Advice on available credit? Cancel a card?

[Anonymous]

I have a large amount of credit available that I don't use - $15k on my primary card and $25k on a backup card. I never carry a balance and spend $1500-$2500/month on the primary card.

I'm young (24) so my history is short - I've had the primary card for about a year, and the backup for about 3 years. I use the primary card because it has good gas benefits and I commute a long way.

Anyway, I'm making a couple of large purchases and I'd like to take advantage of a 12 month 0 percent interest card for cash flow reasons. I've found that no one wants to extend more credit to me, and I'm assuming this is because my limits are already so high, even though I don't use them. What should I do?

a) Cancel backup card (afraid this hurts my history pretty badly)
b) Cancel primary card (I hate this option, great benefits on this card)
c) Something I haven't thought of?

Assuming I do cancel a card, how soon should new credit become available to me? Does it take a few weeks to cycle through the system? TIA for the advice.

[Anonymous]

I should have mentioned - credit is otherwise good, no negatives, mid-700's, but history is short.

[marty56]

What was the reason for denial?Anyway dont close CC accounts.  That will hurt your score.

Also if you did close say your 15k account, it is unlikely that a new CC would give you a higher CL then what you have on the card already.

Not to pry but you have 40k of credit available to you minus what you owe so besides an auto or a home which would be a seperate loan, do you really need that much more credit?

[haulingthescoreup]

I understand about wanting to take advantage of a 0% initial purchase offer. That's a better deal than a 0% balance transfer offer, where they sneak in that pesky BT fee.

If you've been turned down for credit, they must send you an explanation in writing of why they did so. What did these say?

And who have you app'd with? With scores in the mid-700's (what I assume are FICO's, btw!) and a squeaky clean record, I'm certain that there's someone out there who would love to give you a 0% initial purchase card. Do realize that if you load it up, your scores will be hurt, and it looks like FICO 08 will be starting in May, with penalties for having a balance over 50% of your credit limit.

I understand that you have a thin file (few accounts) and short history, but this should be doable. Don't close ANYTHING. If, and only if, a lender specifically says that they will give you the perfect card if your other CL's aren't so high, you can ask the other lender(s) to reduce your available credit, at least temporarily. This sometimes has to been done with a mortgage application, but I've never heard of it on a CC application. (Always a first time, though, I guess.)

[Anonymous]

I'll be spending about $10k, and I'd like to spread it out on a 0% introductory APR card. I could easily put it on my currently available credit, but then I would have to pay it off quickly to avoid finance charges.

So no, I don't need $40k in credit, but when I applied for a 0% card, I got a limit of $1500, which is basically worthless. That's why I wondered if I could replace part of my limit with 0% financing instead of extending it further, without hurting my credit too badly.

I am in the process of applying for a 0% store card, and rather than being automatically approved, they're supposed to send me a letter in 1-2 weeks letting me know whether I got the card. This seems to me like it's an issue because I already have so much credit available to me. Maybe it doesn't matter? That's why I'm asking.

[haulingthescoreup]

I honestly don't think that they're bothered by your available credit. I just got approved for a total of $19K on 3 different cards (could have been higher, but that's all I asked for) and a $12K car loan, despite having a current card with a $30K limit, and overall total $53K available revolving credit. (Plus a $50K HELOC with credit still available on it.)

I think it's your short history.

Are you looking at a BofA pre-approval site? That $1500 sounds awfully familiar. Again, if you could tell us exactly who turned you down for what, or limited you to only $1500, it would help a lot.

I think that you're the type of customer that the CCC's would have been salivating over 6 months ago. It's just that they're now so freaking gun-shy that you'll have to do some looking to find what you want.

BTW, remember that you want your available credit to be higher than what you plan to put on it. So if you're planning on charging $10K, I would advise having at least $12K of available credit, so that you'll be under 85%.

Have you considered getting two $5-6K cards from two different lenders? That might be more doable.

edit to add: I just realized that this thread is on General Credit Issues, and it would probably do a whole lot better over on Credit Cards. Would you like for me to move it? A link with a big arrow to the new location will remain on this site, although it will appear farther down the screen or on another screen, as it goes with the date and time of your original post.

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 02-24-2008 07:37 AM

[Anonymous]

I like the advice to not cancel a card and find a lender willing to give me a nice 0% offer - I guess the next question is how can I do that without getting a bunch of hard inquiries on my file?

Any suggestions on great 0% deals? Can I call up the bank and negotiate favorable terms rather than applying online and taking my chances on what they give me?

[haulingthescoreup]

You were replying while I was doing my edit. This is now so specifically a credit card thread that I'm going to move it. If you want it back on GenCred though, let me know, and I'll plunk it back.

[Anonymous]

The $1500 0% was a BOA card, I believe. It was about a year ago that I applied for that card.

I may have been imagining that my available credit was hurting me - I guess I really need advice on how to get a 0% card without randomly applying (I'm afraid that someone will come back with a low limit offer and I'll be stuck with more credit that I won't really use).

[Anonymous]

thanks for the move, didn't mean to go OT in the original forum.