How Do I Get To $1,000,000 in total Credit Lines?

[FicoMike0]

Another point I'll add. Some, maybe most, banks are total reported income sensitive. Amex, for example, seems to see 50% income as a hard limit. You don't really increase total cl by having more than one of their cards. 

Navy has an $80,000 total limit.

Keeping this in mind, you may want to concentrate new apps on new banks. 

[The_Crusader]

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@Yasselife wrote:

You’ve already built a very solid foundation; $330K across 18 cards with an average of $18K+ per card is impressive. That 18-year oldest account and 720 score put you in a strong position for growth; but there are a few things to tighten up before pushing toward $1M.

First; your current utilization (42%) is the biggest limiter. Bringing that down below 30%; ideally under 10%; will not only improve your score but also boost your odds for large credit limit increases (CLIs) and new high-limit approvals.

Second; focus on lenders known for high CL potential; Navy Federal; PenFed; and BECU are all good candidates. You may also want to consider cards like FNBO Evergreen; Fidelity Visa; or X1; which are known to scale well with responsible use.

Third; stagger your CLI requests every 4–6 months with your existing issuers; especially with Citi; Amex; and Wells Fargo where you already have high lines. Use each card moderately and PIF when possible to show strong behavior.

Final thought; once you get utilization down; leverage soft-pull CLI options first; then gradually apply for strategic new cards that align with your long-term goals. You’re already ahead of 95% of people; with the right moves; $1M is definitely within reach.

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@Yasselife Thank you for that, I appreciate it! I will follow this methodology and see how far it will take me. 

One of my biggest issues (at least as of late) has been finding reputable lenders (worth a hard inquiry) known for high CL potential. I have more or less already experienced all the staple lenders at this point. I very much appreciate you pointing me in the right direction in this regard. I will definitely look into these lenders. Thanks again for your feedback!

[The_Crusader]

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@FicoMike0 wrote:

Another point I'll add. Some, maybe most, banks are total reported income sensitive. Amex, for example, seems to see 50% income as a hard limit. You don't really increase total cl by having more than one of their cards. 

Navy has an $80,000 total limit.

Keeping this in mind, you may want to concentrate new apps on new banks. 

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@FicoMike0 Thank you for that. I will say this, from my experience, Amax must be one of the worse major(ish) lenders out there. The analogy would be the car that has roll up windows etc. in a lot full of Bentleys. 

[RootDet]

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@SouthJamaica wrote:

Personally I don't think $1M is a realistic goal for someone with $255k annual income. But good luck with it.

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I am here to soley say, you are wrong. My income is well bellow $200k and I reached $1m before i even hit $100k income. 

now that said, the $1m club is nice, but man i need like 3 wallets now :-\ 

[Realist]

Time, can grant you access to 1m in credit lines, even if you don't want to work hard at it.    Not there yet, but also not trying to be there.

The 1m credit line.  Is that like the 850 FICO score draw?   Psychological barrier of acheivement?

[The_Crusader]

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@RootDet wrote:

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@SouthJamaica wrote:

Personally I don't think $1M is a realistic goal for someone with $255k annual income. But good luck with it.

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I am here to soley say, you are wrong. My income is well bellow $200k and I reached $1m before i even hit $100k income. 

now that said, the $1m club is nice, but man i need like 3 wallets now :-\ 

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@RootDet I'd love to know how you got to $1M, your methodology, how much time, what combination of credit cards got you there etc.

To the extent that it is possible, I am heavily favoring having fewer credit cards with larger CLs ($25k+) vs. many credit cards with lover CLs (<$10k). Any pointers (particual credit cards etc.) you could provide to a relative newbie in the credit card game I would really appreciate. Thanks! P.S. Great to know that one can reach the $1M mark with under $100k income. What you managed to do is pretty impressive I have to say. 

[The_Crusader]

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@Realist wrote:

Time, can grant you access to 1m in credit lines, even if you don't want to work hard at it.    Not there yet, but also not trying to be there.

The 1m credit line.  Is that like the 850 FICO score draw?   Psychological barrier of acheivement?

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My experience has actually been quite the opposite - if you want to increase your CLs, like most things in life, you have to seek it strategically and continuously. I know people what one might call "the perfect costumer" and yet they have very low CL's because they simply don't request CL increases. Go figure. 

The reason behind the $1M  figure is that its a straight forward nice big round number to pursue (I love a good challenge) and well I could use such a large CL because I'd like to be able to use the cards for purchases (get the various points etc.) and not see huge dips in my credit score. I like the idea of being able to put a $30k charge on my card(s) without any issues. To remain close to that 10% utilization and still be able to put larger charges (to get points, replace cash etc.)  as needed is the goal. 

[NoHardLimits]

Sorry, duplicate post.

[NoHardLimits]

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@NoHardLimits wrote:

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@The_Crusader wrote:

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The reason behind the $1M  figure is that its a straight forward nice big round number to pursue (I love a good challenge) and well I could use such a large CL because I'd like to be able to use the cards for purchases (get the various points etc.) and not see huge dips in my credit score. I like the idea of being able to put a $30k charge on my card(s) without any issues. To remain close to that 10% utilization and still be able to put larger charges (to get points, replace cash etc.)  as needed is the goal. 

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If the goal is to be able to put a single $30k charge without negative FICO effects, you'd need a card with a limit of over $100k to keep it below the 28.9% individual card threshold.  If you're referring to multiple charges over multiple cards totaling $30k, then yes your plan could cover that type of scenario just fine.

Edit to add:  Assuming you're not intending to carry the balance, you could charge a large portion of a credit limit and then quickly pay much of it back down before it has a chance to post a worrisome statement balance.

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[FicoMike0]

@The_Crusader 

I haven't tried their car windows, but I don't have any complaints with amex banking. Their app works well. They have granted better credit limits for me than other banks. I particularly like the fact that they credit payments instantly.