@Anonymous wrote:Hey guys,
Quick background: just moved to the States a few months ago, got married to my husband.
My first credit card here in the US is Cap One's QuicksilverOne, with only a $300 CL, which I applied in Aug 2014. I suspect that I managed to get my first card ever unsecured due to my prior 2-year banking relationship with Cap One.
Then last month (Nov 2014), I got a Discover it approved after a recon, with $1250 CL.
A few days ago, I was approved for Chase Freedom (apparently pre-approved, but I didn't realize that as I applied in-branch) with a $2200 CL.
(I foolishly tried to apply for the Barclays US Airways card today as the signup bonus was quite attractive, but I was denied after a recon due to "relatively new credit history" and that they'll like me to build my history first. That was a wasted inquiry that I regret.)
I just checked my TransUnion score (paid the $1 trial), and my score is 692. Discover can't locate a FICO score for me (too new of a history or something), while my Credit Karma score is 712.
My questions:
1) What I want though is an Amex card with a decent rewards program (Membership Rewards). It can be a charge card or an unsecured card. What would be such a card that I have a good chance to be approved for?
2) Bonus question: I also just received a targeted mail offer from Capital One for their Platinum MasterCard. What is attractive about that card is it says it will be $0 AF for me, and "access to a higher credit line after making your first 5 monthly payments on time".
Truth to be told, I'm not interested at all in this card, but if it doesn't have an AF forever, that might be great for me to keep it open for better AAoA in the future. Without this targeted offer, it's $39/yearly according to Capital One's site (my current Cap One card is also charging a $39 annual fee). What do you guys think?
Ah, Life before MyFICO.....
-Congratulations on that Freedom approval! Take care of it and it'll take care of you.
-QuicksilverOne....Get them to PC it to a No-AF QS. It is not worth the $39 AF, especially for a CL that's less than 8 times the AF.
-Congratulations on the Discover approval! Follow the same advice as the Freedom.
-Your real FICO scores will take some time to show, Take this opportunity to let your accounts age and your profile build itself up.
-Barclay's likes to see some history, On the bright side, It's only an inquiry. 
-Give AMEX some time with your current accounts to see some good history built up (See the theme here?)
-Do not app for anything else CapitalOne for now. Especially anything CreditSteps. AF or no AF.
-That transunion score you paid for? Junk. Cancel it and get your dollar back.
May your credit journey be filled with success.
@Anonymous wrote:
Ah, Life before MyFICO.....
-Congratulations on that Freedom approval! Take care of it and it'll take care of you.
-QuicksilverOne....Get them to PC it to a No-AF QS. It is not worth the $39 AF, especially for a CL that's less than 8 times the AF.
-Congratulations on the Discover approval! Follow the same advice as the Freedom.
-Your real FICO scores will take some time to show, Take this opportunity to let your accounts age and your profile build itself up.
-Barclay's likes to see some history, On the bright side, It's only an inquiry.
-Give AMEX some time with your current accounts to see some good history built up (See the theme here?)
-Do not app for anything else CapitalOne for now. Especially anything CreditSteps. AF or no AF.
-That transunion score you paid for? Junk. Cancel it and get your dollar back.
May your credit journey be filled with success.
Thanks for the advice Nixon! Yeah that's a good theme going. =p
Silly question, what does PC mean? Noted about Capital One!
I've cancelled the TransUnion score, didn't realize it was junk! Now I learn.
"The general advice is go with a charge card as they have the most relaxed under writings in most cases. If I were you I would wait about 6 or so months to let the new accounts mature and let the scores increase from on time payments and aging of accounts."
Charge card eh, so I guess a Green card would be the easiest then. Yeah, guess I'll let the scores increase first.
"Welcome to the U.S. Now, when considering scores, forget about the Credit Karma score. It is not going to help you in any application. If you are thinking of an Amex, wait till you have an experian score - Fico before you apply. They do sometimes pull Transunion and Equifax. But based on the thread here, it is mainly experian. So work on the score before Amex."
Thank you! Ah Experian FICO score. There isn't any free option to see an Experian FICO score, is there? I understand that Discover's free FICO score is based on TransUnion.
"Do your husband has an Amex, maybe he can add you to his so you lock the MSD of 14. Wait a few months then apply for it, make sure that they put MSD 14 on it."
He does! I've actually gotten myself added as an AU on his Amex, thanks for the remidner to ask them to put MSD 14 on it.
Ah, got it, Nixon!
@elim wrote:it would be nice if you could get your AMEX in Jan of 15'.
it will add 1 year to your low AAoA and will report as "openned Jan of 14' " on your reports.
Wow that's amazing. Since I'm already added as an AU on my husband's Amex, I'll see if my FICO score will finally update next month! If it's a good score, I'll give it a shot in applying for the Amex.
@Anonymous wrote:Ah, got it, Nixon!
@elim wrote:it would be nice if you could get your AMEX in Jan of 15'.
it will add 1 year to your low AAoA and will report as "openned Jan of 14' " on your reports.
Wow that's amazing. Since I'm already added as an AU on my husband's Amex, I'll see if my FICO score will finally update next month! If it's a good score, I'll give it a shot in applying for the Amex.
Yeah, I have to say that's a great AMEX perk. I also love the offers for free $$$ that are on the account site, and you can't really knock the Member Rewards. I'm not sure if being an UA stops your sign-up bonus offers but, you may get a 50k MR offer for the PRG charger in Jan or Feb of 15' which in my opinion is a better choice than the green (as the bonus is worth at least $500). There is an annual fee (waived the first year) of $175 but you can cancel before it hits. Another way is to PC the card in 13 to 23 months (paying 1 AF) and you are still up at least $325. You may love the card and keep it just for the member benefits (great also).
Use your AU card and pay the bill in full from your account (that's another great thing about AMEX, AU has their own account number and log-in/payment) and show them you handle the card on your own.
just my 2 cents and as always YMMV