Advice needed on 0% apr Apps - Bye 4yr. Gardening.

[WP2020]

Hello everyone! I have read alot here the past few months and this is my first post. I need your help/advice and know there are some AMAZING people here in the forum with incredible knowledge and many have been there where I am today. I need to postpone as much of my balance or hopefully all of it, with new balance transfers cards, and/or with 0% purchase. Im in tourism, so my plan to pay down another $15,000 in 2020 in order to be under 30% utilization, will have to be MUCH delayed.

I would love your advice as to the very best cards (or other advice) to help me in my situation. I did a huge app spree all by myself in 2016 before I knew about this forum and it turned out well. I have been gardening now for 4 years but the 0% Balance Transfers I have are ending in October/November.

Here is my roller-coaster story in a nutshell:

Until 2015 – Fico8 805 0% Util on $20,000 credit on only 1 card and Overdraft.

2016 - Huge (8) app spree for $50,000 new credit. 50% Util on 80K. Alot of 0%, apr, all ok.

2017 – Then, they started killing my limits, I didnt know this could happen. Chase (Slate 16k to $2k, Freedom 7K to 2K, SP 10K to 4K) Amex (11K to $3k) Disc. (13.5K to $11,5) all within 1 or 2 months, it took my Utiliz. to 89% and lowered my limits to 55K credit. Lost about 25K in limits without EVER missing a a payment, Fico to 579!!! I was devastated!

2018 – Just paid down a little.

2019 – Paid down alot and took BT offers of my current cards. Also got some automatic (not requested) CLI from Amex, Citi, Bofa and even Chase on Saphire only. Took Util to about 50% on 65K limit.

2020 – Was ready to get to under 30% Util. then Covid-19 hit and changed all my plans. Im not getting the automatic BT offers anymore so need to get new 0% apr on BT or purchases. Self-employed at $80K, same as 2016. Fico scores stable past 12 months.

These are the cards that I was looking into but PLEASE suggest ANY others or ideas. Thanks!

Amex – Cash Magnet, BCE and Everyday all preapproved.

Citi – Diamond and Double Cash (will I qualify? Maybe by transferring balances?)

Bofa – Cash Rewards and Travel Rewards, both were ¨recommended¨ by them.

Chase – Freedom Unlimited and Freedom Flex, always afraid of Chase though the FU would be great. Im at 0/24 but credit journey has me on 638 though, what do you think?

US Bank? – Dont know much on them just that it has 20 months.

Pen Fed ?– Just read could have high limits.(no military for other CU if required).

Lowes? – Just read they might do CLI to about 30K. If so, would greatly help my future Utiliz.

[CreditCuriosity]

What is your TU FICO?  Discover should have it listed since you have them..

First card that comes to mind depending on your FICO scores is BECU (Boeing Employee Credit Union)  Have higher limit cards obviously depending on scores and pulls TU can get in through a donation to an organization to get membership..

Don't trust recommended by BofA and limit wouldnt be high enough

Amex possibly, but BT max is 5k.

Citi if approved would yield low approval amt.

PenFed pulls EQ so need to know your EQ 09 score and DTI to really give you any advise there.

Just thoughts off top of my head

If your signature is correct you are maxed on two cards it appears.. that is certainly hurting your scores and what you mentioned earlier about ppl lowering your limits is called balance chasing as your utilization was high and probably weren't paying down very agressively.  What you do have going for you is you havent opened a card in 4 years....

[blindambition]

---

@CreditCuriosity wrote:

What is your TU FICO?  Discover should have it listed since you have them..

First card that comes to mind depending on your FICO scores is BECU (Boeing Employee Credit Union)  Have higher limit cards obviously depending on scores and pulls TU can get in through a donation to an organization to get membership..

Don't trust recommended by BofA and limit wouldnt be high enough

Amex possibly, but BT max is 5k.

Citi if approved would yield low approval amt.

PenFed pulls EQ so need to know your EQ 09 score and DTI to really give you any advise there.

Just thoughts off top of my head

If your signature is correct you are maxed on two cards it appears.. that is certainly hurting your scores and what you mentioned earlier about ppl lowering your limits is called balance chasing as your utilization was high and probably weren't paying down very agressively.  What you do have going for you is you havent opened a card in 4 years....

---

+1

This is good info! Your best bet will be a CU. The major lenders are giving low SL to really utilize BT.

Amex I believe is still not offering BT. They started that during Covid.

Definitely not Citi DP!! Recent approvals have been like 3k.

[WP2020]

Hi, THANKS for your input here are some answers:

Right now, Fico 8 - EQ706 TU708 EX714 Income is 80k and debts are all these which are 35k.

Would the BECU be possible you think?

My EQ I get from Citi so thats Fico 8 right? Dont know my 9.

On City, if approved will they let me shift some of the 17K I have available on my other cards?

Amex and others, it will also help me a 0% apr on purchase card. Since I can spend alot on the new card and use they money to pay the old ones. I thought Amex Magnet or BCE could yield me a high SL. It doesnt have to be BT cards if I can get 35K in SL it will be the exact same for me.

