App Spree - Thin File - Need Strategy Advice / Reccomendation

[FixnCred]

On this app spree I think it is best to get opinions and advice as my last spree for myself went well but could have gone better. I know this in hindsight and I did learn quite a bit from that spree but I would like to maximize this one for the GF as I need outside eyes to give it a lookover. I may be too biased.

 

I'd like for her cards to complement mine to maximize travel rewards this year. I have the Chase SW, Citi TYP, and Chase CSP that are points earners. I have no Amex so I feel like the strategy is for her to get AMEX, Chase, and Citi cards. I'm also going to get her into NFCU but I think I can do that last and still be ok.

 

 

1. Amex:

Hilton HHonors Surpass - She likes Hilton Hotels and wants it! - Should she be getting a different revolver from Amex?

Amex PRG or Platinum Charge Card? Both? As Many Charge Cards as possible?

 

2. Chase:

CSP

SW (I thought I read somewhere we can somehow combine our PTS to get a companion pass?)

 

3. Citi:

Citi TYP

 

4. Barclay's:

Barclay's Choice Hotels

Is there a 2FER opportunity with Barclay's on the same day?

 

5. NFCU:

CLOC

goRewards

 

 

She has 3 new accounts for 2015 with 2 being from Jan and 1 from Mar with no recent inquiries. I don't think she has any benefits for joining any other CU's like NASA, Penfed, or DCU right now as NFCU should suffice.

 

 

FICO 8 SCORES:
EQ: 678 - 2 INQ - 0 in last 12 months - No Lates / Collections / Public Records / Squeaky Clean

TU: 678 - 9 INQ - 0 in last 12 months - No Lates / Collections / Public Records / Squeaky Clean

EX: 681 - 2 INQ - 0 in last 6 - No Lates / Collections / Public Records / Squeaky Clean

 

Utlization: - 28% - Christmas Shopping from Black Friday - Plan on PIF at tax time she says.

 

AAOA: 1.5

 

Oldest Account: 4.2

 

[Tyra]

I think her profile looks marginal to be doing an app spree. I'd be afraid of lowering her scores without much to show for it. What I'd do is get the two Navy accounts now and wait on the rest until she has paid off her other cards and the Navy accounts are six months old. I'd do this because Navy will likely give her decent limits (or be easy to CLI up to a decent credit limit after a few months) even with her current profile and that combined with six months more age should give her a much stronger profile to be doing an app spree.

Edited December 29, 2015 by Tyra

[TampaDude]

Always app Chase first. They are picky about new accounts. Amex doesn't care.

[Tileguy61]

Always app Chase first. They are picky about new accounts. Amex doesn't care.

Also... Chase and Amex seem to enjoy matching limits. Get the Chase. Amex will match or beat it... in 61 days you get a 3x CLI and then you may have somewhat of a pry bar. I would't worry about charge cards right now... you have to PIF and if you are carrying balances on revolvers it may not be the best idea.

 

Unless you stay in hotels a lot get the BCE or BCP if she qualifies. Hilton points pretty much suck since they devalued. I stay 30+ times a year in Hilton's. Takes time to rack up points.

 

Good luck!

[FixnCred]

So I took heed to what Tyra said about her profile not being ready for an app spree. In that time since.. I've done a few things to boost her scores and I believe what I've done will get her above 700 on all three.

 

I added her to one Chase and one Citi card. The Chase card just reported and she got a nice 31pt bump. The new card even though she is an AU dropped her AAOA by 1 month and lowered her UTL by 3% so she is at 25% right now.

 

Her EX is the first to update and she was boosted from 681-->717 - I am waiting for EQ and TU to update and am anxious to see if she would also get a jump to 700's from the 680's the way she did on EX and like we hope. I also had her call into BOA and she got her $500 secured card unsecured with an SP and they also gave her a $1000 CLI with that same SP.

 

According to the FICO score simulator... if I went ahead and cleared out all of her revolving debt right away, she would max out her FICO score at 766. On a long term scenario, if she remains debt free for 12 months from now she will be in the 800's club. Seeing all of the positive that my one Chase account did for her... I am wondering if I should throw her on my 5yr old cards with $0 balance and $10K+ CLs. Would that be beneficial to her? The Chase card in which she is an AU is only 1 month old. What would 2 or 3 cards which are 5+yr old and an additional $30K in CL's do? The problem is I need her to get her card bonuses to meet spend so we can plan a nice vacation early summer. Waiting for the AU accounts to report and then app would put a major cramp on our goals.

 

I question this because I am either confused or missing some key points about AU's and how they benefit or hurt the AU. From what I've read.. read being an AU has no benefits. However, in this case and probably others as well... she benefited greatly from being an AU. Should I have been putting her on as an AU this whole time? We are not AU's on each other cards and this Chase is the first one... I could also use an AAOA boost from her 5 year old card and 3 year old cards.

Edited January 8, 2016 by FixnCred

[racer-x]

Keep in mind, there was a big change in how FICO looks at AU. From what I know, they are not counted in scoring anymore.

Im surprised at a 31 pt increase you say she got because of the Chase card....

 

Others will chime in.

 

ANd, don't read too much into the score simulator. We can't predict ouur score from day to day, let alone a year out.

Edited January 8, 2016 by racer-x

[Kat58]

Unless something changed recently, AU's are counted, as long as both parties have the same address on their reports. IIRC, they are ignored, on mortgage apps. There was no benefit adding your DG, to a 1 month old cc, unless it lowered her overall UT. There IS a benefit, however, adding her to several 5 year old cards.

