shifter

Always difficult to lose a good tradeline. Thankfully this isn't one of them.

Maxing cards is fine to try to get a CLI, but there's no advantage and only potential problems caused by letting that report. Always pay it down before the statement cuts.

FYI, NFCU doesn't care about usage and once it unsecures, will give you an $8k increase every 6 months to the day even if you never use the card.

787 (+37) Wife 760 (-24)

Most issuers like that. I never use my C1 and it seems permanently stuck at $10k. On the other hand, I use the heck out of my Citi cards and they give me generous CLIs every 6 months like clockwork.

You can just ask your agent if you got the best rating on credit or it lowered your rating causing a premium increase. But the thing is there's lots of reasons to have higher CLs, but a score increase isn't one of them. Removing derogs is a different story.

Except what's most dangerous is what we don't know we don't know. That seems to be the situation here.

Too soon for what? You never want to have only cards with one issuer in case they decide they don't want you as a customer anymore.

Yes, one card let report with $2 and the rest PIF before the statement cuts. As far as new cards, look to get in with some better issuers like Chase, Amex, Citi. Definitely want to diversify from C1 ASAP. Interest rates don't matter.

Congrats! You need more than 2 credit cards. At least 5 is minimum for the best scores. As far as balance, the ideal for scoring is $2 on one card and the rest zero. But in the long run, if you keep the balance under 10%, you'll be fine. The $2 trick is a good idea to do now and then when that one card updates, your score will increase and then you can app for 2 or 3 new cards. As far as which cards to get, which ones do you have now and what does you the most good - travel points or simply cash back?

YMMV. Citi loves me... and my wife even though we IIB'd them for six figures. They gave us both multiple cards right out of BK and now they are all over $40k CL. In return I give them a lot of spend.

Good to see you back in action as a proper Credit Pimp. I think I've gotten in the teens with the $2 trick. It's super sensitive to balances and also bucketing.

CLI day again. Same results - extra generous with Costco. DC: $38k -> $43k Costco: $41.5k -> $49.5k Wife DC: $36.5k -> $41.5k Wife Simplicity: decline again

Do you ever use the card for more than pencils? I've found that if I put a few thousand of spend on it one month, they will give me a CLI the next month pretty reliably.

Guess you'll have to wait for the denial letter and see what they say. Maybe they didn't pull a fresh report and used their last AR review? A lot of places are doing the SP decline and only ding you for a HP if it's approved.