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3 CC Approvals..Next Step..Gardening Strategy?

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DesertLife
Regular Contributor

3 CC Approvals..Next Step..Gardening Strategy?

Hello,

 

I've been researching and learning lots from these boards already. I'll continue to read and learn more about all this.

 

My question is about what to do next. I'm working on building my credit and using it wisely. I want to create a strategy for maximizing my FICO score using the credit card mix I have now (also factoring in my mortgage which the debt to limit % of which will decrease slowly). Also, I know that there are certain timeframes that one can seek to request a credit limit increase, so I am looking to do those on schedule. I also am under the impression it is useful to keep utilization (reporting) down to less than 10% overall, and perhaps even more helpful to only allow one credit card to report a balance of less than 10% every month and 0% on the rest.

 

When could I begin asking for CLI's on these cards, or is there an auto CLI that will come along? Also, if I really wanted to do you think it might be possible to apply for an Alaska Airlines Visa Signature card? It is the airline I am using most these days and could appreciate the bonus rewards and 3x miles on alaska air purchases. I just don't know how they will react to the recent inquiries, etc.


The cards are listed in the signature at the bottom of the post (siggy), but here they are for reference (Debt / Limit):

USAA Amex 0 / 11k

PenFed Platinum Rewards 0 / 7.5k

Chase Sapphire Preferred 0 / 5k

Amex Blue Cash Preferred 0 / 3k

 

Lines of Credit:

PenFed Thirfty Savings (Overdraft Protection): 0 / $500

Credit Union Line of Credit 0 / $2,000

 

Mortgage:

$145k / $146


Started out with a 648 EQ in 2018, finally got to 850 FS8 TU | 836 FSU EX in November 2021!
Message 1 of 10
9 REPLIES 9
Crashem
Valued Contributor

Re: 3 CC Approvals..Next Step..Gardening Strategy?

Look at the sticky about CLI, hard or soft.  As for your questions, you didn't give us the relevant information.  What inquiries are on what CRAs and when.  Also, you didn't give us when you opened those cards.  If Fico in mid 600's as suggested on your signature line, I think you are very iffy for that Alaskan Airlines card.

               LIMITS IN CARD DESCRIPTIONS
Message 2 of 10
Cdnewmanpac
Established Contributor

Re: 3 CC Approvals..Next Step..Gardening Strategy?

Even if you can get the alaska card, are you sure you want to? CSP gives 2 pts/dollar for travel and has an annual fee. The more cards you spread your rewards across, the less useful each card's rewards become. Follow the cli sticky schedule and in a few years of prudent use, you should have all the credit (and scores) you will ever need.
In wallet: Ink Plus 10k, AMEX TE 25k. In bag: CSP 16k, USAA WMC 15k, Hyatt 13k, United MPE 12k, AMEX HHonors 3k. In SD: Cap 1 QS 5k, Discover IT 7k. FICO 08 says my EQ is now 844, was 510 in 2010.
Message 3 of 10
DesertLife
Regular Contributor

Re: 3 CC Approvals..Next Step..Gardening Strategy?

EQ - 1 neg. 7 inq. (4 from same lender for mortgage approval last year). 8/11; 7/11; 6/11; 4/11;3/11; 12/10


EX - 3 neg's. 6 inq. 7/11; 6/11; 4/11; 3/11; 12/10; 6/10

 

TransUnion - 3 neg's.  7 inq. (4 same as above). 7/11; 6/11; 4/11;3/11; 12/10; 9/10

 

Cards:

 

USAA Amex: 6k (opened 8/09)

Amex BCP: 3k (opened 7/12)

PenFed PR: 7.5k (opened 7/12)

Chase SP: 5k (opened 7/12)

 

@Crashem Thanks for your input. I wonder how much the score fluctuates when the balance reported changes. I just received my statement from USAA today, and received an Equifax alert that a balance has decreased by a certain percent.

 

@Cdn - I can see your point about spending across too many lines of credit. In this case, in the short term, I wonder if having the card would be helpful for boosting mileage, and then at the end of one year I could close the account and keep the mileage. I know that's not the winning plan for my credit score overall, but thought it could be useful enough to be worthwhile. The bonus they offer (25,000 miles) is worth one free flight inter-state (almost two intra-state flights). As for the sticky schedule, I believe I found it, however it is not very comprehensive. I've tried digging for info about each card, but figured I would ask to be sure. Do you have a direct link to the sticky you are referencing? Here's the one I found: http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Check-to-see-if-a-card-pull-Hard-or-Soft-when-requestin...