[FixnCred]

Yeah I was shocked as well. As a matter of fact, I was expecting the opposite to happen as it did lower her AAOA by 1 month. I guess UTL had a part in the score boost as she went down to 25% from 28%. Otherwise, we resfresh her EX daily and nothing else changed. Her last EX update was on 12/30 and then again on 12/31 when she got a few points each time.

[FixnCred]

Unless something changed recently, AU's are counted, as long as both parties have the same address on their reports. IIRC, they are ignored, on mortgage apps. There was no benefit adding your DG, to a 1 month old cc, unless it lowered her overall UT. There IS a benefit, however, adding her to several 5 year old cards.

 

Yeah I was afraid that the AU's would hurt her and it was dumb since it is a new card. We were just thinking that she's gonna need the card when we start traveling... not smart at all. I guess it did help in the fact that it sparked the question for me to ask. Your response corroborates the score boost in UTL being lowered. This means I can further help her cause by giving her some aged accounts and another decrease in UTL with the CLs from those accounts and AU and vice versa. Thank you for the same address bit... that was probably that missing piece of the puzzle and brings sense to my mad confusion and hesitation to go any further with AU.

[racer-x]

https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/authorized-user-credit-score/

 

And like the article says, some creditors won't report AU's any more.

 

If you think about it, making a person an AU does not reflect on their credit worthiness since they are not responsible for the repayment of the debt. So it makes sense that FICO is moving away from scoring AU accts. and why some creditors don't report AU"s to the bureaus.

Edited January 8, 2016 by racer-x

[racer-x]

nm

Edited January 8, 2016 by racer-x

[NALSAMMAH]

Applied for Amex, approved $10,000 instant, applied for Chase 30 min later, told will be notified by mail within 30 days, 3 days later got a congratulations email for $7000 approval. Score 761 pulled Experian & TU.

[hegemony]

Applied for Amex, approved $10,000 instant, applied for Chase 30 min later, told will be notified by mail within 30 days, 3 days later got a congratulations email for $7000 approval. Score 761 pulled Experian & TU.

nice!

[digitalscotch]

I'm curious with these large CL, what do people's incomes look like? I know that more than just a credit score is included in the formula, and I'm wondering if my income is enough to justify those larger limits. I currently show 72K a year.

[nateinva]

I'm curious with these large CL, what do people's incomes look like? I know that more than just a credit score is included in the formula, and I'm wondering if my income is enough to justify those larger limits. I currently show 72K a year.

 

You will have zero problems attaining high limit cards with that income. For quick stats mine is $85k, highest individual limit is $49.5k and total limits over $500k.

 

There are several issuers that will combine limits and that's a good way to 'climb the ladder' if you don't get a high limit from the start (or CLIs) on a particular card.

[hegemony]

income matters a lot more for auto and mortgage loans than for credit card limits.

 

My total "available" include AUs and joint card is 7 figures yet my individual income is a tenth of that.

[variant]

income matters a lot more for auto and mortgage loans than for credit card limits.

 

My total "available" include AUs and joint card is 7 figures yet my individual income is a tenth of that.

A tenth of any 7 figure exposure would qualify for at least 100k income and beyond. I dig your style heg!

 

 

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[trachkids]

I'm curious with these large CL, what do people's incomes look like? I know that more than just a credit score is included in the formula, and I'm wondering if my income is enough to justify those larger limits. I currently show 72K a year.

If I can get 4-$25k SLs in a month & a half w/ $55k, you will be fine

 

 

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[shifter]

I haven't read any of this thread.

 

but anyone who votes Amex is an salamander.

 

Amex couldn't care less about inquiries and that's all we're talking about here.

 

Chase is much more new account/inquiry sensitive.

[Konrad2012]

I haven't read any of this thread.but anyone who votes Amex is an salamander.Amex couldn't care less about inquiries and that's all we're talking about here.Chase is much more new account/inquiry sensitive.

+1000000

[FixnCred]

Ok so I know that I owe this thread an update on the the spree as it was ultra successful.

 

Just haven't had the time to sit down and do it.

 

Anyhow... In the mail today. GF got a letter from Paypal saying she is being upgraded from the Paypal Smart Connect card to the Paypal Rewards Mastercard. It also says she can call to cancel the upgrade.

 

My question is... should she? Any down sides? She doesn't use the card and she probably still won't with the new rewards.

 

It is a no annual fee card so no down side there.

 

I wonder if she keeps the same CL of $6000.

Edited March 18, 2016 by FixnCred

[ubercat]

Amex likes thin files, but the limit is going to be in the 2k range. I would app amex first.

 

I have personal experience with this. Amex has been good to me. I started with no credit reports a little over two years ago; BCP was in my first app spree.

Edited March 18, 2016 by ubercat

[trachkids]

Congrats to your GF!!!

 

 

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[FixnCred]

Congrats to your GF!!!

 

 

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Thanks. I was going to be more specific but below is the gist of her spree - $106,200 in new CLs. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

 

NFCU cashRewards - $19.2K (Instant)

NFCU CLOC - $15K (Instant)

NASA PLOC - $8K (Instant)

NASA Cash Rewards - $10K (Instant)

DCU - $5K (Instant)

Penfed - $11.2K (Instant)

Chase CSP - $16K (Not Instant, Popped Up After 3 Days)

Chase IHG - $5K (Declined Due to Too Many Apps - Recon Approved While On The Phone)

Citi TYP - $8300 (Recon Approved 24 Hrs Later)

Amex Hilton Surpass - $6K (Instant)

Amex PRG - (Instant)

Barclay's Ring Card - $2500 (Declined too many INQ's, Did Not Recon, Card Just Showed Up 2 Weeks Later)

[trachkids]

OMGosh!!! Wonderful

 

 

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