I've accumulated large credit lines on a couple of cards and I am thinking of switching to a new card with better terms (50% more cash back). Since I'd be moving most of my voluminous purchases to the new card and need to remain under the 10% magic utilization number, I need a high credit line on the new card but it's unclear to me they will grant such a large line with the current line still active. One thought I had was to reduce the line on the old card, wait until it's reflected in the credit reports, then apply for the new card but I'm not sure this will 1) work 2) be necessary. I suppose another option is to decrease the line of credit now, hopefully the repercussions will be temporary, then get the new card and hope for a high credit line, but if things don't work out I'd have to restore my credit line and I'm not sure how well that'd work. Has anyone done this before and can anyone offer tips? What are the underwriting guidelines -- once I heard it was 1x your annual salary, in which case I'd be cramped without decreasing a line of credit. If I don't get the credit line I need on application, can I just decrease my other line and, a month later, as for a credit line increase, or should I wait?
By the way the main point of this is to increase my FICO score (long-term) by having two out of four of my credit cards unused (rather than one out of three), because I'm getting the reason code "You have too many credit accounts with balances." Alert me if I am barking up the wrong tree.
