What is your "I've arrived" Card?

[Anonymous]

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@frugalQ wrote:
I thought I had 'arrrived' last April when I got Amex Green, Discover More, and Chase Freedom all within the same week.

Then, I read a lot of posts here that dissed the Green card.... And I thought 'I'm happy I don't live my life to please those who evaluate me by the cards I pull out''. Lol

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Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!!!

In my mind, the answer to the "I've arrived" card comes down to -- arrived at what? For me, it's about reaching a point in my credit journey when I can see a card that I really want, apply for it, and get it. The prestige attached to the card is not the important part, but rather that it's a card that is desireable to me.

Almost two years ago, Amex gave me a second chance and approved me for a Green. This was a major step for me, as it was the first time that I placed my foot over the threshold from a subprime to a prime card. But despite the thrill of having reached an important milestone in my credit rebuild, I hadn't achieved that "I've arrived" feeling, as I still had some major delinquencies on my reports and was unable to get approved for other cards that I wanted.

Last fall, my major delinquencies fell off, and I was ready to try again. I had made a list of four cards that I wanted, and of the four there was one that I wanted more than the others. This was the BankAmericard that benefits my alumni association. I know that BoA has a number of detractors on this forum -- as do pretty much all major issuers; some people love a particular bank, some hate them -- but this card has a reward structure that was especially appealing to me, with the additional satisfaction of supporting my alumni association. Ever since I started working on my credit, I really, really wanted this card.

When I went on my app spree, I was approved for all four cards on my list. But of the four, I received the biggest thrill from getting the BankAmericard - UCF Alumni Association Visa Signature. THAT was the card that left me feeling that I could set my sights on a card that I wanted -- emphasis here: I wanted, not whatever is the hottest card currently on the market -- and be approved for it. It was the feeling of having choice in the marketplace and being able to meet the approval criteria for the credit product that I had selected. It was about getting what I really, truly wanted, instead of what I could settle for. At that point, I did indeed feel as if I had "arrived."

[Anonymous]

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@bs6054 wrote:

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@Open123 wrote:

Depends on what is meant by "arrived."

n terms financial success, there's nothing that screams "arrived" quite like charging $50K for a banquet with the world knowing your bill is due in full within 30 days.

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Well, apart from walking into a bank in Zurich with an 250M SFR bearer bond.  I was going to do that until I found out my dog ate it (the bond, not Zurich or the bank)

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LOL! those darn dogs!

[kekrre]

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@frugalQ wrote:
I thought I had 'arrrived' last April when I got Amex Green, Discover More, and Chase Freedom all within the same week.

Then, I read a lot of posts here that dissed the Green card.... And I thought 'I'm happy I don't live my life to please those who evaluate me by the cards I pull out''. Lol

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If "arrived" is "people are impressed with my method of payment", then I think a Green beats out anything that isn't Gold/Platinum in most people's eyes. People are more shocked when I pay with my Green (wide eyes) than when I pay with my CSP ("this is a heavy/heavy duty/really heavy card" or more awkwardly "I tried to apply for this card but I got denied" <- what am I supposed to say?). I think Chase did some focus groups and found that they couldn't "out-design" Amex, so they had to create something tactily distinctive to compete.

The only thing I regret about getting a Green is not getting any kind of "new cardmember" bonus from it.

That said, my "arrived" card is my CSP, since it fits my lifestyle almost perfectly (research = live off of coffee and cafe soup, travel occasionally), looks nice in my wallet and could/would easily be my only card if need be for flexibility (UR points and revolving flexible spend) + compatibility (MC or Visa) + limit (my highest) + annual fee (very reasonable in comparison to comparable Amex/Citi). There is no one card that would be better suited for me as a package, thus I like it. Getting it felt doubly good since I had no idea whether or not I would be approved for it when I applied.

[Duncanrr]

Mine are also personal milestone cards:

1. Amex Zync NPSL - finally back with Amex and backdated to 1993. (Its uber rare now so plus for style pts).
2. NFCU Flagship Siggy Visa - took 5 months to get in with them, my first Siggy, instant approval for 25k CL (high by even NFCU standards).
3. Discover It - back with Discover and it was from a preapproval letter.
4. CSP & Amex SPG - my next tier cards. Never ending journey to build better credit and profile.

[Anonymous]

I don't give two hoots about impressing anybody. Sometimes when you are younger and just starting out, or just some peoples personalities just lend themselves to trying to "impress people." But, to kekkre's point, when you see a person use a card that you KNOW has to be PIF w/in 30 days, and they charge something in excess of 10k, that definitely says something, 'cause I know I couldn't pull out a green AMEX and charge something today for 10k and pay it off in 30 days!

