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Hello all,
I was at the mall today, and I couldn't help but go and apply for a Sears MasterCard. To my surprise, they gave me a 9k CL. I kind of guessed that if I wanted another card in the near future, I should apply for it very soon since there is a chance that when they pull my credit reports, the new Sears inquiry would not show. Then I went to BestBuy and applied for a their MasterCard, and got a 10k CL there. They told me that there is like four different MasterCards that I could possibly get. They were a regular one, a gold MC with a fee, a gold MC without a fee, and a platinum card. They said that only the people with the best credit scores get the platinum, so I was very surprised when he said that I was approved for the platinum. I also went to Macy's and spoke with their customer support. They called the credit people and I spoke to them for a while. They told me that I rank very high in Macy's credit rating system, and that I should request for a Visa upgrade (since I only have regular card). They told me that it probably will just be an internal credit check, or just a soft inquiry.
In summarizing today's events, my total credit limit went up by 19k for a total of 52.8k. It made me go from a 1.69% to 2.64% of reaching my goal of 2M in total credit limits. The downside, two, maybe three, new inquiries, and the average age of all accounts went down by 27% if three new accounts are added.
Do you guys think I did a good thing for opening these accounts, or was it a foolish mistake?
These are all of my OPEN accounts:
Chase Credit Card - $20,000 limit
Chase Credit Card - $900 limit
CITI Credit Card - $2,800 limit
CITI Credit Card - $1,700 limit
PayPal Credit Card - $4,300 limit
AmEx Credit Card - $500 limit
Best Buy Store Card - $2,800 limit
Macy's Store Card - $800 limit
Sears MasterCard -$9,000 limit (new card - opened 2/20/2010)
BestBuy MasterCard -$10,000 limit (new card - opened 2/20/2010)
Total Limit: $52,800 (my goal is to get $2,000,000 as a total limit so any advice will help)
Hi shniku,
It doesn't appear that the new cards will hurt, except in your AAoA. To add new credit, a person often has to take a step back to take two forward. You'll have to sit tight and see what this does to your scores.
That said, hauling has given you good advice to lay low for awhile. When she talks about diminishing returns with lower limits, what could also happen is that some of your current creditors could start lowering limits or cancelling accounts. Too much new credit at one time may make them nervous. Also, you don't want to waste an inquiry by getting turned down for having too much new credit.
These are all of my OPEN accounts:
Chase Freedom Card - $15,000 limit
Chase Freedom Card - $900 limit
CITI Cash Returns Credit Card - $15,000 limit
CITI Business Credit Card - $10,000 limit
PayPal Credit Card - $4,900 limit
AmEx Credit Card - $500 limit
Best Buy Store Card - $2,900 limit
Macy's Store Card - $800 limit
Sears MasterCard -$11,400 limit
BestBuy MasterCard -$10,000 limit
AmEx Business Platinum -$30k without prepayment
Total Limit: $101,400 (5.07% of my goal of 2M total credit limits)
FICO SCORE - 776
Goal: Charge 500k on AmEx Business Platinum in hopes of getting Centurion invitation
Charges as of 9/23/2011: $13,763 (2.75%)
Charges as of 10/04/2011: $25,180 (5.04%)
Charges as of 10/19/2011: $31,696 (6.34%)
Charges as of 11/23/2011: $44,895 (8.98%)
Charges as of 11/23/2011:
Charges as of 12/23/2011:
Charges as of 1/23/2012:
Charges as of 2/23/2012:
Charges as of 3/23/2012:
Charges as of 4/23/2012:
Charges as of 5/23/2012:
Charges as of 6/23/2012:
Charges as of 7/23/2012:
Charges as of 8/23/2012:
Charges as of 9/23/2012:
Well, if your goal is to get a Centurion, I don't know if it was necessary to open all these. Don't know if it helps; don't know if it hurts.
American Express has its own way of deciding whom to let into the special playhouse, so tactics that might impress other lenders don't necessarily ring their chimes.
If you have other goals as well, you'll need to post them if you want feedback.