[WP2020]

If my debt was the same but spread out to my other cards so none would be maxed out, that would actually give me a few points higher? I didnt know that, I thought it was utiliz. on all your cards combined not on each one.

[WP2020]

Hi, thanks for your input as well. I dont know much about CU´s can you suggest a couple you think/know still give out high SL with 0% apr? I dont have any military way to qualify for some, but I understand some have workarounds right? 

I really only need high SL (0% of course) it doesnt matter if they offer BT or not. Maybe I should have asked it this way if the big guys dont like BT right now. If I get high SL with 0% apr on purchase, I will just spend on the new cards and use the money to pay down the old cards.

Would you think Citi/Amex will let me shift some of my CL to the new card?

[CreditCuriosity]

No CC is going to give you a 35k limit right off with 80k income let alone probably even a 200k income.  You might get a 15-25 limit from say BECU the credit union i mentioned, but I have no personal experience with them or PenFed might give you 15-17.5k limit as well both are options nice thing about BECU is no BT fees..  Penfed has a 3% BT fee.. Also another option if looking to consolidate debt is possibly a personal loan.  It wouldnt be at 0% for 12 months, but maybe a more manageable 5-10% rate?  Lightstream is a GREAT company although the elephant in the room is the amount you are looking for in these uncertain times.  With that said you have no HP's in over 2 years so you can absorb a few hits to find out your best option.

You are taking a bigger score hit imho from have a few cards maxed out than having it a bit more spread out as you have overall utilization and individual utilization and 2 cards > 90% utiliz is considered maxed so might get a few points if spread out over more cards, although you might want to consider options first.

You certainly could try to get membership to BECU and get a card with them and see what they give you and lets say 15k then you can move say 10k over there for 12 months and pay it off and either get another few cards and kinds try to rinse and repeat or go with a personal loan and absorb some interest.  I highly recommend lightstream, but not sure how they would view your income to your debt to be honest as do you have a car and home payment etc as that is all part of the DTI calculation.

BTW Citi is a FICO 09 Bank Card EQ score so a bit different.

Also would not suggest a new citi card as would be a low limit and to shift limits if they allowed would be another HP on top of the new card HP.

Edit:  Also moving this post to the personal finance section of the forum for better exposure

[WP2020]

Excellent, everything you say makes sense and helps me alot. Let me clarify some more points about me. I´m not looking for just one card, I can apply to as many cards as needed or allowed to. Im looking to get at least 35K and ideally reach $60,000 in new cards if possible. Right now, I dont care if I get 4 inquiries or even 8 inquiries as the idea is to get all the ones I can and then garden for the next 24 months. In 2016, I did 8 apps and $50K in new SL, I timed them and/or got lucky cause I got 5 inquiries only. I want to repeat it, though I know today has Covid. Of course, ideally I just get all $15k cards and above but hopefully I can reach $60k. Let me ask the following:

- BECU - Their offers look amazing, should my TU708 qualify? Will they allow me to get 2 cards? If so, how long between one and the other.

- PenFed - Again, should my Fico qualify? and can i get 2 cards from them and how far apart? They do EQ right?

- Other CU's I should consider? I get the feeling from you guys CU´s will be my best bet for $10K SL and above.

- Amex - If I cant get all the cards from CU's shouldnt I take advantage of any of my preapproved Magnet, BCE or Everyday? This would be on Experian right? I read some $15k SL this month right?

 - Citi seems to be out of the question cause of low SL then.

I definitely prefer to spend all my inquiries in new cards, instead of the personal loan route but thank you very much for the info. Thanks for moving to the correct forum so its more visible I really appreciate it. 

[sxa001]

If I am understanding your goals correctly, you are trying to get some additional cards to move the balances around and try to take advantage of any additional 0% Balance Transfer offers that may exist.  If I was in your boat though, I would consider going a different route, your scores are in the "good" range and since you haven't opened any new accounts in 4 years, you have a decent chance of getting a personal loan. Something like Sofi or LendingClub, not sure if you will get the full 35k that you need or what you have to put in a dent in the credit card debt but that is the route that I would be taking. 

Consolidating to a single loan is going to get you out of playing the moving debt aroud game, a trap that many people fall into.  I will caution if you go the loan route you need to put all your cards in the sock drawer and not put anything on them until the debt is paid off or if you do you have to be extremely disciplined to pay in full each month to avoid this situation again. 

You may get lucky and get a couple of cards with credit unions but if you suddenly get a bunch of inquries your starting limits are going to be smaller, it may look like credit seeking to the lenders, especially when they see your current utilization.   The personal loan is going to be a better option if you goal is to get the debt paid off.  

Good luck to you with whatever route you choose. 

[Anonymous]

Just as a side note- BECU offers personal loans and line of credit as well. Limits are $15k on those products. If you apply for their low interest Visa over the phone or in branch that can use the same HP inquiry for a PLOC or personal loan. Rates are available on their website. Could be a good stop-gap to lower UTI while you look for other BT offers.

I'm guessing it's been said, they pull TU Fico 8