At the fork in the road..

[ujocka]

I currently have two credit cards (OpenSky, Merrick @ $2000 each) and am ready to make the leap to two respectable cards that will offer real CLIs. These cards served their purpose but It is time to retire them and get my deposit back once I have added 2 others. My main motivation is travel points but I'm finding the options confusing. I originally wanted a Hilton Honors Surpass but now I am uncertain. I'm divided between accumulating points under the Hilton brand or getting a card that accumulates points in general and having the freedom to use them wherever, albeit at a lower accumulation rate. I don't often pay for Hilton stays as I am required to use my government travel card, but still manage to accrue a lot of them through the HH program.

I want to take a vacation to the Caribbean with the family at least once a year and use the points to offset or pay for it. I usually look for the best fare and schedule, so not airline specific. Thought about a Delta Skymiles card but once again not sure if I should lock myself in to only using them.

I'd appreciate recommendations on cards, possible initial CLs, and opinions on the direction to go from here. Scores are in my signature and income is $130k with the only debt being a mortgage. If there is any more info I can provide I will gladly do so. Thanks in advance..

[austinguy907]

Your scores and income put you in control of what you want with a nearly 100% approval rate for maybe 3-5 cards.

A good stable would be starting off with Discover and AMEX due to their growth potential and being SP's to CLI on them.  

For travel the most discussed around here would be Chase.

It's possibly going to be a rough start with only $2K limits currently but, if you don't go over board you should be able to grow things through CLI's to 5 digit limits fairly quickly.

- AMEX can do 3X CLI's every 6 months after your first one at 61 days... I started with 10K to 30K to 50K in no time flat

- Disco for me grew from $4500 to $48K in a little over a year 

Chase grows or starts high and CLIs are usually a HP

BOA can start decent and they HP for CLIs

[Appleman]

I agree that it may not be best to tie yourself down to one airline as you need flexibility.

You may like the Discover It, esp. if they are still offering to double your cash back after the first year.

As others have stated, AMEX is good for CLIs as is Discover.

I am not sure how NFCU and PenFed treat people 2 years post BK but they would also be good places to look at for credit needs. I am sure you have read how PenFEd allows you to do multiple credit products for 1 EQ pull (for up to 90 days).

Your scores and income will be very helpful in opening doors with the various creditors. Good luck

[ujocka]

Thanks for the replies. My BK is no longer on all three reports, which is why my scores shot up. Can the cc companies still see it through some other system?

[Anonymous]

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@ujocka wrote:

Thanks for the replies. My BK is no longer on all three reports, which is why my scores shot up. Can the cc companies still see it through some other system?

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Most credit card applications are automated through a computer and they generally only look at the credit bureaus. If the bankruptcy no longer reports there, they generally will not see it. 

Obviously if you included a prior account with a bank that you want to reapply with in your bankruptcy they will likely have a record of that,

In terms of a manual review, there are ways to see bankruptcy records fairly easily. A LexisNexis or CLEAR records search can show bankruptcy records as far back as the 1980s. But I wouldn't worry about that. And I believe a lot of banks would see it favourably that you filed a Chapter 13 rather than a straight Chapter 7 liquidation. This is just my assumption of course. 

With your scores you really should not encounter any issues. Try using the banks' pre-approval sites to see if you get solid offers. That should be a good indication of your chances. 

[Anonymous]

I'd get Discover and Amex EDP.

Let them grow through doing SP CLI's, then check out Chase Sapphire Reserve in 7-12 months.