magnate said:adiganifatwallet said:Citi is pretty good in CLI. I have 25k on a single citi card.
I used it to purchase a car (paid in full) and when the statement came, I paid off everything.
Great points earned there.

i'd venture to guess you over paid for the car.


Why would he have paid more for the car? Cant I just negotiate the best price and pay it in CC. I didnot know that they take all the car payment thru CC exclusivly. I always heard that you have to pay some cash....any ideas?

lykstyk said:When I bought my car, I wanted to put 30k of it on a card, they said the most they would take is 5k...

I threatend to walk and they let me walk...

They said if I wanted to pay more on the card they would charge me a 1.60% surcharge on anything above 5k....needless to say i used a check for the rest.

I wouldn't accept a CC purchase for that amount either. 1.5% to 3.0% is too much for me to pay just for accepting a credit card.

Unless you are covering thier loss (notice the counter offer of 1.6%), I can't imagine many dealers would accept this.

I would like to know what everyone does with so much Credit.

Borrow money at low APR and invest in a CD, rollover ?

I have been requesting CLI for the past six months or so. I haven't got much increase by either clicking "automatic increase" button (say, AMEX) or phone calls (say, Providian or Chase). My AMEX blue was increased from 4k-7k, providian was increased by only 1k; chase from 1700 to 2500 (I found chase the least generous somehow, quite the opposite to one of the posts above); refusal from BofA outright.

A better strategy I found out lately was to apply for new cards and then consolidate to the card you desire. I opened a starwood with initial CL 6k and with the magic CLI button, the line was doubled the very second day, then I was able to switch 5k to my AMEX blue; I opened another bofA of line 5k by an online offer in my account which took only 30 seconds.

It seems that the credit card companies are more generous about CL on non year-fee free cards. Certainly one can open these cards and consolidate to the free credit cards before canceling.

dealhunter999 said:Here is what I think about CLI based ...

1> Never do online request (Reason explained below)
2> Call and ask for it. Here 2 things happens to you, they either make an enquiry to credit report and grant you credit increase or they simply grant you the CLI w/o any inquiry to credit history.

**** If available, Always ask for CLI w/o inquiry to credit history ****

Note every inquiry on your credit report lowers the score.For some ppl FICO score drops by 1-2 points and for some 30-40 points (no kidding). There are many factors that decide your FICO but is the one used to grant you the credit.So use CLI request wisely.
CLI w/o inquiry probably will not give you higher credit line but every 3-6 mths you can ask for CLI.
Note that most CC companies increase CLI automatically every six mths.
I have CITI card and they automatically increase the credit line. I have also noticed they inquire my credit report regularly and this inquiries stys in report for 2 years.
If you are in process of buying house/car make sure there are not too many inquires on your report. This will lower the FICO score and result in higher interest rates!

You did NOT explain #1, which you are wrong or at least misinformed about. AMEX's online CLI does not require a credit pull. They may not grant the request without documentation or a pull, but the request itself does nothing to your credit score (but the implementation of additional CL may).

The balance of what you posted is in the sticky in this forum and very clear to everyone posting in this thread.

clapthatfool said:hoffjm00 said:

You did NOT explain #1, which you are wrong or at least misinformed about. AMEX's online CLI does not require a credit pull. They may not grant the request without documentation or a pull, but the request itself does nothing to your credit score (but the implementation of additional CL may).



Do the other banks (specifically MBNA and Citi) make hard pulls when you do online credit line increase requests?

Only if you receive a form to fill out after you click on the CLI button.

With secured credit cards, you make your own credit limit. I especially like the HSBC card which allows a $2,500 credit limit and has interest rates of 12.9-19.9%.
For those who've had credit problems, having a secured card allow you to improve your credit score. Simply sign up for a secured card, deposit the money, and add $500 or so every six months. The FICO does not take into account credit type as much (secured vs. unsecured), and so inching your CL up improves your score. Very nice trick I learned. Oh, and it's probably off topic but that's OK.

With secured credit cards, you make your own credit limit. I especially like the HSBC card which allows a $2,500 credit limit and has interest rates of 12.9-19.9%.
For those who've had credit problems, having a secured card allow you to improve your credit score. Simply sign up for a secured card, deposit the money, and add $500 or so every six months. The FICO does not take into account credit type as much (secured vs. unsecured), and so inching your CL up improves your score. Very nice trick I learned. Oh, and it's probably off topic but that's OK.

bamadad said:Lenders view all open credit lines as potential debt. Too much unused credit may affect your ability to qualify for a home or a car loan.

"Lenders are cash-flow bankers," says Paul Richard, executive director of the Institute of Consumer Financial Education in San Diego. "And no lender is going to make you a deal when you have all that credit available and not consider what you might do with it."

So folks with six or more credit cards and no debt may want to trim back their credit lines before applying for a home or car loan. Cutting back your credit lines won't boost your credit score, but it may make a lender feel more comfortable about approving you for the big secured loan that you really want." good luck
( commentators below think this last paragraph is poor advice)
I partially agree with this. As someone who declared backruptcy just under 2 years ago, I've seen my FICOs shoot up from about 520 to 650+. How did I do it? I judicially applied for secured credit, opened a second bank account, added an IRA, took out a small loan using my IRA as collateral, and kept my credit usage at 5-15% of the total CL (and the CL of each card). Lenders get nervous about past credit problems, but utilization, mix of credit, etc. also play a part. Another thing to consider INSTEAD OF closing a credit card (bad idea!!!) is to call them and lower your CL. Sounds weird? Yes. However, with too much unused credit a lender might think you'll buy the home, go spend $10,000+ on improvements, and possibly fall behind on the loan. One more thing to consider is your mix of credit. Do you have very high student loan balances? The federal govt gets 'first dibs' on your income tax return and is the #1 creditor in terms of taking your assets if you default or go into bankruptcy. Matter of fact, student loan debts cannot be discharged in bankruptcy anymore. Unless you want to go through the Brunner test {Brunner v. New York State Higher Education Services, Inc., 46 B.R. 752(S.D. N.Y. 1985), aff'd, 831F.2d 395 (2nd Cir. 1987)}

SoBeyondTheNorm said:surprise, surprise. Horrible advice from cnn/money, what a concept.

The best way to "manage" your total CL is to ask your spouse to add or remove you as AU and make sure the credit report is updated. This way you are not at risk of loosing your credit and you as always be re-added.

tjtjking said:I called the CS and asked for the CLI, and they asked me wut's my job and wut's my position. Wut if I wanna keep it as a secret, wut should I do?

I wouldn't want to reveal my job either if they made me give up the letter h!! I need that one!!

If you don't want to reveal that information, there is no basis to offer you a CLI. They already know your SS#, Birth date, mother's maiden name, address, etc. What else are you trying to protect? Give them the info.