Howdy folks,
Before the beginning of the year, I really didn't care about credit in the least. However, I did recently decide that I wanted to open up a CC with decent cashback rewards since I usually put all my expenses on a no-frills credit card and pay the balance off every month. Figured I'd like to get a bit of money back in the process. I did a tiny bit of research and applied to the US Bank Cash+. I was denied because of a too high debt-to-income ratio (I have a heavy student loan debt, though it's all in good standing).
That worried me, so my first course of action was to go back to my no-frills CC (My alma mater's alumni association MasterCard through BofA) to see if I could get a PC to the 1-2-3 rewards card. They were able to process that, but they deactivated my card on the spot and said a replacement wouldn't arrive for 3-4 weeks. Ugh!
I'm impatient and didn't want to be without a CC for a month, so I did a bit more research (largely on this forum), found out my credit scores, and decided to apply for the Citi DoubleCash card. I was nervous about another rejection, but I was approved with a $3600 limit! Success #1!
I wasn't planning on doing any other applications, but I was visiting my folks and saw a Discover mailer addressed to me with a nice APR range (10.99%-13.99%). I sat on that for a bit but finally decided to bite the bullet and apply--the APR and double cash back for a year sealed the deal. Before submitting, I saw the APR went up a bit (I guess the Prime Rate increased after the mailer came). But still not bad. I was approved, and surprised at the generous amount... $8300. By far my largest card limit!
If it's any help to others, or if anyone's interested, Cards that I already had:
Target REDCard with a tiny $200 limit, but the account's been open since 2008
BofA MasterCard that's now being PC'd to 1-2-3 Rewards ($1900 limit, open since 2009)
Amazon Prime Store Card ($3800 limit, open since 10/15)
And my scores: 794 Experian, 743 TransUnion, 783 Equifax
This community is great! Even though I've just been lurking, it's been a huge help. This site has taken me from totally uninterested about credit to mildly obsessed. I'm having a hard time restraining myself from doing more apps even though I know I really don't need any other cards yet.