What's a good AAoA?

[jonson]

I've been on the boards for a while, and have never seen a number of years that's "good" or "average."

 

Me personally, there's "Before Credit Disaster" and "After Credit Disaster." I had several credit cards B.C.D.. defaulted on everything, and now I'm rebuilding. In 2013, I will begin to see tradelines begin to fall off, and I only have 2 that are currently open (oldest one is 2 years, youngest is J. Crew, 2 months). So I'm wondering what the "average" or "good" AAOA is? What should I be aiming for? Should I be opening a few more cards before all the B.C.D. cards fall off, or remain conservative?

 

Also, am I correct by thinking AAOA calculated by: number of years each card is open divided by number of cards?

Edited January 7, 2013 by jonson

[Hitch]

link

 

2 years is average/good credit

4+ years you start moving into excellent territory

[HowsThatWorkin]

My personal experience only. I waited far too long to get new credit. I existed on a Cap1 and HSBC for 5 years, no rewards, low limits and AFs. My only saving grace is an old WAMU (opened 5 years after the prior two) that I was able to convert to a Freedom recently. Now I have two worthless cards that are my oldest tradelines at almost 10 years (and lowest limits) and 7 new accounts opened in the past year and a half. All of my new and much better accounts were approved with multiple baddies still reporting and medium utilization.

 

I am going to continue with my app plan of 3 - 4 new cards this year. I'd rather take the new account ding, assuming I get approved, and AAOA drop now while I still have one collection remaining since my score is never going to be stellar with it reporting anyway. By the time it falls off, my AAOA will hopefully be at the optimum 4+ years and my current cards should have decent limits and low utilization.

 

My long winded point is that I'm tired of chasing a few FICO points here and there for a short term feel good when the reality is that I am several years away from a great score so I need to focus on the longer term and various card benefits rather than score. I've earned $100 in cash back in the past 3 months, paltry compared to most here, but considering that two years ago I was paying almost $150 per month in interest it feels like a million dollars to me.

[Link2k]

You can get over 760 with <2 year AAOA

 

For scores it may not hurt you as much as you think, under manual review however it may be an issue.

[BDK]

For me, 2 years! LOL

[jonson]

OK, so I might be fine since I have one falling off this year, and the next one is in 2015. So if 2 to 4 years is optimal, then opening a couple more cards now doesn't sound like a big deal.

[qwerty4]

You can get over 760 with <2 year AAOA

 

For scores it may not hurt you as much as you think, under manual review however it may be an issue.

From an ES, 8 years oldest account, 4 years history 780ish and 10 years oldest and ~6 years for 800

[hegemony]

> 72 months for open accounts.

 

who knows about the other forms AAOA comes in. higher is better.

 

my AAOA open accounts is 67 months and my EQ score is over 800 last time I checked.

[jonson]

Thanks for the great info!

[Link2k]

higher is better.

 

+1

[jonson]

It looks like my AAOA is about 7.5 years, this is not including the account that is due to fall off in April. So I should be OK opening some new accounts that I can keep open forever to build up my AAOA for the future

[Link2k]

It looks like my AAOA is about 7.5 years, this is not including the account that is due to fall off in April. So I should be OK opening some new accounts that I can keep open forever to build up my AAOA for the future

 

It is a little tricky if you have a good AAOA but a thin file you want to thicken the file while not causing to much harm to your AAOA and spacing out apps accordingly.

 

If you are like me and have crap for AAOA you can go on an app spree and then let them all age together.

Edited January 7, 2013 by Link2k

[eonaxes]

does FICO factor in AAOA with scoring buckets, something like 2+, 4+, 6+, 8+ years?

so if you are at 3 years AAOA you still fall in the 2 year AAOA scoring bucket?

[hegemony]

does FICO factor in AAOA with scoring buckets, something like 2+, 4+, 6+, 8+ years?

so if you are at 3 years AAOA you still fall in the 2 year AAOA scoring bucket?

my understanding it is more complicated than that since AAOA comes in many forms and there are 10-12 scorecards in most versions of FICO. each scorecard has multiple factors, not just AAOA.

[jonson]

It looks like my AAOA is about 7.5 years, this is not including the account that is due to fall off in April. So I should be OK opening some new accounts that I can keep open forever to build up my AAOA for the future

 

It is a little tricky if you have a good AAOA but a thin file you want to thicken the file while not causing to much harm to your AAOA and spacing out apps accordingly.

 

If you are like me and have crap for AAOA you can go on an app spree and then let them all age together.

 

Yeah, the problem is that I have a good AAOA today. However, I went a few years with no open accounts because they were closed by grantor, and starting this year, my oldest accounts will begin to fall off.

