A bit of potentially useful information: I just called Chase to reallocate CL from the two older Chase cards (Rewards with CL=$30K and SONY with CL=$15K) to the new Rewards cards that came with CL=$10K. CSR mentioned potential need to do a hard pull, but then when he did the math and came out with the total CL of $49K for the new card ($25K from older Rewards and $14K from SONY) he said that since the new CL is under $50K there is no need for a hard pull.

I could also use some advice: My checking account is with Chase. How likely will I get complications if I take the BT check that came with my new Chase Rewards and deposit it into the Chase checking account of mine? An alternative would be to open a free (no fee, no dd requirement) checking account in Wachovia (or use my wife's -- she's already jumped on the $50 offer)?

Also, has any one experienced any difficulties doing CL reallocation on CITI cards when resultant CL exceeds $25K? $50K?

CITI PremierPass card came in today (02/23, 10 days after). This one is not without a story either. Consider the following a heads-up for future PremierPass applications.

1) the paperwork does not say "credit line", it says "revolving credit line" ... and when I called to activate it said "no pre-set spending limit" ... I wonder what CITI is going to report to CRAs (high balance, 100% utilization?) ... well, this is my first card of this variety and it's kind of unexpected b/c I don't think T&C mention this nature of the card. Anyway, they gave me a pretty small "revolving credit line" of $6700 (given that this was #1 card in my AOR chronology)

2) the piece of paper the card came glued onto says "Your maximum balanse transfer fee is $250, not $75, regardless of contrary language in the accompanying document entitled "Card Agreement" (Card agreement ideed has "not more than $75" language). Also nowhere does the paperwork that came with the card mentions "there is no BT fee with this offer". In my conversation with a CSR she confirmed that all of these are true (looks like CITI is heading in the same direction as BofA with most of its current cards). I told the CSR that T&C that I looked at before applying DID mention "no fee with the offer above" (the "above" offer was CITI's standard 0% APR for 12 mos.). She replied that if I could fax a printout of that they will be able to apply "no fee" to this account of mine. T&C for PremierPass at cardoffers.com still has the "no fee with this offer" language, so I'll grab it from there ...

Thanks, auream. Hurting my scores is not one of the things I need right now ... I guess I'll
1) get bonus points after the first purchase
2) use the card for BT "laundering" (if CITI decides to close it -- so be it)
3) call and get retention points
4) call and convert into another type
in this very order ...

I'll also go read PremierPass thread(s) you referred to ... kinda curious how is this card treated when it comes to CL reallocation.

cyberkost said:Chase rewards card came in today (deferred approval, CL=$10K, nothing stellar it terms of rewards -- applied only to boost my overall CHASE CL and reallocation). One other thing, following WashWest101 and WalStMonky advice/experience with PNC card (thank you guys!), I called PNC before going to work to ask to increase the CL (I was initially granted only $8K). CSR asked me what number would make me happy and I said $20K (perhaps even somewhat conservatively given those before me were able to jump from $8K to $24K). When I checked the card online shortly before lunch it was already showing $20K CL (I will check if a hard pull was involved tomorrow morning -- I hope not, since the CSR did not ask for my full SSN). BTW, has anyone succesfully added PNC credit card to Yodlee Money Center?

Wanted to provide some additional information I learned about PNC Bank a few weeks ago.

I had just applied for the PNC Bank Select Rewards Visa Platinum Card, but only received a credit limit of 3k. So when I called to activate I asked about a CLI. I was given the phone number for the underwriting dept, which was closed, and advised to call back the next day.

I called, and asked about a CLI, offered to fax in documents, etc, and pretty much went for broke. I was told that the max CL they will give is 25% of your annual income, as stated on the application. Needless to say that is quite a bit more than the initial 3k they gave me. No docs required, and also NO new hard pull! They said they would review the report they pulled for during my initial application again and I would receive a written response in 7-10 days. Pretty cool. I got a letter from them about a week later saying that my request for CLI was denied due to not having 6 months of payment history, and then the next day another letter saying my limit had been increased per my request to 21k.

