@Anonymous wrote:My BOA Americard finally gave me the button to request a CLI. They waited until the middle of my statement on the 6th month. It was actually the same day they updated my FICO. (For anyone else with this card, I either paid more than balance, way more than minimum or paid in full and never late)
1. Is it a Soft or Hard pull? I have searched and read both on this forum.
2. This is my only credit card. If a hard pull, amI better off applying for another card elsewhere? I would think it's best to get more love from BOA first.
3. I am currently maxed out at my $500 limit. It's just not enough for me. I plan on paying it 10+ days before the statement due date and leaving a zero balance in hopes it makes my score jump a few more points than usual. Is this the right way to go about it? People said in another thread that the utilization isn't reported until the statement cuts so I should be fine paying 10+ days before the cut.
It's a HP on TU. Does BofA have any other cards that you find useful? If so app for it right after requesting your limit increase. May as well get the most you can out of that one pull.
Whatever your balance is when the statement cuts, is what will be reported to the credit bureaus.
@Gmood1 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:My BOA Americard finally gave me the button to request a CLI. They waited until the middle of my statement on the 6th month. It was actually the same day they updated my FICO. (For anyone else with this card, I either paid more than balance, way more than minimum or paid in full and never late)
1. Is it a Soft or Hard pull? I have searched and read both on this forum.
2. This is my only credit card. If a hard pull, amI better off applying for another card elsewhere? I would think it's best to get more love from BOA first.
3. I am currently maxed out at my $500 limit. It's just not enough for me. I plan on paying it 10+ days before the statement due date and leaving a zero balance in hopes it makes my score jump a few more points than usual. Is this the right way to go about it? People said in another thread that the utilization isn't reported until the statement cuts so I should be fine paying 10+ days before the cut.It's a HP on TU. Does BofA have any other cards that you find useful? If so app for it right after requesting your limit increase. May as well get the most you can out of that one pull.
Whatever your balance is when the statement cuts, is what will be reported to the credit bureaus.
I'm not 100% sure, but I think BofA pulls TU for CLI, but a different agency for new cards. So, you might not be able to save an inquiry by asking for a new card after a CLI request.
@Happy pill and MrPtato, I may have stated that backwards. Lol
If you apply for another card first they will pull EX.
IME afterwards, if you request a CLI on a existing card. They use the same EX pull. If you do it in reverse(request CLI first then new card) it will be two pulls on different CBs for sure.
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:My BOA Americard finally gave me the button to request a CLI. They waited until the middle of my statement on the 6th month. It was actually the same day they updated my FICO. (For anyone else with this card, I either paid more than balance, way more than minimum or paid in full and never late)
1. Is it a Soft or Hard pull? I have searched and read both on this forum.
2. This is my only credit card. If a hard pull, amI better off applying for another card elsewhere? I would think it's best to get more love from BOA first.
3. I am currently maxed out at my $500 limit. It's just not enough for me. I plan on paying it 10+ days before the statement due date and leaving a zero balance in hopes it makes my score jump a few more points than usual. Is this the right way to go about it? People said in another thread that the utilization isn't reported until the statement cuts so I should be fine paying 10+ days before the cut.What are your 3 scores and where are they from? You would definitely benefit from having 3+ cards and having only one report a $2 balance. It would be worthwhile to get that limit up for sure. Do you have a checking or savings acct with BOA? Pay it down to $5, let that report to the bureaus, unless you are already above 700's.
If your scores are high 600's, or in 700's, take the HP, it will be TU. Aim high, and let them counter. If you make decent money, then you should have no problem in getting the increase to 5-10k easily, so ask for what you feel comfortable. If it does not grant you the full amount, do not panic. You have 30 days to wait to see if the button shows back up, or even better just call in to a sr credit analyst and ask them to reconsider your request.
Once that is all said and done, its time to move on to Chase cards. I would be getting the CSR, CSP, etc. If you have a chase branch near you, it wouldn't hurt to go in branch now to check to see if you are prequalified, unless your scores are below 650's. If your income is above 40k, and are preapproved, then take the CSP 70k targeted offer hopefully you get 30k freedom targeted offer. Thats $1000 with no annual fees.
Then after you have filled all 5 of the chase slots, you could move back to Bank of America, Amex, Citi, etc. You ideally would want cards for your organic spending for when you are not working towards a sign on bonus. My card for general spend is either the Amtrak, SPG, or DoubleCash because for general spend they are all 2+% in return. For your category spend, gas groceries, amazon, dept stores, insurance, traveling, dining, you will want cards for those if you spend a bit. But if you do not travel that much and dont spend more than a grand or 2 a month, there isnt a big difference between 2 or 3 percent. Themanwhocan has excellent charts (link in sig) that will be a good springboard to guide you to some ideas for what cards will best fit your spending when you aren't going for a bonus. You should always be working on a bonus unless you are getting a home loan.
Get established with a credit union. Lots of threads here discussing them. If your scores are not above 700, I would say getting into NFCU would be great. Also find a place that has high yield checking. And eventually find a card with a single digit fixed interest rate with no balance transfer fees. You came to the right place!
Also every 6 months ask BoA for an APR reduction. You may still be in a intro period so that may not be available yet but if it is it doesn't hurt to ask. BoA has treated me very well despite being very difficult to get in with. September 2015 amtrak card released. Scores around 700, not many high limit cards, most around 5-7k. Denied. Also applied for BBR, denied. Same day reapplied with a joint applicant (significant other) and was approved, at their highest APR and a low limit of 2100. Few months later granted SP increase to 3800 over the phone. Then once the card was 6 months old I was able to get it increased to 15k and separated into only my name. Then later on increaed to 25k. Then few weeks ago got approved for Merrill Lynch with 15k limit, 2nd highest APR, but did not siphon away CL from Amtrak which was an exellent sign to me that I am not near their max exposure. I plan on being with credit unions, boa, amex, and citi for life. Chase...we shall see....
Generally speaking, if your scores aren't above 650 sometimes its best to start where you bank first. Slow and steady wins the race. I screwed myself out of a few sweet chase deals but there have been plenty of other opportunities to make up for the difference. All christmas shopping done at macys, lots of $10 stocking stuffers ended up being free, but came with $10 macys cash. Then got lots of $20 paypal rebates for spending $50, and the plenti bonus sure did help out with that!
Wow. Ok, first off, all good informaton.
However OP has a $500 card from BofA that is 6 months old. We don't know much else about OP situation, and the original topic is just looking for a CLI on the one $500 card. CSP and certainly CSR seems a bit of a stretch in this situation, unless BofA is an outlier. A CU is a good idea, but may not fit with the OP's plans.
I would narrow down the advice, to "look at Chase cards if they are in your strategy before going over 5/24" then see where the questions lead 
