What is the best card for me - have not applied for a credit card in a while

[myhomenow]

Hi,

These forums have been helpful to me in the past so I am hoping someone can help me. 

I have sinned in the past but have improved my credit considerably (547 in October of 2012 to now per myfico EQ693 TU 701 EX 714). During the hard times both Chase and AMEX closed my account due to late payments.  I paid off AMEX immediately after and am paying off Chase monthly - still owe about $1,200.   I have had no lates since 12/2012 but boy did those affect my credit.  I have no collections or bankrupcies and student loans are all current and never late.  No lates ever with mortgage as well and by bi-weekly.  I  currently have three credit cards, Macy's $300 limit with no balance; Sears $2,900 limit with $1,800 balance and BofA $6,400 limit maxed out.  I pay that biweekly but it is linked to some of my monthly bills so its high right now.

I applied and recieved a refi on my mortgage (Wells Fargo who was my current mortgage holder) when my score was at 681 in February of this year and leased two cars after that - didnt get first tier obviously but have them (Ally and GM - turned down by US Bank).

I would like to apply for a miles card because I do travel often but I am scared to apply and I don't want the HI if I'm not going to get approved ( I have 3 HI's now on my report related to mortgage and the cars).  My income in $160K and have been with the same company for 30 years.

So I have a few questions:  should i appeal to Chase and Amex to reinstate first (I would rather not as I would rather not give them any of my business)?  What card should I apply for that would be the best shot at approval of at lease a $5K credit line?  Should I pay down the BofA first?  My current scores EQ693 TU 701 EX 714 are with the high balance and seem ok for applying right now am I correct in assuming that?

I appreciate any feedback - thanks so much!

[jamesdwi]

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@myhomenow wrote:

Hi,

These forums have been helpful to me in the past so I am hoping someone can help me. 

I have sinned in the past but have improved my credit considerably (547 in October of 2012 to now per myfico EQ693 TU 701 EX 714). During the hard times both Chase and AMEX closed my account due to late payments.  I paid off AMEX immediately after and am paying off Chase monthly - still owe about $1,200.   I have had no lates since 12/2012 but boy did those affect my credit.  I have no collections or bankrupcies and student loans are all current and never late.  No lates ever with mortgage as well and by bi-weekly.  I  currently have three credit cards, Macy's $300 limit with no balance; Sears $2,900 limit with $1,800 balance and BofA $6,400 limit maxed out.  I pay that biweekly but it is linked to some of my monthly bills so its high right now.

I applied and recieved a refi on my mortgage (Wells Fargo who was my current mortgage holder) when my score was at 681 in February of this year and leased two cars after that - didnt get first tier obviously but have them (Ally and GM - turned down by US Bank).

I would like to apply for a miles card because I do travel often but I am scared to apply and I don't want the HI if I'm not going to get approved ( I have 3 HI's now on my report related to mortgage and the cars).  My income in $160K and have been with the same company for 30 years.

So I have a few questions:  should i appeal to Chase and Amex to reinstate first (I would rather not as I would rather not give them any of my business)?  What card should I apply for that would be the best shot at approval of at lease a $5K credit line?  Should I pay down the BofA first?  My current scores EQ693 TU 701 EX 714 are with the high balance and seem ok for applying right now am I correct in assuming that?

I appreciate any feedback - thanks so much!

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your total CL is about 10,000, of which you say you have balances of over 8k, which puts your overall UTL at 80%, don't think any prime card is going to give you a card much less one with a 5k limit YMMV, pay down the BOA card, get it to report under 30% and you will have a much better chance. I know you said you didn't want to go with AMEX but it may be a good move to get a charge card with them and take advantage of back dating, and give you financial flexilibilty. I would try for the AMEX Prefered Gold Rewards card  zero AF for the first year. much lower underwriting qualifications since it has to be PIF each month. 

[myhomenow]

Thanks James... that's what I kind of thought.. I have been getting some pre-screened offers from Capital One, Discover and AMEX so I thought maybe I had a shot....

[takeshi74]

Don't rely on offers.  Assess your credit based on the usual factors:

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx

Utilization (Amounts Owed) is the second biggest slice.  If you have a maxed out card, another at 62% and a closed card probably reporting at 100% you have some work to do before applying for anything.  30% is the generally recommended max.  Ideal is much lower -- around 10% or less.

Hit the Rebuilding subforum and see if you can do anything about the lates as they will drag you down.  Note in the link above that Payment History is the biggest slice and your derogs are going to hurt your Payment History even if it has been all positive since the lates.

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@myhomenow wrote:

My current scores EQ693 TU 701 EX 714 are with the high balance and seem ok for applying right now am I correct in assuming that?

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It's never just about the scores (though utilization does plays a signficant part in your scoring as well).  Utilization not only impacts your approval odds but the potential CL and APR that you can receive.

If you want the best shot then get those derogs addressed and optimize your utilization (and ensure that the balances have reported) first.

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@myhomenow wrote:

should i appeal to Chase and Amex to reinstate first (I would rather not as I would rather not give them any of my business)?

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You'd rather not give them your business because they took adverse action against because of your credit?

I'd also suggest re-establishing your membership with AmEx so you can leverage backdating but that's only if they have cards useful to you.  I'd suggest not relying on emotion to determine your course of action and stick with assessing products based on how they're useful to you.

[myhomenow]

Thank you for your well thought out response, very helpful.. I will do as you suggest... my annoyance with AMEX was I owed them less than $200 for 60 days.. I feel that alot of these banks got help from the federal government in the term of bailouts we all paid for and when I needed help they closed the door on my face - I need to get over that lol.  what was most important to me this year was to refi the house and I acheived that goal.. on top of the ones that closed me I closed my AMEX gold and cut up my other department cards.  i'm not a fan of credit cards but since I do travel would love a free flight or two... thanks sooooo much again.. very helpful.