@UpperNwGuy wrote:
@redpat wrote:Well, I tripled dog dared myself and showed DW this thread and her response was “Men, they’re all idiots and don’t they have anything better to do”, and that’s when the fight started. She said that her store cards give her great discounts and special promotions, then reminded me that we got $100 off when she made me get a Macy’s card (now closed), but her’s is still open. I really hate that they remember everything. I couldn’t argue her points.
That was some fun breakfast conversation.
Women focus on the discounts, while men focus on card counts, APRs, credit limits, and FICO scores. Your wife is a smart woman.
She's a keeper and smarter than me. She's will always bust my chops when she see me on these forums.
Personal Cards: Amex Plat | Amex Delta Res | CSR | Citi AA Exec Business Cards: Ink+ | Amex BGR
@UncleB wrote:
@sarge12 wrote:
@digitek wrote:I think main issue that hasn't been brought up is that you can only use them at the store in question. This makes them not quite as useful, and they will probably change your spending habits to favor that store.
Also, not sure why, and this might be myth, but I have read it multiple times is that when insurers pull your credit report they will actually take stores card into account in a negative way.
And about Langley FCU example I am not sure what your total amount of credit is, but that might be the issue at play here. If your total is high relative to your income and you have low utilization they have to wonder why you'd want the money...
Langley CSR actually explained the denial to me. Since I usually PIF all cards before they print a statement, it looks as if I have many credit lines with limits over 10k that shows 0 as the highest statement balance ever. They did not wish to provide me a LOC I had no intention of using. In fact, it would only be used if I somehow made a mistake on my balance...which I never have. Another CU I have an account at recently closed my LOC due to non-use, but re-opened it at my request with a 2500 limit vs the previous 5000. I was just somewhat surprised that the actions taken to keep a very low utilization actually caused a denial when their credit pull for me was 826 fico08 from equifax. I am not upset about the denial and I really did not need the LOC. I am almost always denied a CLI for the same reason...I am only using a tiny fraction of my existing credit limit. So, anyone who thinks 800+ scores are a golden ticket to approvals...it's not!
We've seen several instances recently of people playing the AZEO game in perpetuity 'just because' and having similar consequences, so your experience isn't unheard of.
I think there's a time/place for AZEO (before a mortgage, etc.) but IMO it's overkill to do it all the time.
I have balances regularly reporting on around a half-dozen cards and my scores are still north of 800 on all bureaus. My lenders (and prospective lenders) get to see that I can handle carrying a balance, and they don't get jumpy if I choose to take advantage of a 0% offer and let a balance ride for a little while.
+100
When you use a credit line, you establish a pattern of use that the creditor keeps track of. People complain about balance chasing and CLDs, but what was the trigger? If you were doing AZEO for 6 years and carrying a zero balance for 6 years, then all of a sudden decided you want to make a large purchase and carry a balance for a few months, that's going to raise red flags. Normal people (ones that aren't credit savvy and micromanage) rarely have that issue because they almost always carry balances.
As for the golden ticket comment, it really is a golden ticket, you've just worn it out by applying for more credit than you need. I'm sure the only other time you would be denied would be if you maxed out all your existing credit. Both scenarios are understandable for why you would be denied. On one hand you don't need it, on the other hand, you've abused what you have.
@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:
@UncleB wrote:
@sarge12 wrote:
@digitek wrote:I think main issue that hasn't been brought up is that you can only use them at the store in question. This makes them not quite as useful, and they will probably change your spending habits to favor that store.
Also, not sure why, and this might be myth, but I have read it multiple times is that when insurers pull your credit report they will actually take stores card into account in a negative way.
And about Langley FCU example I am not sure what your total amount of credit is, but that might be the issue at play here. If your total is high relative to your income and you have low utilization they have to wonder why you'd want the money...
