mikex163

I would make that $1k after you make the spend.

flyer4512

Although I have never needed to move credit to get approved lowering the limits too much make it impossible should it be necessary to shift credit around to get approved for a new card.

Ritley572

But isn't the point of lowering your CL to make sure you don't need to shift credit around in order to get approved?

flyer4512

Nothing is for sure...............do as you wish with your CL..............simply lowering it does not guarantee approval.

I have never had to move credit around, others have had to do it several times GL

Ritley572

For those of you that have (or have had) a large amount of these cards. How long do you usually wait before cancelling older accounts?

flyer4512

I lower the CL to $5k when I activate the card. After I make the spend I lower the CL to $2K as I know longer use the card.. I cancel the cards ( except my oldest one) at about the 8 - 10 month mark.

LWT3

You think lowering to $1K is a mistake but $2K is smart. Seems like splitting hairs.

There's obviously a trade-off. Citi's computers can spit out one of three answers: yes (auto approval), no (auto denial) and maybe. Maybe means a human looks at your file. If you lower your CL to a very small number, you maximize the probability of ending up in the yes column. But if you end up in the maybe column, having some credit limit to move might come in handy.

In the current environment I prefer to maximize my chances of avoiding human review, but that doesn't mean I think it's a mistake to hold some CL back. Everybody should do whatever they're most comfortable with.

flyer4512

Not really, from what I understand the minimum credit limit for any Citi Hilton Visa is $1000.

So if Citi says you can't have the card and all you have is one Citi card open with a $1K CL there is no credit to shift in order to get the new card.

All of my data points are just that..........data points. Anyone is free to do what they wish as far as applying for cards and lowering CL's

I just got HH Visa card # 18 and have never even had to go to recon so I must be doing something right.

GL

Ritley572

Thanks for the help. I have to wait the 6 months for my recent inquiries fall off my report since I've had so many and that was the main reason I needed to escalate to executive offices. Because of that I'm going to keep my CL up and actually use it at grocery stores to supplement my OBC and Surpass cards til the 5 month mark is up. Then I'll lower, have it at the lower CL for that month and apply for a new one. That seems like the best plan of action for myself right now.

muji

Would a credit pull be done by the issuer to accomplish this CL lowering?

flyer4512

Just be aware there is a good chance that come 6 months from now this card is only churnable every 18 months.

I just got approved with 8 apps in 6 months so as others have said the rule is not set in stone.

GL


Why would they pull your credit to LOWER your credit limit ?

mikex163

No. Just send a Secure Message via the website and in a few minutes it's done.

txflyer77

I've never gotten a hard pull from lowering a Citi CL.

LWT3

Your history of never having had to go to recon isn't relevant to whether it will help you in recon if you offer to move $1K from card #17 to a new app for card #18. That's the question here. You think someone with several HH cards open who gets sent to CSR review will be in good shape if they can offer to move $1K of credit limit to a new card. I'm picturing the conversation going like this -- CRS: "I see you have 5 open cards and you've opened and closed another dozen accounts with us in the past. Why should I approve your next application?" Cardholder: "I'm willing to move $1K from one or more of my existing sock-drawered cards. Will that help?"

I lower my limits to $1K, and I've never had to go to recon either. That's not proof that my strategy means I won't ever have to call in for approval, and it's not proof that retaining a limit of $2K is a mistake. I just don't think your strategy will be a big ace in the hole if you ever do end up talking to a CSR.

But all kidding aside, I have a ton of respect for anyone who has gotten 18 of these. I was late to the game and I'm on #5 for me and #4 for my wife. With the Exec cards we've gotten a million miles, which is decent but nothing like some of the serious players. I am not a leader, and I tip my hat to folks who have done this much better than I have. You are in that category.

muji

Earlier this week, when negotiating to get a credit card approval, the agent said that he could not shift credit from one account (which has a very high credit limit) to accommodate a new account opening. Instead I had to close one account to accommodate opening a new account.

During this conversation he mentioned that I could separately (e.g., at a later date) lower the high credit limit but that this would involve a credit pull. I wanted to determine if that is generally true, or if the agent was mistaken.