Need advice on proper usage of new cards

[Anonymous]

Good morning friends,

#1 American Express Gold Delta Skymiles SL $1k w/ 50k bonus miles for $2k spend in first 3 months

#2 Chase Freedom Unlimited SL $1k w/ $150 bonus for $500 spend in first 3 months

#3 Bank of America partial secured $99/500 no rewards :-(

What's the best way to go about utilizing each of these cards? I keep reading so many opposing views on this subject. Some say Amex likes to see big spending with frequent payments to qualify for the 3x CLI on day 61. Others say Amex only wants to see a payment once a month in the first 90. Some say Chase likes to see good usage and frequent payments as well. Others say they want to see you basically not use it at all. Some say BoA will upgrade me to the 321 rewards if I call and ask nicely. Others say just leave it alone and netflix+autopay it for 6 months.

Cards will be arriving soon .. Seeking advice!

I have $539 in my Amazon cart for tax prep software, and another $369 over at Intuit's online store for more (catching up on 5 years of taxes.. so, yeah..) and don't know if I should plop it all on my Amazon card and get the 5% cash back and the Intuit purchase on a crappy card or if I should hold out for a couple days and put these on my new cards. I don't want to spook the banks right out of the gate, but others say go ahead and spend and get those offers! What do I do here!?

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymouswrote:

Good morning friends,

#1 American Express Gold Delta Skymiles SL $1k w/ 50k bonus miles for $2k spend in first 3 months

#2 Chase Freedom Unlimited SL $1k w/ $150 bonus for $500 spend in first 3 months

#3 Bank of America partial secured $99/500 no rewards :-(

What's the best way to go about utilizing each of these cards? I keep reading so many opposing views on this subject. Some say Amex likes to see big spending with frequent payments to qualify for the 3x CLI on day 61. Others say Amex only wants to see a payment once a month in the first 90. Some say Chase likes to see good usage and frequent payments as well. Others say they want to see you basically not use it at all. Some say BoA will upgrade me to the 321 rewards if I call and ask nicely. Others say just leave it alone and netflix+autopay it for 6 months.

Cards will be arriving soon .. Seeking advice!

I have $539 in my Amazon cart for tax prep software, and another $369 over at Intuit's online store for more (catching up on 5 years of taxes.. so, yeah..) and don't know if I should plop it all on my Amazon card and get the 5% cash back and the Intuit purchase on a crappy card or if I should hold out for a couple days and put these on my new cards. I don't want to spook the banks right out of the gate, but others say go ahead and spend and get those offers! What do I do here!?

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My advice is:

1. Use the cards sparingly.

2. Pay them in full each month, either before or after the statement cuts.

3. To maximize your FICO scores, have 1 card report a small statement balance while the other 2 report zero statement balances.

4. Don't try to spend to please the banks; they work for you, you're not working for them.

[Anonymous]

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@SouthJamaicawrote:My advice is:

1. Use the cards sparingly.

2. Pay them in full each month, either before or after the statement cuts.

3. To maximize your FICO scores, have 1 card report a small statement balance while the other 2 report zero statement balances.

4. Don't try to spend to please the banks; they work for you, you're not working for them.

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Thanks for the quick reply! The way I see it, on Amex I have to spend roughly $667/mo to earn my bonus, and on Chase I need to spend $167/mo to earn that bonus. Should I let them cut with those balances, or should I snatch their interest and pay a few days before the cut? I've never had a prime card before. Do I get my rewards even if I pay before the cut?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymouswrote:

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@SouthJamaica

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Thanks for the quick reply! The way I see it, on Amex I have to spend roughly $667/mo to earn my bonus, and on Chase I need to spend $167/mo to earn that bonus. Should I let them cut with those balances, or should I snatch their interest and pay a few days before the cut? I've never had a prime card before. Do I get my rewards even if I pay before the cut?

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You won't be charged interest if you pay the statement balance in full before the due date.  You don't have to pay before the statement cut to avoid interest.  The only reason to do this is to get a lower utilization on your credit reports, since it's usually statement balance that reports.

You should get your rewards regardless of when you pay (provided you're not late!)

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymouswrote:You won't be charged interest if you pay the statement balance in full before the due date.  You don't have to pay before the statement cut to avoid interest.  The only reason to do this is to get a lower utilization on your credit reports, since it's usually statement balance that reports.

You should get your rewards regardless of when you pay (provided you're not late!)

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I have to say that yours is the most interesting signature I've seen yet. Not to hijack my own post, but why would you intentionally lower your own limits?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymouswrote:

I have to say that yours is the most interesting signature I've seen yet. Not to hijack my own post, but why would you intentionally lower your own limits?

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I have my reasons... do a search.  #1 reason is to limit spending.

[AverageJoesCredit]

Swipe and pay, easy peasy. So long as you pay by the due date, youll be fine.

LowLimits is anomaly here but my kind of anomaly

[Anonymous]

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@AverageJoesCreditwrote:
Swipe and pay, easy peasy. So long as you pay by the due date, youll be fine.

LowLimits is anomaly here but my kind of anomaly

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Forgive me if I'm missing some subtle simplicity, but aren't there proven strategies for building new prime cards up? Especially with Amex? I'm on a mission to build great credit here. I only use my credit as a medium for cash payment through which I gain the benefits and rewards of cash, points, or better credit lines that will eventually give me such rewards. To me, all of my cards are strategically placed chess pieces. I just want to keep qualifying for better and better cards so my every day cash purchases can turn into points and cash back everywhere I go.

[Anonymous]

Strategies for getting higher limits varies by lender, some like lots of swipes and PIF, others like lower utilization... there are many threads on this with regards to Amex, Chase, etc.  Sometimes one tactic works well for one person and not so for another, so YMMV...

But if your goal is high FICO scores, that works basically the same for everyone... have a few open accounts, use them and pay them on time.  Utilization is important but it also has no "memory", so high utilization one month won't affect your scores the following month if you've paid everything off and your balances report low utilization again.  One popular method for maximizing score is the AZEO method... this is where you have all your cards except one report a zero balance (by paying them off before the statement cuts)... then on the one card you let report a balance keep its utilization below 8.9%.  This gives the maximum score boost.  You don't have to do this all the time, just do it when you need your scores high when you're applying for new credit, or requesting CLIs.

[jamesdwi]

use them how ever you feel, pay on time or early. The second part is the most important to lenders.  Note if you are new to AMEX, you will only be allowed to make one payment via the AMEX website during the first 30 days after you add a checking account to your account, its an AMEX thing, after that you will be able to make frequent payments as needed. 

If you want to have a greater chance at CLI's, and you have the funds  use Chase and AMEX cards hard, max them out, pay them off. Its not  necessary to pay interest. Chase is likely give auto-cli luv, AMEX will more likely give you a CLI at the 61st day when you request is.  AMEX isn't a fan of carying a balance long term. So I don't recomend maxing the card off if you aren't able to pay it down in short order.