is it a good idea to keep increasing your credit line (without any intention of using it)?

i have an AMEX student card that keeps giving me a credit line increase every couple of months. there is this link to 'increase your line of credit' that i clicked on, and it says that i am approved for x amount of credit increase. all i have to do is click 'accept' and it's done.

i took advantage of this credit increase i think twice already, and now it's showing up that i'm being approved for yet another line increase. note that i don't use the card regularly, the rate is not very good, and the balance that i used to have there i already transferred somewhere else with 0% (and even that one is not really that much and i'm in the process of paying it off so hopefully it'll be gone in a few months).

my thinking is that it's going to increase my FICO score everytime i get a credit line increase, since my balance/line ratio is getting lower, am i right? is there any drawbacks to have large (well it might not be large to most of you, but to me it is since i don't need it) credit line without using it?

If there is no credit inquiry then it's ok.

Otherwise I would not since you obviously do not need the extra wiggle room.

my "student" MBNA card started with a $1000 limit back in '98 and is now a platinum card with a limit of somewhere in the mid $20k's. i never requested any increase - they just happened automatically

saxguy - Just so you know I blame you!

My curiosity got to me so I logged in to my Amex account and requested a credit line increase.

I was instantly approved to $5,000 from $2,500!!!

Brad - I'm in the same boat as you. I don't use the account AT ALL anymore and I still get credit line increases. I only keep it open because it is my oldest record of credit opened in 1997.

I have great credit but the one thing I didn't realize in college and the credit card companies didn't tell me ("Sign up for the card - you can always cut it up later") was that opening too many credit cards can hurt your FICO score.

saxguy - Just so you know I blame you!

My curiosity got to me so I logged in to my Amex account and requested a credit line increase.

I was instantly approved to $5,000 from $2,500!!!

bwahahaha.... :evil:

bwahahaha.... :evil:
I guess it's nice to have a $5k limit rather than $2.5k but that's a lot of dough!

my "student" MBNA card started with a $1000 limit back in '98 and is now a platinum card with a limit of somewhere in the mid $20k's. i never requested any increase - they just happened automatically

same here. mine's up to 14k in about five years. i'm like "uhh right people."

i hate MBNA though - they never have any good balance transfer offers. they just sent me another bunch of checks saying "please use us" but no special rates. i need to shred them in a bit.

I get those "credit card balance transfer" checks at least 1-2 times a month, drives me crazy!

I opened a citibank student card in 1998, started with a $600 dollar limit.

Now, that card has morphed into a Citi Dividend Platinum Select with a 12,600 limit. YOu can earn their trust just by never missing or being late on a payment.

I opened a citibank student card in 1998, started with a $600 dollar limit.

Now, that card has morphed into a Citi Dividend Platinum Select with a 12,600 limit. YOu can earn their trust just by never missing or being late on a payment.
Wow that is incredible, congratulations :)

Providian increases mine on occasion. They keep sending me requests to transfer balances, and for the past 3-4 months, "you're credit line has been increased by $2000!" Now, w/ all the mail that was sent to me, you'd think I have 8k up in 4 months :)

Whether or not you should take the higher limit depends on what kind of credit you'll see yourself needing in the future. If you have a lot already available to you on one card, you may not be approved for a different card because your revolving debt is too great--they will see the high limit on that card, and think "Hmm, that person has a $10,000 limit. They only have $200 on that card right now, but they could charge the full $10,000 at some point--and then how would they have enough money to pay *us* back too? No, we can't lend to this person--too great a risk."

In my opinion it's best to only have what you need...if you know you'll never use a limit that high (or shouldn't, LOL, because it'd take you 10 yrs to pay it off) then it's best not to have such a high limit.

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Banking/creditcardsmarts/P71448.asp

This is a great link that explains what I was talking about.

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Banking/creditcardsmarts/P71448.asp

This is a great link that explains what I was talking about.

thanks for the link!

Mine kinda hurt me, I have a mass amount avail to me, I have one card that's 15k one's 10k then my amex that's unlimited, however I hit 14k on it this month and they called telling me if I wanted any more credit I would have to provide this and that, so I made a payment and dont think I will use it any more for business, I like my plat mastercard with the 15k limit, and if I need more I have the amex to fall back on, Oh also have BOA card that's 5,600 and a sony master card that's 3k and a few others that have like 1k or 2k

However when I went to get car loan they looked it like I was over extended due to what was avail to me, however most are paid in full every month. Just be careful you dont want too much.

from what i know, its bad to have too much credit. It hurts you when you go to apply for a loan.