Multiple Credit Card Applications - Good Strategy?

[ABUCK]

I'm finally making progress on rebuilding my credit. Current Cards:

Premier: $300

Total: $350

CapOne Plat: $500

I got all three of these cards one year ago (all secured I think).

Today's scores are - EQ: 614 TU: 625 EX: 623.

I applied for the CapOne QS1 today and was approved for a $1,000 CL.

I'm trying to increase my overall available credit. I figured I can apply for higher limits/different cards in a few more months, but it would be nice to get an additional card today, solely for the purpose of having higher available credit. On top of that, if I submit two applications today, the inquiries should drop off in a similar timeframe.

Should I apply for another today or should I wait? If I should apply, which card would people recommend? I have great verifiable income if that even matters.

[creditguy]

You can apply for another card without much impact, but the real question is what kind of card are you eyeing? Realistically with your current scores your limited to what you can be approved for. You already have the maximum cards needed for optimal scoring so that's good, but are you looking for additional credit to pad your utilization? Otherwise if your not carrying a balance you don't need additional available credit. I would say just keep what you have for now and consider closing at least one card that carries an AF, plus find out if your cards are secured or not. Just focus on using and building your QS1 for now and in time you'll have better card options available.

[Anonymous]

You may qualify for an AMEX with those scores but as the OP mentioned you should really think about what your needs are and then look for a card that matches your needs.  But with those scores your options may be limited.  Ideally you should garden and wait until your scores improve before applying for "higher limit"cards. 

[ABUCK]

This was very helpful. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

I'm with @creditguy
A) Find out FOR SURE if those cards are secured or not (that's $$$ that belongs to you, not that you need it right now but it's important to know IF that's YOUR dough or not, right😃)

B) Since you've had these accounts a full year and your scores are still so low... there is a fly in the ointment somewhere that needs addressing.
You're attempting to overshadow it by grasping for a bigger CL but IMO there must be a usage problem with such a small overall total CL...it can't take much effort to plummet the utilization ratio down to a very nice %.

And if it IS a big deal to get $1150 worth of CLs down below 20-25%...you have a more pressing issue then 'needing' a bigger limit card.

1) The new $1000 added to your lines takes you to $2150 off the bat that helps your overall debt/CL ratio.... which in turn is a positive turn but only you know how you spend and/or keep balances on your cards and how much debt your going to eat up on the new card.
Are there other negs on your reports that would have weighed down your scores over the past year on aging good new 'well- maintained' accounts?

Do you have an installer reporting, to juice up your credit mix? ( That is a car note,student loan, mortgage etc)
If not, I'd suggest adding a small SSL (share secured loan) to your profile vs just another revolver as credit guy mentioned you have enough revolving accounts to juice your scores....

Mix helps but at 10% is still 3 X's less important than the 30% bang you get for keeping those reported balances low....ppl seem to forget it's not about the dollar amount it's about the % of debt vs whatever the CL is, period....the scoring model calculates the %... keep that tight as you build and the dollar amounts will grow but initially just pay intense attention to keeping the % low.

Ex:
$100 balance/ $1000 CL
&
$1000 balance/ $10000 CL

Are the same 10%, within the scoring model...
So it's extra important NOT to think it's ok to
allow a $200 balance/ $300 CL because it reads as 67% debt/CL ratio or darn near 70% utilization... although the CL is low the computer reads the % just the same....this is a big issue for a lot of ppl this low CLs

But you must play the game by the same rules if you ever want to get big enough CLs to really be a playa😉

It doesn't take long but you gotta keep your % down to pump those scores...

Good Luck