[shakalaka]

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@bs6054 wrote:

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@shakalaka wrote:

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@frugalQ wrote:
I thought I had 'arrrived' last April when I got Amex Green, Discover More, and Chase Freedom all within the same week.

Then, I read a lot of posts here that dissed the Green card.... And I thought 'I'm happy I don't live my life to please those who evaluate me by the cards I pull out''. Lol

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+1

Well if you are satisfied with the Green, you have arrived. Everyone is different and sees his/the credit world different in a different way. Some also here tells us, Amex is the beast due to AA and FR and ... I think Amex is just great. Does that makes me any better or worse? Or the other members better or worse? I hope not.

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Well, maybe, but I really think the whole "I have arrived" concept requires external approval. "I have achieved something and others should know and be somewhat impressed" type of thing. 

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Not for me. "I have arrived" is all about if I have achieved my personal goal in my credit journey. I have done that. There may be new goals in the future, but for now I am satisfied. So "I have arrived". I really do not care, if others see that different (no offense) and never have. It is about me and my way of living. I do not define myself about my "available credit" and I hope others don´t do that also. I they do, I am not interested in them. If my girl friend would ever define me over that, she could go to hell.

It is good to have goals and good to achieve them and being able to spent money without worrying about about Util and having a safety net if necessary is great. But again it is not about what I define my life with. Others my do so and that is okay, but I am different. And I do not judge others about there point at their credit journey.

[creditnocash]

For me i guess its when i could get a non store revolver. 

opened my first credit account on 10/10/10 at 19

even though i had a 2 year credit history or even a 1 and a half year aaoa when i applied. (chase denied me 3 times in the past 3 years) 

on july 26th 2012 they accepted me with a chase freedom.(denied back in feb of same year)

citizens bank

june 26th 2012-500 limit 

December 5th 2012 5000k limit (no pull) 

and from what i hear they are pretty conservative. 

getting my amex was minimal to me. i do understand the prestige of it but so what. money is money and credit is credit. 

[Anonymous]

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@frugalQ wrote:
I thought I had 'arrrived' last April when I got Amex Green, Discover More, and Chase Freedom all within the same week.

Then, I read a lot of posts here that dissed the Green card.... And I thought 'I'm happy I don't live my life to please those who evaluate me by the cards I pull out''. Lol

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+1

[kekrre]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I don't give two hoots about impressing anybody. Sometimes when you are younger and just starting out, or just some peoples personalities just lend themselves to trying to "impress people." But, to kekkre's point, when you see a person use a card that you KNOW has to be PIF w/in 30 days, and they charge something in excess of 10k, that definitely says something, 'cause I know I couldn't pull out a green AMEX and charge something today for 10k and pay it off in 30 days!

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I don't know that was necessarily my point. I was just saying in my experience, a "moderate" Amex has more "wow" than a "top tier" card from another issuer (of course these are all relative). I'm also not certain that anybody who has physically handled my Green for payments knows anything about charge card/revolving credit.

On the other hand, people here make a point about Amex being stingier with its revolvers than its charge cards because they don't know that they'll be getting paid (or else!) in 30 days.

I actually don't like paying in person with my Green, since I don't like the reactions I get when I use it (but I'm in a relativley rural area). I'm fine with the "heavy card" comments on the CSP though.

[Anonymous]

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@kekrre wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I don't give two hoots about impressing anybody. Sometimes when you are younger and just starting out, or just some peoples personalities just lend themselves to trying to "impress people." But, to kekkre's point, when you see a person use a card that you KNOW has to be PIF w/in 30 days, and they charge something in excess of 10k, that definitely says something, 'cause I know I couldn't pull out a green AMEX and charge something today for 10k and pay it off in 30 days!

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I don't know that was necessarily my point. I was just saying in my experience, a "moderate" Amex has more "wow" than a "top tier" card from another issuer (of course these are all relative). I'm also not certain that anybody who has physically handled my Green for payments knows anything about charge card/revolving credit.

On the other hand, people here make a point about Amex being stingier with its revolvers than its charge cards because they don't know that they'll be getting paid (or else!) in 30 days.

I actually don't like paying in person with my Green, since I don't like the reactions I get when I use it (but I'm in a relativley rural area). I'm fine with the "heavy card" comments on the CSP though.

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Sorry, I certainly wasn't meaning to put words in your mouth! So, I'll clarify. I'm not impressed by peoples cards, BUT, knowing a card needs to be paid off within 30 days and a person uses that card freely and knows they have the means to pay it off within 30 is something that I respect and would like for myself, because as I said, I couldn't charge 10k+ to a card and pay it off in 30days.