Finally in with CHASE!!!! Question about 5/24....

[JJ1300]

So, it's been a loooooong journey. I started down in the 400's and thanks to both discovering the Godsend of Bill Pay with my Credit Union and  these message boards, I have pulled myself up into the 700's for the second time.  Last time, I had hit a plateau because I still had a bankruptcy and the late payments associated with a foreclosure that were still hanging around like a late party go'er that doesn't figure out the party's over.

I also got a little excited over my new found success and responsible credit behavior and racked up some pretty decent debt raising my Utilization to +-70% at its highest.  I wasn't having any trouble paying because finances have improved.  I eventually shook myself out of it and curbed the spend.  My scores dipped back down into just above the mid 600's and I wasn't concerned because I had no pressing need for a mortgage, etc.

I finally got in with JetBlue Plus just less than 2 years ago after lowering my inquiries to get the nod from Barclays.  Barclays issues Jetblue and is highly inquiry sensitive.  The Recon guy himself told me "Wait 6 months and call back. I see you have 2 inquiries that will drop off by then and you will likely be good at that point". I waited and he was correct!  JetBlue Plus! That was a milestone card because better finances has opened up traveling for us and we fly only Jetblue. So the bennies were a big deal!  

During this same time period I had graphed out my 5/24 status and knew I had a little time to wait. After I was clear of 5/24, I app'd once or twice with no luck.  I gave up and gardened for about a year. Recently, I was successful in getting my last baddie and my BK off of Equifax 2 months early and now have a 100% clean profile!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I can't even belive it!!!!!!!!!!! What a long road!!!!!!!!!

I have recently been considering a personal loan and was close to taking one with BHG and then read some pretty bad reviews.  Certain factors steered me away from taking a HELOC, so I decided to hit the 0% BT offers and do some pay down that way.  I went on an app spree last night.  I had a pre-selected offer from USAA Rate Advantage and applied and boom! 15K SL after being denied a year earlier!  I then app'd with Citi Diamond Preferred becasue I was targeting 0% BT offers.  Their approval was underwhelming at a 3K SL.  Then all of a sudden I remembered Chase and decided it was now or never becasue I knew I was going to continue my app spree a bit.  So I pulled the trigger on Chase Freedom Unlimited and boom! I'm in at 8K SL!   Then I figured I'd roll the dice with AMEX.  I have app'd many times in my life but never been succesful.  IN with AMEX/Blue Cash Everyday at 10K SL!!!!  Today I realized I still needed to re-open my care credit (for upcoming dental expenses) that closed on me due to lack of use.  I app'd and what was a 12K line that closed a year or so ago brought me back in at 16.5K SL!

Along the way, since I was taking some inquiry hits, I figured now was the time to try some CLI's on hard pull cards. 

Results

Home Depot/$2501 to $17500.

NavyFed Cash Rewards/$6100 to $12100. 

NavyFed More Rewards/$9000 to $11400.

The day before I went on the app spree, I hit up my Synchrony cards for CLI's while my CR's were frozen.

Results

Synchrony Home/$5200 to $8000

Synchrony Mastercard/$5230 to $8000

Discount Tire/$4000 to $5000

New Cards

Chase Freedom Unlimited     $8,000

USAA Rate Advantage             $15,000

AMEX Blue Cash Everuyday   $10,000

Citi Diamond Preferred            $3000

CareCredit                                      $16500

I dropped my utilization from 65% to 38% by opening the new cards and the CLI's!!!!  I have room to do about 28K in BT's to the new cards.  That will wipe away all the high interest cards and leave me with only 1 card over 20% (20.74)  The cards with the highest balances have rates from 15-18%.  I will have room to move some off each of these to lower the individual Utilization.  So all in all, once these new moves get reported and I expect some pretty decent score increases.  If I remember from the past, I swear overall utilization drop saw a more marked score increase even though there some individually high utilization %'s.  Right now I stand at EQ 710, TU 709, EX 701.  Hoping for about a 25 point jump. We'll see!

Ok, now if you've made it this far.....my big question is this.  For those of you that counted, I opened 5 cards between yesterday and today and Jetblue Plus is still within 5/24 until May.  What are the chances Chase takes AA and closes the Chase Freedom Unlimited on me?  Anybody have any similar experience?

Oh, and I'm definitely back in the Garden at least for Revolvers!!!! (If mortgage rates drop, I may refinance one of my mortgages.  I also may consider a personal loan to move some of this revolving debt to a fixed rate and longer term so that I can attack the credit cards aggresively)

[Realist]

Well done.

You went on a spree that ultimately benefited you, abusing your credit score to maximum potential and opportunity.  What did it cost you?  A number of hard inquiries, that are available for a reset over time.  Yet, it increased your credit standing, position, reallocation of utilization, and likely score.

You won't likely lose anything in regards to Chase pulling a card.  Instead what you will likely experience is that most if not all instituations will close you off while you hold six hard inquiries on record, if you pulled a sixth.  As mentioned in my prior posts, there are always exceptions, but six inquiries close a LOT of doors.  I've said before, if you don't think it does, feel free to apply around to test that statement.  I know I always did, standing at an excellent FICO at that time.  Denied.  Denied.  Denied. More Denied.  It's like the ultimate in "You SHALL not pass" criteria.  

Enjoy the fruits of your labor.  Take a breather.  Come back again just as strong, and in time.  That time may be six months, twelve months, or even the full two years.

[IcyCool7227]

I don't understand why you have scores in the early 700s yet were approved for higher SLs with a bad history that is now off your reports.  Not sure if a mortgage has anything to do with it and of course none of the issuers recently were mine except for Citi but that's a different card. I'd love to go on an app spree like you but the ones I want - I just cannot afford the third SUB from Amex and cashback match bonus from Discover while I use the first two cards to meet theirs. Is 11 cards total what you have now or are there others? In the future apply for CLIs before apping as they will see the HPs.

[SpaceCityCCuser]

A good rule of thumb for BT cards is only use max 50% of the limit for BT. Using more than that will negatively affect your credit score. 30% is even better but 50% max.

[StrongerReturn2018]

Congratulations!

[CreditCuriosity]

Congrats on your successes.  You would of likely done a lot better for a 0% CC than the citi with a credit union or likely WF's or something along those lines but what is done is done as citi isn't known to give big limits out of the gate.  Time to garden for some time and pay down the debt you mentioned.  Enjoy.

[firefox100]

Nice on on your approvals, I hope that Chase does not close your new account they soft pull you about 15 days after opening new account.

[cashorcharge]

That’s Terrific!! Congratulations on all your Approvals!!👏🏼🍾🥂

[StrongerReturn2018]

Well done! Especially that USAA approval. 👏

[IcyCool7227]

---

@CreditCuriosity wrote:

Congrats on your successes.  You would of likely done a lot better for a 0% CC than the citi with a credit union or likely WF's or something along those lines but what is done is done as citi isn't known to give big limits out of the gate.  Time to garden for some time and pay down the debt you mentioned.  Enjoy.

---

I understand what you're saying but in my situation I consider an $8k a big SL from Citi. That's the highest I have ever gotten as a SL!