Deciding what to do with Chase

[Anonymous]

What does Chase pull on CLI or PC?

I've got 3 Chase products: Freedom, Amazon, Slate. 

Slate opened 12/14: $3500

Amazon opened 6/11: $5000

Freedom opened 4/02: $6600*

Once upon a time the Freedom had something like a $14,000 CL and when I had some late pays on other accounts in 2008, they lowered it (Citi did the same thing from $8k to $5k). I got the Amazon card on a whim when I was buying something. I was shocked with $5k. It was the first account that showed I was recovering from the 2008 debaucle. I was surprised when I only got $3500 on the Slate. 

I'm wanting to do a CLI just to continue to improve my CU. The Amazon and Freedom have been our heaviest useage up to now, and are paid in full each month (up until now it's been last month's statement balance, but will be paid to $0 from this point forward...I just learned the benefit of that). However I don't see using them that much with the BCP, A+, and Discover that are in the mail. The Slate I did the max 0%BT so it's at about $3350 now. 

It would SEEM that my best strategy might be to request CLI on the Slate to get the utilization down on that card. But since it's the shortest one, maybe not. One might think I'd have the best shot on the Freedom since it's got the longest history, but with it's specific history, maybe not. Maybe the Amazon card because it's in the middle and has seen the most useage lately? 

The other thing I could do is ask for $1500 to be moved to the Slate, but after the BT ends, what good is that? 

Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Was EX for me.

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

It would SEEM that my best strategy might be to request CLI on the Slate to get the utilization down on that card 

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Utilization is a signfiicant scoring and risk factor even on 0% offers.  Your Slate is maxed at that level and you're incurring additional hits for that.  Get it down as quickly as you can however you can.  You may have trouble with CLI's with a maxed card.

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@Anonymous wrote:

But since it's the shortest one, maybe not. One might think I'd have the best shot on the Freedom since it's got the longest history, but with it's specific history, maybe not. Maybe the Amazon card because it's in the middle and has seen the most useage lately? 

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 Your cards aren't just considered on an individual basis and you can't rely so heavily on usage.  It's your overall credit that matters for any CLI with any creditor.

[onstar]

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@takeshi74 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

It would SEEM that my best strategy might be to request CLI on the Slate to get the utilization down on that card 

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Utilization is a signfiicant scoring and risk factor even on 0% offers.  Your Slate is maxed at that level and you're incurring additional hits for that.  Get it down as quickly as you can however you can.

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OP: That is true, but do you really care? More often than not, the UTIL is the most overrated stat because it is only temporary. If all your cards have high UTIL for a prolonged period of time, then that's a different story. As long as you have a low overall UTIL, then having high UTIL on one/few cards doesn't matter at all in the long run. Once the payments are made and the balance brought down, then the temporary hit on the score (if any) will rebound right back.

With regards to the Slate, in my experience and in my observation, Chase seems to give a lower CL on the Slate compared to their other cards. Most of my Chase cards (I have 5) are $9K to $12K while the Slate is not even $5K.