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Do you guys think I did a good thing for opening these accounts, or was it a foolish mistake?

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shniku
Valued Member

Do you guys think I did a good thing for opening these accounts, or was it a foolish mistake?

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)

Message 1 of 8
7 REPLIES 7
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Do you guys think I did a good thing for opening these accounts, or was it a foolish mistake?

I'd say good on you. It might ding your score for a while, but it will rebound shortly. 
Message 2 of 8
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: Do you guys think I did a good thing for opening these accounts, or was it a foolish mistake?

Congrats on the new TL's. After this, you probably ought to settle down for a while and let things cook.

Do you know what your AAoA (average age of accounts) was in years and months before your app spree? You've probably taken a beating by adding the two or three new accounts (I live in confusion on how the Macy's store + Visa bit reports), and if you have clean history and low util, age winds up being a major driver of your scores.

Again, no comment on the $2M CL goal, but if you want to keep raising your total CL, you're going to find yourself running into the law of diminishing returns, as new creditors look at your existing available credit, and see less and less reason to give you mega-limits. Smiley Wink
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 3 of 8
Jazzzy
Valued Contributor

Re: Do you guys think I did a good thing for opening these accounts, or was it a foolish mistake?

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.

Message 4 of 8
smallfry
Senior Contributor

Re: Do you guys think I did a good thing for opening these accounts, or was it a foolish mistake?

I don't know why anyone would need 2 million in available credit but it that floats your boat then go for it. I would imagine you will need a slew of business accounts to accomplish that. If this were 2005-2006 I would say go for Navy Federal (if eligible) Penfed and a few other credit unions. There was a time when you could combine a bunch of Citi accounts and luv them up then combine and repeat. AMEX was the number one choice for higher limits and constant CLI would help bump the limits. Honestly unless you are charging 5% of 2 million each month there is no need for those kinds of limits. Good luck.
Message 5 of 8
marty56
Super Contributor

Re: Do you guys think I did a good thing for opening these accounts, or was it a foolish mistake?

LOL more interesting goal would be to have say a 250k limit on a CC, charge a home and then declare BK.  Seriusoly, the new credit card lawswill make it much harder to achieve your goal. 
1/25/2021: FICO 850 EQ 848 TU 847 EX
Message 6 of 8
shniku
Valued Member

Re: 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 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:  


Message 7 of 8
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: Do you guys think I did a good thing for opening these accounts, or was it a foolish mistake?

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.

* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 8 of 8
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