Advice on Potential CLIs/New Apps

[Iorek]

Hi all,

I've been lurking for a bit, but this is my first time posting. I wanted to lay out my history and future plans and get some feedback from the experts here

So, to start off my credit history is fairly new. I didn't need any student loans due to having a full ride, so I had no credit history until last August when Discover took a chance on me with a $500 limit. In December, my information finally showed up in Credit Karma, so I got over excited and applied for other cards and got rejected because I didn't have enough history. I waited until the 6 month mark hit in February and applied for cards again, this time getting NFL/Freedom/Cash Rewards/Journey - though I had to recon for all but the Journey. Due to the recons and lag (CapOne took a month to process my paperwork for Journey), all except for Freedom report as being opened in March. Since then, I have been gardening (except for two INQs on EX for renting an apartment).

I'm now set to move again next month, as I decided to not to grad school (reason for move #1) and got a job on the other side of the country (reason for move #2). Since I will be spending a lot in the moving process, I would like to get some CLIs or maybe even a new CC for the sign up bonus. My income for my new job is $65k.

CLIs:
Barclays - I don't really use the card much, as I have bank accounts with BoA/Chase and therefore get 10% bonus redemptions + Journey gives 1.25%. Also, I've heard it's best to wait for 6 month auto-CLI possiblities?

BofA - I use this a lot for gas/groceries, but I've heard the same about waiting for 6 months auto-CLI. I applied for the student version of the card, but my account has no indication of that in the description or title.

CapOne - I'm in the Credit Steps program, so not much I can do there I think.

Chase - I called in last month to see if I could get a CLI with a SP. They said no. Next day I had a 500 CLI, and they did not take any updated employment info from me. Maybe I could call again and with an HP get a bigger line?

Discover - Just called them today and updated my employment info, they could not give me a CLI without an HP so I withdrew the request. I applied for the student version of the More originally, but PC'd to an IT a few months ago.

CCs:
Since I'll be spending several thousand dollars in the next month, it would be great if I could get a CC with a sign-on bonus so I can put my moving costs on there and get the bonus without having to potentially delve into manufactured spending or something.

I've wanted to get an Amex for a while. I applied and got rejected for BCE both in December and in February. I just went on creditcards.com, filled in my info, and have bonus offers for the Delta, BCE, and BCP cards that give more than the standard bonuses. Does that mean I have a good chance for approval now?

A CSP would be nice as well. Sometime within the next year or so (after I've amassed some vacation time at my job) I would like to make a Europe trip as a late graduation present to myself (graduated in May). The BoA Travel Rewards card could work as well.

I've also considered getting a WalMart card for the TU FICO.

Credit Report Info:
I have a lot of info in my siggy. Adding on to that, I had a misunderstanding until about a month ago and was letting ALL of my cards report a small (~10%) balance instead of just one card. Currently, there are four out of five cards reporting a balance. I cleared off the balance on the Discover card and my statement cut today, so that should update soon and bring it down to three. Barclays currently has no balance and statement cuts next week. The other two (BofA and CapOne) don't cut until early/middle of next month, which is when I plan to move. My AAoA is 6 months according to ScoreWatch, with my oldest account being 11 months.

I have one INQ on EX and two INQs on EQ that will be a year old on August 3rd. Not sure how many on TU - my free credit report becomes available at the end of the month I believe (last time I pulled it was 07/30/12). This was when I applied for my Discover card, as well as a Capital One card (which I got rejected for, and this was before I knew about recons).

Barclays, CapOne, Chase, Citi's prequalified site came up blank. My link to the Amex one is broken. BofA's system does not seem to work very well at all. I have no idea if the results it is giving back are meaningful.

Since I will be moving again here next month, there is the potential for more INQs again for wherever I decide to move to.

Thoughts? Advice? Anything is welcome!

[mikka1]

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@Iorek wrote:

(...)
I just went on creditcards.com, filled in my info, and have bonus offers for the Delta, BCE, and BCP cards that give more than the standard bonuses. Does that mean I have a good chance for approval now?

(...)

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Unfortunately, not necessarily. I personally have different experience with that. On one hand I was easily approved for PRG in January with very limited history (but that was some strange time - only a few days - when LOTS of people were approved (at least based on numerous discussions here and on FT) with very nice sign-up bonuses). Contrary to that my wife got denied for Amex Delta using the very same website with ~740 score due to limited credit history. So clearly YMMV, no guarantees.

But generally BCE is beleived by many to be one of the most hard-to-get Amex cards. Somehow, general consensus is that if you are unsure about your standing and this is your first Amex card, it might be better to start with either charge card (Green / Gold / PRG / Plat if you can justify AF) or cobranded card (Delta remarkably).

