Just a follow up to this, I have a bunch of inquiries as well since starting this thread, here is my CK score history:

JL, sick graph! :P

I'm running way over EV though

Garphs ITT

JL i think we have almost exact same CK scores. My inquiries are super low though, only 6 on my report ATM.

Thanks JL, judging by your graph I assume it will rebound and then some based on additional credit. But I didnt think about how they calculate length of credit history. So if I had 3 cc opened 10 years ago, then I opened up 3 last month, does that make my history 5 years old?

I know that's how credit karma calculates it at least.

You got 3 dings here, all in the age basket:

Avg Age
New Accounts
INQ's

The damage done by new accounts and INQ's is lessened at 3 months, again at 6 months, and stops counting against your score at 1 year. Avg Age is one of many factors in Age, there's only so many points to lose there, and those are easily made up by other factors.

By building a thicker file, you are now building more payment history every month, a much more important factor than Avg Age. All else being equal I'd guess your score will rebound in a year, or less, and then you have a much better, thicker credit file. If you carry balances these new accounts will help your score big right now.

It can't change how long your history is, your history goes back to your first ever account that is still there (not closed and aged off).

But your average age of accounts works the way you suggest, and that is a determinant of your score.

had a credit report pulled from 2 different bureaus when applying for a loan this weekend. One was a 717 from I forget which agency and the other was an 803 from Equifax. Why would scores differ by so much?

Pull your free reports from them and find out. They shouldn't differ by that much. Perhaps EQ has a loan or cc with a really long history that TU is missing. Or maybe TU has a collections account shown that EQ doesn't. Scores shouldn't differ by that much.

Or if in your area all the companies pull from a single bureau, the inquiries stack up and can hurt one score more than the other. My Experian score is lower than my others due to this, everyone pulled EXP in NY.

I do have sizable student loans. Is it possible that one includes those and the other doesn't and that is affecting my debt ratio to a degree this large?

do cc companies know ppl bonus whore like crazy? does it deter us from getting approved down the road?

Anybody have an luck converting a joint account to single owner? I have an account open since I was 18 that was joint with my mom (emergency credit while in college) and I'd like to keep it open since its my oldest account by far. I called and asked to have my mom dropped but they said they couldnt do it and I'd have to close it and apply for a new one, which defeats the purpose of having it. Its not a huge deal and I much prefer keeping it joint than canceling it, but it just seems silly being an adult and having an account with my mom.

I've been dormant for a while on cards but am looking to get a new one, as I have some decent expenses coming up. Any suggestions, JL?

I have finished the Chase trifecta (Freedom/Ink/CSP) and have the SPG Amex and Cap One Ventures.

Thinking about getting the Barclays Arrival card with 40k miles signup bonus, but I missed the $1k spend in 3 months and now it's up to $3k. Still doable, though.

I could not, for the life of me, get the AMEX Blue Cash Preferred $250 signup bonus, which I would like to get as I have a hole for supermarkets bonus spending.

It depends if it was actually a joint account or not. Joint accounts are not very common. It's more likely that she opened the card and added you as an authorized user, in which case you're not going to be able to "boot her off". You could ask to update the primary contact to you, you could ask to have the address changed to your address (unless you still live w/ her). No one has to know its an account w/ your mom but you.

Well first, I need you to explain what you mean you couldn't get the BCP? Secondly, what are your goals? Do you have or want travel coming up? Do you want a solid cash back card?

Couldnt get the BCP $250 sign up bonus that was available recently. Couldnt get it to come up on creditcards.com

Probably cash back, as I have almost 250k chase UR and no upcoming travel plans. Hoarding points as I just had a kid and saving for family trips in the future. Ill take anything that has good value though.

Keep in mind that any kind of points you're saving for a long time could lose their value. There have been quite a few devaluations in the past year. UR points probably won't be devalued anytime soon, or they will keep the 1pt=1cent trade in at the very least.

You could do some kind of cashback and stash that money in a savings account, or some other investment vehicle, and whenever you want to take a vacation, use that money then.

If you don't already have a Discover IT card, you should get that (especially if you can get a good cashback bonus). It has NO annual fee, and it has rotating 5% cashback categories like the Freedom. CITI Dividend Platinum Select has the 5% rotating categories as well. Currently a $100 signup bonus with only $500 spend needed.

I got the IT card with $150 bonus, but it doesn't look like that is available any more, making it worth a lot less.

The reason I mention those cards is that I get 5% CB on almost all my purchases. I use manufactured spend to meet spending requirements for bonuses. It sometimes is a pain to carry around lots of CCs, but getting 5%CB on almost everything I do adds up very quickly compared to 1-2% you could get with only one card.

Or if you don't want to deal with cc juggling, you could get the Fidelity Amex or the Arrival World MC. Either of those are good 2% choices.

That's weird not getting Blue cash preferred, but having all those others. I got BCP as one of my first cards and still can't get the better Cap One and Chase cards. Amex also approved limits waaaay higher than any of my other cards.

i recently got the IT card with no bonus through Discover. I did however get $20 through a referral. 5% rotating is nice to match with Chase freedom and i may look into that 5% rotater issued by Citi

You missed some capitalization dog...

Oh I didn't mean I got denied for it, I just couldn't seem to get the $250 signup bonus that was floating around for a while. There may be a Amazon Prime bonus right now, but I already have Amazon Prime.

I'll look into the Discover IT card and the Fidelity AMEX cards, but not too keen on Discover cards in general, as they aren't accepted at a lot of the restaurants I go to (mom and pop shops), so the 5% restaurant bonus is not as good as it would seem. I don't own a home, so Home Improvement would be near nil for me (don't really want to do a gift card play with it either).

I see, I thought the Amex signup bonus was static. I guess just keep a lookout on fatwallet and wait for it to come back.

It's definitely not static, at least not the $150/$250 one.

I think you're right that I'm just an authorized user. I've been getting the bills/emails sent to me as she's never used the account and stopped paying it after I graduated undergrad....but all the communications are addressed to her. I'll try to become the primary user and just keep it how it is if they won't do that. Thx