 

Fortunately, there are a few cards that have been closed for years, but they are still reporting for some reason. That will help me out while I'm rebuilding

Edited January 7, 2013 by jonson

[tireredsquare]

I had a TU score of 794 years ago with an AAOA of 5 years and a history of 7 years.

 

I havent checked TU or EX since new years but EQ is showing 12y 11m history and 6y 4m AAOA. If I get my util down, I know for sure I will end up north of 800.

[pluckman4]

CK states my AAOA at 4 yrs 5 months. grade is a C lol.

anyways, i am trying to get rid of sine baddies, they are paid in full charge offs plus an associated collection (4 total baddies). they re older accts but not my oldest.

if i got them removed, would it drop my AAOA?

 

Sent from my ZTE-Z990G using Tapatalk 2

[shifter]

CK is an AAOOA

[Occam]

 

 

It looks like my AAOA is about 7.5 years, this is not including the account that is due to fall off in April. So I should be OK opening some new accounts that I can keep open forever to build up my AAOA for the future

It is a little tricky if you have a good AAOA but a thin file you want to thicken the file while not causing to much harm to your AAOA and spacing out apps accordingly.

 

If you are like me and have crap for AAOA you can go on an app spree and then let them all age together.

 

Yeah, the problem is that I have a good AAOA today. However, I went a few years with no open accounts because they were closed by grantor, and starting this year, my oldest accounts will begin to fall off.

 

Fortunately, there are a few cards that have been closed for years, but they are still reporting for some reason. That will help me out while I'm rebuilding

 

Jonson, that means you need to spree to the max right now, before the old accounts drop. Short term pain, long term gain.

 

Sorry for the late response, I just saw this. Maybe you already started.

[jonson]

 

 

 

It looks like my AAOA is about 7.5 years, this is not including the account that is due to fall off in April. So I should be OK opening some new accounts that I can keep open forever to build up my AAOA for the future

It is a little tricky if you have a good AAOA but a thin file you want to thicken the file while not causing to much harm to your AAOA and spacing out apps accordingly.

 

If you are like me and have crap for AAOA you can go on an app spree and then let them all age together.

 

Yeah, the problem is that I have a good AAOA today. However, I went a few years with no open accounts because they were closed by grantor, and starting this year, my oldest accounts will begin to fall off.

 

Fortunately, there are a few cards that have been closed for years, but they are still reporting for some reason. That will help me out while I'm rebuilding

 

Jonson, that means you need to spree to the max right now, before the old accounts drop. Short term pain, long term gain.

 

Sorry for the late response, I just saw this. Maybe you already started.

 

 

Funny you mention that, because that's exactly what I have been doing. When do I stop? I was approved for American Express, but US Bank denied me (again). I was going to call RBFCU maybe today to ask for a card. I'm kinda gun shy.

[cv91915]

 

 

 

 

It looks like my AAOA is about 7.5 years, this is not including the account that is due to fall off in April. So I should be OK opening some new accounts that I can keep open forever to build up my AAOA for the future

It is a little tricky if you have a good AAOA but a thin file you want to thicken the file while not causing to much harm to your AAOA and spacing out apps accordingly.

 

If you are like me and have crap for AAOA you can go on an app spree and then let them all age together.

 

Yeah, the problem is that I have a good AAOA today. However, I went a few years with no open accounts because they were closed by grantor, and starting this year, my oldest accounts will begin to fall off.

 

Fortunately, there are a few cards that have been closed for years, but they are still reporting for some reason. That will help me out while I'm rebuilding

 

Jonson, that means you need to spree to the max right now, before the old accounts drop. Short term pain, long term gain.

 

Sorry for the late response, I just saw this. Maybe you already started.

 

 

Funny you mention that, because that's exactly what I have been doing. When do I stop? I was approved for American Express, but US Bank denied me (again). I was going to call RBFCU maybe today to ask for a card. I'm kinda gun shy.

 

 

If you have an Amex you don't need a sh!tty CU card. Hold out for better offerings!

[Occam]

 

 

 

 

It looks like my AAOA is about 7.5 years, this is not including the account that is due to fall off in April. So I should be OK opening some new accounts that I can keep open forever to build up my AAOA for the future

It is a little tricky if you have a good AAOA but a thin file you want to thicken the file while not causing to much harm to your AAOA and spacing out apps accordingly.

 

If you are like me and have crap for AAOA you can go on an app spree and then let them all age together.

 

Yeah, the problem is that I have a good AAOA today. However, I went a few years with no open accounts because they were closed by grantor, and starting this year, my oldest accounts will begin to fall off.

