When to stop asking for CLI

[Anonymous]

Just wondering, is there a point or a threshold that you should stop pushing for higher credit lines?  Or is there a target % of your income you should try and stay at or below?

[Remedios]

For me it has nothing to do with income. It has everything to do with how much use cards sees.

I used to ask just for the sake of asking, but then I learned about drawbacks of having too much available credit, so now I'm a bit more selective..

The only exception is Disco. I am going to keep asking till they give again. I may have something to report around the year 2023.

[wasCB14]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Just wondering, is there a point or a threshold that you should stop pushing for higher credit lines?  Or is there a target % of your income you should try and stay at or below?

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Depends on your goals. If you plan on carrying large balances or want to maximize your score in the short term (for a mortgage or car loan, perhaps) then higher CLs and lower utilization are generally good. If you're interested in chasing bonuses, then big existing CLs with a lender (relative to income) may make it harder to get a new account with that lender.

*I personally see little value in a big CL unless I'm actually going to put a lot of spend on that card.

[Anonymous]

Go with what you feel and makes you happy. 

There's not too much harm in pushing for higher limits on the cards you use a lot.  Worst case is your lender takes AA and lowers your limit, probably to a number where you would have been prior to asking for CLIs, so no real loss in the grand scheme of things.

[Anonymous]

It bothers me that I have odd CLs, like $8700 on discover card....either 5k, 7500, or 10k is fine but not 8700...same with a few others, I’d like about 5k on some and at least 10k on others

[Anonymous]

Cards we use regularly I try to keep high limits on because we can spend $10K at one time.  This does not happen but about  once a year but still.  When a card card you are regularly using and paying in full reports at 25% it is time for a cli. 

[Anonymous]

Red, oddball limits tend to bother me as well, so you aren't alone there.

[NRB525]

$10,267

That’s the ideal limit, where you should stop asking for more. If you go over that amount, well, we won’t talk about what happens.

[Anonymous]

For me, I look at what my average spend on a card would be on a given month, and then what my peak usage would be during a trip, a new gadget, etc. Anything above 10-20% utilization makes me queasy on a regular basis, and anything above 50% utilization on a peak does the same.

My average spending on my Barclay's UBER on dining would be about $500 a month, so for me, I desire no less than $5k on most of my dining cards like my UBER. 

For my Citi DC, most months I average $100-$300, but since it is my go-to non-category card for gadgets and appliances, I desire way more than $5k on it, as the peaks I have hit have been as high as $7k in a month. That's why I (well, Citi really) set it's limit to $11k.

The one card I have stopped asking for CLI's on has been my Amex BCE. I mostly shop at Superstores like Walmart, so I I barely use the card, and would just rather not see Income Review and potentially lose my beautiful Amex relationship. So I stopped when the card hit $20k and I was charging at most $25 a month 

[Anonymous]

I think it depends on the issuer honestly. 

NFCU gave me about 83% of my annual income between two cards in just over 3 months of membership. Disco is at 57% on a single card after 9 months. 

When you hit the max they’ll give you, new applications can result in them robbing one of your cards to open another. As mentioned, they may CLD your cards when they feel your limits are too large for your use. 

There is no one-size-fits-all in the credit world. The only time I would say it’s too much is if you’re taking HPs on a card you don’t use often just to get more credit for no benefit.