PenFed Gold Card CLI, Help!

[AHumdy]

I'm new here. My roommate told me to come here to get my questions answered so here I am! I'm newer to credit. My oldest is about 18 months old. My newest is 5 months. I have a $5,000 HD at $924 used. An $1,800 Discover at $1,700 used. An $5,000 SYNC/PepBoys at $2,200 used. An $4,000 CBNA/WayFairMC at $3,900 used. Then the $2,000 PenFed Gold Card in question, at $1,500 used. All the sudden the REQUEST CLI button has appeared. It was NEVER THERE BEFORE NOW! I've made 5-6 payments. Does this mean I'm now eligible for a CLI?! Does it put an Inquiry?! My score on Credit Sesame is 634, so it's probably higher by FICO standards. 

Should I request more?

I'm wanting to consolidate all my cards really badly! Maybe I should apply for a PL with PenFed? Or...?

Advice appreciated!

[jcooks]

Some of the cards are considered maxed out, I would recommend getting those down before requesting a CLI.  Some banks would be skeptical about raising credit limits as it may increase their exposure in the event of a default.

[coreyb80]

Penfed is definitely a hard pull for a CLI any and every single time.  Penfed also does pre-approval for personal loans I believe.  I tried back in December of last year and I was successful.  If you can afford the HP then I say go for it.  Otherwise sit tight and get some more history with them under your belt.

[OmarGB9]

I'd focus on paying down those high/near maxed balances first, honestly. If you're struggling financially, you could try for a personal loan instead to pay off all those CCs and consolidate into one single payment. The danger there though is that with your cards now at zero balance, you could potentially run up your cards again and then have twice the debt. Not saying that's what you do, just saying it's happened to people in the past. I'd hold off on any CLI requests right now. And a CLI with Penfed would be an HP, yes.

[AHumdy]

I actually don't use my cards. At all. I just opened a few around the same time, maxed them all out so I could make a few months of payments and have been waiting. I haven't used any card I own except my PepBoys in about 3-4 months. So how low should I pay them before requesting a CLI? Like half paid off each? I'll starting tripling my payments. 😍 I make ninty per year and have no car or house payments. So I just kind of waste it on traveling and shopping. Lol So I just thought I'd throw in some credit building along the way and try to get that right. Figured one day I may need it. Lol

[OmarGB9]

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@AHumdy wrote:

I actually don't use my cards. At all. I just opened a few around the same time, maxed them all out so I could make a few months of payments and have been waiting. I haven't used any card I own except my PepBoys in about 3-4 months. So how low should I pay them before requesting a CLI? Like half paid off each? I'll starting tripling my payments. 😍 I make ninty per year and have no car or house payments. So I just kind of waste it on traveling and shopping. Lol So I just thought I'd throw in some credit building along the way and try to get that right. Figured one day I may need it. Lol

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Oh well, I mean if you have the means, I'd say pay them all down to zero except one (non-store) card. On that one leave a small, $10-$20 balance. But at the very least, yes, pay them down to half. More specifically, to less than 48.9%.

[jcooks]

Yes if you have the means, definitely pay them off.  Especially if they don't have 0 interest promo.  Regardless holding limits near its max can lead to adverse actions by other lenders.  Which even after paying them down, they still may do that.

[OmarGB9]

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@jcooks wrote:

Yes if you have the means, definitely pay them off.  Especially if they don't have 0 interest promo.  Regardless holding limits near its max can lead to adverse actions by other lenders.  Which even after paying them down, they still may do that.

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Indeed, running up cards and leaving them maxed out is not the way to build credit @AHumdy.

[paulesport]

I would say if you're paying at the least make it 28-29% (below 30% on each card) or overall enough that your total credit utilization is below 30%.  You'll be in better graces with your score and the report they pull on your Equifax and would be in better position to get a lower APR. 

[cashorcharge]

6 months is the eligibility threshold for CLI's with PenFed.  The appearance of the link IN NO WAY is a determining factor for likelihood of a an approval.  As others stated, it will be a HP and based on the notes above...you way want to pause.  

Lastly, the MAX CL on the PenFed Gold card is $15,000.  This limit was put in place a little over a year ago.