Hey FT,

Been a long-time reader of this forum and manage my parents' CC sign-ups/spend. I'm seventeen, soon to be eighteen, and looking for any suggestions/experiences you might have on getting started with credit cards, particularly with an interest in utilizing them for this space...

Have already added myself on as Authorized User to all of my parents' cards and they've reported to all three.

Any personal stories from folks who grew up and passed the 18-year-old mark on FT? Or any other suggestions?

Cheers!

Chase Freedom seems to be the easiest to get of the cards that are well regarded in the points/miles world. I would app for that one, and if approved, maybe test the waters on a higher status card to see how CC issuers view your credit worthiness. CSP is what I was thinking, but 2 Chase cards close together isn't a great idea. Maybe Barclays Arrival / US Airways? Or Amex EDP / PRG?

Many thanks. How closely/far apart should I be applying for these?

From the time I was 16 to 18, I had a US Bank credit card (basic card, no rewards) that my parents co-signed with, and when I turned 18, I applied for an Amex card (Clear) and got instant approval. Not necessarily a suggestion, but just a data point that applying for an Amex card might be a good option too.

Any other suggestions for how to build after getting the card(s), should I apply for two on my 18th birthday (two browser trick?!) - any other suggestions?

Are you located in both LGA and YYZ?

Take the time to educate yourself about building an excellent credit profile. Don't rush into getting credit cards. A mistake when you have little or no credit history could cause problems for years to come.
Be sure that the first card(s) you get are ones you will want to keep long-term. At this of the game you need to slowly, but surely build a credit history.
Look at no-fee cards to start with.

Yes! I'm a US and Canadian citizen... addresses in both countries. Suggestions for Canadian credit building, as well?

Agree completely - which is why I created this thread! Any suggestions for a card I could be approved for on the 18th bday and would be good to keep long-term? Any suggestions on when to apply for the next card?

Cheers.

Any additional thoughts, folks?!

second this. you gotta start building before you can really churn. sounds like you've been reading about credit, but 2bm might be a little too fast given that you have no history outside of AU + i dont know what AU cards they are (if amex, that would be much better due to the backdating) + no idea what your income is.

i didn't start at 18 but i started with piss poor credit (always used the family biz card so no actual history under my report). apping with limited credit history will probably result in a denial for cards like CSP and even Chase Freedom.

honestly, i would give you basic credit building advice and app for a basic store card like macys or the gap, or maybe even the Amex Everyday. i would also probably try for a barclays US air if it's still around, because 1.) it's a limited offer and 2.) TU credit pulls don't really matter and 3.) if you get denied, they'll usually tell you your credit score. you probably won't be able to get it because barclays sucks and I think the minimum credit limit is 5K IIRC, but recon works wonders if it is an actual credit report issue (as opposed to churners getting denied for 2nd/3rd/4th US cards).

consider looking at creditboards and seeing what people with limited but not bad credit are getting approved for as well.

I'll second the suggestion to start fairly slowly. Besides, it always seems slower than it actually is, anyway. Even if you're churning through 18-20 cards a year which is ot where you are right now, it always seems slower than it actually is.

To compliment that, keep records. Really good records. At a bare minimum, every card you open, the date it was opened, the date it was closed (although that shouldn't apply for your early cards), the exact name of the card, and the credit bureau that was pulled for that application. If you can get the same info for the cards you're an AU on, it would probably help. Drop all that into a single spreadsheet, and you'll have, in one glance, a pretty good idea of what the credit card companies are looking at every time you apply for a card.

And I'll second the request for more info. The cards you currently have, and how long you've been on the accounts, would be very helpful. (Feel free to sanitize the info a little if you're not comfortable posting exact specifics.) If you have an Amex, what year is shown next to "Member Since"? And is that the same year shown on your parents' cards?

Just as important, if these cards have much age to them at all, make sure your parents don't cancel any of them, at least until you're fairly well established on your own credit. If there are annual fees they don't want to pay, call and see if you can get them waived, or at least have the account downgraded to something free.

Finally, you've gotten good advice as to what to apply for first. You really should go for something with no fee, so that you can keep it forever. Having a card that you got when you were young will eventually be a huge boost to your average age of accounts - one of the hardest things to overcome when churning. A no-fee Amex would be great, since (as you may know) Amex backdates all your cards to the year you opened your first one.

That's where I would start - building a really solid credit profile. If you've just got to jump right in to miles & points as soon as possible (and ok, I couldn't really blame you), then get something that can earn some points too. But anything you get now needs to be something you can hold on to for a long time, even if your situation changes. You're not just earning miles & points, you're laying the foundation for your entire financial future.

The only US card I'm an AU on is a really basic USAA MC with a $1k limit, opened last year specifically for this purpose. Parents don't have any other US cards to add me to, unfortunately.

Any suggestions for which card would be the right one to sign up for first? I'm thinking the basic USAA student MC might be the most logical transition, but I want to establish relationships with a bank like Chase - a relationship to use in the future with miles & points!

Thoughts?

you sent me a PM asking about how bad it would look on a credit report if you got denied for a barclays card. I wanted to post on here in case other younger/less credit savvy ppl wanted to know as well.

first, i think you really need to look into building credit and what goes into a credit score/credit report (like utilization, AAoA, etc), which most points blogs really do not go into. The points guy kinda does, but Doctor of Credit is probably the best hybrid points and credit building blog out there that i've seen. before you can start churning and doing 2BMs, you need to understand how credit reports work and how to take advantage of them.

to answer your PM, my rationale for applying for barclays and not caring about the credit pull is that there are 3 credit bureaus that store credit report data, Experian, Equifax, and Transunion (also note they have different algorithms to calculate credit score). Different lenders like Barclays, Chase, and Amex pull data from different bureaus.

It depends by state, but most credit bureaus that we care about (Citi, Amex, Chase) pull from Experian. Barclays more or less pulls from Transunion. Of the data on a credit report (# of accounts, age, late payments, loan balance/availabile credit line, and credit pulls), the only thing NOT shared between bureaus is credit pulls. Therefore, if you got denied on Barclays, that hard pull would only affect your TU credit report. And WRT credit pulls "hurting" your credit, that has less of an effect 6 months after, and then falls off after 2 years.

Based on the additional info of only having one AU account with a 1k limit, I would definitely avoid applying for any real rewards cards for a year, and just build using starter cards. Like I said earlier, read creditboards and ficoforum and see what people in a similar demographic are getting approved for. Consider Capital One; I would NEVER recommend this for most churners, since they are the only lender that pulls all 3 credit reports, but since they offer cards to mediocre credit score ppl for cheap, it would be a good start to building.

Personally to build credit, I got a Capital One card (before i knew they pulled 3 bureaus) and the Barclays Apple ITunes card, and had to recon both. I actually got rejected for a credit card from the gap, that's how bare my credit was. But I kept my utilization low, and was able to start the churning game about a year later. Granted, my case also had student loan history and decent income post college, for someone who is presumably starting school with limited income, I am not sure how you would get around income requirements.

Many thanks for the detailed response! Really helps me, and I think will really help the 17-year-old churners of the future! I have a pretty good income to report (60k), so that isn't a major issue, just the fact that I'm a first time applicant. I'm considering applying to Capital One - would it be a positive that they pull from all three? If not, I'll just do the USAA student card and maybe an in-store card after 3-4 months. Any store cards you'd recommend?

I've kept the utilization low on my 1k credit limit card - around 3-10%. Expect to keep it the same with future cards.