AEsco48

From myfico.com my Equifax FICO score is 743

Two thing on my account that i have know for like 5 years is that i have 2 AMEX accounts that were opened in 1980...4 years before i was born. The good thing is it looks like I have these really old accounts in good standing. I checked with my parents when i saw them 5 years ago and they had no idea what they were, checked with AMEX with the account numbers and they had no idea either.... tried to get them removed but it was a PITA... and it was helping my credit score... so left them alone. But this recent credit report shows there is activity on the accounts... so it must be tied into my parents account some how.

What’s hurting your FICO® score:
1.amount owed on your revolving accounts is too high.
$7,000. $3k from my current citi credit card... never have carried a balance but my next payment is due the 18th so thats what they are seeing. and $4k from one of the AMEX 1980 acounts.

2. You've made heavy use of your available revolving credit.
This is the result of the two above accounts i guess
31%... this factors in the two accounts mentioned above and the Citi card..


What do you guys think?
Reconsideration letter? Wait 2 months and apply again for the AAdvantage card?

soitgoes

The score isn't bad (well above national average I believe). However, what's likely hurting you is the utilization level. It doesn't matter if you carry a balance or not. What matters is percent of available credit used, both overall and on individual accounts. Try to keep it below 30% by both measures, bearing in mind that some cards only report a "high balance" and not a credit limit--that high balance is used to calculate your utilization.

As for the old cards, are you an authorized user on you any credit card accounts? Those will often show up.

lifeandmylens

What is the limit on the citi card with $3k on it? Try to keep your balance as close to zero as possible. Paying before the statement cuts can help with this, if you're able/willing to. soitgoes is right, utilization is based upon your total utilization and also each individual account.

However charge card products that don't report a limit do not affect your FICO scores, they do however show up as a big balance on your outstanding balances and such. So manual underwriting will see them and ask (or maybe worry) about them. I recall reading a story once about how it works on credit.com and it says they take the highest balance and use that as your credit limit, however I think that has changed or was not true. I consistently have a balance on my personal amex each month and it never dings my score nor gets factored into my utilization. Here's some screens of what I mean:



That $49k is primarily from my amex charge card bill, the highest balance ever on that account was about $100k or so. So for me to still be at 1% utilization and like an 800+ score, I would need like 4 Million in available credit (that would be pretty sweet LOL).

As for the 'old amex accounts', if they are authorized user accounts, and are hurting your credit, you could dispute them with the credit reporting agencies and say they are not yours and to please remove you. However, an easier and probably better way would be to have your parents call their amex and have you removed.

AEsco48

The Citi card had a $11,500 limit, been close to maxed out a few times while traveling overseas for extended periods of time...

Always pay off the whole balance at least 2 biz days before.

I guess it would be hard to stop spending $ to lower the ratio... should i then raise my limits to effectivly lower the ratio?
The new Delta AMEX that i just got approved has a $11,700 limit... will that help?
So should I pay my credit card off every 2 weeks?

lifeandmylens

I would say unless you have a specific need to get your score higher, I wouldn't change your spending patterns or struggle or anything like that just for a score.

But if you want it higher, yes the new line will help with utilization - and it will help even more, score wise, if you split your spending between the two $11k limit cards.

Is the delta your first amex? If it is, you may take a slight hit for average age of accounts, but the additional utilization should balance it out. If it's not your first card, then it should report as opened when you first opened an account (a good thing).

AEsco48

I am not worried about my credit score... but i want to get the AAdvantage to get miles/point & > Milllion miles. Main 1st goal is to get Delta Medallion... then i can switch off between Delta & AAdvantage.

The Delta wont be the 1st AMEX... so ill keep my 29.8 years oldest account and well my avg was 13years...

lifeandmylens

Sorry I forgot we were on flyertalk

Well a couple things come to mind -

- 30k citi bonus aside, the SPG amex is actually a better way to accumulate AA miles since there is a 5k bonus on 20k transfers. But that 30k bonus is nice!

- If the 29yo amex account is an AU account from your parents, it may not show up as that date, more than likely it will show up as of now when you opened it. I hope I am wrong, but on my accounts, I've been an amex cardholder since 2000, my wife since 2005, all my amex accounts show 2000 even ones I just opened, but when my wife adds me on as an AU on her account, it does show up on my report, but only since 2004. Additionally, her report shows 2000 on the cards I have her as an AU on. But if she applied for a new card it would show as 2005 I believe. So I am not sure how it's going to work with the new Delta card.

- To get the best scores (which will help with getting new cards):
Keep inquiries down
Keep utilization down, to almost zero is best - but under 10% if you can

Regarding the new Citi, I have a feeling the Delta is going to take 3-6 months to establish a "satisfactory credit reference" like they asked for if in fact it reports as 2010 as open date.

AEsco48

How do I keep utilization down... cant stop paying bills or eating? Pay everything with cash?.... but then no miles... damn...

lifeandmylens

Not at all, in fact don't pay cash for anything where you have the option of charging it. I use my credit card for everything, even charges under a buck, I don't care what the clerk thinks of me My wife however laughs at me But doing that you just have to pay those charges off each month with the cash that you would have otherwise used.

Utilization - as far as credit reports and scores go it just means what percentage of your available credit you are using at the time of the reporting. So if your cards report the monthly statement balance and you are paying off your statement balance in full a week or two after it closes, it will always show a high utilization because that payment is not showing on your reports.

So you basically have to time your payments so that they are shortly before your balance gets reported. For me, that means paying off my balance in full a few days before the statement closes. Usually in those couple days I have a few charges that post (that I pay again after it closes) and those get reported, which is a good thing, it shows activity on the accounts, but small percentages of the credit line. Hope that makes sense!

But your scores/utilization don't seem to be the issue right now according to the citi letter - it's mainly the lack of tradelines, which the Delta card will help with. And it will also increase your limits, lowering your utilization.

AEsco48

How did you find out the day your accounts report their statements? Trial and error or did you call?

Thx

soitgoes

The balance as of the statement closing date is what is reported.

lifeandmylens

Mine are all from my statement balance, but I've heard some report on some random day of the month.

Regarding Citibank recon letter, you can fax it to 866-706-5137. I would attach anything pertinent that may change their minds, such as a paid in full credit card statement if it was reporting a balance on the CR, etc.

Also not relevant to your ordeal, but more my post about charge cards not affecting fico. It doesn't seem to affect myfico, but it does affect utilization when applying. Today I applied for the forward card for the 5% at restaurants and amazon and was denied because of my utilization ($50k outstanding balance is still reporting on my reports).

So I called 888-201-4523 and they told me what the problem was - the $50k balance. I told them that's a charge card that gets PIF every month and that it's paid in full right now. She said to fax in a copy of the updated credit report showing a zero balance. I said no problem, but it probably won't be updated for a couple weeks and could I send in an account statement showing zero balance from that card and she said yes that should work.

So I faxed it in, so we'll see if the 'recon' works. Otherwise I'll still fax in the updated credit report when it's available because I don't want to waste the hard I got on experian!!

AEsco48

gallardo... let us know how it goes with that card.

Going to do what you said about paying it in full right before the statement closes... cant hurt... will just take a bit of extra time to pay it off twice... Thx

This Mortal Coil

If arrogance and being a tosser factored in to their decision you would NEVER get credit..... anywhere.

AEsco48

I would agree under any other situation but in this one I was asked... I put what I thought was relevant and or could have made a difference... Should I have used bulllet pings instead?

Not to mention I figured I would be on the really low end for people who travel so much for work and pleasure.