After about 48 hours roughly since discovering this amazing place, and having already been given a lot of kind and wise advice plus having spent a good few hours educating myself through reading content here, I'm already better off and very grateful to my fellow members. I hope that in the years to come, I'll be able to give others some guidance out of my own growing experience and knowledge.
My number one objective is to eventually get a Chase Sapphire Reserve with a high limit, which looks to me like the best fit for my travelling. However, as a close second, I'd like to be able to one day get the Amex Charles Schwab Platinum. My position just 24 hours ago was a HSBC-issued Mastercard with $7k limit, an Amex CC with $9.5k limit (both approximately 4yrs old) and a Jan 2025 FICO score with Equifax (can't access the other two agencies yet) of 765. Apart from my checking account, which I presume reports to the bureaus and which is 6 months older than the CCs, I didn't exist in the US system prior to mid 2020. All payments in full and early, but not always prior to some balances reporting, which a small number of times may have been in excess of 29%. (I didn't appreciate until I became a member here that reported balances mattered that much when paying in full each month; at home I'm used to just not letting anything above 50% reporting.)
Following some activity since yesterday when I decided to come out of my shell - thanks to what I've seen on here - my position right now is the Mastercard on $10k limit, the Amex on $12.5k, and a Capital One Quicksilver approved and being mailed out, but with a much lower limit of $2.5k (understandably because no internal history with them, plus no SSN), and a pending application that may or may not be approved for an Amex Green (personal).
My questions are:
1. If I am granted the Amex Green, would I one day be able to upgrade that to a platinum, and if so would that only be the vanillla version or could it be one of the co-branded cards such as Schwab, Morgan Stanley etc.? NB: When I applied for the green, it was actually platinum and gold, plus a Marriott card, that Amex was promoting/pushing me towards on the 'am I approved' page. At this time however, I don't see value/a good fit with any of them, whereas the green is lower cost and I might get enough out of it to break even on the annual fee, but I see it as an investment in my future prospects anyway and I don't mind potentially losing a few dollars per year for a couple of years in the grand scheme.
2. Please could the members here who are experts through long experience, kindly give me some guidance on how to play the next year to two year period from my position, so as to get closer to my meeting my objectives? (If you need more info. for a strategy please ask.) After my recent activitiy if you tell me to do nothing for 6-12 months I'll do nothing, whereas if you think I should poke the bear a bit more before ducking for cover (I think you call it going in the garden?) then I'll go with that. However, please bear in mind I only have an ITIN/no SSN, and am non-resident so I'm unable to make a personal appearance at any bank branch. (So Chase currently out of reach, for example. I simulated an application with them, and learned I have no chance unless I fly over. I'm prepared to do that in the long run, perhaps when FICO goes above 800, but not right now.) I do have a US address and cellphone though.
