@Anonymous wrote:Long story made shorter: Credit was completely trashed years ago after financial disaster. Negs dropped off, and a few years ago started to rebuild. Got to 850 across the board, but got into trouble (financially) and had to use cards to some degree. As of now, I'm sitting with 775 EQ, 741 TU, 769 EX.
15K available on Amazon store card, 0% Utilization
25K available Lowes, 0% Utilization.
So 40K with 0% utilization, but my other 2 cards (Capital one & Discover) are near maxed out for 31K. Cap 1 is ~80%, Discover 98%. Capital one was near 100% but started paying more towards it since interest rate is 25% and Discover is 17%. Overall utilization across all 4 cards is 44%
I need to at least get Capital One (almost 10K) to a lower rate & hopefully both.
Questions:
Do both cards need to come down in utilization (and to what level) before I can even think about applying for another?
If & when I am ready, where should I look? I am probably blacklisted by Citi, Chase, and AMEX for burning bridges 10 years ago. B of A is a possibility, maybe a second Capital One card.
What is the likelihood of a CLI from Discover to decrease utilization and/or possibly xfer the cap one balance to it so I'm paying a little less in interest?
No inquiries in over a year (maybe 2 years), zero lates, average age 12 years (thanks to a few student loans I kept, but most revolving credit is 3 years).
My advice would be to join a credit union which has good platinum cards with no balance transfer fee, no cash advance fee, and low interest, and then apply for such a platinum card. Examples: Unify FCU, Vantage West FCU, Langley FCU, PenFed, Digital FCU, Andigo CU, Navy FCU (if you can qualify). Also there may be more local or specialized credit unions for which you can qualify.
@Anonymous wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:Long story made shorter: Credit was completely trashed years ago after financial disaster. Negs dropped off, and a few years ago started to rebuild. Got to 850 across the board, but got into trouble (financially) and had to use cards to some degree. As of now, I'm sitting with 775 EQ, 741 TU, 769 EX.
15K available on Amazon store card, 0% Utilization
25K available Lowes, 0% Utilization.
So 40K with 0% utilization, but my other 2 cards (Capital one & Discover) are near maxed out for 31K. Cap 1 is ~80%, Discover 98%. Capital one was near 100% but started paying more towards it since interest rate is 25% and Discover is 17%. Overall utilization across all 4 cards is 44%
I need to at least get Capital One (almost 10K) to a lower rate & hopefully both.
Questions:
Do both cards need to come down in utilization (and to what level) before I can even think about applying for another?
If & when I am ready, where should I look? I am probably blacklisted by Citi, Chase, and AMEX for burning bridges 10 years ago. B of A is a possibility, maybe a second Capital One card.
What is the likelihood of a CLI from Discover to decrease utilization and/or possibly xfer the cap one balance to it so I'm paying a little less in interest?
No inquiries in over a year (maybe 2 years), zero lates, average age 12 years (thanks to a few student loans I kept, but most revolving credit is 3 years).
My advice would be to join a credit union which has good platinum cards with no balance transfer fee, no cash advance fee, and low interest, and then apply for such a platinum card. Examples: Unify FCU, Vantage West FCU, Langley FCU, PenFed, Digital FCU, Andigo CU, Navy FCU (if you can qualify). Also there may be more local or specialized credit unions for which you can qualify.
Assuming I qualified for the CU itself (which I probably don't, except maybe DCU which is easier) what about the actual credit requirements mentioned in the post? Is my current utilization on 2 cards too high & scores too low?
5 of the 6 credit unions I mentioned can be joined by anyone.
Sometimes credit unions are more gentle in credit granting. Sometimes they are tougher. It varies. But I gave you the advice I did because I think you can get a credit union platinum card.
wrote:
Can Vantage West still be joined by anyone? I thought they had become very stringent about membership per this thread:
I don't believe so. I joined the Greater Arizona Bicycle Association in order to have an "in" with Vantage West because I don't live in Arizona. They turned me down for even getting a savings account. I didn't even make it to the part where I was going to ask for their credit card.
The emails I get from the bicycle club are a painful reminder of their lack of acceptance of me. 
Your mileage may vary..