Langley CSR actually explained the denial to me. Since I usually PIF all cards before they print a statement, it looks as if I have many credit lines with limits over 10k that shows 0 as the highest statement balance ever. They did not wish to provide me a LOC I had no intention of using. In fact, it would only be used if I somehow made a mistake on my balance...which I never have. Another CU I have an account at recently closed my LOC due to non-use, but re-opened it at my request with a 2500 limit vs the previous 5000. I was just somewhat surprised that the actions taken to keep a very low utilization actually caused a denial when their credit pull for me was 826 fico08 from equifax. I am not upset about the denial and I really did not need the LOC. I am almost always denied a CLI for the same reason...I am only using a tiny fraction of my existing credit limit. So, anyone who thinks 800+ scores are a golden ticket to approvals...it's not!
We've seen several instances recently of people playing the AZEO game in perpetuity 'just because' and having similar consequences, so your experience isn't unheard of.
I think there's a time/place for AZEO (before a mortgage, etc.) but IMO it's overkill to do it all the time.
I have balances regularly reporting on around a half-dozen cards and my scores are still north of 800 on all bureaus. My lenders (and prospective lenders) get to see that I can handle carrying a balance, and they don't get jumpy if I choose to take advantage of a 0% offer and let a balance ride for a little while.
+100
When you use a credit line, you establish a pattern of use that the creditor keeps track of. People complain about balance chasing and CLDs, but what was the trigger? If you were doing AZEO for 6 years and carrying a zero balance for 6 years, then all of a sudden decided you want to make a large purchase and carry a balance for a few months, that's going to raise red flags. Normal people (ones that aren't credit savvy and micromanage) rarely have that issue because they almost always carry balances.
As for the golden ticket comment, it really is a golden ticket, you've just worn it out by applying for more credit than you need. I'm sure the only other time you would be denied would be if you maxed out all your existing credit. Both scenarios are understandable for why you would be denied. On one hand you don't need it, on the other hand, you've abused what you have.
Well said. A lot of people seem to forget that AZEO was created for short-term reasons like raising your score before shopping for mortages or for getting as much points as possible when re-building credit. If your profile is well-estasblish (i.e., thick), you should be fine carrying balances. Banks need to know how we actually use our credit cards, to be honest. 
@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:
@UncleB wrote:
@sarge12 wrote:
@digitek wrote:I think main issue that hasn't been brought up is that you can only use them at the store in question. This makes them not quite as useful, and they will probably change your spending habits to favor that store.
Also, not sure why, and this might be myth, but I have read it multiple times is that when insurers pull your credit report they will actually take stores card into account in a negative way.
And about Langley FCU example I am not sure what your total amount of credit is, but that might be the issue at play here. If your total is high relative to your income and you have low utilization they have to wonder why you'd want the money...
Langley CSR actually explained the denial to me. Since I usually PIF all cards before they print a statement, it looks as if I have many credit lines with limits over 10k that shows 0 as the highest statement balance ever. They did not wish to provide me a LOC I had no intention of using. In fact, it would only be used if I somehow made a mistake on my balance...which I never have. Another CU I have an account at recently closed my LOC due to non-use, but re-opened it at my request with a 2500 limit vs the previous 5000. I was just somewhat surprised that the actions taken to keep a very low utilization actually caused a denial when their credit pull for me was 826 fico08 from equifax. I am not upset about the denial and I really did not need the LOC. I am almost always denied a CLI for the same reason...I am only using a tiny fraction of my existing credit limit. So, anyone who thinks 800+ scores are a golden ticket to approvals...it's not!
We've seen several instances recently of people playing the AZEO game in perpetuity 'just because' and having similar consequences, so your experience isn't unheard of.
I think there's a time/place for AZEO (before a mortgage, etc.) but IMO it's overkill to do it all the time.
I have balances regularly reporting on around a half-dozen cards and my scores are still north of 800 on all bureaus. My lenders (and prospective lenders) get to see that I can handle carrying a balance, and they don't get jumpy if I choose to take advantage of a 0% offer and let a balance ride for a little while.
