Credit Card lessons learned at end of year

[Kidcat]

Also learned that the obsession with all things credit related is real for me.  I will need to remove myself from these boards for longer periods at a time to break the hold

[Anonymous]

I've learned several things:

1) If well-thought out and not done capriciously, app sprees are a strategically sound way to apply for cards to maximize the number of approvals.

2) Inquiries are generally not the primary reason for a credit card denial, and if inquiries is one of the reasons listed, it is usually an excuse from the bank that hides a bigger concern.

3) To add to that, inquiries are generally overrated in their effect on FICO scoring. After having seen the minimal effect they have on my score, I just don't fear them the same way I did a year ago.

4) Sometimes, building a robust credit card portfolio can happen much more quickly than building a robust credit report. A year ago, I thought it would take years for me to get in with some of the lenders I'm in with now, even though I still have a ways to go cleaning my credit report.

5) It's always worth trying to recon with BOA. Even if the recon analyst denies you, they have a Quality Assurance department (that listens in on at least some of the recons) that will reach out to you and try to get your application reconsidered if they feel you didn't get a fair shake with your recon.

6) Ask and you may receive -- I never knew all the insider tricks (e.g. calling Barclays for an APR reduction to get transferred to the department that has the ability to issue SP CLIs and retention bonuses, getting an AMEX CLI upon card activation, SP CLIs from Wells Fargo by calling the number on the back of my card, etc.) These perks, of course, are not guaranteed, but I wouldn't have even known they were possible without myFICO -- I have the whole myFICO community to thank for that. 

[Imperfectfuture]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Gmood1 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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Okay boys, let's play nice.  This is getting a bit off topic.  Truce between the two of you in this thread going forward.  It's football Sunday, have some fun.

[audia4]

Thanks for your post. That was wonderful and gave us a lot to think about. I am real happy with where I am now with my cards and credit and have been one of the ones that had perfect credit that went downhill after a messy divorce only to work very hard rebuilding until it was perfect again. The community here has helped a lot and I am very grateful.

[gdale6]

There are some petty comments in this thread and some posting is approaching the level of a TOS violation for flaming and they are also near the point of violating our FSR policies. I have been noticing an uptick in the last few weeks of impatience, intolerance and general non caring attitute from some posters. I have nearly reached my limit with it all. Im going to say this: Get along with your fellow posters or you are not going to like the terms imposed by the moderating staff. To those of you who are being respectful and are getting along with everyone I thank you and keep up the good work. The rest of you (and you know who you are) need to review our forum rules and apply them.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Forum-Etiquette/td-p/2905196

gdale6

myFico Moderator

Adding: Disruptive non productive posts have been removed from this thread.

[Anonymous]

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@gdale6 wrote:

There are some petty comments in this thread and some posting is approaching the level of a TOS violation for flaming and they are also near the point of violating our FSR policies. I have been noticing an uptick in the last few weeks of impatience, intolerance and general non caring attitute from some posters. I have nearly reached my limit with it all. Im going to say this: Get along with your fellow posters or you are not going to like the terms imposed by the moderating staff. To those of you who are being respectful and are getting along with everyone I thank you and keep up the good work. The rest of you (and you know who you are) need to review our forum rules and apply them.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Forum-Etiquette/td-p/2905196

gdale6

myFico Moderator

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Thank you, gdale. Those of us who respect each other and support each other find it hard to stay silent when someone "doesn't play well with others." Your intervention is always appreciated.

[Anonymous]

I've learned that advice based on anecdotes along the lines of: "If you do X, then issuer Y is likely to do Z" is of very little practical value (for me, at least).

Examples:

If you carry a balance on an Amex, Amex may CLD or FR you.

If you open too many accounts, then Barclaycard may CLD you or close your accounts.

Spending 75% of your CL each month is a great way to get an auto CLI with Chase.

For any of these anecdotes to have real value, several factors have to be in alignment (and they rarely are):

1. The other person has to actually be correct. In my experience, issuers are rarely transparent about why they do things. Credit profiles and customer analytics are too complex for us to link cause and effect (or the causality is blindingly obvious and would apply to just about any issuer).

2. The other person has to be in a roughly similar current credit situation, and have the same general credit goals or concerns.

3. CSRs and analysts (human and computer) within one company have to be fairly uniform on a particular practice.

4. That practice can't change between the time of the other person's experience, my hearing about it, and it applying to me.

Other ideas weren't new, but 2015 did reinforce them:

1. When I spread my spending across several cards, waiting for a great signup bonus is usually worth it.

2. Diversification is important to a lot of people, but I also like some simplicity. Having 11 cards is pretty easy to manage when I have activity alerts in place on everything, only 5 issuers/websites, and my spending is concentrated on Amex and Chase cards.

3. What others on here do is often not best for me. What I do is often not best for others.

4. What others on here do is often not best for themselves, but life's too short to argue.

[Anonymous]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet, but it's important to remember that at the end of the day everything is just business; credit card companies will always act in their own best interest first, and we as cardholders should do the same.  Along the same lines, there's little to be gained from getting upset because it's not personal.

[Anonymous]

Great thread! Insightful and helpful responses!
Every positive lesson I've learned about credit has been in 2015. Until I stumbled onto this forum in Oct, I was clueless.
For me, humility and patience have been key. Acknowledging to myself that I don't know caca, and accepting the freely given wisdom of members has been life changing!
Best lesson? Go slow.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Great thread! Insightful and helpful responses!
Every positive lesson I've learned about credit has been in 2015. Until I stumbled onto this forum in Oct, I was clueless.
For me, humility and patience have been key. Acknowledging to myself that I don't know caca, and accepting the freely given wisdom of members has been life changing!
Best lesson? Go slow.

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Love the lessons about humility, patience, and not knowing caca (ha). Great lessons for us all to learn .