Hello everyone,
I have been viewing the forum for months, but I just decided today was the day to make an account. Hoping I can get some more personalized advise to help me along. 
Sept '12 - Capital One cash rewards 3k CL (one year today exactly)
March '13 - Car loan
April '13 - Case Freedom 1.5K CL
First things first, I graduated 2 years ago and have a hefty amount of student loan debt remaining. Always ontime. More recently I have been interested in credit which lead me to this site. Before then when shopping for a car, and had more HP's than necessary. Right now TU is showing 5 total (1 Capone, 4 car related). Chase HP is not showing on TU, but is reporting. Chase HP shows on EX report. In due time the HP's will resolve themselves.
Some things did come up and I did have higher utilization when applying for car loan, and chase freedom. I believe this did hurt my starting CL with chase. Both cards have since been paid in full.
In a never ending quest to improve score, I was hoping for a few pointers.
From playing with CK score simulator, any CLI seems to increase score. The bigger the better. I am responsible, and any CLI requests would be for score purposes only. I really don't need more than CL than I have. Some questions I have are...
Should I request a CLI from Capital One or Chase?
Since Amex seems generous with starting limits, would I benefit more if I apped for it rather than small CLI's. (also saw the 3x cli thread)
How do you determine how much to ask for in a CLI request?
When is it ok to allow a Hard Pull for CLI?
Any additional advise would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
You're doing great and you are following in my footprints almost exactly - of course you didn't mean to.
I graduated a few years back, got a car loan right after graduation - but I paid that off this past year after about 30 months. Got a Cap One Cash Rewards with a $3K CL in June 2012. Got Amex BCP, Chase Freedom, Citi Forward in December of 2012. Amex has helped me get a much higher limit as I went from $4.5K to $13.5K to now $21.8K using the 3X CLI.
So you're doing great! Try to focus on your finances just as much as your credit. I plan to pay off my college loans in well under 10 years, and I'm already over $8,000 ahead of the game. As I mentioned I also paid off my car loan early - so try to save money and not buy frivolously. Getting that Util down will continue to help you.
So my suggestions are as follows:
Make a budget
Keep Util low
Let those INQs to down, try to app only when needed
Don't pay interest
Use rewards programs to your benefit. Your credit can make you money if you do it right.
Best of luck - if you need more help keep asking questions.
I graduated a few years back, got a car loan right after graduation - but I paid that off this past year after about 30 months. Got a Cap One Cash Rewards with a $3K CL in June 2012. Got Amex BCP, Chase Freedom, Citi Forward in December of 2012. Amex has helped me get a much higher limit as I went from $4.5K to $13.5K to now $21.8K using the 3X CLI.
So you're doing great! Try to focus on your finances just as much as your credit. I plan to pay off my college loans in well under 10 years, and I'm already over $8,000 ahead of the game. As I mentioned I also paid off my car loan early - so try to save money and not buy frivolously. Getting that Util down will continue to help you.
So my suggestions are as follows:
Make a budget
Keep Util low
Let those INQs to down, try to app only when needed
Don't pay interest
Use rewards programs to your benefit. Your credit can make you money if you do it right.
Best of luck - if you need more help keep asking questions.
@SnackTrader wrote:
You're doing great and you are following in my footprints almost exactly - of course you didn't mean to.
I graduated a few years back, got a car loan right after graduation - but I paid that off this past year after about 30 months. Got a Cap One Cash Rewards with a $3K CL in June 2012. Got Amex BCP, Chase Freedom, Citi Forward in December of 2012. Amex has helped me get a much higher limit as I went from $4.5K to $13.5K to now $21.8K using the 3X CLI.
So you're doing great! Try to focus on your finances just as much as your credit. I plan to pay off my college loans in well under 10 years, and I'm already over $8,000 ahead of the game. As I mentioned I also paid off my car loan early - so try to save money and not buy frivolously. Getting that Util down will continue to help you.
So my suggestions are as follows:
Make a budget
Keep Util low
Let those INQs to down, try to app only when needed
Don't pay interest
Use rewards programs to your benefit. Your credit can make you money if you do it right.
Best of luck - if you need more help keep asking questions.
Exactly what I was hoping to hear. As far as Amex App vs. Capital One CLI, would you do both right now if you were me. Or App amex and build a higher limit before asking Capital One? Or is there a better method.
As far as your other recommendations, I am on the same page.
Make a budget - My budget consists of fuel, food, auto insurance every 6 months. Any extra has goes toward student loans
Keep Util low - Current Util is reported as 5%, but really is 0%
Let those INQs to down, try to app only when needed - Noted
Don't pay interest - I have yet to pay interest on my Credit Cards. Cap 1 is set to auto PIF. Chase is set to auto min becuase I have 0% and let some report.
Use rewards programs to your benefit. Your credit can make you money if you do it right. - I did just that with the Capital One Can't believe how much it adds up to for money that would be spent anyway.
Welcome to the forum and congratulations on keeping your debt to a minimum.
Requesting an increase from Cap 1 will be a sp. if you are not successful with a CSR, you could try the EO via email. They will contact you in a few days and at that time you can be more detailed in why you would like this to be your go to card but currently the CL does not fit your spending patterns.
Chase usually wants a 6 mo pyt history before granting an increase and it will be a HP with no guarantee of approval.
Amex would be a better choice in a few months for a variety of reasons. 1. Potential for higher sp CLI's 2. The nice backdating feature 3 If you go with a BCP the 6% groceries/3% gas rewards is pretty nice.
As far as HPs, they are ok if you need the additional credit for util but paying your debt would be the best way to achieve the same goal. However, some cc's only do CLI's via HPs and then you need to decide if the temp ding to your cr report is worth the inq.
Requesting an increase from Cap 1 will be a sp. if you are not successful with a CSR, you could try the EO via email. They will contact you in a few days and at that time you can be more detailed in why you would like this to be your go to card but currently the CL does not fit your spending patterns.
Chase usually wants a 6 mo pyt history before granting an increase and it will be a HP with no guarantee of approval.
Amex would be a better choice in a few months for a variety of reasons. 1. Potential for higher sp CLI's 2. The nice backdating feature 3 If you go with a BCP the 6% groceries/3% gas rewards is pretty nice.
As far as HPs, they are ok if you need the additional credit for util but paying your debt would be the best way to achieve the same goal. However, some cc's only do CLI's via HPs and then you need to decide if the temp ding to your cr report is worth the inq.
Much Appreciated
I just did the online CLI request for Capital One, and it offered 2k increase and took it. I figured I would call if I didn't get offered anything. I will app for amex down the road then. Looks like I need to do more research on the benefits of backdating. Not sure if few months means december so we are still on 2013 (makes sense), or if there is something special about the month of January that I am not seeing at the moment.
Congrats on your CLI! The benefit if Amex backdating kicks in once your are a cardmember. In your case, I would suggest apping before the end of the year (make sure its approved before Jan 1) to lock in your MSD of 2013. Any and all future personal Amex cards will have a 2013 opened date.