Which Would You Choose: PreQ for Disc & BoA

Anonymous · ‎02-14-2019

I would love your advice, please.

I am desiring to get my first CC on my own. I am an AU on 2 cc and have an autoloan in good standing. My scores are not the greatest as you will see but I am working to change it. Scores right now: EQ 624 | TU 658 | EX 649

I have one negative ding on my credit on EQ and EX that I am hoping will be removed by in about 15 days. (Should I wait for this removal before I apply for any CC?)

I went to the various PrQ sites to see what offers I might get. Listed below are what came up. I was advised to try the Discover preQ and that turned up a couple matches. I also tried BoA. Based on some of the posts I have read here I am a bit shocked that BoA give me some options as it seems these are difficult cards to get but I don't know. I am complelty knew to this who CC thing and don't understand all the strategies.

I would lean towards BoA because it's a MC and I have been traveling to Europe at least 3 months each year and I would like a card I can use while traveling. I do not believe many places accept Discover outside the US. I will admit while at home I am not a big spender so to speak. I buy my airline tickets, do some a few times a month shopping, gas about ever 7 to 10 days, and some resturants a couple times a week. I spend more when I travel but still try to be concervative in my spending.

What advice do you have? What strategy would you use for my situation, score, and desire to build credit and score? Would be unwise to apply for both cards at the same time? If so why?

PreA Discover

Discover it® Cash Back

We've saved the info you entered.

We match all the cash back you've earned at the end of your first year.
Earn 5% cash back at different places each quarter like gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, Amazon.com and more, up to the quarterly maximum, each time you activate.
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We match all the cash back you've earned at the end of your first year.
Earn 2% cash back at gas stations and restaurants on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter
Plus, earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases — automatically.

PreQ BoA

Bank of America® Cash Rewards credit card

$150 cash rewards bonus if you make at least $500 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening
Choose which category you want to earn 3% cash back in: gas, online shopping, dining, travel, drug stores, or home improvement/furnishings
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FinStar · ‎02-14-2019

You can apply for any CC that fits your spend or travel patterns; but just FYI, the BoA portal is not a pre-qualification tool. It simply provides recommended CC products based on general inputs.

On the upside, Discover seems to have provided you with some prequalified options. Only downside, not really widely accepted if traveling abroad.

Anonymous · ‎02-14-2019

With your scores, I would go for the Disco card. I think BoA could be a wasted pull.

You can certainly app for both though, Disco isn’t known to be jealous and BoA won’t kill your card for adding a single card with another lender, just don’t do more than that.

Jnbmom · ‎02-14-2019

I would go for disco, their preapprovals are pretty solid, BOA looks like prequalify which doesn't usually result in approvals.

EXP 780 EQ 791TU 795

Anonymous · ‎02-14-2019

@Anonymous wrote:
With your scores, I would go for the Disco card. I think BoA could be a wasted pull.

You can certainly app for both though, Disco isn’t known to be jealous and BoA won’t kill your card for adding a single card with another lender, just don’t do more than that.

Thanks for your advice. I am thinking it’s a waste in BoA as well.

Out of the two Disc cards are either one of them better than the other? Agreed about the lack of being accepted globally 😢 but I am at where I am at.

Is it better to maybe wait to apply for a card till my scores get higher? (But to my understanding part of getting my scores to increase is having more creadit but 🤷🏼‍♀️)

Thank you for giving of your time to answer my questions.

Anonymous · ‎02-14-2019

@Jnbmom wrote:
I would go for disco, their preapprovals are pretty solid, BOA looks like prequalify which doesn't usually result in approvals.

Thanks for your advice and encouragement!

Out of the two Disc cards are either one of them better than the other? Agreed about the lack of being accepted globally 😢 but I am at where I am at.

Is it better to maybe wait to apply for a card till my scores get higher? (But to my understanding part of getting my scores to increase is having more creadit but 🤷🏼‍♀️)

Thank you for giving of your time to answer my questions.

Anonymous · ‎02-14-2019

@FinStar wrote:
You can apply for any CC that fits your spend or travel patterns; but just FYI, the BoA portal is not a pre-qualification tool. It simply provides recommended CC products based on general inputs.

On the upside, Discover seems to have provided you with some prequalified options. Only downside, not really widely accepted if traveling abroad.

Very good to know about BoA. I was thinking that there seemed to be too many options but I was not sure.

Out of the two Disc cards are either one of them better than the other? Agreed about the lack of being accepted globally 😢 but I am at where I am at.

Is it better to maybe wait to apply for a card till my scores get higher? (But to my understanding part of getting my scores to increase is having more creadit but 🤷🏼‍♀️)

Thank you for giving of your time to answer my questions.

Anonymous · ‎02-14-2019

The Discover It card is generally considered the better of them. For one, the first year you get your cash back matched (you earn half up front and get the other half after the first year is over) so it’s a 2% on everything and 10% on rotating categories card. You can really rake up some serious cash back if you max out the $1500 spend on the categories each quarter.

Its definitely better to add a card like Disco now as it will propel you quite far through your build.

Anonymous · ‎02-14-2019

@Anonymous wrote:
The Discover It card is generally considered the better of them. For one, the first year you get your cash back matched (you earn half up front and get the other half after the first year is over) so it’s a 2% on everything and 10% on rotating categories card. You can really rake up some serious cash back if you max out the $1500 spend on the categories each quarter.

Its definitely better to add a card like Disco now as it will propel you quite far through your build.

Ok thank you! I am new to all of this so I very much apprecate your help. Any post here, blogs or books that you recommend I read to help me understand build strategy?

Anonymous · ‎02-14-2019

Check out our rebuilding forum. Lots of great people there. You may even be able to get a good will removal of lates if you follow the process.