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In the process of looking for a second credit card to apply for and could use some advice. I'm 22 years old, trying to start off my credit journey on the right foot. I currently have a Transunion score of 745 and an Equifax 726, calculated using Vantage 3.0. I’ve only used Credit Karma to check my scores.
In August '17 I applied for my first credit card with Chase and got approved for the Freedom Unlimited with a CL of 1,000. At the time I was finishing up my senior year of college and over the past year of having the card, I bumped up my score around 40-50 point with my utilization percentage.
Last month I decided to apply for my second card. I want my next card to have no foreign transaction fees and to be a travel rewards card. So I decided to try my hand at the Chase Sapphire Preferred, because it meets my needs travel wise and I want to focus on building my banking relationship with Chase. I was pre-approved for the card with my credit score alone, but ultimately was denied twice (after calling for reconsideration), solely based on my credit age, and no reason but that. After being denied I asked to be transferred to someone who could raise my credit limit on my current card and instantly got approved for a CL of 2,000.
Although this higher limit has helped me for the time being, I am still in need of a card with no foreign transaction fees. I’m now eyeing Capital One’s Venture cards, specifically the Venture One card. I've done research in the past but stopped looking once I saw something about Capital One not accepting anyone who doesn't have a 5 year credit age, and hasn't been given a CL past 5,000 through another card. I’m not sure if this is correct, I just read it somewhere.
I did decide to check if I prequalified for any Capital One cards anyway, and I did, for the Venture one and the Venture card (which I see as a harder card to get approved for compared to Venture one).
Now here’s what I’m wondering: I don't know if I should just bite the bullet and go ahead and apply for the Venture One card (I’m not going in expecting a high CL), or if I should just come to terms with my low credit age and try applying for a simple cash back card to try and at least get my CL higher by the time my credit age does reach that point where reward cards are more attainable.
Mod note: I've updated your subject to reflect your approval; feel free to change/edit if you would like. --UB
@Anonymous wrote:
... any advice would really help me out.
I found your post very dificult to digest. My advice: edit it & make liberal use of paragraphs.
Also, are the 2 credit scores you listed Vantage 3.0 or Fico 08?
Op for a comparison.. my 19yr old had 0 credit, score was 730 with absolutely no profile whatsoever yet. Capital One approved him w/ 19k income while in school for a 1k SL on the Capital One Journey card. They had no issue giving him an unsecured card w/ a thin/nonexistent profile. With your scores around the same however already with some history.. I'd think you have a better opportunity already with Capital One. As previously mentioned, the kicker to that is they triple pull you for sport so be prepared for that.
Cap One actually tends to be the friendliest to people with limited/bad credit. I say go for the Venture if you don't mind the AF. You won't get less than 5k.
Welcome, @Anonymous.
Do you have any loans on your report?
I always like seeing it when a member's first card is a Chase card with a decent limit. That doesn't happen often.
It'd be useful to get your FICO scores at some point. But you have a report with one credit card with a year of history. It's pretty easy to predict that you should have a lot of cards to choose from. The only ones I'd avoid right now are the ones with high starting limits that you might not get approved for at this point in your history. The Venture would be among them.
Before you apply, make sure that your Chase card utilization is down. It should be below 28.9% of its limit. Some will tell you that 8.9% is better (which it is, scoring-wise), but I don't think that'll matter much in your case.
When you're about ready to apply, make sure your statement balance is in check for reporting purposes. If you don't want to wait, you can bring your utilization down within the span of about a week — probably less.
On a Monday, make a payment to bring your card down to your desired balance. Once it posts (probably the next day), ask Chase to report to the bureaus. Then watch your monitoring services so you know your new balance has hit your reports. This will likely happen by Friday or Saturday.
DO NOT bring your balance to zero during this time. There'll be a FICO penalty for all cards with balances of zero, and Chase will report zero whenever you pay to zero. That doesn't mean you have to pay interest. Feel free to pay your statement balance in full AFTER a new charge has posted. If you goof up and end up at zero, ask Chase to report once you have a small positive balance.
For future reference, Chase is among the few banks that'll report your balance upon request. Discover is another. Capital One certainly won't.
As far as Capital One cards go, I'd suggest the Quicksilver or SavorOne. The only way I see the VentureOne beating either of those cards is if you make extensive use of the hotels.com reward. Otherwise, the other two cards have higher rewards value. And rewards redemptions aren't limited to travel.
@Anonymous wrote:
Capital one has two tiers of cards. The venture and savor aretheir upper tier requiring “excellent credit.”
Their definition of excellent is “I've never declared bankruptcy or defaulted on a loan; I haven't been more than 60 days late on any credit card, medical bill, or loan in the last year; I've had a loan or credit card for 3 years or more with a credit limit above $5,000.”
Wow -- what a piece of iunformation. I had no idea. Where did you unearth that nugget?
@Anonymous wrote:
Right on their website. Gives definition of their credit types.
How silly! Who'd EVER think to look there?