3 years out, 700 bank card FICO, what cards to shoot for?

Hi Guys,

It's been 3 years since my chap. 7 was closed and I am in the market for a rewards credit card. Bank Card FICO is 700 and I have the following credit lines -

Been making student loan payments on time for over 1 year.

Have a 5000 CL on a WaMu Visa with 1% cash back (Have had card for 2 years)

Had a CapitalOne with a CL of $750 for 2.5 years that I just closed because they wouldn't waive the annual fee or upgrade the card to a rewards card.

I know that I probably shouldn't have closed the CapitalOne but I did anyway.

What reward cards do you folks recommend with my score and current lines? I'm looking for something besides cash back, like hotel rewards.

I have no balances on WaMu or Cap One.

Thanks in advance!

Well I can't answer your question, but I wanted to congratulate you on a job well done. 3 yrs out and a very good credit score. No balance on those cc, it appears you learned your lesson, you are exactly where I hope we are 3 yrs from now.

Good job and good luck with the card!

From what I've seen, the rewards cards usually require good to excellent credit. For example, the best number to have is 720 or above. If your score is 720, there's really no need to try and raise it because lenders lump you in the same category as folks with a score of say 800 or 820." The BK is the real credit killer. From my observations, these prime lenders like Discover, American Express, Hilton Honors and etc. will not approve anyone with a BK on their credit report. These of course are the better rewards cards. Also, most of your conventional banks like National City, Fifth Third and etc won't approve anyone with a BK on their credit report as well. But this is my observation and someone else may be able to give you some better options. I'd hate to see anyone waste credit inquiries on a credit card they can not get at all.

Our friends are 3 years out with mid-600 Fico's, and rarely get declined for any CC's. Check www.bankrate.com for the cards with the best rates.

Congrats, and good luck!

Thanks for the replies so far guys! I'm still not sure what card I should apply for. As BassBoy said all the good rewards cards are not very BK friendly. I guess I'll keep looking, surely there is something out there worth having.

Does anyone have a quick list of the top two or three lenders that are BK friendly? I know there are a lot of lenders that offer you cards early on, but who are the ones that you should work up to getting approved with?

Thanks again for the replies guys!

i hope you saw the post about the navy federal credit union guy - he got two fabulous cards from them with high limits. also - i'm in the middle of a chapter 13 and i opened a savings account with fifth third and through payroll deduction worked my balance up and they gave me a secured card tied to my balance - 1 g. i thought it would look good on my credit report - a prime lender plus my mortgage company also a prime lender. i only use it for gas and emergency pet care and pay it off or leave a 5.00 balance on it. myfico has my credit scores between 652 and 713.

Thanks for the credit union suggestion! Unfortunately the area I am in doesn't have any Credit Unions that appeal to me. I currently have some deposit accounts with a local bank and have been with them for about 9 years. I'm not looking for a secured card, just trying to get an idea of what the best rewards card one can get with a BK on their credit report is.

I guess more specifically, I want to set a goal of getting the top card one can get with a BK.

Thanks again for the input!

A lot will depend on what banks you included in your filing. If Citibank, Chase, BofA and others were included, and any credit card you apply for is tied to them (as in the case of your rewards and points cards), that BK will work against you no matter what your score is. As BassBoy states, you can have a marvelous score several years after discharge but as soon as that BK looms on your credit reports, they don't have to approve you if they don't want to. Also, Chase and some others are well known to blacklist a filer even after a BK is off their credit if they were included in that filing in any way (even a department store credit card handled by them). A BK may disappear from credit reports in 10 years for a Chapter 7 filing, but it does not disappear on records kept by the creditor.

While you have a marvelous score now (720 is the new borderline to get the best rates - upped a bit recently from 700, at least that is what I heard on the news and that is due to all the defaults now occurring), you may want to test the waters a few times and see what happens or wait a few more years and show that you do mean business and keep that record pristine. Time is the best thing for anyone after a BK as to credit and credit scores.