24 Looking to build Credit... What are some good tips on your first Credit Card

[dam itz lou]

^If you start out with slightly below average credit (missed a few bills that went to my moms house and she never told me I had em despite opening the mail) how long till I get these type of offers.

Can someone explain to me how air miles work? Once I have money to travel again I will def grab a great air miles credit card. That one with the $99 a year charge sounds fantastic (if air miles work the way I am picturing them to)

So how do you claim them? Just say "hey i earned 15k air miles, wheres my free trip to Singapore?"

Basically think of it like this, 1 point/mile = 1 Cent.

Some points are worth more than others because of their transfer partners. The best points to earn are Citi thank you, Chase ultimate rewards, Amex membership rewards, SPG, American Airlines, etc.

Option A

You can redeem your points through the banks travel site at 1.25 cents per point. A $625 flight will cost you 50K points.

Option B

You transfer the points you've earned with your credit card to an Airline or Hotel program. This is what most people do because you can get alot more value from your points.

For example, I looked up a flight from NYC to Tokyo in December. It would cost you $2600 cash but wiith miles, it would cost 50K. This is really low so i'm assuming its low season. You'd be getting a value of 5.26 cents per point.

Sometimes It might even be better to pay for the flight to earn the miles. For example, A while ago I saw flights to Miami from NYC for $87 on AA. I have the citi prestige card which gives me 1.6 cents per point towards AA flights. The flights would of cost me about 5K points. I have platinum status with American Airlines which gives me a 100% bonus on miles flown. It's about 2200 miles to Miami and back so I would of earned 4400 miles on this trip. When you book your travel through the banks website, they treat it like a payed ticket so youre able to earn miles on it. It would of cost me only 600 miles so $6 bucks for a round trip ticket to Miami.

Checked my credit score...
752-764
currently have a visa thru Banana Republic
looking for a card with better rewards, what would be my options?
still fairly new to credit

I'd get the Citi premier card or Chase Sapphire preferred. Check out their bonus categories and see what works for you.

 

[capital sb]

I havent tried it but I have two friends who used to work for credit card companies. They told me every 6 months you can ask for a lower interest rate. We didnt get into any details about wether or not they will give it to you.
does this come with every discover card? will have to look into discover for the next card.

It looks like all discover cards come with the free FICO TU score. https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/free-fico-score/?ICMPGN=HDR_ALLPS_CC_FICO

Capital One is a FAKO to whoever recommended cap 1.

 

[HankHill]

What does Citi use? They provide me with a FICO score monthly.

 

[capital sb]

What does Citi use? They provide me with a FICO score monthly.

It is a FICO, Citi uses Equifax FICO Bankcard Score 8 model.

 

[bigpat630]

I have that credit tracker with my capital one card.

 

[polosanddunks]

I have that credit tracker with my capital one card.

Its bogus. My **** is 90-100 points lower than its supposed to be on there and I checked every scoring model and none of them are anywhere near that fako Cap1 score.

 

[sunshineblotters]

My cap one fake score is 591. I can't imagine my real fico score being 681.

 

[bigpat630]

Its bogus. My **** is 90-100 points lower than its supposed to be on there and I checked every scoring model and none of them are anywhere near that fako Cap1 score.

So I can assume my credit score is higher than what I see?

 

[capital sb]

So I can assume my credit score is higher than what I see?

It is for a fact. Cap One uses fake scores, your real score is atleast 30 points higher.

 

[bluntobject50]

The free FICO scores can be all over the place. Both Citi/Discover provide mine. Per Citi I'm at 842. Per Discover I'm at 817.

 

[sunshineblotters]

So at least I know I'm in the 600s

The free FICO scores can be all over the place. Both Citi/Discover provide mine. Per Citi I'm at 842. Per Discover I'm at 817.

That's because there is more than one Fico model.

 

[bluntobject50]

So at least I know I'm in the 600s
That's because there is more than one Fico model.

Yup.

 

[3miyasaki3]

Have a credit card from my bank. Never been late on payments and am looking for another card. Anything great out right now that I should apply for?

