Why I’ve Never Asked For A Credit Limit Increase 

My first 4 years I only ran 2 credit cards (Quicksilver and Chase Amazon Prime) and would methodically ask for a CLI every 6 months until I had over 20k limit on each. One benefit of doing this is that now when I apply for new cards I seem to get approved for higher credit limits. (15k+ with Chase, 30k+ with AMEX). This fact really came in handy over the past year when my wife and I remodeled our condo, by taking advantage of a couple 0% intro APRs for 15 months. We were able to purchase things like a set of new appliances, or our kitchen cabinets/countertops, or new hardwood floors, at 0% interested for a year, along with hitting some nice signup bonuses.

I'm with you Daniel, I've gotten automatic credit limit increases, but I've never asked for one. As long as the card has enough cushion for my spend, I'm happy with that!

I like to increase my credit limit occasionally for fun, and so that I never need to worry about exceeding 5% utilization. Currently sitting at around $120k limit with all my cards (primary card has a $50k limit). I’ve never had a credit score drop due to an inquiry from a CL increase and have been able to increase limits on cards that had zero activity for 5+ years. Good points in the video but they don’t always apply. No harm in increasing the CL if it doesn’t result in a hard inquiry (unless you will be tempted to abuse your absurd limit and go into debt).

I'm with you Daniel! As someone who has put a lot of time into asking for manual CLIs, I think if I were to go back and do it all over again, I'd probably just open new cards like you recommend because you do get a lot more value with the SUBs and the multipliers. But I do think that manual CLIs are just fantastic whenever you get a household income increase and you know that the bank you'll be doing the manual CLI with does a soft pull because it really comes at no cost to you. Thanks for these awesome CLI tips!

I prefer CLI on auto or requested (with soft pullers only) over new accounts. New accounts drop age too low for me. I have some really old accounts (17 yrs). I am also not a churner so new accounts don't do much for me. I tend to open a new account every two years or so if the SUB is awesome. The larger the limit, the more you can spend if needed and still keep that utilization low. Because as old as I am, I know one thing. LIFE HAPPENS. Sometimes, that 3-6 months of savings gets eaten away (think 2008 recession when a lot was lost including the nice little 401(k). I had to supplement survival with these babies at one point. But I've bounced back since then and manage my cards and use like a well oiled machine.

Since I don’t need more personal cards, i prefer CLIs. However, eventually everyone hits their maximum exposure limit. This occurs when banks perceive you to have too much available credit that you are not using so they stop giving you CLIs or only approve you for new cards with low limits! People sometimes forget that credit is a reflection of income & spend.

I rarely request CLIs anymore (rarely receive automatic ones either haha). Once you’re in the late stage of the game, it can actually start to work against ya with new approvals 😬 (Plus, some issuers like Chase don’t play nicely…as you explained haha). That aside, phenomenal tips for those in the earlier stages man! 💯

Dan you're becoming one of my favorite creators. u keep me motivated man keep going

Hi Daniel, another great video again! Just wanted to add, although technically not really credit increase, some banks allow you to reallocate your credit from one card to another without going thru the hassle of credit pulls. This is especially helpful when you have a sock-draw card with extra credit you're not using, while the one you're using has less credit limit.

Great point on cautioning about knowing whether you're getting a hard vs soft credit pull. Another reason I'm a fan of AMEX since (almost) none of their credit pulls are hard

2 weeks ago, I asked for credit limit increase from 3 credit lenders - AMEX, US Bank, and CitiBank. I can confirm that they only did a soft pull because my credit scores have not changed since then. I only got a report that 3 credit limit were increased. Chase and Bank of America will do a hard pull request as I called to confirm with them.

I’ve never requested a CLI with Chase either since it’ll result in a hard inquiry. But considering my credit limits, there’s no need for me to get an increase. Excellent video as always Daniel.

I like asking for increases regularly to raise my score. I commented once before that having a lot of cards can really hurt if you're not on top of their management. If they close a dormant card on you for non use, it can ding hard. Hence 6-10 manual credit line increases via soft pull is easier for the average person, though not you Daniel, to manage than 20 cards ;)

Last time I asked I was denied so I won’t be asking again for awhile 😂 good content as usual Daniel!

Cash is King! my credit score is at 817 just increased my credit line it didn’t lower my credit score.

Nicee!! Gutta my credit off on Thursday morning lol

Chase just switched to soft inquiries for limit increases 4:41

I like that Chase provides credit increases periodically.

