SlimJr said:astrocase said:What income are you guys reporting? It has to be a couple hundred thousand dollars a year since I have a score of 780 or so and report $150K and only get $9-$12K CL. My max is $15K and that's after having the card for years.

Granted I haven't exactly pushed for super high CL but you guys are getting instantly approved for way more than I do.

I am in college, report 20K personal/60K household, and my last card gave me $10K to start and I have had a card for two years and it is at $12K. Maybe you are just choosing not to be aggressive (which is your own personal choice).

Yeah, I got that in college too and I was making less than you. I'm wondering more about these guys getting twice as much or more though. $27K for example.

SlimJr said:astrocase said:SlimJr said:astrocase said:What income are you guys reporting? It has to be a couple hundred thousand dollars a year since I have a score of 780 or so and report $150K and only get $9-$12K CL. My max is $15K and that's after having the card for years.

Granted I haven't exactly pushed for super high CL but you guys are getting instantly approved for way more than I do.

I am in college, report 20K personal/60K household, and my last card gave me $10K to start and I have had a card for two years and it is at $12K. Maybe you are just choosing not to be aggressive (which is your own personal choice).

Yeah, I got that in college too and I was making less than you. I'm wondering more about these guys getting twice as much or more though. $27K for example.

Wow, so you were getting 10K in college and had 12K lines and now you are making $150,000 and you haven't gone up at all in initial lines and your max card only went up to 3K (by the end of this year my 12K card will be over that much). That is some terrible stagnation. I was hoping when I graduated my AoRs would go way up in float. How depressing that I've already peaked in college.

I'm sure I could call and get higher CL's for the cards I have. I'm more curious about the initial CL's. Discover for example just gave me a $9100 limit and refused to raise it. It could be because their offer was 12 Mo 0% BT w/ no fees, but I'm still surprised. My Sony Visa that I just got gave me $7500. I got $15K on my citibank card now that I think about it.

Either way, how are people getting multiple cards at almost $30K a piece? How do people get more than that?

SlimJr said:astrocase said:

Either way, how are people getting multiple cards at almost $30K a piece? How do people get more than that?

Why not read the thread dedicated to specifically doing that? Also, what does it matter (except for Discover) what the initial line is? One can scratch and claw to get an open account up to 20K, apply for a card with the same company and get 7.5K, reallocate 19K over to it, and go nuts with a higher limit than they ever would have gotten initially.

I have 2 citibank cards and a discover card that offer 0% BT's for 12 months with no fees. I'd love to have a million $ CL with that. I guess that's why I'm curious. Getting BT checks is the only reason I really need these cards. With fees, above 0%, and no BT checks issued...I don't need the card.

astrocase said:SlimJr said:astrocase said:

Either way, how are people getting multiple cards at almost $30K a piece? How do people get more than that?

Why not read the thread dedicated to specifically doing that? Also, what does it matter (except for Discover) what the initial line is? One can scratch and claw to get an open account up to 20K, apply for a card with the same company and get 7.5K, reallocate 19K over to it, and go nuts with a higher limit than they ever would have gotten initially.

I have 2 citibank cards and a discover card that offer 0% BT's for 12 months with no fees. I'd love to have a million $ CL with that. I guess that's why I'm curious. Getting BT checks is the only reason I really need these cards. With fees, above 0%, and no BT checks issued...I don't need the card.

Well if that is your reason why do only concern yourself with your initial credit limit and not pursue credit line increases? You state that you do not go after credit line increases yet you complain about how much credit line you have available for BTs. Reallocation is your friend.

There is a whole thread dedicted to credit lines >=$25K, why don't read it rather than going off-topic here?

I'm sorry, but if you have $150K in income and you can't get your BT eligible accounts over 15K then you just aren't trying.

astrocase: It is wierd indeed that you are not getting automatic CL increases. about every 6 months w/o me asking Citi says they reviewed my account and give me an automatic CL increase.

I recently spoke with Citi when I wanted to convert my 2nd Dividend card (which was converted from the discontinued AT&T Universal Cash Rewards card) to a Citi Professional. I was told I couldn't convert my 2nd Dividend to a Citi Professional because Citi Professional was a business line and Dividend was a personal line. Since I do have a business I didn't have a problem w/ that but I asked if Citi imposes limits on how many cards a person and/or SSN can have. The CSR told me no, as long as your credit and income meets the requirements for the card you can have as many cards as you want.

Citi credit lines are wierd and seem to be dependent on reward maxes more than my income and credit history. AMEX seems consistent. I only have 1 chase and 1 MBNA so not sure how various cards and CL's compare w/ these companies. I have excellent credit and for income I put around $250K (which is verifyable in case they want documents) between my wife and I. As you can see below for the cards w/ similar $300 reward max I have high credit lines. Then the card w/ a $1,000 reward cap they have a super artificially low credit line so it is hard to reach the $1K cap. I blow through the $300 cap on the other cards easily which is why I need more than 1 card.

All my initial credit lines were at least $12K many were $20K+ and every 6 months they automatically send me a sealed mailer (similar to the rebate checks where you tear off the tabs on 2 sides) stating they reviewed my account and have automatically increased my CL.

