2 questions: NFCU Alternative & Credit Utilization issue

[artvandalay]

Two questions:

For the handful of us who are not eligible for the generous limits afforded NFCU members on CL's, has anyone found another bank/issuer that is as generous or offers higher limits?

The other question plays off of the above question. I just pulled my transunion and one of the problems I've noticed is that my available credit utilization is high. I PIF all cards every month but the current limits are incredibly low - ranging from 500 - 3000.

I was just approved by three issuers for a total bump in available credit of about 19k. This should significantly that problem. Here's the question - for cards that I use primarily in the interest of accuring rewards points, is it smart to pay off/down the balance multiple times during the month if it crosses a certain threshold? I was searching and found out that prime credit users only utilize about 7% of available credit. I'm at 44% lol. I did find an error on my CR that said I had a balance on a car loan I paid off in 2011 so I requested an investigation. I imagine that will help reduce that ratio. But to reiterate the question, is it advantageous to pay off/down a balance multiple times during the month?

For example, if I have a card with a 2k limit and 10 days into the statement cycle I've accured 1k in expenses, should I pay down the 1k or simply wait until I'm invoiced, which would mean I may be invoiced at $1,900?

Experience and advice greatly appreciated!

[Rhaeny]

Well I comment on one of your questions which is utilization.  The 7% of the prime users you are talking about probably means that they don't let more than 7% of their balance REPORT, which is a vast difference than actually speaking about the actual usage of the card.  So these users know the dates that thier CC issuer reports to the CRA's and make sure that their balance is low at that time.  For example, I have a CC that is due on the 8th of the month, but they report the balance on the last day of each month.  So I make sure that on the last day it is low (like less than 10% of my available credit) or PIF.  However during the month I may have used 90% of my available credit.

So its the reporting balance that matters which could either be the statement date or another date chosen by the issuer.

[artvandalay]

any idea if it varies from card type to card type? In other words, does a Chase Slate report differently than a Chase Freedom? Or is this something I can deduce by looking at my credit report? Looks like I'll have to hop on the phone monday and figure out these dates, coordinating payment accordingly.