I’ve only ever asked for one CLI. I’m big on keeping utilization down and higher limits mean I’m more likely to use a particular card, but only to spend what I would organically.

I just had my credit score increase from 827 to 833 yesterday. I was thinking of asking for a CLI because like you said I want that credit utilization to be as low as possible. Right now I have some spending to do so I know my credit utilization will be high. I haven’t received any CLI in a while

Sometimes the best way to get that credit limit increase is to just go ahead and get a new card!! Luckily, I’ve never had to ask for a CLI, mainly because I get the automatic ones here and there but consistently apply for new cards which in turn raises my total credit limit very significantly. I agree with everything you said here and awesome video as always man!

I asked capital one for a credit limit. I got denied for “low usage on card” . I almost canceled the card, but it’s one of my oldest card.

Wanted to comment and feed the algo. I use your Google Doc Spreadsheet to budget and thought I’d show my appreciation

I’m so glad I found this channel. Keep up the great work! 😊

Great video!! Super great things to consider and plan for with credit cards! I’m not too big of a fan of the cash emergency fund tho, I feel like that’s a fund that’s keeps getting devalued overtime

Tip #3 may be #1 for most people honestly. My first few months i would make payments but then purchase it up right back up again only for it to never be $0. Its $0 now but took a little extra time with the interest tbey charged 😢

My issuer automatically increased my limit after a year of use. I expect it to happen again this year too. We shall see. Ive never had a problem with it so far.

Great video. I see the points on both sides. Everything really depends on the card issuer. Amex for example, I have 3 credit, one charge and 2 business cards. First card they gave me a $2k limit (cash magnet) Second card they gave me a $1k limit (delta gold) Third card a $1k pay over time (green card) Fourth card $3k limit (Bonvoy business) Fifth card $3k limit (Hilton business) Sixth card $4.4K limit (cash preferred) During the time I got those cards, between my 4th and 5th card I tried getting the gold card multiple times and got denied for not having been a customer long enough. Then I got my 6th card. 🤷🏼‍♂️ I requested (through the website a CLI on my delta card for $3K), they came back and denied that amount but instead said they would up it to $2k. No rhyme or reason on how they do things but I’ll take it! At least all of that was soft pulls. Navy Fed CU a bit different. I got the “More Rewards” card somewhere after getting my 2nd or 3rd Amex card I believe. They gave me a $4.3k limit. I have used that card regularly and earned a lot of rewards from that card but for a CLI, I left that card alone. After waiting a while, I decided to apply for their flagship rewards card to use for travel since it gets 3x back for travel and 2X back on everything else (which we have A LOT of spending that would fall under that especially home improvement) and the annual fee is only $49 and comes with a $100 global entry/ tsa pre check credit every 4 years, a credit for a year of Amazon prime free (not sure if I can use it since we already renewed our membership back in July) and an intro bonus of 30k points ($300) with $3500 spent in 90 days. I decided to apply because I don’t know if I want to keep my green card and I also don’t want to try and book travel (there’s 5 in my family including me) and have it somehow decline a transaction. I went for it too because depending on where my family would go, there’s no way I can book everything on my Delta card (which Delta airlines is what I’ve flown on a lot lately for business travel, not actually using my personal card but earning miles) because the limit is so low. It earns at the same rate basically and I had read that they tend to give out high credit limits. So I applied and they gave me a $25k limit. I was stunned 😳 I’ve had this card for a month now. At this point, I have a collective total for credit limits of $6k for business, $61,050 for personal cards and $15,800 for home improvement (Wells Fargo Outdoor Solutions that I used 18 month 0% apr for a new fence in my back yard). I’ve been able to do this in the course of about a year and a half after years of no credit cards at all. While I value my cards and I know that my credit will continue to improve, I am also being as fiscally responsible as I can with managing them all and using them to their maximum benefit for each transaction that I do. Excluding my wells fargo financing (it’s limited where you can use the outdoor solutions card), I have 13 personal and 2 business cards. I’m basically done with obtaining anymore cards at this point as I really don’t need them and I don’t think I’ll ask for anymore CLI’s. If I get some automatic ones, so be it. Keep putting out great videos! 👊🏻

I have a comment on this video. I was thinking of getting a new credit card. I'm about to start nursing school and really want to have emergency funds available. I have 5 cc. If I get a new card, it will change my credit age negatively, but add to my credit mix. If I get an increase, it will keep my credit age and my credit mix the same. They will both just effect my inquires the same.

