DiabloD3 said:Glitch99 said:The correct time to pay is prior to the statement generating - if your statement close date is 11/29, make sure the payment posts on 11/28. It reports the statement balance, so even if you pay it off the day after the statement generates it will still report the statement balance.

If that works, then I'm going to consider trying that. The problem is the bulk of my money comes in at the end of the month (anywhere from the 20th to the 25th), and at least Chase refused to let me set my due date that late in the month (currently everyone is set to 15-20th, giving me almost an entire month of float).You do realize the statement date has nothing to do with the due date? Just making sure....

Use your savings to pay off the daily use card, then when you get the cash use it to replenish the savings. You'll sacrifice less than $3 interest, but it will be well worth seeing what a zero balance will do for your score.

Okay, more likely, statement date + 1 month = next statement date. You usually only get 20 or so days after the statement to pay.

Here's the trick. Log into your Amazon account on Chase on line. Look at old statements. Look at the date each month that the statements are generated. Try to pay the card (for the FULL balance, not just last month's balance) before that date next month. Then the card should report with a $0 balance.

Some older accounts will still have 30 days grace period. The push to twenty and twenty-five day grace periods is relatively new.

Bottom line - check your account and find out. It's not like it's a state secret.

No, pay before the statement date. Then your statement balance will be zero and this will be reported to the CRAs. If you payoff before the due date but after the statement date, the balance reported to the CRAs will be the statement balance not zero.

No worries. Glad we're on the same page - it's a very useful yet very little used trick.

DiabloD3 said:I know this is probably not going to help as much as I want, but I'm going to go after this WAMU Business card that WAMU has sent me like 5 offers for. 0% APR until Jan 2009, no BT fee. This will give me a lot more breathing room, in addition to freeing up the entire $1500 on the Sony card to balance out my total usage. I'm pretty sure I'll get the card because not only did they send me 5 offers in the mail for it, but I was also called on the phone AND emailed; they must really want me to have this card.

They didn't hit Ex for my other WAMU card, so they shouldn't hit Ex for this one. Wish me luck.Promotional mailings have nothing to do with approvals! You have scores in the mid-600s - you cant be 'pretty sure' about anything.

Why not WAIT until you pay off your Amazon card and see what happens to your score? It will only help, both with getting approved and getting a higher limit. How many times to you have to ride the apply-denied-apply-denied-apply-denied merry-go-round before you stop beating your head against the wall and actually fix whats wrong?

Good luck.

OH SWEET. Instant approval, $2,500k. I think thats the first instant approval I've ever gotten. All the rest were "we'll write to you in 30 days" or BS like that.

So, Glitch99, what are your comments now?

I think I can actually do the victory dance now: they pulled TU. Not only do I get the largest credit limit yet, I don't get penalized for it. Woohoo!

Wait, the Sony card is older than the Amazon card, don't close it. If you really love the Amazon card for purchases (or some other reward setup) then convert the Sony to that type of card. Then consolidate the newer-line Amazon in with the older-line ex-Sony. It's only a few month older, but every bit of age and good payment history helps.

Normally, I'd say closing a non-old card wouldn't hurt you that bad. In your case, your credit file is still kind of "thin", so it might be a knock. I call it and the upside of getting a larger CL a wash, you could go either way.

You probably cannot get a CLI from Chase on either card without a hard pull. Therefore I do not recommend requesting CLIs. It's just the app-denial-app-denial cycle again.

I do recommend using your WAMU biz card to pay down the existing balances (doublecheck the fees), and see if "hiding" those balances really improved your credit score, and if so, by how much.

DiabloD3 said:(ugh, I hate back to back posting in a thread)

Glitch99, Technologist, et al: I'm planning on merging my Sony card into my Amazon card in January so I have a $2500 Amazon card. Would the closure of the Sony card effect my credit badly even though my Amazon card is doubling in size? I will be asking for a CL on both simultaneously before hand so I might end up with more than $1000+$1500.Normally I'd say that with a thin file, having 2 aging accounts is better than one (one account with $2250 limit, one with $250 limit) because over time tha second old card will help offset the age of new accounts. But since the Chase card is still pretty new anyways, I'm thinking it wont make much difference either way.