Working on CLI's - Need Advice!

[Anonymous]

First, I would like to thank everyone for being a part of this pretty awesome community.  I just ran across this forum over the past week and have learned a lot trolling around on the forums.

A quick rundown of my info:

I graduated in May 2010 and have been employed full-time since then.  727EX / 733EQ / 700TU pulled through Amex’s CreditSecure.  TU is lower only because my utilization hasn’t updated just yet.  I was using FreeCreditReport.com and have recently swapped to CreditSecure.  I’ll swap to MyFICO once I get married and am starting to shoot for a mortgage.

I have no student loans and no auto loans.  Two years ago, I had a $10,000 loan for my car, and paid it off in about two months

I have three CC’s:

Capital One No Hassle Cash Rewards: 0/$1000  (2.1 yrs old)

Chase Freedom Card (JUST got that upgraded from Slate): 0/$1500 (1.4 yrs old)

AMEX Green Card: This has been my primary card since April ’10 due to low limits on my other two cards.  I put $2,500-$5,000 on it monthly and have $6,000 ‘spending ability’ on it.

I have no 30, 60, or 90 day late payments or any other sort of negative credit information anywhere on my credit report.  I’ve gone over my cap one limit by like $10 a few times without noticing.  I’ve always paid it off immediately, though.

Equifax has me listed for 3 hard inqs  / Experian has 9 listed / TU has 2 listed

Half of my inquiries are normal: Two apartment credit checks when I moved, and an inquiry when I went from Verizon to AT&T.  However, Experian has four pointless freaking inquiries due to the fact that Chase pulls a hard EVERY time I request a CLI.  They refuse to help me out and give me a CLI even though I've explained that I put ~$3,500 on my AMEX green card every month and would like to use my Chase card more often, but I’m unable to do so until they increase my limit.

Capital One on the other hand, has refused my CLI requests 3-4 times over the past couple of years, but they use soft inqs (thank goodness).  I’m, frankly, sick and tired of Chase and Cap One not giving me any CLI’s, and I can’t wait until we get married and I can tell both of them to shove it while I take all of my business over to USAA (don’t worry, I’ll keep my credit lines open until I’ve got a solid 5++ year history).

SO – All that being said, I’m looking at spending $15,000-$17,000 on a Tiffany’s Engagement Ring this weekend and want to try to maximize the boost to my credit during this process.  I then plan to turn around and buy ~$6,800 worth of wedding rings in a couple of months, and would like to do the same thing at that time.

I have $15,000 cash in the bank and enough credit to buy the rings without applying for another card…but that won’t really help me get a sizeable credit line and boost my credit.

So...to get to my question.....I’m thinking that I should offer to put about ~$4,000 down as I apply for a Tiffany Charge Card and hope that they turn around and let me put the remaining $11,000-$13,000 on the charge card.  I figure that would give me a sizeable credit card with a ~$12,000 limit and really help out how my report looks.  I figured that I would then dangle a ~$5,000 BT in front of Chase (even though Tiffany offers 0% APR and I could pay off the balance in like a month, and I would have to pay 3% BT fee to Chase….) so that I can get Chase to give me a CLI up to $5,000.  I could then turn around and pay off that Chase card immediately.  I was thinking about this, because I’ve heard that Chase is greedy and likes to give CLI’s if you dangle a BT in front of them.  I figured I could basically exchange a 3% BT fee for a sizeable CLI.

THEN, I figured I’d pay off the rest of the Tiffany card and in a couple of months, apply for an AMEX Blue Cash card and throw the wedding rings (~$6,800) on that.  If they only gave me a CL of like $4k or $2k or whatever, I’d just throw $2k on the card, pay it off…throw more on ….pay it off…throw more on…pay it off… and then turn around and call to request a CLI, citing that I charged up to their CL three times in a single day.

My plan completely ignores CapOne, because it sounds to me like getting a large CLI from them is just not going to happen.

BUT, if all of this worked out, I'd get a CLI of ~$3,500 from Chase, a brand-new ~$12,000 Tiffany card, and a brand new AMEX Blue Cash Card with a CL of (hopefully) a few thousand....allowing me to cancel my $95 fee-based Amex green card and keep my account age!

I know this plan is a little crazy and a little complex, but I would REALLY appreciate the advice of some more knowledgeable people.  I’m a nerd and I’m very frugal, and my finances are in great order, but I’ve been having trouble getting the CLI’s that I, honestly, think I deserve.  I just need to figure out if this plan is reasonable or not....or if there's a better option.

THANKS FOR ANY ADVICE!

NOTE:  I know some of you think that Tiffany’s rings are nowhere near their worth, blah blah blah.  I’m well aware of the premium I’m paying at Tiffany’s, just as I was aware of the premium I would have paid when I was shopping at Harry Winston.  I don’t care, and it’s worth it to my girlfriend, so it’s worth it to me.  Also, I’ve heard that some people would like to know what bureaus Tiffany pulls from….I’ll make sure to provide that information here once I find out.

[Walt_K]

Have you looked at credit unions.  You're probably likely to get a higher credit limit there.

[mauve]

Also, you expect to be able to charge to the limit and pay off a card 3 times in a day?

I spoke with Chase recently about a CLI.  They do soft pulls for account reviews and may trigger a CLI, they do hard pulls for customer-initiated CLIs.  That's what the CSR who emailed me back told me.

[Anonymous]

It seems that you can't get around a Hard inq with Chase no matter what you do....bastages!

Amex has been pretty good to me in the past with my Green Card, so I was hoping that if I got a Amex Blue Cash card with them, they'd be flexible with me and either give me permission to charge to the limit and pay it off and charge again real quick, or just bump up my CL if they realize how much I'd throw on the card.  I guess I might be able to 'pre-pay' the balance I intend to charge and do it that way as well?

No, I haven't looked into Credit Unions before.  I've heard the PenFed Cash back card is really good for gas cash back, though.

[alph4]

Yes you could push a payment to AmEx from your bank to "increase" your limit.

Example: Your limit is $5000 with a 0 balance.  You push a $5000 payment to AmEx. Once the payment clears, you have a negative $5000 balance, and you should be able to charge up to $10,000, since they owe you $5000 and you have $5000 of credit. I wouldn't try this strategy with a new AmEx card however, unless your ready to show documents.

[vish1]

Why not apply for a chase AARP card. 5% unlimited cash back at this point would be the best thing that could ever happen.

I don't see any reason the OP will be declined.

Even if he doesn't get the required CL on 1 card, I will go ahead and apply 1-2 more cards (for me 15-17k is a lot of money to not get rewards)

[sddykstr]

I'm fairly sure that there's a limit on the amount you can prepay.

[Creditaddict]

I would skip Chase completely... Apply for the Amex Blue or whichever one you want now... then pay for the ring between your 2 Amex Cards or Tiffany and amex... I would not spend 3% on 5k $150 just to turn around and then pay the card off... and as of late I don't think many banks really like BT all that much besides Navy and Cap 1 and calling chase and saying I want a CLI to 5k so I can balance transfer 4800 would probably scare them not make them happy, they can't take your word your going to pay it off and if you didn't they would be holding a maxed out card.

to sum up Tiffany and Amex is the way I would handle... my two sense

[Anonymous]

Since you'll probably be shopping for a home soon. I would refrain from opening new credit lines other than AMEX. AMEX will be backdated and will not show on your report as a new account. I would apply for a AMEX Blue Cash and that's it. Pay cash and charge the rest to your Blue cash, you'll have 0% introductory APR for at least 6 months.