Hello,
I need some help assessing my current situation, and on how to proceed with some goals/expenses. (I apologize for the length of this post.)
Below is a synopsis of my current history, and after that is my quandary:
I was not a user of credit for many years. Instead, I paid with a debit card, or cash for most everything. Because of that, my credit history is short.
In July, 2017, I decided to purchase a new car. I paid $15,000 cash, and financed the balance (just over $14,000) through my credit union. My EX credit score at that time was 701.
In Aug., 2017 I applied, and was approved, for a Visa through my credit union, with a $3,000 limit. Since I had just financed my car loan, they didn't hard pull a credit report.
In Nov., 2017, I was approved for a Macy's card with initial limit of $600. In Feb., 2018, I asked for a CLI, and it was raised to $5,600.
In Dec., 2017, I had two pre-approved card offers pop-up when purchasing items from stores' web sites. They were J. Crew ($1,250 limit), and Barney's ($2,000 limit).
As of early March, 2018 my scores across the board were 721, and my credit utilization is hovering around 4%. I have no negatives on my reports, and not even any inquiries (which confuses me, considering my auto loan).
This past weekend, I applied for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, and was approved for $5,000.
The various FAKO sites, (Credit Karma, NerdWallet, Credit Sesame, etc), all indicate my short history as holding me back. I have one closed account from 10+ years ago showing a car loan with no missed, or late payments, but that doesn't seem to have had any affect on the age of my current score.
A couple weeks ago, I mentioned this situation to my mum, (who has an 840 score), and she offered to add me as an AU to one of her older accounts with a high limit, and low utilization. Recently, she mentioned that she went ahead and added me to that account, (a day after I was approved for the Sapphire Preferred card). I don't yet know how that affected my credit score.
Here is where I need advise:
To receive the CSP sign-up bonus I will need to spend $4,000., over the next three months. I don't usually spend that much, but have figured out that I can put work-related expenses on the card, then be reimbursed. This may temporarily cause my utilization to rise, but I suspect that will not affect my credit score too badly, assuming I quickly pay things off.
In the mean time, I have an upcoming personal expense of about $1000. I would like to be approved for an AMEX BCE card for the $200 bonus credit to offset the expense. Previous to applying for the CSP card, I was pre-qualified for a slew of AMEX cards, including BCE, BCP, SPG, Hilton, Delta, M-B, PRG, and Plat., but after being approved for the CSP, the only card I'm pre-qualified for is the Gold Delta Skymiles card. I'll need to make the purchase within the next two months. How likely is it that I'll again pre-qualify for the BCE by then? Does frequently using the AMEX pre-qualification tool make them skittish about approving me for a card? Did getting the CSP really hurt my credit score that badly?
Additionally, in April, or May, I will be responsable for placing a work-related order totalling around $15,000. It has crossed my mind that it would be nice to get the AMEX Platinum card to put this expense on, be reimbursed to pay it off, and reap the huge bonus that card offers, but I worry that that may be too many cards to app for -assuming AMEX again pre-qualifies me for other cards by then. And if AMEX does again pre-qualify me for the cards, is it wiser to apply for both the BCE and Plat at the same time, or space them out a bit?
Initially, my plan was to get the BCE, then garden for the duration, as I really don't need any other cards. Not knowing my current credit scores since the CSP approval, and being added as an AU has left me very unsure of where I stand, and I guess I won't have an accurate score until the various cards report to the credit agencies later this month.
Thank you for your help. These forums have been extraordinarily helpful to me in my journey to great credit.
