Student seeking advice
 

Hey, everybody.

I've been wanting to get involved with travel hacking since first stumbling upon it around a year ago, and I've now just decided to throw myself into it. Mostly because I'll be studying abroad this summer in Ireland, and I thought this might be a good opportunity to start earning miles, that I might be able to accrue enough miles to get myself over there.

Now, I'm 21 years old. I've got some credit history, but not much. I've taken out 3 student loans, and I have a Macy's charge card that I've used only once over a year ago. I've never had a major credit card.

My credit score is 687. I'm still in college. I work part-time as an intramural referee. My yearly income is only between $1000-$2000.

From the reading I've done (here on Flyertalk, Frugal Travel Guy, etc.) I've heard that one of the "must have" cards is the Starwood Preferred Guest. I applied for it, but I was denied.

Is this because I've not had a credit card before? Is the Starwood approval rate not so good? Should I first get a card like the Capital One Journey card, build up my credit for a few months, and then reapply?

Or is the denial a fluke? Should I apply for a different card?

Mainly, I don't want to hurt my credit score with hard inquiries if there's no chance I won't be able to be approved for any cards.

Thanks for any help.

I'll defer to the experts in this forum for in-depth responses, but I can weigh in with a few things:

1) Under 700 score is a problem, especially when coupled with essentially zero income. Most of these cards are "premium" cards and they know that someone with your credit profile is not going to be spending any significant $$

2) Definitely need to build credit for more than a few months.... get a basic card to start, wait a few months and then get another basic card. It's going to take a while to build your credit.....

Don't you have a parent or a relative who can add you as an authorized (joint is even better) user to a credit card with a long (at least 5 years) positive payment history. That will help you get a good credit score. Also increasing your income will also be helpful. Good luck!.

I'm going to be completely honest, not trying to be rude. :)

You're not anywhere close to getting involved with this. It's going to take a multi year history with actual bank cards and the other problem is you student loans. Are you paying them currently? Or are they deferred? If you're waiting to pay until after college, your installment loans (3) are completely maxed out. The other problem is your income, most credit cards require a 15k minimum income.

Instead of concerning yourself with the points game, you need to build your credit with student cards now. You have a unique opportunity while you're in school to be approved for starter cards with most major banks. Build up some history, increase your income, and begin paying down the loans, then you might be in a position to apply for these cards in a few years. Right now you're just going to be wasting inquiries as you stated above. Check out creditboards.com and research the best ways to build a solid foundation for your credit history. This is going to stick with you for the rest of your life, so it's best to start slow and do it right.

There are still many other ways to earn miles/points so stick around and see what you can find and learn in the meantime.

Good luck! ^

As we said back in the day, "you gotta pay your dues." You might qualify for something now, but I guarantee you, it'll come at the expense of almost any good or great credit offer you might get three or four years from now. I know travel seems exotic now, but soon enough, you'll want to buy a car or a house or a condo. The credit you might get now for one trip might cause you to pay a higher interest rate for your car or house loan later.

Lots of the folks here have been able to take advantage of their long-standing credit history to get these cards and accompanying miles. Hardly any of us could have done this at 21. Build your credit. Join any frequent flyer program for an airline you fly on. Read the threads here and learn.

I know delayed gratification is a pain, but by the time you're 28, you'll have great credit and can take advantage of whatever offers are out there then. But looking for instant gratification now is like asking why you can't buy a $20 million house on the beach at Malibu. If you could do that now, you wouldn't be asking how you could earn points and miles off credit cards.

I did a quick internet search, and the best student credit card offer I found (meaning it earns at least some rewards) is the Citi Forward Card for College Students.

Earn up to 1,200 bonus ThankYou® Points
for paying on time and staying under your credit limit2
Earn 5 ThankYou Points for every $1 spent at restaurants (including fast food), books, music and movies;
1 point for every $1 on all other purchases2

Thank you points can be used to buy plane tickets or gift cards, and rumor has it you may be able to transfer them into American, BA, or Singapore miles soon. It won't help you for your trip this summer, but you will be helping your credit and earning reward points.

Make sure your statements have a small balance on them, pay your entire bill prior to the due date, and after 6 months you may start to qualify for better credit cards if your income increases (but probably not premium cards like SPG, not right away anyway). If one of your parents could add you to an existing American Express card account, it might help your credit sooner. But you should wait until you have better income before you even think about applying for more rewards credit cards.

I recommend you visit The Travel Abstract, and perhaps email him for tips. He is a college student, and he has managed to qualify for better reward cards.

Good luck!

TOTALLY agreed. Points of note:

1. Citi Forward (student version) is absolutely the right card. Amex Zync is also okay to start with (not always appropriate but one to consider).

2. See if your folks are okay with you as a secondary. If their card's an amex, even better. You DON'T have to do any spend on this card - you can stuff it in your wallet and forget it, essentially (well, don't forget entirely that it's there).

3. Any plastic you do have, pay off. This means link each and any card to a checking or savings of your choice and set up auto monthly deductions. Watch your account balance, of course.

4. Be Patient. If you pay off your balances, then the only thing standing between you and a 700+ score is time.

Choose a student card wisely
 

To add to what's been said, choose your student card provider wisely. I've heard references to an "American Express Blue for Students" Card. If you get this student card as opposed to another, you'll start your own track record with AMEX. Since you want to get a AMEX SPG card at some point, this may make it easier down the road. Reports are, that AMEX keeps your oldest date, so 'member since 12' will apply to a card you get 10 years from now.