Started out with a 648 EQ in 2018, finally got to 850 FS8 TU | 836 FSU EX in November 2021!
Message 4 of 10
searchingfor67
Established Contributor

Re: 3 CC Approvals..Next Step..Gardening Strategy?

Concur with Cdn's post. Additionally, while I'm confused with your recent approval's of those prime cards with your stated negatives on your reports, congratulations nevertheless...

TU FICO: 772 (Discover) • Exp FICO: 772 (Citi)

Amex BCE $13K | Amex Costco TE $10.4K | Amex SPG $5K | Chase Freedom Visa Signature $15K | Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa Signature $15K | Chase Ink Plus World Elite MC $5K | Citi TY Preferred World MC $10.1K | Citi Forward $10K | Citi Diamond Pref $7.6K | Discover IT $9.9K | JP Morgan Chase Select Visa Signature $9.2K | NFCU CashRew Visa Sig $25K | NFCU LOC $15K | NFL Visa Signature (Saints) $8.1K | USAA Amex $11.3K | USAA World MC $11.5K
Message 5 of 10
DesertLife
Regular Contributor

Re: 3 CC Approvals..Next Step..Gardening Strategy?

Searching - Thanks for your reply. It appears I may have been too general in regards to how long ago the negatives were. According to the TransUnion credit report, these three negatives will be falling off as follows: 10/12, 12/13, 3/14. Even still, I don't know how these would generally affect these prime lenders, but I'm not arguing, I'm pleased to have been approved for these cards and looking forward to continuing to build my credit with them. Sounds like gardening is the right thing to do for a while.

Started out with a 648 EQ in 2018, finally got to 850 FS8 TU | 836 FSU EX in November 2021!
Message 6 of 10
searchingfor67
Established Contributor

Re: 3 CC Approvals..Next Step..Gardening Strategy?

Understood, and good job! I only mentioned it because I know all of those lenders to be very conservative prime lenders, in particular, Penfed. I didn't know that it was possible to get approved for a Penfed card with negatives still reporting. They usually require a prestine report...nevertheless YMMV. Congrats again!

TU FICO: 772 (Discover) • Exp FICO: 772 (Citi)

Amex BCE $13K | Amex Costco TE $10.4K | Amex SPG $5K | Chase Freedom Visa Signature $15K | Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa Signature $15K | Chase Ink Plus World Elite MC $5K | Citi TY Preferred World MC $10.1K | Citi Forward $10K | Citi Diamond Pref $7.6K | Discover IT $9.9K | JP Morgan Chase Select Visa Signature $9.2K | NFCU CashRew Visa Sig $25K | NFCU LOC $15K | NFL Visa Signature (Saints) $8.1K | USAA Amex $11.3K | USAA World MC $11.5K
Message 7 of 10
Crashem
Valued Contributor

Re: 3 CC Approvals..Next Step..Gardening Strategy?


@DesertLife wrote:

EQ - 1 neg. 7 inq. (4 from same lender for mortgage approval last year). 8/11; 7/11; 6/11; 4/11;3/11; 12/10


EX - 3 neg's. 6 inq. 7/11; 6/11; 4/11; 3/11; 12/10; 6/10

 

TransUnion - 3 neg's.  7 inq. (4 same as above). 7/11; 6/11; 4/11;3/11; 12/10; 9/10

 

Cards:

 

USAA Amex: 6k (opened 8/09)

Amex BCP: 3k (opened 7/12)

PenFed PR: 7.5k (opened 7/12)

Chase SP: 5k (opened 7/12)

 

@Crashem Thanks for your input. I wonder how much the score fluctuates when the balance reported changes. I just received my statement from USAA today, and received an Equifax alert that a balance has decreased by a certain percent.

