How many cards, and how high?

[ArisGreek]

Keep in mind too (which a lot of people forget), when you get the rejection code "Too many accounts have balances." That factors in your installment loans and mortgage loans too...So I think you need to have less than 50% of your accounts to have a balance from what I understand to not get that error.

For example...1 mortgage, 1 car loan, 1 student loan, 4 credit cards...7 accounts, you have 4 of those accounts with balances. You'll then get the error "Too many accounts have balances".  You need to get it down to 3...This is TOUGH for some people...That technically means you can't report a balance on a credit card.  You'd need an 8th account!

Ugh.

i also found this true because this happened to me. I have 1 mortgage, 1 car loan, 1 student loan, and 6 card accounts...which totals 9. I had balances on 5 total accounts and got that error.  Once I dropped to 4 it was removed.  I also did it again to 5 and that notice popped up on my credit report, went back down to 4 and it disappeared

[Imua]

is the Capital One Venture Rewards card a visa card?

i like to have both a visa and a master card (just in case one or the other isn't accepted).

[Anonymous]

I've thought about that, too. It's a Visa. I've never noticed a place that doesn't accept Visa, unless they just don't accept ANY CC's.

In my younger days of dabbling in credit, when I got myself in what I thought was a lot of trouble the first time ("HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS IN DEBT"...LOL...), I remember trying to apply for some variety of AmEx card. I was not approved. What is the deal with AmEx? Why is it such an exclusive club? When I compare cards, they don't seem to have anything really so special, other than "charge cards," and they're not exactly everywhere you want to be. What is the deal, exactly?

[MarineVietVet]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've thought about that, too. It's a Visa. I've never noticed a place that doesn't accept Visa, unless they just don't accept ANY CC's.

In my younger days of dabbling in credit, when I got myself in what I thought was a lot of trouble the first time ("HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS IN DEBT"...LOL...), I remember trying to apply for some variety of AmEx card. I was not approved. What is the deal with AmEx? Why is it such an exclusive club? When I compare cards, they don't seem to have anything really so special, other than "charge cards," and they're not exactly everywhere you want to be. What is the deal, exactly?

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I'm with you on this one.     I've never been interested in Amex and probably never will be. But they do have loyal customers it seems.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 9/09 pulled by lender 802, EQ - 10/10-813, TU - 10/10-774

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've thought about that, too. It's a Visa. I've never noticed a place that doesn't accept Visa, unless they just don't accept ANY CC's.

In my younger days of dabbling in credit, when I got myself in what I thought was a lot of trouble the first time ("HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS IN DEBT"...LOL...), I remember trying to apply for some variety of AmEx card. I was not approved. What is the deal with AmEx? Why is it such an exclusive club? When I compare cards, they don't seem to have anything really so special, other than "charge cards," and they're not exactly everywhere you want to be. What is the deal, exactly?

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Well, Costco takes only Amex in store. But I agree, it's very rare that a place does not take Visa.

The two other features people like is the extended warranty for big ticket items, which seems to work better than with other issuers, or the airport lounge access on their high fee cards. The latter feature is liked by people who travel a lot for business purposes, so if you don't do that, it's lost on you.

[Anonymous]

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@smallfry wrote:

Kidding right? You're gonna place all your eggs in a Cap One basket? 1 CC for sure is ill advised. With 3 you can use 1 each month let it report and rotate and never lose points for too many accounts reporting balances.  1 is a bad idea. 

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I'm beginning to see the wisdom of this remark, actually. Others have said that cards can be cancelled or discontinued without reason, and Capital One is kind of a trendy card. I can well imagine a day when they just don't want to offer such generous rewards. The question is, what should my second card be. My credit union offers on with an APR of less than 9%. It's also a Visa, though, same as CapOne...hmmmm

[mross1080]

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@smallfry wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Well, then it's settled. Capital One Venture Rewards FOR LIFE! 

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Kidding right? You're gonna place all your eggs in a Cap One basket? 1 CC for sure is ill advised. With 3 you can use 1 each month let it report and rotate and never lose points for too many accounts reporting balances.  1 is a bad idea. 

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LOL!! I said the same thing to myself and then read your post. And I agree mostly everywhere takes visa. Except Nieman Marcus and the big box food stores but I have capital one and I wouldnt trust them as my only card they seem to play to many games they might be different with the venture.

[smallfry]

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@mross1080 wrote:

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@smallfry wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Well, then it's settled. Capital One Venture Rewards FOR LIFE! 

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Kidding right? You're gonna place all your eggs in a Cap One basket? 1 CC for sure is ill advised. With 3 you can use 1 each month let it report and rotate and never lose points for too many accounts reporting balances.  1 is a bad idea. 

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LOL!! I said the same thing to myself and then read your post. And I agree mostly everywhere takes visa. Except Nieman Marcus and the big box food stores but I have capital one and I wouldnt trust them as my only card they seem to play to many games they might be different with the venture.

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It's not the fact that it is Cap One I just don't think it is smart to only have one option. Most places accept Visa/MC I have not run into a problem where they only took one but I am sure it happens occasionally. You run into some problems with AMEX and Discover. Even FICO says that 3 cards is optimum for scoring purposes and higher scores can only help you when you apply for a loan. There is no downside in having 3 cards.

[KeepSwimming]

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@ArisGreek wrote:

Keep in mind too (which a lot of people forget), when you get the rejection code "Too many accounts have balances." That factors in your installment loans and mortgage loans too...So I think you need to have less than 50% of your accounts to have a balance from what I understand to not get that error.

For example...1 mortgage, 1 car loan, 1 student loan, 4 credit cards...7 accounts, you have 4 of those accounts with balances. You'll then get the error "Too many accounts have balances".  You need to get it down to 3...This is TOUGH for some people...That technically means you can't report a balance on a credit card.  You'd need an 8th account!

Ugh.

i also found this true because this happened to me. I have 1 mortgage, 1 car loan, 1 student loan, and 6 card accounts...which totals 9. I had balances on 5 total accounts and got that error.  Once I dropped to 4 it was removed.  I also did it again to 5 and that notice popped up on my credit report, went back down to 4 and it disappeared

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THANK YOU for explaining this. I get this note on my TU report, but then it also said one of the things working in my favor is that I have low balances...so I was going, either I have too much, or I have too little. Make up your mind! NOW I get it - thank you!!