Some other considerations:

When you Freedom hits 6-7 months mark (or 1 year even better, bun c'mon, who waits A YEAR here to get a card, LOL), you might have a good shot for CSP. Depending on your credit limit with Freedom you might have some extra recon power in case denied (asking to reallocate CLs between cards).

If you want to get Walmart card, I'd say it's rather safe to go for it even now, unless you are specifically gardening for some dream card. Walmart and GE-backed cards in general are believed to be a good choice even for the 1st card in a wallet for those having no history at all and with some good history behind you I seriously doubt GE would deny you (might grant you a toy limit though, but GE seemed to be quite good with increases previously).

Hope that helps a bit. Can't comment on BofA as I generally have very strange relationship with this bank...

[09Lexie]

Welcome to the forum! You have a nice line up of cc's that offer bonus/rewards in your siggy. The problem, as you noted is the CL. I count 4 new cc's in less than 6 mos. chances of approval now or in a month with a higher CL might be difficult. I would suggest getting CLI's on your existing cc's after they've aged 6 mos letting those new limits report before adding new cc's.

I'd also PC your BoA to the a travel Rewards or BBR. Barclays is usually really good at auto CLIs with SP's around 6 mos.

[Iorek]

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@mikka1 wrote:

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@Iorek wrote:

(...)
I just went on creditcards.com, filled in my info, and have bonus offers for the Delta, BCE, and BCP cards that give more than the standard bonuses. Does that mean I have a good chance for approval now?

(...)

---

Unfortunately, not necessarily. I personally have different experience with that. On one hand I was easily approved for PRG in January with very limited history (but that was some strange time - only a few days - when LOTS of people were approved (at least based on numerous discussions here and on FT) with very nice sign-up bonuses). Contrary to that my wife got denied for Amex Delta using the very same website with ~740 score due to limited credit history. So clearly YMMV, no guarantees.

But generally BCE is beleived by many to be one of the most hard-to-get Amex cards. Somehow, general consensus is that if you are unsure about your standing and this is your first Amex card, it might be better to start with either charge card (Green / Gold / PRG / Plat if you can justify AF) or cobranded card (Delta remarkably).

Some other considerations:

When you Freedom hits 6-7 months mark (or 1 year even better, bun c'mon, who waits A YEAR here to get a card, LOL), you might have a good shot for CSP. Depending on your credit limit with Freedom you might have some extra recon power in case denied (asking to reallocate CLs between cards).

If you want to get Walmart card, I'd say it's rather safe to go for it even now, unless you are specifically gardening for some dream card. Walmart and GE-backed cards in general are believed to be a good choice even for the 1st card in a wallet for those having no history at all and with some good history behind you I seriously doubt GE would deny you (might grant you a toy limit though, but GE seemed to be quite good with increases previously).

Hope that helps a bit. Can't comment on BofA as I generally have very strange relationship with this bank...

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That is unfortunate about the creditcard.com offer, but good to know. I tried it last month, and all I got were Capital One (including the Journey card, which I already have -.-) and First Premier offers. I still have those offers, but also have the Amex offers now.

Do you think that I could qualify for one of the charge or Delta cards? I don't mind having to wait on BCE/BCP. Delta would be nice to have as they have solid deals for the parts of the country I normally visit.

I currently have a relatively small CL on the Freedom. Is it worth it to burn a HP to get that up some?

I would like to bring my AAoA up so that way I can have an easier time getting cards like CSP or BCE.

[Iorek]

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@09Lexie wrote:
Welcome to the forum! You have a nice line up of cc's that offer bonus/rewards in your siggy. The problem, as you noted is the CL. I count 4 new cc's in less than 6 mos. chances of approval now or in a month with a higher CL might be difficult. I would suggest getting CLI's on your existing cc's after they've aged 6 mos letting those new limits report before adding new cc's.

I'd also PC your BoA to the a travel Rewards or BBR. Barclays is usually really good at auto CLIs with SP's around 6 mos.

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Thanks!

Yes, you're correct. 1 CC opened in February, and 3 opened in March. Why would you suggest the PC on my BoA?

[09Lexie]

I suggested the PC cause you indicated it was the Student Visa, you'd be traveling in the future and you are a BoA customer. The BBR, gives you a $25 quarterly bonus +10%.


Here's the link: http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/BoA-Better-Balance-Rewards-Breakdown/m-p/2255725#M63210...

[mikka1]

IMO, creditcard.com is essentially a pure promotional website with most of their offers being based just on nothing but referral fees they get from CC companies. Glad if someone had a different experience (and also curious to know how you came up with such a conclusion), but when I saw preapproved Amex BCP offers for my dog, I realized what their offers are worth LOL

Speaking about you and based on what I know about your credit profile and what I experience with Amex myself, I'd put your chances of getting Delta now at 25% of getting and 75% not getting. The main factor that will be killing you right now (and actually still killing me with ~2 yrs history) is length of history and there's not much you can really do about it.

