Timing between new accounts?

[Anonymous]

I'm just worried about my existing accounts with my current lenders, as i'd like to get higher credit limits. I have between 6-8k limits and want to reach 10-15k limit ranges before i open new accounts. If i grabbed two amex reward accounts would my current lenders like chase, capital one, bofa, discover, use those new accounts as an excuse to deny me for a CLI in the future? i'd rather be safe than sorry

[Gmood1]

I understand, normally if I were denied a CLI with a lender that I already have. It was because I reached my max exposure with that lender. Not because of what my limits are with other lenders.
Discover is a crap shoot on CLI. Some times you get them and some times you don't.
Chase rarely gives SP CLIs. You normally have to use their CCs often in order to get them to budge.

BofA CLIs are SPs. Besides Synchrony they are one of the easiest to get CLIs from. I believe you're over thinking it a little.

[Anonymous]

OP, I feel your dilemma: what to apply for first - CLI on existing cards, or new cards? 

Have you checked your prequalifications? Doctor of Credit has a list of links here (link). Maybe you've already been prequal'ed for that Amex card you want! 

I can say from personal experience that Amex updates their prequals instantly. I checked my Amex prequals before and after I had a HP with another card issuer - moments after my HP, my Amex prequals went down from 3 to 1. I applied for that 1 CC, got a 14-day waiting period, but it was followed up by an approval email the same evening. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm just worried about my existing accounts with my current lenders, as i'd like to get higher credit limits. I have between 6-8k limits and want to reach 10-15k limit ranges before i open new accounts. If i grabbed two amex reward accounts would my current lenders like chase, capital one, bofa, discover, use those new accounts as an excuse to deny me for a CLI in the future? i'd rather be safe than sorry

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I definitely see where you're coming from. I only have $10K+ limits on two cards right now (Capital One QS Visa and Care Credit), and I'd love to get at least one more, preferably more than one, of my other cards up above the $10K line by the end of the year. Having such-and-such a number of cards, or a particular number of cards from a particular issuer, wouldn't, I don't think, be sufficient reason for any lender to deny you a CLI; I've been able to get CLI's on existing accounts in the past within weeks or even days of opening new accounts.

Per Gmood, the real limit on CLI's is whatever the lender's upper limit on exposure is, which may vary from income bracket to income bracket depending on lender. For instance, PenFed now has a hard upper limit of $50K for credit cards which is income-based (you have to have a $15K income per month to be able to qualify for $50K CL), and Synchrony has an upper limit of $100K for total credit lines across the cards that you have with them, which I don't think is income-driven but I could be mistaken (I have $32K total exposure with Sync right now).