New to the forum- Generic Credit Card Questions

[GApeachy]

My experience (couple of dp's 2019/ ymmv-covid) with Cap1 was to app for the card I wanted (Savor, sl $5k) and THEN close the acct. I no longer wanted/needed/use. 

The Plat card I closed had a $750 limit.  My scores were low 700's and my history with Cap1 was 6 months.  

Btw, it wasn't instant approval, called them a couple of times to see what the outcome would be.

GL whatever you decide.

[GrandBaker]

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@jonblaze24 wrote:

I appreciate any feedback

After many agonizing years, I have finally put myself in a comfortable financial position. Great paying job, and finally feel like I have my credit situation under control. In the last 2 years alone I have risen from roughly a 550 score and for the first time ever last month I eclipsed 700. As i look to the near future, I am looking for some guidance in regards to my credit card situation to see what is the best for my situation. 

Years ago I essentially took whatever I could get as far as credit cards. I was able to get a DiscoverIt, Capital One Quicksilver and Capital One Platinum. All 3 with minimum limits under $1k. I recently got an offer from my bank and was able to acquire a new card with a $9k limit, my first big boy card...which brings me to 4 cards total. In the last month, my Discover automatically increased to $4k....so those alone I am happy with. My issue comes with the two Capital One cards. Both limits are hovering around $1k, and i just recently paid both off so they have a 0 balance. 

My question is, is it necessary to have both Cap1 accounts open? Seems anytime i request a credit line increase they give me $100, and i can't request again for 6 months. I know having open credit is good, but I"m looking for much higher limits to satisfy my long term financial needs. Do you guys think with a 700 score it would make sense to apply for a brand new card with Cap1 or elsewhere and pray for a much higher limit (and close to the 2 low limit accounts)? Or should i hope for Cap 1 to increase my current limits and keep those accounts open. 

Any feedback is appreciated. 

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Welcome! Congratulations on a job well done to get back in the game.

My suggestion is to cancel both C1 accounts and here is why.

1. Utilization ratio: Currently at $1K + $1K + $4K + $9K = $15K. You don't mention a balance so let's assume you're at 10% ($1,500). Closing out the two C1 cards brings your utilization ratio to 11.5% which is hardly a big change. In fact anything under 20% is considered fine.
2. Average age of accounts (AaoA): You say "years ago" so I'll make another assumption it means 5 years. This puts the average age of your open accounts at 5+5+5+1=16/4=4 Getting rid of the C1's brings it down to 5+1=6/2=3 which again is not a big difference. BUT AaoA is not just on open accounts but any accounts going back 10 years. So essentially, no change to this number (remains at 4) if you close those two accounts.

At 700 you are cleared now to play with the big boys (AMEX, Chase, Citi, US Bank etc.) so I would suggest getting at least one AMEX and a MC/Visa that is not your latest card. It will put you on all 4 networks (Disc, AMEX, MC, Visa).

Hope this helps. 

[Loques]

I agree with many of the previous posts. In my experience with Capital One, I eventually closed the accounts because they wouldn't budge much on the CL. First, I started strategically applying for cards that I knew I would keep long term. Discover was one of the first in 2012 which I think started with only a $1k CL. After having those accounts open for 1-2 years, I periodically started closing accounts I knew I was never going to use. Many were retail cards like Havertys, Care Credit, etc. Others included Capital One and low-limit cards.

It's important to keep you utilization and AAoA in mind like others have said. Personally, my goal was simplicity - few cards with high limits. Think about what your long term goals are and start from there.