Future Credit Card Goals

[JaseT]

As I near the two year anniversary of my Ch7 discharge, I wanted to set some goals and a timeline for future credit card acquisitions. I burned several lenders: Alliant, Amex (only $700 ), Citibank, Discover, Navy FCU, Nordstrom, PSECU, PenFed, Synchrony Amazon, and USAA. My rebuild has gone well...better than I expected, really. Here are my ideas - I would love any feedback/thoughts!

1) I'd like to acquire the Synchrony PayPal 2% Cashback and Amazon Store (5%) cards. I app'd recently for both and was denied (with no hp) due to previous unsatisfactory account with them, which was the Amazon Store card. I want to app again for both after I hit my 2 years post discharge at the end of March. Both of these cards would get a lot of use with my spend habits.

2) Hit the garden and let my accounts age and grown with CLI's for the next 3 years.

3) Once I hit 5 years post discharge, I'd like to app for US Bank Cash +. By this time, I should have little to no inquiries and my accounts will have aged nicely. I was also considering opening a savings account with US Bank now, to have 3 years of banking relationship with them come app time. I could spend my garden time concentrating on building savings instead of apping for more cards!

4) Since it will be 5 years post discharge, I would like to get back in with USAA on their credit side (still have a checking acct active with them), although currently none of their cards would really benefit me much rewards-wise. Discover is on my radar too, but not sure how long I will be blacklisted with them.

5) Of course, I'd like to get back in with AMEX, but not sure I want to pay $700 to cut that time in half. I might just wait them out and hope for the best.

I think that's it for now. Thanks for reading if you got this far and, again, I welcome any thoughts. 

[Anonymous]

Okay, here are my thoughts. I love that you seem to be motivated by rewards and not just wanting random card for the sake of having them. For me, that is by far the primary factor in choosing a card (since I never carry a balance, I don't care what the APR is).

Specifically, your number one is exactly what I'd do, too, if you can qualify. I spend a lot with Amazon -- just for the convinence I buy just about everything I can from them. So I love getting 5% cash back. I also have two 2% rewards cards. The only reason I have two is that I keep one for business and the other for personal (it just makes it easier to manage). So basically, I get 2% back for everything other than Amazon without ever needing to think about it.

I fund our family vacations with these rewards, and it's really nice (the business spending really helps).

For your number two, I think that's wise. If you can get the first two cards (and really, even if you can't), it makes sense to let it be for a long while.

For your number three, I personally wouldn't be that excited about the US Bank Cash + card. But that's purely because of my own desire to keep things simple. A few years ago I thought I was going to like the Discover IT card with it's rotating 5% cash back (because I love getting 5% cash back!). But the I just didn't find it worth keeping track of where I needed to use that card. For me, the US Bank Cash + card would be similar. The categories seem to narrow to me to be worth my while. But I certainly wouldn't fault you for going that direction. It would allow you to maximize your rewards for a little bit of effort (but I'd probably just get another 2% across the board card as a back up).

For your number four, I don't have an opinion on USAA, and as I already said, I just don't use Discover.

Finally, for your number five, I don't find AMEX all that valuable. For me, that is. I don't travel enough to make those benefits worthwhile. I still have a Blue Cash Preferred card that I use for groceries sometimes, but that's about it.

Overall, I love your overall approach, which seems to be to focus on rewards. And where I'd do it differently is purely personal preference.

[AverageJoesCredit]

Just me, and dont know your circumstances, but i would just pay the $700 back to Amex. If this IIB, maybe not, but your sentence could be 10 plus years. If a charge off, definetly would help. Again all depends on situation i guess.

[Anonymous]

Amex is more forgiving than I would expect. I have a friend that shared a letter from Amex collections with me. Amex was willing to re-open the account if the past due (way, way passed due) was paid.

Even if you have to call in to customer support, I think they would let you back in the club no problem. 

[JaseT]

@Plip - thank you for your insights! Sounds like we have a very similar strategy on credit cards. PIF and get paid to use them!

@Joe & Pizza - Amex was IIB. They sent me the Optima/Oasis offer but from what I've read online, a BK will disqualify you from participating. I may call them up to see what the deal is. The Amex travel rewards/perks don't interest me, as I don't travel that much. The 6% rewards on groceries does, but not sure if paying them back $700 and then having to wait a year while on the Oasis program would really be worth it at this point. Maybe I should just forget about Amex until I hit the 10 year mark. Gives me something to look forward to!

[Anonymous]

Amex blacklists can last a lot longer than the 10 years. I would just pay the $700 if getting back in with them is a priority. 

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/Can-I-ever-get-off-the-Amex-blacklist/td-p...

[JaseT]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Amex blacklists can last a lot longer than the 10 years. I would just pay the $700 if getting back in with them is a priority. 

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/Can-I-ever-get-off-the-Amex-blacklist/td-p/5322219

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That's just it...not sure how much of a priority it is!