What Cards Should I Apply For?

[Anonymous]

Hi,

What are some cards you guys would recommend for someone with an overall utilization of 75%? In other words... who is likely to give me credit even with my high utilization? I'm only looking for one or two new cards to help me improve my utilization a little. I don't have a long credit history (oldest card is 3 years and 3 months old) but I have quite a few credit cards and an excellent history (no baddies).

Utilization:

Delta AMEX $10000 (99%)
AMEX Blue Cash Preferred $2000 (150%) <- I charged too much on this card when I was younger but I plan to pay it down to $1500 within 30 days.
Chase Sapphire $5000 (90%)
Synchrony Bank Lovesac $5500 (39%)
Synchrony Bank Mattress $1000 (0%)
Best Buy Credit Card $1000 (0%)
Capital One $950 (0%)
Amazon Store Card $800 (0%)
Bank of America Cash Rewards $300 (0%)
Toys R Us $250 (0%)

As you can see... I'm working on my utilization. Best Buy approved me for a $1000 Citi Visa when my utilization was in the high 90s. Amazon approved me for their store card with a $800 credit line on the same day as well. I applied for those cards well over 6 months ago. The fact that they approved me despite my utilization gives me high hopes now that my utilization is down to 75. I was denied a CLI from Amazon a couple of weeks ago but my utilization on that card was at 80% when I asked. I hit the luv button on my Cap1 card too but no luck. It was likely because I already received a CLI within the past 6 months.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Income: $100,000 (annually)

Experian: 636
Transunion: 640
Equifax: ?

[Anonymous]

I know that this isn't what you want to hear but you don't need any more credit cards at this time.  You need to focus exclusively on paying your existing ones down.  75% is very high and regardless of what other creditors have done in the past, now is not the time to apply for more cards.  You seriously risk one of your existing creditors taking adverse action against you if you continue to have that high of utilization and continue to apply for more cards. Adding more cards and the low limits that they might give you won't help your utilization that much.  The way to lower it is to pay down the existing balances that you already have.  You need to be below 30% before even considering new cards.

[Anonymous]

Wow, I would not recommend for applying for any new cards at all. You need to get your utlization down. New cards aren't really for you if the only reason you want them is to get your overall utilization down. As Irish said, you will either get low limits or be denied because of your current utlization.

[Anonymous]

Listen to them, they know of which they speak.

Delta AMEX $10000 (99%),,,,THAT NEEDS TO BE 3000
AMEX Blue Cash Preferred $2000 (150%) <- I charged too much on this card when I was younger but I plan to pay it down to $1500 within 30 days.  NEEDS TO BE 700
Chase Sapphire $5000 (90%),,,,,THAT NEEDS TO BE 1500
Synchrony Bank Lovesac $5500 (39%)TAHT NEEDS TO BE 1250

Start pruning back in the debt Garden.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the advice! I was able to bring my utilization down 20 percent within the past month. I should be down to 10% in August. I guess I will hold off on applying for any new cards until then. Still going to seek for CLIs in the meantime. Soft pull only of course.

[Appleman]

Getting the utilization down will really jump start your scores. 

>90% Maxxed out and a red flad (although you are a cash cow to the banks as long as you keep paying)

<70% another breaking point followed by 50%, 30% and 10%.

Mind you, these are numbers where I started to see big jumps in score. Especially once I was below 50% utilization.

Hopefully you can find a bugeting program that works for you and allows you to reach the point where credit is working for you!