 

@Anonymous - I can see your point about spending across too many lines of credit. In this case, in the short term, I wonder if having the card would be helpful for boosting mileage, and then at the end of one year I could close the account and keep the mileage. I know that's not the winning plan for my credit score overall, but thought it could be useful enough to be worthwhile. The bonus they offer (25,000 miles) is worth one free flight inter-state (almost two intra-state flights). As for the sticky schedule, I believe I found it, however it is not very comprehensive. I've tried digging for info about each card, but figured I would ask to be sure. Do you have a direct link to the sticky you are referencing? Here's the one I found: http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Check-to-see-if-a-card-pull-Hard-or-Soft-when-requesting-a-CLI/m-p/1380377#M382861


First off, the thread you listed is the right one.  2nd, the information you provided seems off.  Remember inquries over a year are ignored by FICO scoring so your inquries look okay.  However, your inquiries look off as you recently got 3 new credit cards.  Where are the inquriies for them?

 

Even if I assume you have inquiries for the new cards, I don't think that would prevent you from gettting Alaska credit card.  However, your scores are low enough now from the combination of new accounts, inquiries, negatives, etc. that your score is on the low side for good chance of approval.  I would personally hold off and garden.  As for the Alaska card itself, I'm not sure the rewards are that much better than your Chase SP card.  The unique thing about the Alaska card is the companion ticket that is unrestricted (unlike other companion ticket programs).  Meaning you can get a discounted first class ticket to Hawaii and get another first class with that program for around $100.

 

Reported balances have a great effect on score.  Since you didn't provide details on reported balances, it is hard to say.  Get the ideal reported utilization to report for one month and pull your score to see what it does.

               LIMITS IN CARD DESCRIPTIONS
Message 8 of 10
DesertLife
Regular Contributor

Re: 3 CC Approvals..Next Step..Gardening Strategy?


@Crashem wrote:
Remember inquries over a year are ignored by FICO scoring so your inquries look okay.  However, your inquiries look off as you recently got 3 new credit cards.  Where are the inquriies for them?

 

Reported balances have a great effect on score.  Since you didn't provide details on reported balances, it is hard to say.  Get the ideal reported utilization to report for one month and pull your score to see what it does.


Crashem,

 

I didn't know that scores over 1 year are ignored for FICO scoring purposes, that's great. As for the new inquiries, I haven't pulled my report since applying. I'm waiting a little bit to go for the score watch to allow these to report in all applicable bureaus and also for the account balance to show up. I know Amex pulled EQ, but don't know about Chase or PenFed. Do I have to request the information like FICO score, etc. from each bank, or will they automatically send me a letter like Amex did?

 

The account balances reporting:

 

$1818 / $6000 CC (30%)

$0 / $2000 Revolving Line of Credit (0%)

$15000 / $15000 (Mortgage) (100%)

145288 / $147173 (Mortgage) (99%)

 

 

Started out with a 648 EQ in 2018, finally got to 850 FS8 TU | 836 FSU EX in November 2021!
Message 9 of 10
Crashem
Valued Contributor

Re: 3 CC Approvals..Next Step..Gardening Strategy?


@DesertLife wrote:

@Crashem wrote:
Remember inquries over a year are ignored by FICO scoring so your inquries look okay.  However, your inquiries look off as you recently got 3 new credit cards.  Where are the inquriies for them?

 

Reported balances have a great effect on score.  Since you didn't provide details on reported balances, it is hard to say.  Get the ideal reported utilization to report for one month and pull your score to see what it does.


Crashem,

 

I didn't know that scores over 1 year are ignored for FICO scoring purposes, that's great. As for the new inquiries, I haven't pulled my report since applying. I'm waiting a little bit to go for the score watch to allow these to report in all applicable bureaus and also for the account balance to show up. I know Amex pulled EQ, but don't know about Chase or PenFed. Do I have to request the information like FICO score, etc. from each bank, or will they automatically send me a letter like Amex did?

 

The account balances reporting:

 

$1818 / $6000 CC (30%)

$0 / $2000 Revolving Line of Credit (0%)

$15000 / $15000 (Mortgage) (100%)

145288 / $147173 (Mortgage) (99%)

 

 


You are unlikely to get letters like you did from AMEX unless they didn't offer you "best terms."  For example, Chase SP card is same interest for everyone so if approved, no letter.  Probably going to have to buy or use annualcreditreport.com to get copies of each of your bureaus.  But don't bother.  Your scores (unless you have been keeping balances) will probably go down from new cards.  You should be in garden mode and forget about the Alaska Air card for now.

               LIMITS IN CARD DESCRIPTIONS
Message 10 of 10
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