Ok, got the two AMEX cards yesterday. IN:NYC CL=$2K, Starwood CL=$2.5K. Tried the "AMEX CLI is on crack" button on IN:NYC (asked for CL=$24K), but no luck -- "we will let you know in 7-10 days". Cardoffers bonuses aside, AMEX is going to be pretty useless to me ... and, BTW, IN:NYC rewards program is worthless, even if you're a resident of NYC.

As I mentioned in the yesterday's update, Juniper denied me for too many recent inquiries. However, these suckers pulled EQ and TU (that's in addition to the TU pull on the day I applied). I'd have them blacklisted -- 3 pulls and no love whatsoever.

Great updates

I'd disagree with AMEX apps being a failure - 7-10 days won't necesarily mean a denial, as CLI on crack thread clearly shows. If you signed up for online access on those AMEX cards already, do check if the limits were already increased

cyberkost said:Just called State Farm (b/c I have not heard from them for over two weeks). They have denied my application ("could not verify your address" + "too many inquiries"). Sure, one is bound to have too many inquiries if suckers like State Farm or Juniper do 2 or 3 each without issuing a card. I guess I can summarize my appendix AOR as a complete failure (those AMEX CLs are laughable) and draw a lesson: stick to the plan (have a plan to begin with, making it a robust plan does not hurt either).

WashWest101 said:
That stinks. I am surprised that the couple of days between your main AOR and the appendix made such a difference.

Despite my "unhappy" avatar and a fairly cynical attitude to life, I'm staying in a fairly good mood about my AOR (maybe $11.5K from WaMu card showing as "pending" in my checking account play a role in that). It looks like for someone with the credit profile similar to mine 10 would be an optimal number of cards in an AOR (good CLs & rewards with a fairly limited number of inquiries). Also, I think, the banks have become smarter and they pull your CR right before making a decision, not when you submit your application (or, worse, they pull it when you submit your app. and then another time when they're close to making a decision). Apparently, the cost of doing multiple inquiries does not stop them. With that, the benefit of doing all of the applications within the same hour is much less significant (if it has ever been all that significant), IMHO, of course.

One other interesting thing: my TU score jumped up by 30 from yesterday, and EX also went up by 9. I also see my available credit dropping down to $5K on my CHase $49K card ... keeping my fingers crossed

I asked Discover for BT checks when activated the card. They came today. Called them and asked how I can use the checks. The CSR told me "pay bills, make a large purchase, deposit into your checking account, etc." I mention that the last option was a total surprise to me and asked to clarify. She said "what's the problem? just write a check out to yourself for 100% of the CL and deposit in your bank". I thanked her and and said that I will not need the entire credit line, b/c it exceeds the remainder of the loan I'd like to pay off. Sounds like no "laundering" needs to be involved (this is in contrast with some other experiences).

skysurfer1976 said:cyberkost, thanks for the updates. What is your plan with the utilization rate of your credit lines? It seems that you are close to 80-90% with your Chase, BOA cards. Are you planning to do that with other cards?

I am planning 89% utilization on all my 0% cards, but I am fearing for the negative action. Wondering what's you take on this.

Well, initially I was planning to go for just under 90% on two largest CL personal cards (as well as on the CITI Business), and then trying to keep the overall utilization as low as possible, preferably below 50%. I see that what I'm doing now is somewhat more aggressive than that ...

Here's what I plan to do / already doing:
WaMu 11.5K/12.0K (BT/CL) -- it was their call (I plan to pay down to below 90% ASAP)
Chase 44.0K/49.0K -- this the largest personal line I plan to exploit the most
Discover 5.0K/6.0K -- their CSR advised me to go for 100% CL
CITI 25.0K/30.0K -- this is very tentative (I have not even reallocated the lines yet)
PNC 15.0K/20K -- also preliminary (I'm building $500 in purchases to get $50 bonus)
BOA ??? -- given my NEA situation I'm still undecided how to use BOA cards
AMEX -- don't plan to BT

So, it looks like (provided all BTs work out as planned) I'll start out at about 60% utilization
on personal cards (not counting revolving balances that are of the order $2K). From what I read, it's AMEX that's most prone to adverse action, but I don't have alot to lose with them. If you know of other utilization related things I should whatch out for, please let me know.