Advice - Citi Double Cash Pre Approval - Update: Approved

[Anonymous]

First, I hear that Citi pre approvals are pretty reliable. Is this usually the case? 

I started rebuilding my credit about 6 months ago. FICO scores are 671 TU, and 651 for both EQ and EX. I have had my eye on the Double Cash card since starting and for the first time received a pre qualify for it. I also checked Amex for the fun of it and was pre qualified for a Gold Delta Skymiles card. I typically fly United these days so would rather go with a different Amex card in the future, but know I am not quite there yet. 

I currently have 3 cards: 

Cap1 VentureOne - $3,800 CL, 22% Util. They also just gave me a $300 CLI 2 weeks ago. 

Cap1 Quicksilver - 1,000 CL, 0% Util. I am on the steps program and will receive a $500 CLI after my next statement in May. I originally opened a Cap1 Platinum in December of 2017 which they upgraded to a Quicksilver 1 month ago. 

Discover It - $1,200 CL, 0% Util, but this card was opened in the last 2 weeks and has not even reported. 

I have 1 baddie from a US Bank CO, but currently have many GW letters out to them, but not getting my hopes up. Otherwise, my report is good with 100% on time payments and a student loan. 

Anyways, my point is that I believe my score will jump even more within the next 30-60 days with the CLI on the Quicksilver reporting and the Discover reporting. This is a lot of information and hard to answer, but it really comes down to 2 questions: 

-Because  Citi Pre Qualified me, can I be pretty certain that they will approve me for the Double Cash? 

-Am I better off waiting a month or two when my Discover reports? My Venture Util will also be slightly lower after this statment closes this week to about 18%. 

Thanks in advance, sorry this is a ton of info and may be tough questions to accurately answer. 

Mod note:  I've updated your subject to reflect your approval; feel free to change/edit if you would like.  --UB

[Anonymous]

Actually one more question, how much do you feel income plays a role in the SL? Obviously my scores are not that great, but income is in good shape. I assume your credit history and score have a larger impact, but curious what you guys think. 

[Anonymous]

1. I'm not familiar with Citi pre-approval but if it's single APR it should be solid.

2. Going from 22% to 18 % will not help your score, the next UTI threshold is 8.9%. Even if you cross that threshold, the gains will probably be off set by the decrease in AAoA and the reset of AoYA to 0 when Discover reports.

[Anonymous]

Thank you. Yes, I was not expecting going from 22% util to 18% on the Venture to make any difference. 

But, am I hearing that an additional new credit card and how it will lower my AAoA will likely do more damage than the increase to the amount of my revolving credit? 

[Anonymous]

Adding new accounts typically lowers your score in the short term due to lowering of your Average Age of Accounts and resetting your Age of Youngest Account to zero month (not counting the initial inquiry hit), the negative effects does diminish with volume (number of new accounts). That said, you will get most of the points back as the new account(s) age and inquiry(s) and the youngest account hits 1 year.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the responses! Well, I couldn't resist, I went ahead and apped. Got the 7-10 days message, called and all they needed was to verify my address. Approved for $2,500 SL. All things considered, not too bad as I know Citi can be a bit conservative with SL's. 

Well, into the garden I go... 

[Anonymous]

Congrats on getting your 2% general spending card!

[Anonymous]

Almost every weekend I would try the prequal tool on Citi.  I was always told nothing matched my profile.  Until....Last weekend.  I did the prequal and was qualified for the Double Cash.  I didn't wait.  I immediately applied and got the 7 to 10 day notice saying they needed to do more verification.  I was deflated. 

The following morning I dialed the backdoor number (found on myfico) and a really nice guy put me on hold for a few minutes and came back saying I was approved for a $9,900 SL.

I say go for it!  Don't take too much as anything can change on your credit reports overnight. BTW, they pulled EX and TU and I live in the SE. My FICO 8 on TU is 764 and my EX is 756.  Utilization is 6%...good income.

Good luck!

Edit after OP applied...That's what I get for taking 10+ min writing a response.

Congrats OP!

[Anonymous]

Congrats on the DC!! When I cold applied for the card back in Dec 2014 I got a $6,300 sl but the APR was mid tier for the card 19% due to 50% uti on my other accounts. No SUB which kinda sucks but a cool 0% intro APR for 18 months allowed me to park some debt with them for a while. If you make that card a daily driver they are generous with sp increases.