Citi would not be a bad move, if you plan to fly American and Chase for Southwest or United.

Capitol One or FIA would be a non-flyer's decision.

Orchard Bank is known to issue cards to folks with less than stellar credit records, but check the fees.

Even worse were cards issuers out there that would offer you (extreme example) $500 with a $129 annual fee due immediately, plus a $79 monthly account activity fee and severe over-the-limit and late payment (bill due 7 days after close, before the post office could deliver it) charges. Just opening the card would nuke your finances back to the stone age. The CARD act killed some of this off, but you still need to read the fine print.

The other reason to take care, is the cards you get today will be the older ones on your credit report, so you will be less likely to cancel them.

Finally, don't shotgun out 10 apps at once. Each ap may ding your score by a few points, but 10 dings all at once could ding your score hard.

Pick a card you want, and try and get it. If you aren't successful, wait a few months. If you are successful, wait at least 6 months before trying again, and in the mean time, use that card and pay it off on a regular basis. Pre-paying can be important, but only when you are actually applying for credit, so around month 4 of 6, start to pay down the balance before the closing date.

If you are going overseas, watch for FOREX[1] charges if you use the card there, and I think even if you get a card with car rental protection, Ireland is one of those places where it doesn't apply. Some card issuers (Citi?) get nervous when you are overseas, and may turn your card off. So let them know, and have the customer service numbers handy (Skype may be your friend here, if they are US 800 numbers)

[1] FOREX: Foreign Exchange: FOREX charges are an extra few percent you pay for using your card overseas. Some cards exempt this, but most don't.

When did you apply for the SPG Amex? I would wait at least 90 days to apply for something else - it sounds odd but if you look like you are burning to establish new credit, with your limited credit history Chase could easily deny you.

If I were you, AFTER 90 days, I would try to apply for the Chase Freedom card. It has no annual fee, and in another year or two if you establish good payment history and nurture your credit you can apply for the sapphire card and transfer points to airlines and hotels. I think the Freedom card is easier to get than many other cards (though I cannot say for sure) and Chase reconsideration is fairly forgiving. Also, it would be better than just going and applying for another AMEX after you just got denied by them.

You definitely need a free, no annual fee credit card that you can keep forever to help your credit score.

Amex is great, but not accepted in many small businesses, medical facilities, or internationally. I would want a Visa first, or maybe a Mastercard. After at least 6 months with a Visa, I would apply for an Amex Blue card to start building a credit history with Amex.

A no foreign exchange fee card would be great for your travel plans, in which case you would want to read this thread and consider cards from credit unions or a student card from Capital One, but you would not qualify for most cards that give both rewards and no foreign exchange fee.

I wouldn't risk applying for the Chase Freedom card yet, I doubt you would qualify yet. The safest bet is to start with a student card.

For no foreign exchange fee, I'd recommend the Capital One Journey Student Card. For rewards, I would recommend the Citi Forward Card for College Students.

Citi Forward (5% restaurant, bookstores, amazon.com), Chase Freedom (5% rotating and all around awesome), and Discover More (5% rotating) are all great beginner cards with no annual fees

Wow, thanks for all the great advice and card recommendations, everyone. I'll be sure to email the Travel Abstract, as well, to see if there's anything he would add.

Perhaps until I'm ready to jump into the credit card arena, I'll bide my time by collecting points through all those offers to watch videos and whatnot. Don't know how many points I'll be able to earn, but it'll be a good start. Surely there are some resources for people who want to earn miles but don't want to do so through credit cards?

And I'll keep reading FlyerTalk to make sure I know what I'm doing when my credit is ready. Speaking of that, when will I know that my credit is ready to start applying for these premium cards? When my score gets up over 700 and I have an income of over 15,000?

I have to disagree with most people here. I am also 21, a student. I have a part-time job which nets me around 20k a year. I have a credit score of around 700. I also have student loans, and only around 3 years of credit (with a Citi Forward card, coincidentally).

This past week alone, I applied for both the Chase Sapphire and the British Airways Chase (100k targeted sign up bonus). Even though I was initially denied, after a call to the reconsideration line, I was approved, with a 5k limit each. Not to mention 100k Avios and 50k UR points.

There's no reason these cards would be detrimental to me in the long run, as long as I pay them off every month, which is the plan. It should in fact help me, as I understand the debt to credit ratio is a big part of one's credit score.

I'm not suggesting the OP should try to apply, definitely the income requirement is not met. But age and student status is no obstacle to getting the same cards executives at big corporations can get. I might not roll in the points through purchases, but the sign-up bonuses alone are more than worth it.

Although you are the same age, that's about all you have in common with the OP. You're monthly income is 10X as much as his and your history is 3x longer. You have a 700+ credit score

We were just giving friendly advice to nurture your credit score before trying to rake in all the big bonuses. It may take a year, but it'd be well worth it in the long run

This is probably a dumb question but I didn't want to start a new thread thats essential the same topic, so here it goes...Are the cards that you mentioned ok for beginners that aren't students? My GF has a 690 credit score, good job, but has never had a credit card of her own. She has been an authorized user on her parents cards for years and her mom co-signed on her car loan which is almost paid off, but she was denied for the regular Chase Sapphire card. She wants to get a CC, but doesn't want to take another hit on her credit w/o getting approved. With these credentials, what do you think the best card options for her. She'd like one with rewards but is realizing she might not be able to start there. thanks.