@masscredit wrote:Does having cards with decent/higher limits increase the changes of higher SLs for new cards in the future? Like for a person who is rebuilding, they might start off with cards that are in the $250 - $2000 range. I think they'd have to work up to cards with five figure limits. Where as a person who has cards that are mostly in the $10K plus range, I think most new cards will have limits like that. Am I correct with this? I know scores and income are also taken into consideration.
In my experience, yes, your existing limits may affect the limit you might be offered on a new card.
@masscredit wrote:Something else to add to this is high balances. Would a person who uses a decent amount of their limit once in awhile, like $4K-$5K on a card with a $10K limit then pays it be more attractive than a person with the same limit who only uses a few hundred dollars. It seems like there wouldn't be a need for the higher limit.
That's related to but a completely separate question from your original, @masscredit. And as with many things related to credit, it just depends! While starting limits are driven by certain factors that have already been summarized, credit limit increases have their own set of variables. Some of those are similar to what yields the original starting limit while other factors may be separate.
Spending levels (high individual utilization) **CAN** in some cases help to increase credit limits. There are lenders with whom most of us are unlikely to see any increases at all unless spending hits certain benchmarks. On the other hand, just like with the various starting limit factors, spend-and-pay is not the end-all answer in all scenarios. One excellent example is the huge number of posts we see on My Fico with members who have very low limit "bucketed" cards with lenders like Capital one. They use them multiple times their limit every single month yet they refuse to grow.
Likewise, regardless of spending levels, other credit factors must be in-order. This is where the previous discussion of derogatories comes into play. A lender needs to feel comfortable that a consumer can and will repay any debts. Derogatories cast serious doubt on that question. Likewise, a lender may stop giving increases once a threshold is reached of credit limit relative to income and debts, regardless of spending or FICO score. They also may hesitate to add credit if you've been actively seeking new credit elsewhere in the past 6/12/24 months. You're making them nervous. 
Spending is also not even necessary in other cases. We have lenders such as Navy Federal who seem to give CLIs regularly without spending. While some lenders are highly sensitive to recent spend, others are only slightly or moderately sensitive to it.
Overall Credit Age (thickness of file) and age of the particular account may lead to increases without significant spending. Some of my high limit cards have grown that way over time without having to spend anywhere close to their current limits. The lender just rewards loyal longer-term responsible customers.
I've written a lot about credit limits. If you want to read my most recent post, go to >>this link<< and then follow the links to some of my previous posts within each message. (You'll connect to other messages several times.)
ETA: @FinStar beat me to the POST button by one minute. Lol 
@masscreditYour fresh out. I was fresh out at one time too. Work on building a history and being responsible for now. The rest will fall in place as time goes by. We all want it now. But us BK'er's just have to wait our time. Great answers so far. Over 6 years of building and my AMEX BCE was approved for $1000. I didn't post are you kidding me? Thats it? No it was a relief I got in. History will do the rest with AMEX.
Work on the preset so the future will be there when you get there. Put your eyes on the prize and work towards it. Dont get ahead of yourself. For me it isnt the limit. Its the perks that reward me for using the card. I wont pay interest. I'm middle class with 1 FT job and 2 PT jobs. Me carry a $10,000 balance? No way! Yes I have some nice CL's. I didnt ask. They gave it to me. Really dont need it all. You'll get there. You may get the card one day you want at a low SL. But it will grow to what you wanted when approved. Just keep at it. Nowhere to go but up the ladder for us BK folks. One step at a time.
@GatorGuy wrote:In my opinion, the following are the three things that affect credit limits the most:
1) Income
2) Income
3) Income
In all seriousness, credit score and spending do play a part. Length of credit history, length of history with the FI can impact it less so as well.
One example is my wife applied for AOD last year. Despite having a high six figure income, perfect credit history, multiple cards of $50k or more, and average CL of cards around $25k, AOD had issues figuring out her self employment income. They thought it was far lower than she reported. As a result they only gave her a CL of $5k even though that was by far her lowest CL and she hadn't received a CL lower than $20k in years. They told her to reapply after 6 months. She put probably $20k to $25k a month on the card and PIF for six months and reapplied. Yet again was denied for an increase. She eventually got it worked out with them through the CEO and got their max CL of $25k.
AOD is not the typical lender. They are a small conservative credit union. However, I use this as an example because it perfectly illustrates that my wife had perfect credit, high credit limits, long credit history, a thick file and even large spending with the FI but they still refused a CLI because of what they thought was low income.
Glad to hear she got the limit increased.
This is an example where the question "How do I get higher limits on new card apps" is not an appropriate generic question. "How do I get higher starting limits / CLI, with this specific card issuer" is the appropriate way to ask. Each lender has nuances within their underwriting methods, but all lenders, within their range of card limits, will rely on credit score primarily and factors like income and usage as additional factors.
BofA is not directly comparable to Chase, AMEX has methods, credit unions have their view. In this case, AOD seems not prepared for self employment income, without getting eyes on the data in a different way than their regular process.
I think there is a correlation between having cards with high credit limits, and being approved for new cards with high credit limits, but it may be as simple as, the same reason your current card has a high limit results in the new card also having a high limit.