My boyfriend applied for the CFU and was granted only a $500 credit limit. He has a credit card he has had for years with HSBC that he always pays on time so his history is good. When he applied for CSP today he was immediately granted a 10k credit limit. I’m trying to figure out why there was such a huge difference in credit limit on the two cards considering they are both through chase and his income hasn’t changed. He pays off his CFU twice a month and has automatic payment set up so maybe they made his CSP limit so high because he proved himself to be a responsible borrower with the CFU?

Great tips and advice!

This showed up in my feed just in time. Thanks!

The only issuer I would disagree with on this is AmEx credit cards (obviously not charge cards). If you're a new customer, they tend to be very conservative with your initial limit, but one you've proven yourself, they are very generous. I started with my card at $1,800, but after making 4 statement payments, I requested an increase & received $5K. 6 months later I got an email from them stating they were increasing me to $10K, and then I waited a year for my next pay raise. I entered in that new income, then made another request and got $20K.... so better than 1100% increase in less than two years. In sharp contrast, I've had my Capital One card for 4 years, and have only been able to manage a 9% increase in that time... $8k to $8750. Asshats.

Excellent tips . Follow those and will be where you want as far as credit in no time at all. Thank you for the video.

I agree with the points you've made here, Daniel! I've found that for some people having a higher credit limit can promote lifestyle creep as you've said and you should always be treating your credit card as a debit card! Additionally, the amount of spending I do nowadays is never really going to go past the credit limit on some of my everyday spending categories, so there's no real reason for me to request a CLI.

I use to ask for credit limits early on my credit card journey, but not anymore. I let it happen organically.

So many good tips. I remember starting on a family Amex Green then my own Case Ink to new Amex Blue. Amex helped most with ager of credit .

When I turned 18, I maxed out my first credit card, couldn’t pay it back and it got sent to collection. My credit suffered for 7 years, and I learned that lesson the hard way. It made me value my credit ever since, and after fixing my credit, and being approved for high limit credit, I only buy what I can afford and pay back in full. I don’t want to suffer like that again

excellent tips!

Love the video's Daniel, as always!!!

Excellent content Daniel…

I recently got a new Chase Freedom Unlimited because I didn’t have a catch all card. Because I high high credit limits on my 4 other cards I had with Chase, they only gave me a $500 limit, not optimal for a catch all card. Instead of asking for a limit increase and resulting in another hard inquiry, I instead asked them to reduce the credit limit on a couple of the cards I hardly use and move it to the Unlimited and ended up with a $10000 limit that works much better as a catch all.

This is an interesting strategy, I personally ask around once every other month with Discover for a soft pull CLI

What do you think about the Amex blue cash every day card?

Hey Daniel, could you do a video on maximizing resort stays in DR with Chase Ultimate Reward Points? Maybe a series

Thanks for the video this help me a lot to understand more stuffs about credict card´s word! Now I have a question for you! Why you have so many credict cards? Right now I want to have the chase trifecta because I want to travel a lot, but I´m really curious why you have so many!

Really appreciate the videos. Thanks!

Keep up the good work! Love these videos

Can you compare the citi trifecta to the chase trifecta

Sorry Cap One did a hard pull on my CLI request.

Soft pulls shouldn't be that scary BOA only does soft pulls but CHASE does hard inquiries so like you said depending on your bank a new credit card is the better option if you're bank does hard inquiries.

You know exactly what your talking !!! I love your channel sir !! #Newsubbie ..

What about EMI? What happens if I buy that 2500$ mattress in 3 EMIs? Will it still count as 2500$ for one month or will it evenly divide over 3 months?

Daniel… I have enjoyed watching your videos, you are very smart and knowledgeable, being handsome doesn’t hurt either.. That being said, I have lost a bit of respect for you on this video.. A $2k limit on any card in unacceptable. Most card companies don’t do a hard pull, Amex, Cap one, and synchrony to name a few.. I believe a minimum limit of $5k for each card is a starting point, any less makes it difficult to keep under that 10-20% utilization..

You must live on the main line, great place to live!

Daniel = 🐐

Chase does soft inquiries now

Hey Daniel, hope you see this. I tried downloading the budget template in the "How to Budget - The EASY Way" video and it doesn´t work, tried several times.

Can you do a video on PayPal Mastercard?

If I have both the Chase Flex and Unlimited and also the have the Chase Sapphire preferred and its been 48 since I've had the CSP, how do I get the CSP bonus again?

