'd definitely want to recon.  Possibly with an argument along the lines of your having learned good judgement through experience, which had a lot to do with why you hadn't applied for anything over the last 2 years, and now you want to get a good card to use as your daily driver.

[SouthJamaica]

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@lnacen wrote:

I've been out of the game for a while. My oldest card is 4.5 years old, but my AAoA is 2 years and 11 months. I noticed on my FICO scorecard that I am being dinged for this. Everything else is great and I have 11 cards open. 

Has anyone noticed a correlation bt low AAoA and sub-par credit card approvals? I havent applied for anything in 2 years and have no inquiries at this point. My limits are mediocre though and was hoping to score several 10K plus cards. I dont have any Chase cards, so looking to score with them. 

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It is a factor in your scores, especially the mortgage scores. You don't mention what your scores are.

Sub par approvals might be related more to such factors as debt to income ratio, or recent inquiries and new accounts.

If you don't mind my asking, why are you asking about sub par approvals, since you haven't gotten any approvals, sub par or otherwise, in 2 years? If you're just hoping for your next application, with Chase, to result in a good credit limit, my advice would be to (a) see if you can get any soft pull CLI's on your present cards, and then, after those report, if your scores are good, (b) apply for either a Chase Sapphire Preferred, a Chase Amazon Prime, or one of the Chase airline cards if one of those would be useful to you, as those would be your best bets IMHO for a healthy starting limit.

[lnacen]

I'm just trying to prep for my next app spree next year. My scores are all in the 760s, with TU being the highest at 780ish. I'm just wanting a few cards with higher limits. Thats a good idea about getting some soft pull CLI, thanks for reminding me of that. 

[Anonymalous]

It matters a bit, but your AAoA shouldn't be restricting you to low limits. My oldest account was a bit over a year in age when my second card reached almost $25K.

I did it by targeting lenders who gave out generous SLs to people with profiles like mine (new files) and who were generous with CLIs. Specifically, I picked lenders like Navy Federal and FNBO, researched how long I had to wait between soft pull CLIs, and then set alerts to remind myself.

Income also matters, though it doesn't sound like you have a high enough total CL for it to be a serious limiting factor at the moment. Make sure it's up to date before requesting a CLI, and if you live in a household where you share expenses, by all means add in your partner's income.

Spreading out your applications also helps. You're currently in good position with no recent apps, but if you choose to do a spree, try to target lenders who pull from different bureaus. Then afterwards, let the cards age instead of applying again and again.

[SouthJamaica]

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@lnacen wrote:

I'm just trying to prep for my next app spree next year. My scores are all in the 760s, with TU being the highest at 780ish. I'm just wanting a few cards with higher limits. Thats a good idea about getting some soft pull CLI, thanks for reminding me of that. 

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OK. Good luck with it. Sounds like you're in pretty decent shape.

[FishingGuy]

 I agree with South Jamaica,   lok at your existing cards and see who will offer soft CLI's,  use that card heavier the month or two before your request and pay it down as much as possible (or down to zero).... and then ask for the soft CLI,  track the dates when they occur and see when you can ask for another one  (for ex: Citi is every 6 months)   

Work the soft CI angle as much as you can and then spread out your new applications.     It's a long term, slow and steady build over time to get where you want..... but you'll get there.

[805orbust]

I would also suggest to slow down with the "spree."  I mean with no inq's or new accounts in over 2 years plus being over 760, in my opinion you're golden for whatever app you want to make. But keep it to 2... or 3 if you've got specific needs. Then wait a year or so if you're looking to add. And perhaps evaluate your current portfolio for any unnecessary or sub-par cards to prune. They'll continue to age and by the time they fall off it won't matter.  Just my $0.02.