When to stop asking for CLIs?

[Walt_K]

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@Croselx wrote:

Thanks for the replies everyone! I'm asking because there are certain cards that I have used in the past for big purchases, but will not be used again other than to keep them active (unless they offer 0% financing or other type of benefit). Most of these cards do SPs for CLIs and currently sit at $5-8K in limits, but can go higher. My worry is that if the limits are too high that it will be seen as too high a risk.

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Lenders are more interested in their own overall exposure to you than in your total exposure to all other lenders.

You shouldn't worry about CLD if you don't use the card frequently enough.  It's not that common.  Even if it does happen, so what, you weren't using the card that much.  You're right back where you started.  

[Dr_Credit]

I think it depends on your income. A person who makes 60k-80k a year is safe to request CLI until they reach 15k-25k limit on a particular card. A person who makes 200K a year is probably safe to request CLI until they reach 50K-60K limit on a particular card. However, it also depends on the bank or the card. Amex, Citi Bank and Bank of America are known to give more CLIs. Chase and Capital One are tight on CLIs. Also, Chase and Bank of America will do hard pull if you request for CLI. Citi Bank sometimes does soft pull, sometimes does hard pull. Amex and Capital One usually does soft pull. So becareful about which bank you are asking for the CLI. If they hard pull, then the more frequently you request for CLI, the more hard pulls you'll get in your credit report.

[Networth]

All depends on your ability to PIF. If you have a large limit with very little will power, its just asking for trouble. I think CLI are over rated honestly, as long as I can charge without having to make a mid month payment I don't see the point. Your income will/should dictate your limits. 

[Fico2Go]

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@Networth wrote:

All depends on your ability to PIF. If you have a large limit with very little will power, its just asking for trouble. I think CLI are over rated honestly, as long as I can charge without having to make a mid month payment I don't see the point. Your income will/should dictate your limits. 

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I would have to agree with this statement.  It seems the main purpose for high CLs is for lowering UTIL and for emergency needs. 

Utilization will become less useful at a certain point due to spending pattern.   On urgent needs I don't think a high CL will be all that useful since today's monitoring systems can alert creditors in seconds.  IN other words for someone with $100K CL I don't believe for one second that that person could incur $30K  in debt without facing AA by creditors or even immediate account closures. 

A lot of emphasis tend to center around CLs when the real value is in the APR.   No sense on getting 5000 CL if the APR is 20%. 

For me I am shooting for a 3-4 HIGH LIMIT CARDS with the best APRs. 

[Exonumist]

Now that I have higher limit cards I won't be asking for increases. If banks give them automatically whatever, but I have no need for higher limits at this point. I think the answer to this question is going to be different for everyone. For some people 1 card with a 2k limit is plenty. Others have limits into the six figures and still want more. Do whatever works for you.