Spree vs Snail

[jesseh]

Hi all!

As you can see in my sig, my credit history, which has only started a year and a half ago, has been going quite well. Discover raised my CL from 1.5k to 2k after the first half year.

My goal is to get a high total of credit limits (credit available), and a high fico score on the long term.

I checked the prequal pages for Amex, citi, barclay, Chase, cap1. They all gave prequal offers.

Should I do a big spree, raise the number of cards I have in my wallet?

Or should I snail: just apply once in eg every 6months.

What do you guys think? What will raise my total credit available and my fico on the long term, best?

Thanks, have a great Sunday!

[Anonymous]

If you decide to go on the spree... make sure you try to find an order to it. For instance, doing Chase first may be beneficial since they have a limit on how many new accounts they like to see. From there, you can continue based off of which bureau each card pulls to balance inquiries as you go. Just a thought....

[elim]

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@Anonymous wrote:

If you decide to go on the spree... make sure you try to find an order to it. For instance, doing Chase first may be beneficial since they have a limit on how many new accounts they like to see. From there, you can continue based off of which bureau each card pulls to balance inquiries as you go. Just a thought....

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   +1  great advice either way.    In most cases, Chase will not issue you a Slate, Freedom or CSP if you have opened 5 accounts in the past 24 months.

   I think I would grab 1 every 3 - 4 months, or 2 every 6 months.  You have years to compile a portfolio and a big Boom on your reports looks like a big Bust is coming (to creditors).  Somewhere between snail and spree is my advice.    Congrats on a great start!

[jesseh]

Thanks for the advice.

What I'm wondering, is the road to high limits just one card at a time? I just feel I need to get out of the <5k zone asap to grow further.

If I ruin my INQ's now (get a card with every issuer), in two years, I have a portfolio with 0 INQ's (dropped off), and eg 7 prime-lender cards with 2-3k limits.

Will that get me my 'beloved' 5k+ cards, or can I get one sooner, if I go slow and steady?

[jesseh]

Which card should I apply for now, if my goal is a high limit? Are some lenders more lenient for my 'portfolio'?

[CreditCuriosity]

I kinda go at a snails pace and apply for a card every 2 months..  Ideally IMO it would be every 6-12 months add 1 or 2 or whatever you desire.  Each person is different though and has different short/long term goals

I agree if you do a spree if you want the freedom/csp then get those first and prioritize the other ones in importance as some are more inquiry sensitive than others

[nenuco]

Nice job being so responsible with your credit! Everyone has different ways on taking on new credit. For me, I like to app a couple of cards at a time. That way the inquiries fall off around the same time and the score pulled is roughly the same. As others have stated, being organized and applying in order helps. Make a realistic list that strikes a balance between what you want and what you can get. Don't waste inquiries for cards that are still out of your reach. Cards like the CSP require a minimum credit line of 5K for most if not everyone applying. I'm sure that if you keep things up, in a year or two you can get cards with a 5K SL. It took me about a year and a half to get there.  Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Do what works best for you. I got into credit cards as it was the missing puzzle piece to couponing. Will you get rich from them? Probably not, but a extra piece of pie with a pie starts to add up! (bad analogy lol)

I would research what exactly you need first. Break down your monthly spending into categories. See how much you spend on general non category items. Make it about the cash back or money savings.

Remember with prequals, unless it states a specific APR its NOT legit.

If I were you and wasn't getting a mortgage any time soon, I'd focus on getting my scores good enough to get a nice bonus 2-3 times a year or so. This doesnt mean every year you add 3 cards. That would be excessive after 20 years lol. Maybe rewards arent for you though. I also try to get the most I can per inquiry in the form of cash back and a bonus..  But for you, your goal may just be super high limits.

May I ask why exactly you are so attracted to really high limits?

If you want the fast track to high limit, that would be with a credit union. Try Nasa. Lots of folks get 10-20k cards with only 2 soft pulls. I guess since you have low inquiries and dont have a ton of cards, you could do the old fashioned venture/quicksilver combo. 3 inquiries for 2 cards. But the venture doesnt really make much sense to me as there are 2 percent cards out there with no AFs or restrictions. So you could move the venture limit to the quicksilver in 6 months.  I wouldnt go for capital on unless you absolutely had to, that is just my opinion.

Can you get any of your secured cards unsecured without a hard pull?

I see a lot of chase cards here with big limits. Folks seem to move their big limits from a cobranded to their freedom fairly easily. As always YMMV.  But if you want to see the effects on spree... everything in my signature has been obtained since may after the quicksilver. That couple month long spree has caused my major CC limits to be kind of stuck in the 2-3k range for now. I suspect with time they will increase. However in 1 year my scores have risen 100 points. So probably a small spree from time to time. IDK

[Creditaddict]

I have a post from last week helping a friend who had not done anything with his credit in years and in about 10 minutes he gained $42k and he still needs to do Navy.

I highly suggest SPREE so you take the hit at once plus your current cards are what you let grow to get to this point of spreeing, so you don't need to grow more by adding 1 here and there.

Take 2 chase back to back first (consolidate to 1 if you don't like both) either Freedom/CSP or CSP/airline or hotel will get you even higher limit.

Take Citi Next

Amex

Barlcay

Then 2 Capital One back to back (they can be consolidated in 6 months also (make sure 1 is venture since it gives highest limits.

[jesseh]

Chase gives me the following prequal page:

(my name above it)

(

So, does the fact that it shows a CSP, mean I can be sure to get a 5k limit?