Looking to get approved for my first Chase card, how is my strategy?

[Anonymous]

Hello,

As the title says I am looking to get approved for my first Chase card, right now I am planning on going for the Freedom. These are my accounts so far:

Discover IT Secured- 7th statement cuts on October 10th, expecting to be graduated to unsecured. SL $200, CLI offered up to $2400 at month 5, but only increased it to $350.

Target Red Card- 3 months old, SL $1000

Amex BCE- SL $2,000- 1 month old.

FICO 8 scores hovering around 750 currently

I'm a college student and my income is only 12,000. I opened a checking account with Chase last month and I now do all my banking with them, being sure to demonstrate good saving practices. My plan right now is to apply for the card in February, to let my new AMEX age, and to let my relationship with Chase grow as I bank with them. I've heard that I can typically expect an automatic CLI from Amex after month 3, which will help with utilization. I also never carry a balance, and keep my utilization for all cards below 10%. Is this a reasonable strategy to get the freedom? I'm open to critiques! Thank you

[Remedios]

Hi and welcome

So, your oldest card is 7 months old?
If that's the case, you'll want to wait till it's at least a year old.
You can ask Amex for CLI after 61 days upon approval and every 6 months after that.

I would not apply for Chase card at this time. If you're approved, and that's a big if, it will be toy limit/high apr combo.
You have three new accounts in 7 months. Let them age, and in about 6 months you'll be in a lot better position to apply.

[Girlzilla88]

I love my FU but I do agree with the other poster to get your best oddds!

[simplynoir]

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@Remedios wrote:
Hi and welcome

So, your oldest card is 7 months old?
If that's the case, you'll want to wait till it's at least a year old.
You can ask Amex for CLI after 61 days upon approval and every 6 months after that.

I would not apply for Chase card at this time. If you're approved, and that's a big if, it will be toy limit/high apr combo.
You have three new accounts in 7 months. Let them age, and in about 6 months you'll be in a lot better position to apply.

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To be fair to the OP they did say they weren't going to apply til February which is the one year mark needed. That should be enough time to let the accounts age and hopefully get an increase with AMEX to show Chase they can handle the bigger limits. Agree with everything you said though which works out really

[KLEXH25]

Hi OP. Out of curiosity, why did you decline the full $2400 CLI from Discover? Even if you don’t use it all, it will help with overall utilization. Plus, card issuers typically look at your other card limits.

I think your plan sounds good. I would say if you can wait a little longer, let your cards age and garden for at least 6 months since your last card. It will do wonders.

[Anonymous]

Hello,
I didn’t take it because I had to match any increase with an additional security deposit and I didn’t have the funds to comfortably put that much into a security deposit at the time

[Remedios]

Even more confusing part is that Discover secured cards do not get CLIs per se, but you can add additional funds at any time, hence my request for clarification. Some will receive increase at the time they graduate, but not before. 

OP stated card has not graduated yet, so that timeline is important. 

[Remedios]

OP, is your current limit 350? 

Because if that's the case and you started $200.00 and now it's $350, is that with matched increase? You added $75 and they added $75?

I cannot say I've ever heard of disco offering CLI match. I could have missed it, but that would have been a pretty big miss, as I'm sure that data point would be floating all over the forums.

[Anonymous]

Sorry my wording might be confusing. For the credit limit increase you accept, you have to match it with a security deposit. So for the $150 increase, I submitted a $150 deposit. I apologize for the confusion

[simplynoir]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Sorry my wording might be confusing. For the credit limit increase you accept, you have to match it with a security deposit. So for the $150 increase, I submitted a $150 deposit. I apologize for the confusion

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Can that "increase" be a good indicator once the card graduates on getting a nice CLI from Disco? Because I didn't even realize secured CLIs required a deposit to match what is being offered persay