 

Fortunately, there are a few cards that have been closed for years, but they are still reporting for some reason. That will help me out while I'm rebuilding

 

Jonson, that means you need to spree to the max right now, before the old accounts drop. Short term pain, long term gain.

 

Sorry for the late response, I just saw this. Maybe you already started.

 

 

Funny you mention that, because that's exactly what I have been doing. When do I stop? I was approved for American Express, but US Bank denied me (again). I was going to call RBFCU maybe today to ask for a card. I'm kinda gun shy.

 

Open as many as is prudent, as fast as possible. It's hard to say what "prudent" means because it depends on your situation. The only thing to worry about is triggering AA from good accounts. For example, two sensitive issuers are Barclays and Merrick. If you just opened your first Barclays you should be careful for 6 months or so. Merrick may be the most sensitive of all (even seasoned customers have been shut down for just 4 new accounts) but who cares, whatever you just opened is better than Merrick anyway.

 

You should be pretty safe with 4-5 new accounts (I am conservative here, others will say keep going till you stop getting approvals). After that let things cool off for 7 months (6 reporting cycles on all cards and any remaining inqs 6 months old).Then do another round.

 

You can certainly do 3 apps per puller before the fresh inqs cause a problem.

 

As CV says, try to go for only cards that can do something for you. But right the first priority is to bulk up your portfolio so you may need to fill out your spree with 0 AF, low-quality rewards CU cards. Don't hold out for better if it means cutting your spree short (except, obviously, avoid anything that will actually cost you money). But at least try to app for them through Amazon for a $50 signup bonus!

 

At the end of your spree you can join a couple of quality CUs with an eye to the future (like PenFed or NASA) because at that point any further inqs on EQ or TU will be irrelevant... since you're not going to app for anything in the next 2 months anyway nobody will see them. But clean them up fast if you took a lot.

 

US Bank pulls ARS, so it's possible you are just wasting your time and inqs with them.

[BDK]

 

 

 

 

 

It looks like my AAOA is about 7.5 years, this is not including the account that is due to fall off in April. So I should be OK opening some new accounts that I can keep open forever to build up my AAOA for the future

It is a little tricky if you have a good AAOA but a thin file you want to thicken the file while not causing to much harm to your AAOA and spacing out apps accordingly.

 

If you are like me and have crap for AAOA you can go on an app spree and then let them all age together.

 

Yeah, the problem is that I have a good AAOA today. However, I went a few years with no open accounts because they were closed by grantor, and starting this year, my oldest accounts will begin to fall off.

 

Fortunately, there are a few cards that have been closed for years, but they are still reporting for some reason. That will help me out while I'm rebuilding

 

Jonson, that means you need to spree to the max right now, before the old accounts drop. Short term pain, long term gain.

 

Sorry for the late response, I just saw this. Maybe you already started.

 

 

Funny you mention that, because that's exactly what I have been doing. When do I stop? I was approved for American Express, but US Bank denied me (again). I was going to call RBFCU maybe today to ask for a card. I'm kinda gun shy.

 

 

If you have an Amex you don't need a sh!tty CU card. Hold out for better offerings!

 

There are still some highly desirable CU cards that can serve a purpose.

[cv91915]

 

 

 

 

 

 

It looks like my AAOA is about 7.5 years, this is not including the account that is due to fall off in April. So I should be OK opening some new accounts that I can keep open forever to build up my AAOA for the future

It is a little tricky if you have a good AAOA but a thin file you want to thicken the file while not causing to much harm to your AAOA and spacing out apps accordingly.

 

If you are like me and have crap for AAOA you can go on an app spree and then let them all age together.

 

Yeah, the problem is that I have a good AAOA today. However, I went a few years with no open accounts because they were closed by grantor, and starting this year, my oldest accounts will begin to fall off.

 

Fortunately, there are a few cards that have been closed for years, but they are still reporting for some reason. That will help me out while I'm rebuilding

 

Jonson, that means you need to spree to the max right now, before the old accounts drop. Short term pain, long term gain.

 

Sorry for the late response, I just saw this. Maybe you already started.

 

 

Funny you mention that, because that's exactly what I have been doing. When do I stop? I was approved for American Express, but US Bank denied me (again). I was going to call RBFCU maybe today to ask for a card. I'm kinda gun shy.

 

 

If you have an Amex you don't need a sh!tty CU card. Hold out for better offerings!

 

There are still some highly desirable CU cards that can serve a purpose.

 

 

RBFCU?

[TX-Bluebonnet]

SNARKY