Hey all, just wanted to share my experience applying for the Chase Freedom card (my 2nd Chase card) with only 4 months of total credit history. Here's a really quick overview of my credit profile:
New to credit, no history at all until Mid Jan 2019.
Moved to the US from overseas, so it’s not easy to become an AU to build history since I don’t have family here.
Income: $70k/year.
No FICO scores.
CK shows my TU as 717 and EQ as 711. Chase shows my TU as 717.
First card: Discover It, $500 SL, approved Mid Jan 2019, CLI to a $1000 limit in April 2019.
Second card: CFU, $1700 SL, approved Mid Feb 2019.
Utilization: Hovers around 1-5%
I have a more detailed post regarding my credit history here if you're curious 
I was initially going to wait for several months before applying for it, but I had a really good feeling about it after waking up in the morning for some reason and I just cold apped for it. Expectedly, I wasn't approved. Called up for recon, and was approved for a $3,200 SL very shortly after - didn't even have to answer any questions!
If I had to guess, the most important factor would probably be me having my primary checking account with them since 2014 (which is definitely why I got approved for the CFU back in Feb 2019). Another factor they could have probably looked at was how I used the CFU. I've been using it as my daily go-to card and put most of my expenses on it. I always paid it off in full and paid multiple times a month to keep my utilization low.
I guess Chase is showing me some love and I definitely am loving them back! One step closer to that Trifecta dream 
Congrats on your Freedom approval
Congratulations on your approval!
Thanks everyone, this forum has really helped me learn so much about credit - you're all amazing!
I just had one question for anyone who may be passing by - with my current credit profile and new approval, when would you suggest I apply for the CSP? Obviously, I'm not planning on doing it any time soon. The few factors I was considering were:
1. Waiting until at least 9-12 months of total credit history,
2. Waiting for my Discover It CL to reach $5000, and/or
3. Waiting for a CSP pre-approval.
Any comments/suggestions would be much appreciated!
@StartingStrong wrote:Thanks everyone, this forum has really helped me learn so much about credit - you're all amazing!
I just had one question for anyone who may be passing by - with my current credit profile and new approval, when would you suggest I apply for the CSP? Obviously, I'm not planning on doing it any time soon. The few factors I was considering were:
1. Waiting until at least 9-12 months of total credit history,
2. Waiting for my Discover It CL to reach $5000, and/or
3. Waiting for a CSP pre-approval.
Any comments/suggestions would be much appreciated!
Yes, I would wait until your history is at least a year long OR until you get that green checkmark/preapproval for the CSP. Just don’t apply for a bunch of other cards in the meantime so you stay under 5/24!
@StartingStrong wrote:Thanks everyone, this forum has really helped me learn so much about credit - you're all amazing!
I just had one question for anyone who may be passing by - with my current credit profile and new approval, when would you suggest I apply for the CSP? Obviously, I'm not planning on doing it any time soon. The few factors I was considering were:
1. Waiting until at least 9-12 months of total credit history,
2. Waiting for my Discover It CL to reach $5000, and/or
3. Waiting for a CSP pre-approval.
Any comments/suggestions would be much appreciated!
In your case I think Longer=Better... This is just my opinion.... Thinking both some age and your Discover reaching/exceeding 5K would be really helpful since (at least in my chase approvals) they tried to one-up my only card (the CU card) at the time... and Chase tends to want to see higher limits before handing out higher limits.... Think 1 and 2 might cause 3.... Head for the garden and revisit this in 6 months (9 months would be better) but try to hold out for 3... if it takes you longer... so be it... periodically.. hit up miss disco... I'd wait at least 3 statements and a week before manually doing it though... if your beyond that.. just go in and hit the button....
-J
