Finally Pre-Approved for Several Cards... Now Which to Choose?

[Anonymous]

UPDATE:

Opened the chat with Amazon and got a 3k CLI increase for a total of 4k.

Applied for Chase Freedom Unlimited but got 30 day message (I've read on the board that I should wait about a week and then call customer service...?)

Applied for Discover IT and got 9k limit!

I think I'll stay like this for a while before going for a solid travel card. Thanks for the help everyone!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the update

[Anonymous]

Thats not true Dee. I got 30k from them in a weekend. Disney and Slate 

[Anonymous]

I would suggest the Discover It card. 

it was my first card after i had 4 cards go into collections. I was pleased with my CL when I was preapproved, and they match all of your cash back for the first year. The rotating categories are decent, but if you're going to use it daily, I'd definitely suggest it, since you get 1% back on everything else.

Plus, I just found out that they do off-cycle reporting to credit bureaus, so if you pay it off, you can request that they report, and it'll help your scores and utilization (if you need it to reflect that quickly).

Congrats on all your preapprovals! Happy carding! 

[BM3]

sorry for mild hijack, but can I ask them to report a day after I activated the card? Also I tried to search but couldn't get the keywords to show up - is it better to charge a card for any amount on a new card, or does it not matter if you have another card reporting already?  I am just in a bit of a hurry to see a score bump after getting a 2nd card, to evaluate options and time is a bit of a factor. 

[Anonymous]

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wrote:

Hey guys,

I've been lurking for a bit while building my credit from zero in 2017. Started by getting a car loan with a high APR (still 5 years of payments to go but will probably refinance it this year), and was approved for the Amazon Prime Card ($1000) and PayPal Credit ($500) (I'm aware PP doesn't report) in June, and then the Capital One Platinum ($300) after I received a preapproved mailer. As I learned recently about reporting dates and low utilization, since last month I've paid my cards down. My FAKO scores show me somewhere between 620-645 but I pulled the trigger on MyFico and got the following scores:

725 EQ

705 TU

701 EX

I did the shopping cart trick for Overstock, but changed the information as they had an outdated address and got the 7-10 day message. In the letter I received it basically says because I changed the address they had, they are unwilling to extend credit. The Amazon Prime card CLI button didn't work for me, but I think I hit it before the lower utilization had been reported.  

My current utilization is around 23% and I plan on keeping that lower. Current salary is $47000. AAOA is 7 months. No late payments ever. 

I went on a spree of looking at the preapproval sites and got the following preapprovals:

Intro APR/Months/Reg. APR/AF

Discover It  0%/14/22.24%/0

Discover It Chrome  0%/14/22.24%/0

Chase Freedom Unlimited Visa 0%/15/15.99%/0

Chase Freedom Visa 0%/15/15.99%/0

Chase Sapphire Prefered Visa 16.99%/0/16.99%/$95.00

US Bank Visa Platinum Visa 0%/18/15.24%/0

US Bank Cash+ Visa Signature  0%/12/20.24%/0

US Bank FlexPerks Select+ AMEX 0%/12/19.24%/0

US Bank Cash 365 AMEX  0%/12/20.24%/0

AMEX Green Card

AMEX Gold Premier Rewards 

The Chase Sapphire Preferred sounds tempting, especially because of the points bonus after the first 3 months and the fact that I don't want to hit the 5/24 before applying to a Chase card, but I'm not sure if my limited credit history will be enough even if it says preapproved with a fixed APR. I've also heard great things here about the Discover It. Should I think of applying to two different cards?

Any recommendations? This will be my first real card and I plan on using it every day. Thanks for the help!

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If you want cashback or rewards cards you need to get in the habit of PIF. Otherwise hold off on them. Rewards cards lose all value when you don’t PIF. The interest rates eat up all the rewards and then a lot. If you are going to keep a balance I’d more try to get a plain low interest card. If you can get in the habit of PIF. Then all the advise everyone is giving is great and will get you a card for your profile and spending patterns. Good luck. 👍 

[arkane]

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wrote:

Thats not true Dee. I got 30k from them in a weekend. Disney and Slate 

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Without any details about your credit profile, this statement is pretty meaningless.

[Anonymous]

I absolutely love the DiscoverIT! It virtually is almost the same card as the Chase Freedom but without the strict Chase rules of getting in. The rotating catagories for this year are very useful: gas stations, supermarkets, restaurants. Discover was my first card 1.5 years ago and I got the secured version because I was completely new to credit. Chase would never have taken the chance on me. Discover unsecured me after 7 months and the credit limit is $2350 now. I do wish they could raise my credit limits faster (as my TU score is now 775) and lower me from their 23 percent APR but I PIF so it is no problem for me. In terms of the customer service, reedemability of rewards, the layout of the website and the ease of use of product, Discover is second to none. 

If you want to try your luck at a high credit limit, I would try for the Amex Blue Cash Everyday. I cold apped it a month ago where I only had a PreQual for the Amex Everyday (not the Blue Cash version) and was immediately approved for a $17000 spending limit. The 3 percent for the groceries comes quite in handy and they have a Preferred version with a slight annual fee if you want 6 percent back for groceries. 

You may also want to try your hand at some Citi cards like the Double Cash for a solid 2 percent across the board card or the Citi Costco. 

[Anonymous]

Howdy!! Well, I have to second what some of the others are saying regarding what types of rewards you are looking for. Once you narrow down what you are looking for (Cash Back or Travel Rewards) then you will be able to make your decision on what card to select. For the most part, there is a credit card out there for everyone and it will really boil down to preference. 

Based on the cards that you have selected, in my opinion, the only ones that are worth picking between would be: 

Chase Freedom

Chase Freedom Unlimited

Chase Sapphire Preferred 

PRG American Express

The first 3 would obviously get you into the Chase club (assuming that you do get approved) and after 1 year you would be able to product change to another one of the Chase products should you chose and qualify. With the AMEX, that is one of their premium charge cards which will get your MR points that you could redeem for travel through the AMEX travel site. 

Once again, this would really be up to you based on your preferences. Take a look over the cards and see what really matters to you and then pull the trigger. Remember that if you go with the Chase card, you can still apply for another one of the cards on there  as well. 

Good luck on your decision.

[Anonymous]

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wrote:

sorry for mild hijack, but can I ask them to report a day after I activated the card? Also I tried to search but couldn't get the keywords to show up - is it better to charge a card for any amount on a new card, or does it not matter if you have another card reporting already?  I am just in a bit of a hurry to see a score bump after getting a 2nd card, to evaluate options and time is a bit of a factor. 

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Discover will report mid cycle. I used the messaging part in their app and they requested it for me. The rep said that they can do it anytime and as much as you requested. 

It doesn’t hurt to ask!