Citi Dividend #1 - $26K CL- $300/yr annual reward cap 1% everything/5% supermarket, drug and gas

Citi Dividend #2 (converted from Citi AT&T Universal Cash Rewards when the card was discontinued) - $25K CL - $300/yr annual rewards card 1% everything/5% supermarket, drug and gas

Citi Diamond Rewards - $22K CL - I don't use this card much since I prefer cash over points/gift cards. I got it because of the $100 gift card for your first purchase but I think the reward cap is $300 or $500/yr 1 point everything/5 points supermarket, drug and gas

Citi Drivers Edge Charter Platinum - get this $4K. When I got it I called and asked if this was a joke since all my other Citi cards had way higher CL's. The CSR said NO. I asked if they could increase my CL since I have other cards w/ them, have good income and excellent credit history and they can look up my payment history with them (always pay in full even when balances are over $10K that month, never carry a balance, never miss a payment) and they still said NO. When I applied for this card I was expecting it to make me some decent rewards since for the first year it was 1% everywhere, 6% at supermarket, drug and gas stations (for 1st year.. 3% after that), and I get a penny per mile I drive. You are allowed to earn $1,000/year combined for the purchase percentages (1% and 6%) and 50K worth of driving ($50 reward). This is why I think they artificially lower the CL, because you can earn a cap of $1,000 in rewards. It is hard to reach the $1K reward cap w/ only a $4K credit line.

Chase Cash Rewards - $20K - same tiers and cap as Citi Dividend

MBNA USC Alumni Association card - $27K - rewards go to university 1%

AMEX Costco True Earnings - $26K - 1% Costco/everywhere else/2% traveling/3% eating out - I think there is no reward cap.

AMEX Costco Blue Cash - $23K (tiered .5%, .75%, 1.5%).. i hardly ever use it.

AMEX Platinum Business - $25K (tiered different tiers for participating in network merchants and regular purchases)


We'll see what CL they give me for the Citi Professional Cash Card.

Raven, I like the mix of cards.

I am curious about the high number of deferrals (I had mostly deferrals too). Do you know your credit score? How long have you been at your current address or job? Mind if I ask the income you were reporting?

Additional suggestions:

- Considered applying for a second Discover? My Discover Gas app netted the cardoffers bonus + a surprise $20 CashBack + a 0% deal. Also, I wonder if there are any appealing MBNA cards out there...

- There must be some MBNA card out there worth applying for, too bad the Jets Nano expired. I see a couple with $50 statement credits, but the 0% BT fees are uncapped 3%... I'm a big fan of the Fidelity 1.5% card in general though. Maybe a Quantum?

- You might want to apply for a card from HSBC to see if you get a joke credit limit.

- Going to apply for any bank account bonii?

I haven't tried reallocation I was so shocked that they refused to raise the CL on the Drivers Edge that I got mad and hung up when they said no. I actually use and max out the $300 reward cap on my 2 dividend cards. Maybe I will try reallocation of credit line w/ the Diamond Rewards card that I don't use since I don't really like points that I have to trade for gift cards or merchandise type cards I want cash. Thanks for the suggestion.

I have a feeling they will allow reallocation of CL from other cards, but I still think they try to start you off low for people that didn't know, think of, or don't have other cards to reallocate. I was shocked when the CSR flat out told me NO and I couldn't request the increase online since it wasn't 6 months since I opened the Drivers Edge card yet.

Can somebody please tell me what AOR stands for?! I've tried google, FW, acronymfinder.com, and I can't guess what it is used for in this forum!!

TIA!

markkundinger said:Raven, I like the mix of cards.

I am curious about the high number of deferrals (I had mostly deferrals too). Do you know your credit score? How long have you been at your current address or job? Mind if I ask the income you were reporting?

Additional suggestions:

- Considered applying for a second Discover? My Discover Gas app netted the cardoffers bonus + a surprise $20 CashBack + a 0% deal. Also, I wonder if there are any appealing MBNA cards out there...

- There must be some MBNA card out there worth applying for, too bad the Jets Nano expired. I see a couple with $50 statement credits, but the 0% BT fees are uncapped 3%... I'm a big fan of the Fidelity 1.5% card in general though. Maybe a Quantum?

- You might want to apply for a card from HSBC to see if you get a joke credit limit.

- Going to apply for any bank account bonii?

Mark,

My credit score was 766 prior to yesterday; I have been at my address for 5 years; job 12 years; and reported a household income of $210,000. I purposely skipped Discover because they usually give me low CLs and have a BT fee. It's not worth the $40 through credit offers for the pull in my opinion. I also skipped HSBC as I got a GM Card with a $600 CL last year (waste of time). Thanks for the Fidelity tip; I just applied for the 2% 529 card. I may apply for some bank accounts after all of the CC applications are reviewed.

JohnGalt69 said:The reason your new CLs are low is because your existing CLs are low. Banks give new credit lines in large part based on your average existing CL. Logically, your existing CLs should be indicative of your need/use. If you bumped all your cards up to $25k, you would start getting new cards with $25k CL as well.

Not sure this is necessarily true. My top limit card until recently was an AMEX Blue ($16K - started at $7,500 and increased without request). Other cards were all in the $6,000 - $10,000 range. I recently did a pre-approved app for Chase Visa Signature and got $24,600.