Just example - my wife got her first card in her name in October and in March-April she got 2 other cards from Barclays and Citi, but got straight declined for Amex Delta. One of the reasons was something like "short credit history".

I think your chances of getting charge card might be higher (maybe 40 to 60 or even 50-50), as Amex is believed to be more willing to extend short-term credit (which essentialy the charge card is) than long-term.

Speaking about HPs - after time I came up with the conclusion that barely any CLI deserves HP to be spent on it. I had a very unpleasant experience with BoA at some point when I burnt 2 (!!) HPs on 1 CLI attempt that ultimately resulted in the denial of any CLI (that card still sits at $500 - just LOL compared to my other cards in my signature). That said, I will now be willing to take a CLI only if I am fairly sure that it is only a SP.

Your best bet will simply be to wait and use what you currently have selectively applying for specifc cards if you think they complement your current portfolio. I'd say Walmart can be one of those - it will most likely only HP you on TU report, so your EQ/EX will remain without a pull (though it might depend on the state you live in) and IMO it has only advantages - free FICO score, nice SP-based CLIs over time etc.

Another think worth considering might be becoming AU on someone's card (especially high-limit and espeeeecially Amex). If you have such an opportunity, might be worth elaborating on this. BTW, it's not even necessary for this person to hand over this card to you if he/she does not trust you enough to do so. He/she can easily keep it, but it will most likely still be on your report and you can potentially really benefit from this...

[Iorek]

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@mikka1 wrote:

IMO, creditcard.com is essentially a pure promotional website with most of their offers being based just on nothing but referral fees they get from CC companies. Glad if someone had a different experience (and also curious to know how you came up with such a conclusion), but when I saw preapproved Amex BCP offers for my dog, I realized what their offers are worth LOL

Speaking about you and based on what I know about your credit profile and what I experience with Amex myself, I'd put your chances of getting Delta now at 25% of getting and 75% not getting. The main factor that will be killing you right now (and actually still killing me with ~2 yrs history) is length of history and there's not much you can really do about it.

Just example - my wife got her first card in her name in October and in March-April she got 2 other cards from Barclays and Citi, but got straight declined for Amex Delta. One of the reasons was something like "short credit history".

I think your chances of getting charge card might be higher (maybe 40 to 60 or even 50-50), as Amex is believed to be more willing to extend short-term credit (which essentialy the charge card is) than long-term.

Speaking about HPs - after time I came up with the conclusion that barely any CLI deserves HP to be spent on it. I had a very unpleasant experience with BoA at some point when I burnt 2 (!!) HPs on 1 CLI attempt that ultimately resulted in the denial of any CLI (that card still sits at $500 - just LOL compared to my other cards in my signature). That said, I will now be willing to take a CLI only if I am fairly sure that it is only a SP.

Your best bet will simply be to wait and use what you currently have selectively applying for specifc cards if you think they complement your current portfolio. I'd say Walmart can be one of those - it will most likely only HP you on TU report, so your EQ/EX will remain without a pull (though it might depend on the state you live in) and IMO it has only advantages - free FICO score, nice SP-based CLIs over time etc.

Another think worth considering might be becoming AU on someone's card (especially high-limit and espeeeecially Amex). If you have such an opportunity, might be worth elaborating on this. BTW, it's not even necessary for this person to hand over this card to you if he/she does not trust you enough to do so. He/she can easily keep it, but it will most likely still be on your report and you can potentially really benefit from this...

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Well, I took the gamble and got approved for the Amex PRG! I've heard that you can apply for other Amex cards once your a member and it is only a SP. Do I need to wait until my card arrives for that?

My family is not the greatest with credit and money, and most of my friends are also college students so at best are in the same boat as me with regards to credit. So an AU isn't really an option.

[Iorek]

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@09Lexie wrote:
I suggested the PC cause you indicated it was the Student Visa, you'd be traveling in the future and you are a BoA customer. The BBR, gives you a $25 quarterly bonus +10%.


Here's the link: http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/BoA-Better-Balance-Rewards-Breakdown/m-p/2255725#M63210...

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I see. That does make some sense. I may not be a BoA customer for much longer; I'm not sure yet at the moment. My dad is the one with the checking account, and he's thinking of closing it soon. I may look into opening a savings account or something and just putting the minimum amount in. I will certainly keep those two cards in mind though, thanks!

[myjourney]

Congrats on the Amex you can apply for another card now and try for 2 cards for 1 HP good luck