A few questions before applying for a new card

[Anonymous]

Hey everyone, I've hit a wall with my research and looking for a little help. I'm in need of a balance transfer card and SL is going to be pretty important, since I've accumulated quite a bit of debt while in school. I have one card each with: NFCU ($18k bal/$25k SL), Amex ($0/$9.9k), Discover ($5.9k/$8.6k), Chase ($700/$7.5k), and Capital One ($0/$5.5k). Numbers are rounded but it comes out to right around 44% utilization, and my FICO is 735 Experian & 739 TU. Navy Federal is my newest card and it's over a year old, no new accounts or inquiries since. I have a few mortgage inquiries that will fall off in about a month (but I'm not actually on the mortgage, just the deed if that matters). So my questions are:

• Am I more likely to get a higher SL with a creditor I already have a relationship with? I'd been eyeing Citi for their long intro periods, but I don't have any cards with them and have read about their low SL. I've heard a lot of people say you can generally get higher limits with your second card, so naturally that seems like it would be helpful, but I don't have any experience in this area, or know how my high utilization might affect this.
• Should I wait a month for the mortgage inquiries to fall off my credit reports? Or does that even matter for something like this? For the record, I'm paying over $100/mo in interest right now, so I'm not trying to wait if it won't help.
• Bonus Question! This is a weird one, but if anyone knows, please help me out: Can I count internship as income on the application? I have a signed offer letter and everything, but it's just for the summer and I won't get paid until then.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!

[bigseegar]

Depends on this "higher" CL amount you're trying to get. Without knowing the amount it will be hard to say. But if you looking around or even north of $20K I think that 44% UTL and what sounds like it may be a low income as well may be a stumbling block. 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply! I don't have a set amount in mind, just trying to get the most bang for my buck so to speak. Household income is around $80k (not counting the internship).

[CYBERSAM]

You can try FNBO prequel and see if they have anything for you!

If your utilization is high, then is harder to get a card with high SL. But you can certainly try prequels.

[SUPERSQUID]

Since you already have a relationship with navy have you considered a 2nd card with navy?

I dont know which card you have but a 2nd card with them usually gets a larger sl than the first, ymmv.

the platinum is their low interest card and sometimes comes with a zero for 12 months bt offer up front and nfcu doesnt charge bt fees. 

Penfed has also been known for generous si's. their gold card is the lowest int card they have and most cards they have start with a bt offer, their bt fee is 3 pct.

[Anonymous]

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@SUPERSQUID wrote:

Since you already have a relationship with navy have you considered a 2nd card with navy?

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I did consider this, but the card I want to transfer some debt from is a Navy card, and I don't think they'll let me transfer it from one of their cards to another. At least, that's been my experience with BT in the past, never tried specifically with NFCU.

[FinStar]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@SUPERSQUID wrote:

Since you already have a relationship with navy have you considered a 2nd card with navy?

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I did consider this, but the card I want to transfer some debt from is a Navy card, and I don't think they'll let me transfer it from one of their cards to another. At least, that's been my experience with BT in the past, never tried specifically with NFCU.

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Correct. That generally applies with any lender, including NFCU.

In addition to the above mentioned (i.e. FNBO), you can always see if Truist has any pre-qualified offers. Unfortunately, unlike FNBO which can display a potential pre-qualified limit before pulling the trigger, Truist doesn't have that.  How much are you looking to BT? Just the NFCU balance or...?

[Anonymous]

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How much are you looking to BT? Just the NFCU balance or...?

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Just the NFCU balance, or a portion thereof. No set amount in mind. I don't expect another >$20k SL or anything crazy like that, but the more I can get, the more I can save on interest payments. I'll be able to start paying everything down heavily in about a year and a half.

[SUPERSQUID]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@SUPERSQUID wrote:

Since you already have a relationship with navy have you considered a 2nd card with navy?

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I did consider this, but the card I want to transfer some debt from is a Navy card, and I don't think they'll let me transfer it from one of their cards to another. At least, that's been my experience with BT in the past, never tried specifically with NFCU.

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Yes you are correct as well as Finstar, you cant bt one nfcu card to another.

[FishingGuy]

Have you given some thought of first trying to get CLI's with only soft pulls where possible?   I may try that first, so you can add credit, without any hard hits,  and lower your utilization.   Once those (if any) go through.... let them recycle and report and then apply for the new accounts.