 

[capital sb]

Have a credit card from my bank. Never been late on payments and am looking for another card. Anything great out right now that I should apply for?

Depends on your needs.

 

[3miyasaki3]

Depends on your needs.

Honestly don't need another card but am wanting to build my credit. I have never been in debt and have no payments I need to make but definitely see the value in building my credit now.

 

[capital sb]

Honestly don't need another card but am wanting to build my credit. I have never been in debt and have no payments I need to make but definitely see the value in building my credit now.

You don't need to put yourself in debt to build credit, that is the #1 credit misconception.

Well before you just up and apply for a card you should get something that will benefit you now or in the future.

Would a cash back reward card , travel card / air fare , balance transfer card , gas/grocery card , or a card with free credit score tracking benefit you most.

I would start here, and figure out what card would interest you. http://www.nerdwallet.com/the-best-credit-cards

 

[slighted]

 
It is for a fact. Cap One uses fake scores, your real score is atleast 30 points higher.

Good to hear. I'm at 765, so your boy finna reach the pinnacle at 850.

But honestly, anything above low 700s is pretty good, right?

 

[sunshineblotters]

I heard because you get extra points from making your card fall below the 50% line that if you have a 0% APR card you should charge it above 50% just so when it drops under 50% there is a credit boost. Is there any validity to this?

 

[capital sb]

I heard because you get extra points from making your card fall below the 50% line that if you have a 0% APR card you should charge it above 50% just so when it drops under 50% there is a credit boost. Is there any validity to this?

Utilization causes the most fluctuation to your credit score. It has nothing to do with the APR of the card. For best scores keep total utilization under 30% and no more than 10% utilization on one card, keep all other cards at 0 balance.

 

[jjs]

Tip : NEVER cancel your first CC. It's the oldest credit use you have, it's what gives you your long credit history, which is important for your score.

Even if you get better CCs, use the oldest one just once every other months on small purshcases to keep it active. That way you keep the years of credit history on your bureau.

Cancelling your oldest card can cause your score to drop instantly.

 

[sunshineblotters]

Utilization causes the most fluctuation to your credit score. It has nothing to do with the APR of the card. For best scores keep total utilization under 30% and no more than 10% utilization on one card, keep all other cards at 0 balance.

I said to use a 0% card to prevent interest charges fam

How can I have 30% utilization if I have 10% on one card. That would mean I would have 10% utilization max. I have been going up to 400-600 (13-20%) on my 3k limit. I want to up it to 6-800. They say after 5 months cap one increases the limit on the quicksilver if you pay up on time. Anyone know by how much?

 

[capital sb]

I said to use a 0% card to prevent interest charges fam

How can I have 30% utilization if I have 10% on one card. That would mean I would have 10% utilization max. I have been going up to 400-600 (13-20%) on my 3k limit. I want to up it to 6-800. They say after 5 months cap one increases the limit on the quicksilver if you pay up on time. Anyone know by how much?

I heard because you get extra points from making your card fall below the 50% line that if you have a 0% APR card you should charge it above 50% just so when it drops under 50% there is a credit boost. Is there any validity to this?

Where in here did you state "prevent interest charges" ? You brought up extra points in which I assumed credit score, I don't know post was very vague.

It is a max of 30% total utilization throughout all cards sorry. Kind of 2 separate rules.

No more than 30% total utilization throughout all cards. For best scores only use only 1 card and carry a balance between 1-10% on that card and 0 balance on all other cards.

 

[sunshineblotters]

I didnt explicitly state that. Didnt think it was vague when I typed it. My fault.

Looks like I'll have to order my credit score and find another card soon.

 

[aychd]

I understand how using a credit card works.. My question to you guys is it like the more you spend with your credit card the higher your credit score will be? Or that doesn't matter? And this is assuming I'm paying my bill in full on time.

 

[$tatus $ymbol]

^^ The opposite. You want to keep your usage of total credit avail to you below 25-30% & pay in full on time every time.