Card recommendations (22 y/o, 110k income)

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

I'm starting a new job in August (recent uni grad) and am looking for some card recommendations to bolster my existing portfolio.

A bit about me: 22, university grad, moving to San Fran to work for a well known investment management firm as a software engineer. I plan to travel a good bit during the year as my company offers unlimited PTO with managerial approval.

My financial profile: 110k / year (as of August), about 40k in student loans, last FICO score via Experian was 610 (I know, not great) but it will shoot up a lot when I start full-time as I was in a sticky situation last semester where I ended up having to put a bunch of tuition on a few of my cards which wrecked my utilization (brought it over 30%, was previously < 10%). My monthly rent is about 1.4k and I'll be able to get that balance down under 15% within a few months of working. I'm also a dumb-*ss and I let a Verizon cellphone account go over a few months and is showing up as a "derogatory mark" but I have no late payments on any of my cards.

Current credit portfolio: Amex Gold (probably gets the most usage out of any of them), Amex Hilton Ascend, Amex Everyday, Chase Freedom Unlimited, Amazon Store Card, Discover It, Macy's Amex Store Card, Capital One Venture One. My current limit across all of these is around 55k last I checked.

I was looking into a more general travel rewards card or maybe an airline card, although I haven't fully done my homework on the issue.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Current credit portfolio: Amex Gold (probably gets the most usage out of any of them), Amex Hilton Ascend, Amex Everyday, Chase Freedom Unlimited, Amazon Store Card, Discover It, Macy's Amex Store Card, Capital One Venture One. My current limit across all of these is around 55k last I checked.

I would hold off on apping anything w/ a 610.

If you can clean things up w/ VZW and anything else that's out there on your reports and get your scores north of 700 then you would be in a position to get some other cards.  Depending on where you fall w/ 5/24 and all of course w/ Chase options.

In the meantime focus on CLI's w/ your current cards as many of them are SP CLI's..... Amex you can ask every 6 months on your highest one and then shuffle the limits around after it's approved.  Chase/Amazon are a HP, Disco/Macy's/Cap1  are SP..... Of course the CS is going to be a hurdle w/ the CLI process but, it might work with some of them to get your UTIL % down if it's an issue.

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/kevlarlover/Card+Recommendation+Flowchart+v12.html  -- Check this out for a path to rewards and then check this one out for the "rules" rundown on how/when to apply to avoid denials.  -- https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/67u9q0/guide_antichurning_rules/

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:
..last FICO score via Experian was 610 (I know, not great) but it will shoot up a lot when I start full-time as I was in a sticky situation last semester where I ended up having to put a bunch of tuition on a few of my cards which wrecked my utilization (brought it over 30%, was previously < 10%). My monthly rent is about 1.4k and I'll be able to get that balance down under 15% within a few months of working. I'm also a dumb-*ss and I let a Verizon cellphone account go over a few months and is showing up as a "derogatory mark" but I have no late payments on any of my cards.

---

My advice is to not apply for anything right now.  Your utilization (at over 30%) is very secondary to the fact that you have a dirty file.  You may be missing out on (say) 20-30 points due to your utilization not being ideal, but you're missing out on probably 50-75 points give or take due to negative item(s).  What you'll want to do is work to get your file clean first if possible before apping, as it will create a night and day difference in how you're viewed by potential lenders.  Getting your utilization in check will help a bit, but it won't be a night and day change.  Good luck!

[Anonymous]

How do I get the derog mark taken off? I've paid the outstanding debt.

[mikesonthemend]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/kevlarlover/Card+Recommendation+Flowchart+v12.html  -- Check this out for a path to rewards and then check this one out for the "rules" rundown on how/when to apply to avoid denials.  -- https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/67u9q0/guide_antichurning_rules/

---

The AWS link didn't work for me. I found the reddit post quite informative, if currently useless to me. Thanks.

[mikesonthemend]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

How do I get the derog mark taken off? I've paid the outstanding debt.

---

Start by trying a dispute, reason being paid. This will likely result in a temporary removal at best, then a paid baddie. Then you will have to negotiate with the bad account holder.  Several searchable posts on best ways to remove derogatories.

GL

---

@Anonymous wrote:

How do I get the derog mark taken off? I've paid the outstanding debt.

---

[Anonymous]

How do I go about initiating a dispute? Really in the dark here on this.

Thanks!

[mikesonthemend]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

How do I go about initiating a dispute? Really in the dark here on this.

Thanks!

---

EX, EQ, and TU all have features on their websites that allow you dispite any item on your credit report at no cost. Search for info on it. duckduckgo.com

[Anonymous]

Did VZW sell the debt and you paid a CA, or did you pay VZW?  VZW isn't known for deletion of derogs.

[Anonymous]

I paid a CA.