Hi! So I just paid off my Capitol one Credit card and have no more credit card debt. I would like to eventually open a Amex gold card but wondering if I should wait. It’s only been two weeks and the credit bureau has not updated. Should I wait or apply for this card now?

What mattress did you get? Ours is pretty old...

I believe you said in the video, you have 7 chase cards? It would be cool if you did a video going over all of them.

I agree with you Daniel

What if a credit card company offers you an increase?

My very first card was chase and to me they are the WORST and i don’t close the account because it’s my oldest but I only use them once every 6 month or so. Some things I hate about chase is like you said they don’t offer soft checks and I have never gotten a limit increase from them all my cards are sitting on 20k and chase is my only card at 7k they are very very stingy and my credit is in the mid 770+

I noticed you didn't mention the Wells Fargo Active Cash 2% cash back card. Are you a WF hater?

If leaving a small percentage of credit usage us better than 0%, how can we pay it on time and in full?? I feel like this may be why my credit score hasnt changed in two years… I pay in full and on time each month

I haven’t asked and I haven’t been given a increase since 2019, it’s only 1,000 bucks(chase freedom unlimited)so I literally have pay it off once it goes through, I do have a credit score of 760.. I’m thinking of asking Chase tonight or in the morning and if I don’t get a big increase was thinking of going with chase Preferred..what do you think? My app says I’m pre approved for chase preferred

I just got the chase freedom flex, but I don't see a 500$ bonus tracker on the app or a place to activate the 5% for the gas bonus in the first year. Is that normal? Like on my Venture X it showed my progress for the 7500$ but I don't see the progress for the 500 or the gas 5% extra back.

Wouldn't they paypal master card be a better option?

Yea I see a lot of people flexing over high credit limit like it's a sign of wealth. If you had those amounts in your bank account that'd be another story. And if you fall into the habit of overspending and not paying off balance every month, then just shooting yourself in the foot. Otherwise, the high limit is pointless since you would never use it.

Does having too much credit to your name have a negative impact on your score (even if there is no hard pull)? How about having too many accounts?

So I have 3 credit cards and score of 700+ and the first card is a discover it card with a limit of 2800 and I've had it for just about a year and a half. then my capital one of a limit of 300 and I've had it for 6 months then I just got the chase freedom flex with a limit of 3000 and recently I asked for a limit increase for the capital one card but got denied and lowered my score smh, said my account was still new and I use 4% or less on the first two cards.

Dave Ramsey would be proud

Hey Daniel, I have a Discover It with a $500 limit & I've started to max it out and pay it off a few times this month. Going up to about $2500 in monthly spend. How long should I (keep doing this) wait before asking for a limit increase? I'm thinking of do this for about 3-4 months.

Why do you bother being so diligent about your credit score? If you have 40+% utilization one month, your score will spike, but within ~3 months FICO will have readjusted back to normal. Even a bank assessing your loan application will see a temporary drop as temporary

I love your visuals, editing and presentation style, but how you keep shaking your head/turning your head is super distracting. Still love your content

With chase, is it a soft or hard pull?

I think your information and your personal presentation is awesome. But your sound is really bad especially mixed with that music in the background. It sounds like you are in a sewer playing elevator music. Please use one of your cc cards to invest in a decent 🎤 microphone. It will make your great information listenable. Thank you.

Please please do not spend that much money on a mattress, that’s a rip off. Get a much better price with an online company!

I'm sorry, but I've gotta disagree with you on opening up a new card vs getting a CLI. You fail to mention that opening up a new account will drop your average credit age, thus, depending on how many accounts and how aged someone's number is, has potential till to hurt someone's score much more than a hard pull. A simple Google search will let someone know if they'll be hard pulled or not. I know which banks will and won't and I request the soft pull banks every 6 months to get my increases.

My credit line is 700. Should I request to increase 😂

It would have been more helpful to make this video about people who need help, NOT YOU....everyone is not in your position

Up

He’s never asked for a credit limit increase. Yet he’s going to tell you how to ask for one. How could he tell you how to get a increase when he’s never asked for one. Videos like this where the person brags and try to flex are useless. All they are doing is trying to show off.

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Stay away from credit cards, I had auto increase and before I knew, I owed 10k and with those aprs, it could take you 10 years to pay and it could cost 3 times the amount.

12 minute video could be condensed to 2. Repeats himself about 30 times and talks in circles 😂

Closed mouths don't get fed.. ALWAYS ask kid.

im sorry man but its hard to ignore that you talk out the side of your mouth

Do you have a discord? If so can I get the link please

Chase did a soft pull for me