Based upon how we played with numbers over at CreditBoards, you will want to let one report with about a two dollar balance. That was what we determined to be the 'sweet spot' for maximizing score. This presumes there are no negative items on the report...if there was any sort of a derog, then clearing that up becomes a priority.

I have several cards that I may make two payments on in a given cycle, with the first being at least the minimum due if there was one for that particular card. The other will be timed to post the day before the statement cycle closes and will zero out the card.

I don't use the auto pay feature on any of my credit cards, I like to make payments manually so that I stay aware of things. I just got an email from citi saying that if I use auto pay for 3 months I get $50 credited to my account. I wonder how many other cards offer stuff like this. I will use autopay for 3 months before switching back once I get the $50.

I'm trying to think of the incentive for this. I can think of three. One, makes people more likely to pay their debts. Two, makes people not check their credit card purchases which could have fraudulent charges which result in more money for the credit card company. Three, makes people less aware of their spending which results in more spending and more balances being carried over.

Either way, I was excited to be gifted $50 which is about half a days work for me post taxes.

Free money is always nice. Ultimately you are welcome to do whatever works for you obv, but imo it's pretty silly to not have auto pay set up. You can still keep the same eye on your accounts when you have auto pay on. And it's not worth the risk of you forgetting something or even something else outside your control happening. Like what if you end up in the hospital for a few days and miss it or something. Why risk it? You can still manually pay it ahead of time if you want to for some reason but should still have auto pay there to back you up just in case.

Thanks, I let my new Savor card post $2.06.


My rating through my Wells Fargo app showed a 20 pt decrease this month, only thing that changed was it said I'm not exhibiting managing a revolving account. I think I'll rotate which card posts a hamburger each month.

Most people probably autopay the minimum.

Which score model is being used by the app? Most of the banks giving a score actually do seem to use a Fair Isaac model, often FICO8 in the bankcard model. But, there are some that use FAKOS, to include Vantage Score, none of which are actually used in the decisioning process. If it is not a FICO score, then be sure to treat it as entertainment value only...

I have a couple bonuses going for a few cards. I have a PNC card where if I spend $1000 in 3 months I get $150. My Fidelity card says if I spend $1500 in 3 months I get $150. These bonuses were only listed in the sign up phase, but after receiving pamphlets in the mail there is no mention of them. Is this normal?

How do I make sure I get the bonuses when the 3 months pass?

Just fyi bonuses like that are generally not worth going after until you are over 5/24. 5/24 is the chase rule that only allows you to get 5 personal cards in the past 24 months to be approved by chase. There are many bonuses worth 500+ that you are better off trying to get first before small ones like these.

In regards to your question there is not always mention of the bonus in the mailed pamphlets. Those pamphlets are usually just info about the rate/terms and conditions of the card and stuff like that. If you want to make sure the bonuses are attached you could call the banks and ask them to make sure. Otherwise once you hit the min spend the bonuses should hit after your next statement closes and if they don't than you could call then and inquire about when the bonuses will be put in your account.

I have a good credit score - like 780, but I 'm curious why it's not over 800 (seems like it's plateaued). I might have a payment late by a day every so often - is that enough to keep me below 800? Otherwise, I rack up about $1600-1700 in credit charges each month over 2 cards, always pay off in full, pay car payment on time, etc. I think I have one open card with zero balance I never use. Could that hurt me?

at this point I don't think it matters, there are some minor considerations as of total number of open/closed accounts average length of open accounts etc to push it over 800

a zero balance card should have no bearing on your credit score

Whats your total outstanding limit for that 1600-1700 in charges? Your utilization rate might be too high.

I hover around 780 as well, when my utilization comes in at 2% instead of 4% I get closer to 800. Spiked over 800 in one short period where I refinanced my home loan and score reported the previous loan closed before the current one reported open.

