Well, the title tells only a small part of the story.
The last time I posted here, I had been denied a Cap 1 secured MC due to "high balances in relation to income." The truth is that my mom was carrying a high balance because she is having some financial troubles stemming from my parents' divorce, and I was an AU on that particular card. Since her liabilities exceeded my income, the computer was pretty clear that it was a denial, and not a manual review.
So, following the advice of the fine people here, I removed myself as an authorized user from that card, and gave my own two cards a few months of their own history. Meanwhile, I decided on the PRG for its 50,000 point offer and the airline credit, and the Quicksilver because it's more widely accepted overseas, and its combination of no annual fee and no FTF. I'm travelling quite a bit this year, so both are quite useful.
I got a little impatient (I had wanted to wait until Nov. 1st) and applied for the PRG on the 27th. Seeing the instant approval was a bit of validation that I was doing something right, coming off an instant denial for a secured card a few months before. Then I waited a few days, and worked up the courage for a second app. Capital One took a moment to mull it over, then spit out an instant approval for a CL of...ten thousand freaking dollars! I had just accepted Discover's CLI offer of $1,500. I have no idea what I'd even do with $10,000 in credit, other than let util be 0.1% instead of 1% (which is exactly what I will be doing).
Now, I have a confession to make. I don't know many of my current stats. Both of the applications were pretty close to blind. Here's what I have so far:
18 years old (okay, that one's easy)
No Derogs
~2.2 Years AAoA (this includes 3 AU accounts.)
TU 769 from Discover
I'll update if/when I get FICOs from my approval letters.
Cap 1 and Amex seem to be lenders who don't discriminate between AU accounts and regular ones, since my AAoA from my own cards alone is about three months. However, Chase denied me for a Freedom, citing insufficient personal credit history, so they clearly don't put any weight behind AUs. Is there a list of lenders that tells which ones generally use which system? Also, now that I have a VIsa, Amex, and Discover, any recommendations for a Mastercard to round out the portfolio? Lastly, I get my TU from Discover, and will be getting my EX from Amex, but do any lenders provide EQ for free?
Sorry for the long post, and thanks for being an awesome community!
