I believe the minimum SL for that card is $5k. In addition to your lack of experience with larger limits... the 686, 8 inquiries and in particular, the 60% reported usage aren't helping you. Nothing you can do about the inquiries other than stop applying for credit, but you can get your utilization down which will boost up your scores. Getting below 50% will make a difference. Below 30% will make more of a difference but getting, and staying below 9% will be optimum for your scores, and show lenders you're managing your finances well.
Once you get your usage down, seek out CLIs on your existing accounts
@Soundersfan1 wrote:I applied for the Chase United Explorer card the day I turned 18 and got denied with a 781 credit score. There reasoning was lack of credit history and no cards with similar credit limits. I had been an authorized user on the Capital One Quicksilver for around 12 years. I was wondering how I'd get to the Chase United Explorer and Chase Sapphire Preferred.
Current Cards:
Chase Freedom Rise - $900 CL (Feb 2024)
BECU Cash Back Visa - $1,000 CL (Mar 2024)
Discover Student Chrome - $1,000 CL (July 2024)
Chase United Gateway - $1,000 CL (Aug 2024)
Experian - 686
Late Payments - 0
Experian Credit Checks - 8
Credit Usage - 60%
Welcome to the forum.
My advice would be to slow down.
If you
- wait 13 months before applying for another credit card
- keep your aggregate utilization to 9% or less
- let 3 cards report zero balance while the other reports a balance of 28 % or less and
- maintain your accounts in good order..........
You'll be able to apply for anything you want.
@Soundersfan1 wrote:What about upgrading?
If you do a product change with the same lender it usually does not show up as a new account and does not usually involve a hard pull. But you should check with your lender to be sure before trying it.
My BECU Visa currently gets me 1.5x back so instead of upgrading my Freedom Rise to Unlimited, I'm going to upgrade to Flex for the 5x rotating category
That would be a product change. I wouldn't call it an "upgrade".
and then potentially to the Sapphire Preferred
That has to be down the road. You're not going to qualify for a CSP at this time.
but I'm leaning on just applying for one as for the United Explorer I'm thinking of upgrading that.
OK but my advice is to wait.
In terms of new credit limits at the 1 Year mark
I don't think we can say anything about that now. We have to see what your profile is when the time comes. Meanwhile, you may be able to increase your present limits with soft pull credit limit increase requests. Just make sure they're soft pull before you apply.
what should I be expecting for my Chase cards?
Same answer.
@Soundersfan1 wrote:I applied for the Chase United Explorer card the day I turned 18 and got denied with a 781 credit score. There reasoning was lack of credit history and no cards with similar credit limits. I had been an authorized user on the Capital One Quicksilver for around 12 years. I was wondering how I'd get to the Chase United Explorer and Chase Sapphire Preferred.
Current Cards:
Chase Freedom Rise - $900 CL (Feb 2024)
BECU Cash Back Visa - $1,000 CL (Mar 2024)
Discover Student Chrome - $1,000 CL (July 2024)
Chase United Gateway - $1,000 CL (Aug 2024)
Experian - 686
Late Payments - 0
Experian Credit Checks - 8
Credit Usage - 60%
In addition to what others wrote, you state you have a 781 credit score but you also state youre Experian FICO 8 score is 686. My bet is that 781 is a Vantage 3.0 score, and if I'm correct, is irrelevant for underwriting purposes.
@Soundersfan1 wrote:It was a 781 when I applied the day I've turned 18 now with open new lines of credit and credit checks it's now a 686
Welcome to My FICO forums, @Soundersfan1. 
You've gotten some great advice above from @JoeRockhead, @coldfusion, and @SouthJamaica. We often say that "Credit is a marathon, not a sprint." Your pace is like you're running a sprint. If you turned 18 in the past year or so, it sounds like, you have decades of credit-building ahead of you. Relax. None of us got to the levels where we are overnight.
Your 781 FICO was great, apparently thanks to the AU account someone wisely gave you to help build a credit file. Unfortunately, one 800 FICO is not another 800 FICO. In other words, FICO is just one piece of the credit profile, but it can be deceiving since there are many other important factors. In your case, that credit-seeking gave you four lower-limit cards and tanked your score by 95 points. The impact on a thicker file would have been far less. You're missing the thickness of file: number of accounts, age of accounts, long-term satisfactory payment history on those accounts, the higher limits that lead to more higher limits, and I'm guessing the income that also will help to open the doors. All of this takes time for most of us, and a lot of it.
At this point, you need to enter "the garden," meaning not applying for any new credit cards or authorizing any hard pulls for credit limit increases. (Soft pulls or auto-CLIs are allowed.) Use all of your cards at least a little every month; pay-in-full; rinse and repeat. Give it at least 12 months, maybe longer. You've got a good basis of cards and lenders to begin.
Four cards in a year is a lot for a young profile. In general, even for more developed profiles, I suggest striving for just one new account, on average, every six months. As you get farther along the journey, you may be able to be a little more aggressive but keeping in mind that the result can be denials, lower starting limits, or the need to garden even longer to repair the damage before applying for new cards.
To answer your question, to climb the credit card ladder, use your cards responsibly and regularly, pay in full, apply for new cards sparingly and when you need a new card, be patient and enjoy the journey. Welcome to our forums.