Late payments aren't put on your credit report until you're 30+ days late. 1-2 days will only get you late charges. You probably just need longer average age of accounts and lower utilization. You can help both by NOT canceling your unused credit card. You can decrease utilization by finding out when your credit cards report (not necessarily correlated to your billing cycle) and paying them off before then, and/or increasing your credit limits, either by requesting increases in your current cards or opening new cards. Opening new cards obviously hurts your average age of accounts and requires inquiries, both of which might bring your score down in the short term, but if you keep the new accounts open forever they'll eventually help both utilization and average age.

There's no way that I'm aware of where it actually matters if your score is 780 or over 800 anyways. It's been awhile since I've gotten a loan but it's something like 750+ that you need to get the best rates.

This is a great thread and I thank all of you for your contributions.

When you receive the card you can call to activate it and ask the rep to confirm the signup offer. If you're really concerned, make a spreadsheet on the open date, the spend you need to meet, and by when, and then track it. You can also put in your spreadsheet the day/time you confirmed the offer with the rep and what their name was.

I have opened 100+ cards since starting this thread and have not had to chase a bank to give me a bonus I deserved yet, but peace of mind might be worth it.

It's most related to history and utilization. As others said, there's not much of a benefit besides the psychic one, but you'll get to 800+ eventually. I hover around an 820 now with nothing special imo, just low utilization and 5+ years average age of accounts. But I don't pay much attention to this. I let a maxed card report (prime day :/) and my TU dropped 69 points and my EF dropped 93 points! Next month they'll be back up to normal.

My limits for those 2 cards sums to $35K. But what about the card I don't use - does it's limit get put in the utilization calculation - or does it not get counted if unused for a certain period of time?

Still counts. Your reported total debt : total available credit is what you want to minimize.

Yep Still Counts, might be worthwhile to request a limit increase on those cards if you haven't in a while. But like others have said it really doesn't matter a whole lot.

I'm assuming each limit request is a hard inquiry?

I got two 15k cards in the last few months, which is plenty for now. My 12 year old account has gone from 300 to 500 to 750 to 1750 where it stayed for like 8-10 years, and within the last year went to 4750, all increases done automatically.

I have two cards, one 7 years old and one 4, with even smaller limits than that.


Im up near 800, now closing on my first house. CapitalOne simulator projects that mortgage will drop me 30 pts or so, and Im intending to take a personal loan after it closes. My hope is that the drop doesn't hurt the terms of the personal loan.

Can't take the loan until the house closes though. That whole process is strange to me.

I think it depends on the issuer, I've never gotten a hard inquiry on an AMEX limit increase or Capital One, but Citi gave me a hard inquiry once.

I believe they will let you know before you submit the request that it will result in a hard inquiry if it does.

There aren't many reasons that requesting a credit limit increase would be beneficial. Just get another card with another bonus.

Automatic credit increases are never a hard inquiry, only a soft inquiry.
When you request a CLI yourself it can be hard or soft depending on the relationship and the issuer.

Credit limit is largely tied to your stated income, so if you're making more now than you were 8 years ago, you should update it (if you want bigger limits that is).

Yeah, I'm aware there are better deals, but Credit Karma has been giving me poor odds for some of those greater deals. My credit score is around 681 according to Discover's FICO score. In 2016 I missed 3 payments which will stay on my record for 4 more years.

I was denied the Blue Cash Everyday from American Express. Quite a few applications didn't accept me because of "serious delinquency".

I was approved for PNC bank 4% off on gas card, Target Red card, and Fidelity. Mostly all of my cards have been low credit limits such as $500 or $1000 probably due to my lower than average income. Fidelity gave me $10,600 for some reason which is really nice for my utilization.

I have a total of 7 credit cards right now, most of which are fairly new. I have already passed the 24/5 rule so too late now for the chase deals.

My sister was telling me recently that if you don't use a credit card it can hurt your score. This is a myth right? I hope so, because I have a Kohls credit card from way back and I only used it once.

I imagine having a great credit score would be very beneficial for a real estate investor.


Quick question:
What is more important to credit bureaus? Longest age of credit or average age of credit?

yes, your sister is wrong.
most people are wrong about CC stuff

see the first page for what is the most important

I couldn't find it on the first page. On Credit Karma, Length of Credit is calculated on average age. On Discover.com, Length of Credit is calculated on oldest account.