IMHO, Citibank can be spooked by seeing even one new inquiry within the past 6-12 months. USBank can be spooked by 1 new account within 6-12 months. If I wanted both cards, I would plan to apply for one right after the other on the same day starting with the Citi Double Cash. Don't wait for the first account to begin reporting before applying for the second one.
Ideally, you would wait to apply for either one until you can pay down the utilization a little more. You didn't specify the current individual utilization for each of your 4 cards. Individual utilization can be just as important as total aggregate utilization.
@Jazee wrote:Thanks for the info. So my theory in waiting until first statement reports before applying second is debunked so to speak. Essentially because the small score hit to one hard pull in 2 years being on my report is much less potentially derogatory, than a brand new account (especially in the eyes of Citi) let alone the decrease in average age of accounts which will lower the score further. It seems the new account would need to have a huge credit limit to offset these negative effects that would say add 50% or more to the total credit limit for all accounts and significantly lowering the UTI. I'm pretty sure if approved credit limits for either card will be very low. US Bank seems notorious for starting out very low. And therefore neither is going to change my UTI significantly enough to wait for one account to report before applying for the second.
I have since realized some additional strategies I can employ. I'm going to make a huge payment on the one account I'm at 95% UTI to bring it to 70% (an NFCU Card). The rest are < 30%. After doing that I'm going to ask for a CLI on my other NFCU card as I know they only do a soft pull so there's really no downside. I'm also going to do a CLI request on my Amazon Store Card as that's a soft pull also but I'm already at 10K and kind of worried that might trigger a CL decrease if they see my high UTI on the soft pull!?
If I can get one or two CLIs at the same time of making that large payment that will really bring my UTI down. Probably not < 30% but possibly pretty close. I have a long standing perfect payment history on all accounts. There's absolutely nothing deragatory on my report except the high UTI and average age of accounts is about 5 years. Well I guess there is also one card I exceeded the limit 3 or 4 times in the past 3 years as I made the minimum payment but the interest put me just over the limit. I imediately paid it down but that was of course after it reported.
I guess the big question is how bad do I really need these additional cards sooner than later? The Citi card definitely save me a bundle in interest with the 0% APR balance transfer even with a 3% fee. I can wait another 6-12 months to reapply for the US Bank Card if they reject me as getting 4 lounge passes and $100 TSA credit isn't that important for the next 6-12 months.
You have a good grasp of your situation. For the two cards you want most, their issuing banks are averse to activity they deem as "credit seeking behavior" (e.g. recent inquiries and new accounts). If you are willing to wait until you can pay down that high utilization account, your chances for a good approval will improve. Requesting soft inquiry credit limit increases for your existing cards can also help, but please make sure that they don't pull a hard inquiry. Freeze your credit reports at all 3 major bureaus.
@Jazee wrote:
@NoHardLimits wrote:You have a good grasp of your situation. For the two cards you want most, their issuing banks are averse to activity they deem as "credit seeking behavior" (e.g. recent inquiries and new accounts). If you are willing to wait until you can pay down that high utilization account, your chances for a good approval will improve. Requesting soft inquiry credit limit increases for your existing cards can also help, but please make sure that they don't pull a hard inquiry. Freeze your credit reports at all 3 major bureaus.
I always have my 3 bureaus frozen for that very reason (in addition to fraud protection.) I'll do a prequal on Citi and if no offers I'll hold off. If I got a prequal on Citi then denied, I wouldn't bother applying for the US Bank card. Better to just get the UTI down than risk a second hard pull on a second denial. The Citi is quite valuable as it can save me a large amount of interest during the 18-21 month 0% APR. It would be better for me to reapply to the in 3-6 months with a lower UTI if denied than try to get the US Bank sooner than later.
Sounds like a very prudent plan. Good luck!
@Jazee wrote:
@NoHardLimits wrote:IMHO, Citibank can be spooked by seeing even one new inquiry within the past 6-12 months. USBank can be spooked by 1 new account within 6-12 months. If I wanted both cards, I would plan to apply for one right after the other on the same day starting with the Citi Double Cash. Don't wait for the first account to begin reporting before applying for the second one.
Ideally, you would wait to apply for either one until you can pay down the utilization a little more. You didn't specify the current individual utilization for each of your 4 cards. Individual utilization can be just as important as total aggregate utilization.
If I'm going to apply for both before either reports a new account, is there any difference in applying for second card same day of approval of first versus 3 days later versus say, 3 weeks later?
I would apply for the second card as soon as possible. You have control over when to submit an application. You have no control over when a financial institution will start to report your new account. Some, like Amex, don't report until usually just after the second statement cuts... giving you several weeks of time. However, some financial institutions start reporting much sooner. My most recent app was for a Wells Fargo card which started reporting 16 days after application approval.
@NoHardLimits wrote:
@Jazee wrote:
@NoHardLimits wrote:IMHO, Citibank can be spooked by seeing even one new inquiry within the past 6-12 months. USBank can be spooked by 1 new account within 6-12 months. If I wanted both cards, I would plan to apply for one right after the other on the same day starting with the Citi Double Cash. Don't wait for the first account to begin reporting before applying for the second one.
Ideally, you would wait to apply for either one until you can pay down the utilization a little more. You didn't specify the current individual utilization for each of your 4 cards. Individual utilization can be just as important as total aggregate utilization.
If I'm going to apply for both before either reports a new account, is there any difference in applying for second card same day of approval of first versus 3 days later versus say, 3 weeks later?
I would apply for the second card as soon as possible. You have control over when to submit an application. You have no control over when a financial institution will start to report your new account. Some, like Amex, don't report until usually just after the second statement cuts... giving you several weeks of time. However, some financial institutions start reporting much sooner. My most recent app was for a Wells Fargo card which started reporting 16 days after application approval.
It's a total crapshoot on how long they take to report
my Suncoast card is into its second billing cycle and still hasn't showed up
but my Barclays aviator red was Approved on the evening of the 19th. Showed up on Equifax the morning of the 21st. Fastest reporting I've ever heard of.
