Originally Posted by
rajuabju
1) Dont be afraid of hard credit pulls. That said, dont accumulate 500 pulls. But having between 2-6 pulls, per year, is not something to fear.
2) I definitely recommend getting 1 card from each of the 4 majors, ie, 1 Visa, 1 MC, 1 AMEX, 1 Discover (yes, yes, even Discover).
3) Consider joining a credit union
4) Assuming you are not about to purchase a home or car, the more cards you accumulate now, the better. So by the time you're ready for a big ticket purchase, you can show a lengthy credit history on numerous lines. I'd suggest visiting one my favorite websites ever,
http://www.freefrequentflyermiles.com and check out a huge list of other annual fee free cards to choose from
5) DONT carry a balance. Ever. Period.
Getting an Amex at 23 might be hard, especially if you managed to avoid student debt and car loans in college like I did. I'm 30, have had an MC credit card for 12 years and a Visa for 5 years with perfect payment history, 770 FICO, and I was still shot down recently for the Citi personal Amex with the 75k AA bonus miles due to not having a "diverse enough" credit history. All I had was 2 credit cards on my CR, they wanted to see additional types of debt like loans or mortgage. Not a platinum card either, just the Citi Select AAdvantage Amex.
I guess I'd suggest diversifying your credit history beyond credit cards with a loan or mortgage. At least if you want an Amex.
Not sure I'll ever be able to get an Amex since I hate loans and like renting, at least not a Citi AAdvantage Amex.