@Anonymous wrote:I have done quite a bit of research on the AU topic and am still getting different vibes from what I have read. From my understanding FICO scores are calculated for AU's as they would as the original account holder, both good and bad history. The part that confuses me is that I read that FICO has something in place to not allow piggybacking which means you normally only get the benefits if it is likely that you are a legitimate AU such as son, sibling, grand child etc etc....here is my situation
My girlfriend added me to 2 of her cc's we live together and will be getting married sometime next year. She has excellent credit over 80k available with only about 2k being used and 0 derogatory Accounts. Will I benefit from being an AU on her CC even though we don't share the same last name? The next question is: is it true that the entire credit history will be inherited? Example if she has a CC that has been open for 4 years and has 0 late with a 2% UT will I inherit the entire history? The 2 CC that I am AU on are more recent accounts. So should we consider looking thru her report and adding me to the oldest account that she can? Last but not least the 2 CC are as follows. Old Navy is one which does show up on EX, TU but not EQ. And the other I just got added a few days ago which is BOFA Cash Rewards Card they both asked for my SS and DOB but BOFA asked if I was a "Spouse" or "Other" does that matter any? She selected other since we aren't married yet. Any help with this will be greatly appreciated.
First Welcome to Community! Second Congratulations on your engagement!
Now onto to the credit stuff...here is what I would recommend in easy steps to follow:
1) Have her put you on the oldest CC's with high limits (ideally 2-4 cards)...no need to put you on recent cards and low limits
2) Wait a few weeks to maybe a month depending on when the statement cycle closes on her credit cards then
3) Sign up for 30 day free trial of Equifax Complete Premier Plan...I have attached a link for you https://www.econsumer.equifax.com/otc/landing.ehtml?%CB%86start=&companyName=PS2E04_uplanr&firstName=First+Name&lastName=Last+Name&email=Email&submit=Try+It
4) Look over the report and make sure the cards are being reported
5) Sign up for the 10 day free trial here to get your EQ Score
6) Apply to 3 different Citi Cards at the same time using 3 different browsers (FireFox, IE, Chrome, Safari) to only get 1 Hard INQ...Citi is friendly to AU accounts for approval
7) If you don't get instant approval call the backdoor number 888-201-4523 to check status and ask for reconsideration if declined
8) If you want more CC's you can also try Capital One and do the same thing as you did for Citi to only get 1 INQ but beware Capital One is known to hit all 3 reports so you will see 1 INQ on each CRA but at least it's not 3 on each CRA from them 
9) After receiving your cards register for Auto Pay to pay at least the minimum or PIF but make payments until Auto Pay is setup
10) Now enjoy using the cards and be in Garden Mode for 1 year
