Newb specific questions: CC higher opening limits and CLIs?

[Anonymous]

Until recently (like a month ago), my wife and I only had one card each from a local CU with $1,000 limits.  We've had them for years (they stayed nearly maxed 95% of the time...$0 balance now).  Our reports both have some late payments on mortgage, auto and a few cards from the past.

We make $95k together (me $61k/ her $34k)

We both just did some CC sprees.  My score is now 710 (down 25 or so points).  Hers is down to about 680 (Equifax fell 36 points).  Anyway, we did a spree and each got some cards and added each other as authorized users on all the ones we got:

Amex Blue Cash : $1,000

TDECU Bucees: $3,000

Capital One Platimum: $3,000

WalMart: $200

Chase Freedom: $1,500

Discover IT: $1,400

Uber Visa: $1,100

We did several others and were denied.  Nothing for either of us from Wells Fargo or Citi (denied).  We like cards that don't have yearly fees, and you can get cash back for groceries, paying bills, etc. 

Anyway, to get to the point...How do we:

1) Get approvals with higer limits at account opening?

2) How long should we wait to apply for more (retry WF and Citi)?

3) When to ask for CLI?

4) What are requirements to get these big money cards like many of you have ($30,000 CL etc.)?  Is that based on credit history, income, etc.?  Any chance of someone "like me" getting up into that range?

Are we on the right path?  Any tips for a couple of newbs would be greatly apprecitated.

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

1. Since your scores are good, I'm gonna say lack of experience with higher limits is keeping the limits down. Most banks dont want to be the first to give you a high limit, they wnt to see someone else do it first. Since they look at your existing limits when determining your SL, you need to build up what you have first.
2. Minimum of 6 months, should wait at least a year.
3. Amex can be in as little as 61 days, but most would require a minimum of 90 days. You'll have to research the forum. There are threads that cover this.
4. Time, credit profile, income, and bank rules will dictate what you can get. For example, Chase will max you out at 50% of your income. NFCU will allow someone with decent pay to get up to 25k easily, but will require income verification to get to the respective 50k and 80k maxes on their cards.

[HeavenOhio]

Start by gardening (not applying for anything) for a year. At that point, your inquiries will have become unscorable, and your new accounts will be working for you rather than against you. After gardening for a year, apply for a card no more often than every six months or so. That will keep new accounts and inquiries from getting in the way.

You can aim for credit limit increases on your new cards, though. Ask for one from Discover when the account's 90 days old. After that, try again in another 60 or 90 days. There's no rhyme or reason with Discover, so don't freak out over a denial. Simply try again in a month or two.

I think Capital One will be very willing to increase your limit if you pump spending through the card and pay in full each month. I'm not sure when a new card is eligible for its first increase. But the rest of the drill is that you're eligible for a CLI six months after obtaining the previous one. Denials don't reset any clock. And if you think a CLI offer is too low, you can decline it without resetting a clock.

Your AMEX limit suggests you were "just barely approved," so they might not want to increase you right away. But definitely ask for three times your current limit when your account's 61 days old. If you're declined, you'll have to wait 91 days before requesting again. If you're approved, you're eligible to request again after 181 days. Check out the first few pages and last few pages of this thread:

The Definitive Amex 3X CLI Guide

You should be able to increase your Walmart limit, but someone else will have to chime in with the details.

Don't bother asking for a CLI from Chase for the time being. They're going to hard-pull you, and they're too unpredictable. Burn the pull when it doesn't matter, i.e. when you're not gardening or keeping your report in shape to apply for other cards.

[staticvoidmain]

I second the suggestion about gardening. I'd wait as long as I can. I'd be careful not to push them... they might take a second look at your report and see it negatively. The last thing you want is for them to decrease your limit or even close your newly opened accounts.

[Shooting-For-800]

I would not open any other cards for at least a year.

Use your cards and pay them off each month.

SL are often associated with income and spending habits.

Cap One for example, gave me a larger SL each time I opened a new card with them but I was spending $50k-$75k per year with them.

My first Cap One card after BK was $3k SL and 4 years later I got a $30k SL Venture.  My scores are higher, but I think a lot of it is due to my usuage and WEEKLY payments.

Try to grow what you have.  

GL!

[BM3]

Little cold truth - you should have read more forum and asked BEFORE doing this. Most likely applying for 1-2 cards and waiting 2-3 months and applying for others would have you start with higher limits.

Oh well. Now you wait as others said, and if you manage to keep util low you should be good for other cards with 3-4k+ limits.

[xaximus]

Amex, Walmart and Disco can grow relatively quickly when having decent amount of usage on it. As others have mentioned, Amex has 3x CLI, Disco can be SP anytime, and Walmart is known to grow as you use it and PIF.

I believe you are on the right path but slow down, build on what you have and take your time. Credit is a marathon, not a race. For big money cards - there's many factors that lead to that, as you stated, credit history, income, relationship (existing, sometimes though), scores, negatives (if any), etc. It takes time to get the higher limits but they will come.

As others have mentioned, garden, build on what you have, also - get your CR and see what baddies (negatives) are left, see if they can be cleaned or removed depending on how long they have been on there. Those might be holding your score down and keeping you from higher scores.

[JustBPatient]

Good advice!!  Slow down, garden for 12mos, hit AE up in 61 days and DCVR in 90 to 120.  Use your cards often and most importantly responsibly and you will see higher limits before you know it!  Good luck!!

[Anonymous]

Like everyone else said, sit in the garden. It is easier as you get one with a high limit. 

What I would do is work on any cards you may have that SP on CLI that you can use your income as well as spouse. Not all cards allow you to use both. So if you can allow your cards to age and start picking up those points while paying everything on time, will raise your scores and show good payment history. Any cards that only soft pull will be seeing higher scores with good history. And if those cards also allow you to use combined income your limits will go up nicely.

Once you have a few cards with high limits, being used, will show you know how to handle the high limits and get you a higher card next app. But I would not HP anything for at least a year. 

[Anonymous]

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@JustBPatient wrote:

Good advice!!  Slow down, garden for 12mos, hit AE up in 61 days and DCVR in 90 to 120.  Use your cards often and most importantly responsibly and you will see higher limits before you know it!  Good luck!!

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In other words, just be patient.