@AverageJoesCredit wrote:I cant vouch for a 50k cc since im too poor to ever achieve that but i can correlate a little in why having a high limit can be important. Navy has a cult following the same way Chase or US Bank have for their own reasons. In my case i have gotten my Navy cc to 33k which in comparison to my income is essentially like a 50k cc lol. That 33k cc literally saved my fathers life im 100% sure of this as it allowed me to help him with a serious financial issue. Besides that amazing feat, right as this was happening , Penfed decided that i was worth a 20k credit limit, jumping up from a 4.1k limit to 20k in my first cli attemt after having the card a year.
I feel that by having bigger limits with Navy may have been enough to show Penfed iwas responsble with high limit cards and they responded accordingly. No hard evidence but this coming from my previous 5 years experience with Penfed where i had to fight to get just 1k increase on my $500 cc.
Just my humble opinion that sometimes having or getting bigger credit limits can be very important not only for spending huge but it might help with other lenders and very importantly can give you more options if you might need to carry some debt , utilization, or for bt purposes. Just a lowballer experience
Not making this decision easy! Luckily I have until April to decide.
@CH-7-Mission-Accomplished wrote:
@Aim_High wrote:I have added credit limits for some individual and overall utilization padding, but I prefer to do that more by higher limits on fewer selected cards than by adding more cards. For that reason, I'd rather concentrate credit limits (and utilization padding) more on my most valued cards and then use them more heavily with a slimmer wallet.
... Here is the deal as I see it: You would be better off with five $10K cards from five different lenders than one $50K from anyone. The reason is that once a lender gets spooked by you, even if you did nothing wrong whatsoever, they shut you down completley ...
... I constantly see people online who have like three or four cards from <Chase or AMEX> -- and they have huge total limits -- but one returned payment (not even your fault because your bank messed up), and they will shut you you down -- every single one of your accounts -- and they won't reconsider.
I say five bank cards with five different lenders, and if you want to go for two or three cards per one lender, fine, but don't close the other four .... Don't put all your eggs in one basket, no matter how much you just love that basket.
+1 Those are excellent points, @CH-7-Mission-Accomplished, and thanks for the opportunity to clarify my intentions. Another cornerstone of my strategy (besides higher overall limits) is lender diversity for that very reason. I'd never have one $50K or $100K card and close all the rest! 
And to me, even your five lenders isn't really enough diversity. I'm targeting a variety of the largest banks, credit unions, and card issuers and plan to have just one or no more than two cards with any single lender. Diversity is a very important principle in setting up a card lineup. Besides the benefits from FICO scoring, it's one reason I recommend having absolutely no less than three cards from three separate lenders, and preferably operating on at least two of the four major processing networks (VS/MC/AX/DS).
@TheFIGuy wrote:
@Aim_High wrote:If you don't have any cards at $50K, I can see value in having one at that limit. As @AverageJoesCredit pointed out, it would give you the flexibility to spend or balance transfer more to that card, and it does demonstrate that you can responsibly handle that limit. It (may) lead to other lenders offering healthier CLIs. Unless there's a reason you prefer 40/40 versus 50/30, I'd say "why not" go with the 50/30?
I agree with everything you said, and now I'm back thinking 50/30 might be worth the ordeal. I'm hoping I can get my RBFCU 2% cashback card to a $50k Credit Limit one day as well! I'll be using that card for international travel mostly until I decide if I ever want to move ~100k in assets to Merrel Lynch for Preferred Rewards and apply for a BOA Premium Rewards card. I just really don't like BOA, but I digress!
Side Note: Are you still team #JMPC/chase?
Glad it helped, @TheFIGuy. Yes, I consider myself more team #JPMC/Chase. I got off my soapbox about it for awhile and have been evaluating AMEX/MRs but I just don't feel they fit me as well. Meanwhile, that experiment has had my Chase cards on the sideline more than I would prefer. I'm shifting spending back towards them and am considering closure of my Gold card. The decision is about my expected value from MRs combined with the complexity and breakage of AMEX credits, causing additional drain on my earnings.
By the way, since you mentioned it, I'm also BofA Preferred Rewards Platinum Honors and I consider that my main backup rewards system to Chase URs. I like Chase a little better for a few reasons, similar to @wasCB14's comments about customer service, etc. But the Premium Rewards paired with a Customized Cash Rewards earning between 2.625% and 5.25% in cash back on anything you buy is a great two-card combo. For me, URs paired with a strong cash-back rewards plan is a solid strategy.
+1 Those are excellent points, @CH-7-Mission-Accomplished, and thanks for the opportunity to clarify my intentions. Another cornerstone of my strategy (besides higher overall limits) is lender diversity for that very reason. I'd never have one $50K or $100K card and close all the rest!
Very interesting point you've brought up, additionally the point of being abroad and having some CC cut you off for no specific reason. Definitely made me rethink things just a bit.
This has been a very informative thread. Cheers!
@Openwater wrote:+1 Those are excellent points, @CH-7-Mission-Accomplished, and thanks for the opportunity to clarify my intentions. Another cornerstone of my strategy (besides higher overall limits) is lender diversity for that very reason. I'd never have one $50K or $100K card and close all the rest!
Very interesting point you've brought up, additionally the point of being abroad and having some CC cut you off for no specific reason. Definitely made me rethink things just a bit.
This has been a very informative thread. Cheers!
I swear that Capital One was reading this thread and decided to get back at me.
Tonight I got an email from them saying that my account was coming under review, yada, yada, yada, and that my highest spend was way less than the limit, yada, yada, yada, and that if I call a certain number and follow the prompts they won't cut my limit (for now). I only have two $50K cards and Cap 1 is one of them. I got it by opening probably 5 cards over a few years and then combining them when they still allowed that. To be fair I only use that card for business expenses and they are about $2K a month, so they have every reason to cut the limit. They did the same thing to my spouse. I got his limit up to $50K (and I got all three of his FICO scores to 850 and have maintained them there for two years), but they slashed his limit from $50K to $20K for non-use. Easy come, easy go (thank-you Bobby Sherman).
