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2nd Card Recommendation, 20 year old student, thin, clean file

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Anonymous
Not applicable

2nd Card Recommendation, 20 year old student, thin, clean file

I'm looking for a second card to build out my clean, thin file. I am hoping to start applying for Chase cards after the 1 year mark to build out travel rewards under 5/24, then going Amex. Currently almost all of my spending is dining and Amazon, although I'll occasionally spend big bucks on travel for interviews that I get reimbursed for.

 

Profile:

Accounts: 3

-Bank of America Cash Rewards (Authorized User on Parents Card, 16 years of on-time payment history, ~50% utilization of $7500 limit)

-Discover It Student Card (7 month history, <10% of $4000 limit)

-NFCU Share Secured Loan of $3k, paid off to 8% utilization, only 1 month old but showing loan balance on report

 

Income: $38k (engineering student, goes to $85k in May) 

Scores: 746 Experian FICO 8 (Edit)

AAoA: 5 years, 8 months

 

I'm considering getting a BoA Cash Rewards for myself while the $200 bonus is going on, and then switching to dining or "online shopping" as my 3% category once the revision happens on 1/14. I'm also considering the Wells Fargo Propel, the Amex Gold PRG, and any of the NFCU cards, especially the Flagship. My aim after the one year mark (I'm at 7 months of my own, non-AU history) is travel, but any advice is appreciated.

 

Message 1 of 14
13 REPLIES 13
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: 2nd Card Recommendation, 20 year old student, thin, clean file

if you want to get into chase system, maybe start with freedom card?

 

if you want to get max value out of propel, you will want to pair it with wells fargo visa signature. Wells fargo requries a 6 months wait between apps even if you forgo the SUB on the 2nd card.

 

If you want amex, it seems you maybe able to get it now already, check its prequal.

Message 2 of 14
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: 2nd Card Recommendation, 20 year old student, thin, clean file

My current reason for not applying for the Freedom is that I suspect I will not be approved without 1 year of history. 

 

I didn't realize that about the Propel though. Thanks. I am pre-qualified for the Amex PRG, just unsure if it would be best for me or not.

Message 3 of 14
HeavenOhio
Senior Contributor

Re: 2nd Card Recommendation, 20 year old student, thin, clean file

You have the upshot on Chase, and that's important. Yes, wait until month 13 of your own card history.

 

I think the timing is right as far as getting a second card and still being on track for Chase. But is there any chance that the AU card's balance might be lower in the near future? I think you'd be approved for a new card right now. But your report would be a lot prettier if that balance were below 29%.

Message 4 of 14
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: 2nd Card Recommendation, 20 year old student, thin, clean file

I'm like your thinking HeavenOhio, but unfortunately I don't think that there's much hope of the AU balance coming down soon. I've tried mentioning it to my parents before and they aren't interested. Two months ago they had low utilization for some reason, and my score skyrocketed to like 770.

 

That's one of the reasons I'm interested in the Navy Fed cards. I've heard about legendary credit limits, which would probably help me negate the effects of the high usage. I also might like to do my first mortgage through them in a few years.

 

I'm hoping to find/select something that will be a permanent/keeper card, or that can at least be product changed to one. That's actually the only reason I haven't pulled the trigger on the Amex PRG. Although if I should rethink this, let me know.

 

Message 5 of 14
simplynoir
Community Leader
Mega Contributor

Re: 2nd Card Recommendation, 20 year old student, thin, clean file

It would probably be to your benefit to find out what your FICO 08 scores are at this point. The ones you provided from Credit Karma are Vantage scores and do you no good. Credit Check Total (CCT) will allow you to pull all 3 bureaus to see your scores for a trial rate of $1. Just cancel your membership before the trial expires so you're not charged full price. If you're not comfortable with that I believe Discover provides a free TU (or EX can't remember) FICO 08 score and you can get a free EX score from creditscore.com which I use. Not too sure where you can snag a free EQ score.

Message 6 of 14
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: 2nd Card Recommendation, 20 year old student, thin, clean file

Thanks for this advice. Disco shows my actual FICO Transunion score as 715 from last month when util was high

 

Just logged into Experian - 746 FICO 8! Wow

 

Maybe the question I should have asked was what would help me best long term? Is there a chance that I would get approved for the BoA or Wells Fargo card with a decent limit, or should I go with Navy Fed to get a high limit card? If I want to apply for a Sapphire in 6-12 months, I guess I should have something with a $5k limit or greater.

Message 7 of 14
simplynoir
Community Leader
Mega Contributor

Re: 2nd Card Recommendation, 20 year old student, thin, clean file

I would get in on NFCU because along with their credit cards they're a good place to get other products such as loans from auto to home. Not to say you can maybe find better rates if you shop around but it's a hell of a good barometer to start with. They can be very generous providing credit and anecdotally are great to interact with when you need assistance. BofA could be good to start with as well ever since they started allowing SPs for CLI requests every three months so even if you start on the low side for a SL you can grow it particularly quickly. I would still pick NFCU if I had choose one though.

Message 8 of 14
bourgogne
Valued Contributor

Re: 2nd Card Recommendation, 20 year old student, thin, clean file


@Anonymous wrote:

I'm looking for a second card to build out my clean, thin file. I am hoping to start applying for Chase cards after the 1 year mark to build out travel rewards under 5/24, then going Amex. Currently almost all of my spending is dining and Amazon, although I'll occasionally spend big bucks on travel for interviews that I get reimbursed for.

 

Profile:

Accounts: 3

-Bank of America Cash Rewards (Authorized User on Parents Card, 16 years of on-time payment history, ~50% utilization of $7500 limit)

-Discover It Student Card (7 month history, <10% of $4000 limit)

-NFCU Share Secured Loan of $3k, paid off to 8% utilization, only 1 month old but showing loan balance on report

 

Income: $38k (engineering student, goes to $85k in May) 

Scores: 746 Experian FICO 8 (Edit)

AAoA: 5 years, 8 months

 

I'm considering getting a BoA Cash Rewards for myself while the $200 bonus is going on, and then switching to dining or "online shopping" as my 3% category once the revision happens on 1/14. I'm also considering the Wells Fargo Propel, the Amex Gold PRG, and any of the NFCU cards, especially the Flagship. My aim after the one year mark (I'm at 7 months of my own, non-AU history) is travel, but any advice is appreciated.

 


wait until you get an amex pre-qual for any revolver and grab it, does not matter which one.  will be a 500-1k limit.  focus all spend on it.  cli @ 61 days, then every 180.  wait a year and start checking the chase pre-quals and start with a freedom.  proven out with four 18 year olds, works like a charm.  none had loans, all started with 2 of my au cards.  all not my kids lol

Message 9 of 14
HeavenOhio
Senior Contributor

Re: 2nd Card Recommendation, 20 year old student, thin, clean file

$500–1000 AMEX limits tend to be awfully hard to grow. However, I think that with a slightly longer history, the OP would likely be positioned for an AMEX card above that range.

 

I really like the NFCU option. That would enable the OP to choose a Visa or Mastercard product to offset the fact that Discover's acceptance rate is less.

 

The most important thing to keep in mind is that Chase is the goal. That means staying under 5/24 and aging one's youngest account a bit before applying. A new card right now and a Chase card in month 13 would work nicely.

 

@Anonymous, I wonder if your parents would be able to increase their credit limit. If they're paying in full, it probably wouldn't be a problem. If they've been dragging this balance out for a while, it might be more difficult.

Message 10 of 14
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