Barclay's AA

[CreditMagic7]

That's so much easier said while already long sporting 800 scores however those recommendations are very quite effective advice i agree.

I would venture a wild guess that reaching those stats weren't exactly springboarded by starting out (and building) with a barclayscard though but then stranger things have been seen before.

I too have no worry with barclays because a mere $5K stalled out line from them is hardly cause for it when every other lender has totally smoked them in both customer service as well as line improvements and with by far and away more frequency.

So while some may sing to the tune and in defense of barclays, there are plenty enough others  who view them as they are. Skiddish.

[Bman70]

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@CreditMagic7 wrote:

That's so much easier said while already long sporting 800 scores however those recommendations are very quite effective advice i agree.

I would venture a wild guess that reaching those stats weren't exactly springboarded by starting out (and building) with a barclayscard though but then stranger things have been seen before.

I too have no worry with barclays because a mere $5K stalled out line from them is hardly cause for it when every other lender has totally smoked them in both customer service as well as line improvements and with by far and away more frequency.

So while some may sing to the tune and in defense of barclays, there are plenty enough others  who view them as they are. Skiddish.

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Well I admit I'm more in the 780s right now, although I intend to have my 800 back soon.  

No, I built with Capital One and Bank of America. Barclay came after all baddies had dropped or been disputed off. However, I was carrying balances and high util on BofA when I applied. I also applied for 2 other cards in the same month (so broke my own one app per year rule. Which is actually my ideal, not necessarily my practice). 

I do follow the 10% / 25% habit. And the inquiries part. 

As far as skittishness, that probably depends on the profile. I.e., you mentioned them being so conservative they go bananas at the first sign of competition. Well, I only had 3 cards when I applied for Barclay, then within a year increased that to 9. I would think tripling my accounts (and going from $6k total CLs to over $75k) looks like competition, but no bananas happened. So I can only assume it was my otherwise older, thickish, healthy profile. 

Whereas, someone with some collections and a 5 year credit history might do the same, and Barclay would react by reducing risk. 

[Anonymous]

It's like working out - you can have that donut (again) or your nice abs.

At my age, nice abs are just a long distant memory, so I'll have the donut.

[Bman70]

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@Anonymous wrote:

It's like working out - you can have that donut (again) or your nice abs.

At my age, nice abs are just a long distant memory, so I'll have the donut.

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OK I should have said nice blood pressure. I definitely have the occasional maple donut though. Bar style. That doesn't mean I'll app for the Amazon store card though. 

[Anonymous]

Or how about just not being afraid of a credit card company? People are all entitled to do what they want with their credit. Apply for anything that looks appealing or refrain from doing so and keep your one or two cards. If a company takes adverse action against you, that's their right but it is also the consumer's right to apply for whatever product they like and take advantage of the rewards etc. I just don't get why people are quick to assume aggressive credit seekers must be irresponsible. Some are rebuidling and it comes with the territory. The guy who chooses to keep one or two cards is no better than the person who has 59 inquiries and likes to apply for every new, exciting card they come across.

[Anonymous]

They've been decent so far for 18 months.  Had my Ring a couple of months.  They did decline it when I first got it and was using it for small purchases and I called them right after.  They just wanted to make sure it was me.  I then told them I had about 5k to put on it coming up & it would be paid off within the week.  They said that's just fine but a call to them before the charge would make them aware it was definitely me.  I just decided to try 2 BT's last week.  With BOA & Cap One.  No problems with them.  I will probably stay away from Barclay and transfers.  And that is all they do, send those darn checks continuously!  

[CJ7]

Does Barclays send BT checks to Ring holders?  Or is it just the other products?

[degs138]

I haven't had an issue. I wrote myself a check to finance a large purchase and they raised my CL and sent me more balance transfer checks.

[Anonymous]

@CJ7

Yes, I have a Ring and get bal transfer checks every 2 or 3 months.

[CreditMagic7]

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@Anonymous wrote:
@CJ7

Yes, I have a Ring and get bal transfer checks every 2 or 3 months.

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Same here.

I could forego the BT checks that they send if they upped my limit better to support large purchases on the Ring but as it stands what little usage goes to it is in the form of occasional small purchases, and for those months that they are out of card rotation for swipes is usually when i do a BT with them, roll it for 60-90 days tops, and then PIF.

It's almost not that big a thing anymore as it looked like it might have been at first. The APR and that is nice yes but it's not near as encouraging to use for larger buys due to the unpredictability should you run across whatever their utilization per card limit might be that could trigger unforeseen consequences with them.