How to best use these 3 cards for future growth?

[bobbigirl83]

I have 3 cards I'd like to use over the next year as I sit back and garden. I am just not certain which one I should use the most or which I should use the least. I'm less concerned about rewards and more concerned about growing the limit. How should I approach these, Wise Ones?

Which do you think has the potential for the most growth?


Alliant Platinum Rewards
Paypal 2% MC
Discover It

Thank you in advance for any input!

[Anonymous]

I suggest just using the cards naturally and seeing what happens.  In 6 months see how you do with SP CLIs.  If favorable results are had, just continue what you're doing.  If there's one that you'd like to see a different result from, perhaps try to increase the spend on that card.  By increase spend I simply mean move some of your spend from other cards to the one you're trying to increase the limit on, not spend more money on things you don't need.  I personally don't suggest leaving rewards on the table, but if a CLI is your goal, it's generally recommended to increase your spend to show the lender that you "need" the CLI.  Also, always PIF your statement balance, as that's a great sign of sound credit behavior.  I'm not sure what the limits are on your cards, but you should also avoid letting them report more than 28.9% utilization IMO, although if you are paying in full monthly this isn't nearly as big of a deal. 

[mkhan1093]

If your aim is to grow limits, then you should charge a card to max/near max and PIF once or even multiple times per cycle. Do that for a few months and I'm sure it'll grow. But like BBS said, just use them naturally and it should all work out.

[Anonymous]

I just suggest natural use first, as that won't result in any rewards dollars being lost and natural use for many lenders is all you need.  Discover is a good example of this, as there are people that put $5k/mo on their Discover and see no CLI, then drop it down to a single $5 swipe another month and see a big CLI.  Always go natural first, then if you don't like what you see consider moving things around.

I agree that putting a heavy spend on a card (maxing it out or even greater with multiple payments) is generally speaking the best way to force a CLI.  In fact, it would almost be stupid for a lender to not give someone a CLI when exhibiting this behavior, as the credit limit in this case could very well be the constraint to a great spend and greater profits for the lender.

[kdm31091]

A lender is going to have little incentive to give someone a CLI if they are charging a pack of gum a month on a card. I wouldn't go out of my way to spend excessively on a card just to trigger a CLI, but I think it makes sense to try and use it more frequently and demonstrate that an increased CL is warranted.

If you aren't too worried about rewards I would just concentrate usage on the card you want a CLI most on. Optimizing rewards generally is worth perhaps a few bucks a month. Losing that (temporarily) is probably not a big deal if you would rather have a larger limit.

[Kforce]

---

@kdm31091wrote:

A lender is going to have little incentive to give someone a CLI if they are charging a pack of gum a month on a card.

I have a CC that I put $10 on every 3 months,  just to keep it alive.   It has grown to be my highest CL.  I even put a cap on it because I do not need a higher CL.  Have had the US-Bank Cash+ for 3 years and only put about 600-700 month on two 5% categories. They give me a CL increase every 6 months.  Just got 4.5k last week from them. Have had other cards that I put a lot of spend on and increases are over a year apart, and conservative amounts.  Every card/company and profile is different and you can drive yourself crazy trying to figure it out.

I suggest using the cards the way you want,  pay on time,  be patient,  and "they will come".

There is no secret formula.

[SouthJamaica]

---

@bobbigirl83wrote:
I have 3 cards I'd like to use over the next year as I sit back and garden. I am just not certain which one I should use the most or which I should use the least. I'm less concerned about rewards and more concerned about growing the limit. How should I approach these, Wise Ones?

Which do you think has the potential for the most growth?


Alliant Platinum Rewards
Paypal 2% MC
Discover It

Thank you in advance for any input!

---

IMHO the Synchrony card has a much better shot at soft pull CLI's.

Alliant always requires a hard pull.

Discover is unpredictable.

[Anonymous]

---

@bobbigirl83wrote:
I have 3 cards I'd like to use over the next year as I sit back and garden. I am just not certain which one I should use the most or which I should use the least. I'm less concerned about rewards and more concerned about growing the limit. How should I approach these, Wise Ones?

Which do you think has the potential for the most growth?


Alliant Platinum Rewards
Paypal 2% MC
Discover It

Thank you in advance for any input!

---

Im not sure which card gives out CLI's frequently and I only have a few months exp with Discover, But I have had a good track record with charging up to no more than 50% of limit on one card and continuosly making payments throughout the month and right before the closing date either PIF or down to 1% of the CL. This has worked on my BankAmericard and my Capital One Platinum...3 CLI's each in the last year (not aggresively going after CLI's)

[Anonymous]

---

@KforceI have a CC that I put $10 on every 3 months,  just to keep it alive.   It has grown to be my highest CL.  I even put a cap on it because I do not need a higher CL.  Have had the US-Bank Cash+ for 3 years and only put about 600-700 month on two 5% categories. They give me a CL increase every 6 months.  Just got 4.5k last week from them. Have had other cards that I put a lot of spend on and increases are over a year apart, and conservative amounts.  Every card/company and profile is different and you can drive yourself crazy trying to figure it out. 

---

Your example above is the exception, not the rule.

Yes, there are examples of lenders giving out CLIs to those that spend very little.  Discover did that with me, where I was giving them several thousand for a spend and didn't get much from them and then I dropped it to a $5 spend and they gave me a big CLI.  I know that this isn't "normal" though and that lenders aren't likely to do this.

For every example like the one you gave above or the one I just gave, there are 10 examples of someone that got a CLI due to putting a heavy spend through their card.  And, it makes sense.  As I stated earlier, putting a large spend through a card gives the lender an incentive to give you a CLI.  While there are exceptions, I don't think the OP should be given advice that goes against the grain on this.  The advice should be to go with what has worked for the majority, not outlier examples.

[Kforce]

---

@AnonymousYour example above is the exception, not the rule.e advice should be to go with what has worked for the majority, not outlier examples.

---

Maybe, Maybe-Not !

Have been in this credit game a long time and have not seen evidence of what you claim.

Can only give advice as to what has been the case for my credit journey.