@CreditInspired wrote:
+1 @xaximus
The same for me. I started in May 2016 with 1 CC—NFCU Plat, 5yr AAOA, and 640s FICO scores. Btw May 2016 and Dec 2017 I opened 7 accts. In 2018, in addition to a mortgage, I opened 3 more accounts and closed 2. I usually PIF or pay 10x minimum pymt.
@credit2019
I don’t have a 6-figure salary (nowhere close), but I do have a 6-figure CL. And I wish I had a millionaire relative. Also, I have never been an AU on anyone’s cards. Matter-of-the-fact, my brother is an AU on 3 of my cards.
Now, I did get a big drop in scores, but as my cards aged, carrying extremely low UT, and paying on time, the scores are creeping back up.
I just want to say one shoe doesn’t fit all.
+1
I have a very modest income relative to many on here, and my credit lines are $200k+ without even really trying. I'm also not an AU on anybody's accounts, nor have I ever been.
The key for me has been time and low utilization/DTI. My oldest account is 14 years, and my AAoA is holding steady at around three years. My scores are in the 780s, and that's without even having an installment loan (before my installment loan was PIF I was in the 820s). I suspect that with time my scores will creep closer to 800 just with my existing accounts.
Simply put, gardening works. 
@credit2019 wrote:
@Gollum wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:Yes I got some nice cli's recently but I still owe about 8k. I can't get a loan for it or bt.
Frustrating.
There's no way around this: it all comes down to paying your bills on time. Do that and your credit will eventually improve.
I hate to say it but this simply isn't true. I recently opened a bunch of accounts (8 total), and am making all payments on time. My FAKOs have dropped on average about 100 pts, and don't seem to be coming back as I make payments. FICO 8 has dropped about 65 points, and FICO 9 is now off about 110 pts from where it was when I started applying and then making on time payments (these FICO 8 & 9 scores are not from the same bureaus, so they aren't 100% comparable). I suppose over many years it might recover, but at this point I kind of doubt it. Ironically, my scores were all in the high 600's/low 700's when I opened these accounts. One of my short term (6 month) goals was to finance a Mercedes, and now it appears that I'll likely never be able to finance any make of car, even though I can easily make the payments, without an absurd down payment and high interest. As it turns out, I probably could have just financed something with my old scores (though likely not a Mercedes).
It appears that the people on this board I was trying to model that managed to build 6 figure credit portfolios in 12-18 months likely had a millionaire in their lives that added them as an AU to some very high limit cards, or have bank connections. It doesn't seem even remotely possible for a normal person, even with a $100K income like mine, to get anywhere near 6 figures worth of credit.
There's some misunderstandings here which I'll try to clean up.
First, opening a bunch of accounts is a penalty; period. It's going to last a year on some models and more on some others. Going from a thin file especially to a bunch of accounts is going to be a non-trivial drop in scores, but it is a short term drop. FAKO scores also are irrelevant for the conversation. That's before any potential AAOA drops too.
Longer term, that dip is irrelevant.
What was stated before was correct: on time payments, every time, is the path to a high FICO score assuming your financial life is in shape such that you aren't running up a bunch of revolving debt.
Anyway getting to a 100k CL can take some time for some people (I came with a bunch of credit report baggage when I found this forum so it took me longer than many, but it's a red herring anyway can always manage utilization), strategically picking some CLI-friendly accounts helps: opening up 8 credit cards at once, really doesn't. Not certain who suggested that plan, but it wasn't an optimal one if the goal was to just increase limits TBH.
@Anonymous wrote:I love store cards for the instant gratification of receiving a big discount when one opens the card. I also believe in doing the damage quickly and getting it over with. Elseshere in these forums it has been discussed to better apply for four cards over a six month period between apps vs. all at once. I believe in the all at once. Someone without any CC's applying today on 2/11/19 for four CC's in two years would have an AAoA of two years. Someone applying beginning today and then ending it in two 18 months (One card every six months) would have an AAoA of 15 months. And would still have HP's on the CR. Potentially, the impatient one would have a higher credit score and a better chance of CLI's. Plus, the longer track record and no HP's being reported.
I am firmly in the app spree camp; always have been and if you go way back would see that I was one of the early proponents of it.
That said, app spreeing without a plan is just suboptimal, and picking up a bunch of frivolous tradelines (read as one there really isn't a use for within the next two years) doesn't make any sense.
Also be aware, if you spree, you're taking all that damage up front and what the prior poster suggested of not getting hit was a bit absurd. There are some misconceptions around FICO scoring in general specifically in the CC board, but ultimately everyone should know if you're opening accounts, the FICO algorithms will penalize you.
To your point though, why you would extend that out over time I don't know, longer term it doesn't matter, short term if I can get past that pain in a year to get to a point where I have as much lipstick on my pig for my next round of apps, winning.