Hey everyone! I've been lurking in this forum for quite some time now, just kinda sponging around and soaking up as much info as I can. I don't have a ton of experience with credit--I have two credit cards and an auto loan, with my oldest card (Discover IT) hitting 2 years in April. For a while I was really dumb about how I used my first card, leaving it sitting at about 70% utilization because of big purchases and only making the minimum monthly payment for months on end (on a card with 26% APR, I don't even want to think about how much I paid in interest 
), forcing me to use my debit card for everyday purchases. On the upside, my record is otherwise pristine, so I've got that going for me. Anyway, I'm trying to get smarter with my credit, and the information here has been extremely helpful, so a big thanks to this community for helping me on my journey from complete noob to credit savvy superstar 
but the day has come where I finally have a question of my own that I can't quite find a concrete answer to.
Over the past couple of months, I've been taking particular care in cleaning up my balances and keeping my utilization low (partly because I've built up the savings to do so, partly because I'd like to start branching out--I'm looking at you, Uber Visa). I only have two cards at the moment (Discover IT -1400 and AMEX BCE -4200), and with my Discover paid off already, I paid my AMEX down to 100. My boyfriend and I are going on a trip for my 21st birthday, so with the goal in mind of trying to snag a higher rewards card in the coming days for the purpose of the trip, I called AMEX a few days ago to see if they would do an off-cycle report (my Discover statement cuts on the 4th, so I'm just gonna wait that one out). They happily obliged, and I checked Experian today to find that it's already been updated, bringing my score up from 702 to a modest 727. Unfortunately, it's still showing my credit limit at $1000. I received an auto CLI to 2100 in the middle of February, immediately followed by an approval for $4200. I assumed that when they did the off-cycle report, the new credit line would show up as well, but it's still showing my measly SL of $1000.
When I spoke to the rep on the phone before, he said that they only do off-cycle reporting once as a courtesy, so I don't expect them to do it for me a second time, and I don't even know if the limit increase would reflect if they reported again. Furthermore, the report only shows my statement balance, not my total balance like I thought it would. I've since paid off the rest of the statement balance, so if they were to report again, I'm assuming it would reflect a balance of 0 on the AMEX, and I'm a little leery of reporting a 0 balance on both of my cards. I'll be leaving for my trip on the 24th, so I'd really like to apply now to give myself a time cushion for the inevitable 7-10 day pending message, but I've worked so hard to get my credit looking good over the past month and I really want all those positives to reflect on my report before I apply, as I feel fairly confident that a CLI from 1000 to 4200 on the AMEX + Discover reporting a 0 balance in a few days could give me that 13 point bump into the "very good" category.
Will I have to bite the bullet and just wait for my statement to cut, hope that AMEX reports in time and that my CLI shows, and then pray that I get an instant approval and a speedy delivery?
What card are you planning to apply for?
Congrats on the improvements.
Congrats on the improvements.
Yep, Uber Visa is what I'm currently aiming for. I've been trying to decide between that, the WF Propel and the Marvel card. I'll probably go for the other two in the distant future, but for the purposes of the trip I'm going on soon, the Uber card seems like the way to go if I can snag it.
I've read a lot of approval/denial threads, acceptance for that card seems super across the board, so I feel like I have a decent chance at it. TU shows 2 inquiries in the past 24 months, so I should be good there. The only thing I feel could really bite me is the thin profile. Experian's score simulator thing says that I'd be in the 740 range with the CLI boost, which would be ideal, as I want the best chance possible of getting approved with a half-decent SL. Any bit of extra padding helps, right? But if it's not on there with the off-cycle report, I have no idea when it'll show up
@Sitalus wrote:Yep, Uber Visa is what I'm currently aiming for. I've been trying to decide between that, the WF Propel and the Marvel card. I'll probably go for the other two in the distant future, but for the purposes of the trip I'm going on soon, the Uber card seems like the way to go if I can snag it.
I've read a lot of approval/denial threads, acceptance for that card seems super across the board, so I feel like I have a decent chance at it. TU shows 2 inquiries in the past 24 months, so I should be good there. The only thing I feel could really bite me is the thin profile. Experian's score simulator thing says that I'd be in the 740 range with the CLI boost, which would be ideal, as I want the best chance possible of getting approved with a half-decent SL. Any bit of extra padding helps, right? But if it's not on there with the off-cycle report, I have no idea when it'll show up
I'm guessing an instant approval if you apply. That is just a guess though. Your scores are only a fraction of the equation needed to be approved however. You can have a score in the 800s and still be denied.
@Anonymous wrote:
@Sitalus wrote:Yep, Uber Visa is what I'm currently aiming for. I've been trying to decide between that, the WF Propel and the Marvel card. I'll probably go for the other two in the distant future, but for the purposes of the trip I'm going on soon, the Uber card seems like the way to go if I can snag it.
I've read a lot of approval/denial threads, acceptance for that card seems super across the board, so I feel like I have a decent chance at it. TU shows 2 inquiries in the past 24 months, so I should be good there. The only thing I feel could really bite me is the thin profile. Experian's score simulator thing says that I'd be in the 740 range with the CLI boost, which would be ideal, as I want the best chance possible of getting approved with a half-decent SL. Any bit of extra padding helps, right? But if it's not on there with the off-cycle report, I have no idea when it'll show up
I'm guessing an instant approval if you apply. That is just a guess though. Your scores are only a fraction of the equation needed to be approved however. You can have a score in the 800s and still be denied.
That's reassuring, at least! In all honesty, it's not so much the 10 point difference between my scores that I care so much about, but the credit limit that shows up on my report and how it might affect my SL if I get the card. Once Discover reports, my cr will show $1400 as my highest limit. If your current highest credit line is weighted heavily at all in the SL decision, I'd probably get $1k max. I'm not looking for anything crazy--I'd just need a SL of $2500-3k to make the most out of the card on our trip. But I'm assuming that's more likely to happen if I already have a higher limit reporting.
That being said, I have no idea how much weight a lender actually puts on your current credit limits when it comes to deciding your SL with their card. I've read that lenders tend to be reluctant to be the one to give you your first 'larger' line of credit, but maybe that only really applies to limits of, say, $5k and up?
I don't kow, I just don't want to get stuck with a $500 SL 
@staticvoidmain wrote:my personal experience with barclays (uber) was that they wanted to take their time. of my 8 cards, uber took the longest (and currently my lowest limit). not that it happens a lot, i just thought i'd put it out there.
Oh man, it might be your lowest limit, but I would be over the moon if Barclays gave me a SL of $7500 
Instant approvals for that card do seem to be in the minority. Most of the stories I've read involve people having to call recon, although in most cases, it does seem like the approval/denial comes pretty quickly after that call. Worst case scenario would be having to mail in proof of my identity like some people have had to do. That would make the whole process take forever.
I'm hoping to be part of the few that make it straight through, but my expectations are low. I'll have the backdoor number on speedial