@RobertEG wrote:
I am a bit confused.
He wants you to use your existing credit as securement of initial booking of his European adventure, without first getting approval of his own, new CCs that will then permit him to thereafter cover final payment by way of his own future availble credit? I think, at the very minimum, you are wise in asking for full payment of the obligated expenses in cash to you in advance, to protect yourself.
If he needs more credit to finance this adventure, it is very risky for him, not you, to make such a commitment. That implies that he does not have sufficient liquid savings/funds to just pay it. He wants to go into a credit hole on credit that does not even now exist? And build high balances and % util on anything that he is fortunate enough to secure in the interim? I just dont see it.
It seems like your advice to him for credit building is very well-reasoned, and sound . It does not seem to me that his motive is the same.
I, personally, would just say no to the whole scheme, and wait for him to first secure his own resources, and let his adventures be supported by him.
I can definitely see the confusion and will attempt to clear it up.
A few months ago, earlier in the year, my nephew had wanted to embark on a trip to Barcelona. He had told me he was gonna find a cheap ticket and stay at hostels. I told him that hostels were not an ideal way to stay at a room as he would have to travel very light so that he didn't leave his belongings back at the hostel. There were hotels that probably could meet his budget. He planned to take his trip on the first week of July so we had to book his flight early. He did not have a credit card, so I told him the only way I would book it is if I got money upfront. We both decided that I would book it in April, since that was a three paycheck month and he would give me equal payments. At the time that was fine, because unbeknownst to him, I did have extra cash lying around so I got the trip and paid it off in full then collected his money throughout April. Because he was family, I got to act like a CA when payday came and even threatened grave harm if I did not get my money. LMAO. (It would have never came to that...I would have simply canceled the ticket and gotten a refund since I bought the travel insurance, which he also paid for...lol). April comes and goes and I'm fully paid on the ticket.
The next step was finding a hotel. The ticket was easy, but finding a hotel was proving to be work since I was not familiar with Barcelona. My nephew though had his own criteria (as well as his mother [my sister]). 1. Free continental breakfast. 2. Close to the Las Ramblas area or in it. 3. Under $1100 (US). So because I was having problems finding this stuff on my own, I invoked my Visa Signature concierge service (since it's free) and had them do all that work for me. A couple of days later they give me a list of hotels (a couple that I didn't even find in my own searches) and out of the ones that I didn't find, I google those to see if I can get an early booking discount based on the dates my nephew wanted. It was about 300-400 cheaper than the concierge gave me. I tell my nephew the price and he says book it and will do the 3 paycheck thing again. He pays of his debt prior to stepping on a plane.
It is from this experience that wants to get his own credit card so that he can do his own travel. My nephew lives at home with my sister, she charges him no rent, and he makes about $1700 a month net. He's had that job for 3 years. His biggest and probably only bill is his cell phone (he currently doesn't drive). He tried getting unsecured products but was denied. So I looked at his credit reports and found that he has no negatives. I explained to him that CCs are not what they used to be...that they got very tight on lending criteria and plus went into CCARD. His best bet was a secured credit card and that BOA should give him one because he has a checking account with direct deposit. So he's currently waiting for his $1000 that he has saved up while he was galavanting in Spain to leave his checking account. I then advised him that he should fund the account every $1000 until it can be unsecured AND that he should not do any trips until he can afford to do it with cash. Which will tell him that when he gets his money back from BOA and it becomes a unsecured product, he can do another European vacation. When I unsecured my card, I made sure I didn't have a balance so that I could threaten to close the card if I had to. Thankfully I didn't need to. LOL.
I am also going to have him wait a few months until he guns for Exxon and JcPennys. Macys I'm going to explain to him NOT to get as they became useless with the lack of a credit limit reporting. Kohls might be a better deal for him though.
Believe me, I would never want him to experience the pain I personally went through with credit. Just want him to do it the right way and if he's going to do it, at least get bigger limits than I did. Hope it makes sense.