+100
When you use a credit line, you establish a pattern of use that the creditor keeps track of. People complain about balance chasing and CLDs, but what was the trigger? If you were doing AZEO for 6 years and carrying a zero balance for 6 years, then all of a sudden decided you want to make a large purchase and carry a balance for a few months, that's going to raise red flags. Normal people (ones that aren't credit savvy and micromanage) rarely have that issue because they almost always carry balances.
As for the golden ticket comment, it really is a golden ticket, you've just worn it out by applying for more credit than you need. I'm sure the only other time you would be denied would be if you maxed out all your existing credit. Both scenarios are understandable for why you would be denied. On one hand you don't need it, on the other hand, you've abused what you have.
Truth. Speaking for myself, I'm probably a lot closer to the "normal" credit user than to the average MyFICO'er. I do my best to keep my utilization low and use tactics such as BT's to keep from paying more interest than I have to, but I do carry balances on my cards. I've got my "regular" spending plotted out over the remainder of the year so I know what my overall credit picture will look like - I certainly don't plan on spending hog-wild but there's a chance my util will go over the "magic" 8.9%. Won't be the end of the world by any means if I go over that by a percentage point or two even if I don't get any more CLI's by the end of the year; my overall util was in the 15% - 17% range most of last year and I never had a problem getting a card I selected to apply for (keeping my expectations realistic, sticking to preapprovals/prequalifications as much as possible, etc.) I've also slowed down a LOT on acquiring new accounts from last year - in 2017 I got 7 cards and a car loan, in 2018 I'm on track to only get 3 cards plus an installment loan, and I've closed or combined two cards in 2018 (and hope to combine my older Discover IT into my newer one in 2019).
P.S. Come to think of it, I think that, for the "normal" credit user, most issuers are pretty well satisfied with average utilization in the "good" range (8.9% - 28.9%), since that demonstrates both active and responsible use of the card(s) in question. I can only tell you, as an anecdotal data point, that last summer, when I joined Apple FCU and applied for my Visa with them, the banker I was sitting with asked me what my average utilization was, and her face lit up when I told her it was around 15%. I'm BT'ing some sums to that card right now and I hope it'll tickle Apple FCU into giving me a CLI on the card down the road sometime early next year...
@Anonymous@joe8185 wrote:
P.S. Come to think of it, I think that, for the "normal" credit user, most issuers are pretty well satisfied with average utilization in the "good" range (8.9% - 28.9%), since that demonstrates both active and responsible use of the card(s) in question. I can only tell you, as an anecdotal data point, that last summer, when I joined Apple FCU and applied for my Visa with them, the banker I was sitting with asked me what my average utilization was, and her face lit up when I told her it was around 15%. I'm BT'ing some sums to that card right now and I hope it'll tickle Apple FCU into giving me a CLI on the card down the road sometime early next year...
Truth. Speaking for myself, I'm probably a lot closer to the "normal" credit user than to the average MyFICO'er.
+1 The recommended usage percentage does cap at 30%, after all.
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous@ @Anonymous wrote:
P.S. Come to think of it, I think that, for the "normal" credit user, most issuers are pretty well satisfied with average utilization in the "good" range (8.9% - 28.9%), since that demonstrates both active and responsible use of the card(s) in question. I can only tell you, as an anecdotal data point, that last summer, when I joined Apple FCU and applied for my Visa with them, the banker I was sitting with asked me what my average utilization was, and her face lit up when I told her it was around 15%. I'm BT'ing some sums to that card right now and I hope it'll tickle Apple FCU into giving me a CLI on the card down the road sometime early next year...
Truth. Speaking for myself, I'm probably a lot closer to the "normal" credit user than to the average MyFICO'er.+1 The recommended usage percentage does cap at 30%, after all.
Again, I think this comes down to a difference between how the credit enthusiasts here at MyFICO look at things and how most "ordinary" credit users, including those who take the time to educate themselves reasonably well, view credit. I'm going to say that, for myself at least, it's more practical for me to keep my utilization in the range that issuers find satisfactory and keep my payments on time and as much over the minimum as possible, and make use of BT's and such to keep bills well-manageable. At that, I consider myself a LOT better educated on credit than I was, say, 5 years ago!
