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Tldr; how I really wanted the Chase Sapphire Reserve® but ended up getting some other credit cards before because I needed to build my credit score.

I moved to the US in 2016 and I had no Social Security Number, no Credit Score or credit history but within just a couple of years of smart spending, I was able to get accepted for some of the most prestigious credit cards you can apply to, for example the Amex Platinum or the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. In this post, I will share the steps that I took to get there and which credit cards I used to improve my credit score.

I started my credit journey with an initial credit score at 623 which is considered ‘fair’.

To be honest, when I moved here from Germany, I had no idea why I’d even need a credit card and what the benefits really are so I spent my first 6 months in the US paying all my expenses with a regular debit card. (boy the rewards I missed out on).
*Image from: https://www.equifax.com/personal/education/credit/score/credit-score-ranges/*

Fast forward to 2017, I asked a friend how he always travels in business class for his vacations and we had an hours long conversation about smart spending and optimizing credit card usage.

Credit Mastermind Maria was born.

I quickly went online and made the biggest mistake you can make as a credit card beginner: I applied for the Chase Sapphire Reserve® because this was the card my friend was recommending me the most. Little did I know that my credit score was… well… bad and that Chase would never in a million years accept me for this card without having a credit history. So this resulted in my first rejection and I went online to research how to build my credit score with the ultimate goal to have the Chase Sapphire Reserve® in a year. For the years after, I followed a few concrete steps that I’d like to share with you today.

1. Secured Credit Card (5 months)

The first smart credit card move I made was getting a secured credit card. Back then, I used citibank as my main checking account so I made my life easy and got the Citi® Secured Mastercard® which helped me build a credit history and establish credit quickly. In order to use this card, I needed to make a security deposit for my credit limit which I think was $1500.

Within 5 months, Citi approved me for a non secured credit cards because of two major things that I did: 1) I put every single purchase on this card and 2) I paid off my card twice a week.

This helped me to show Citi that I qualify for not just a higher credit limit given my high expenses but also helped me keep my credit card usage percentage low which is a main metric to make your credit score go up.

Now, in 2023 there are a few more secured credit cards that I would recommend, here are some links for your own research:

OpenSky® Plus Secured Visa® Credit Card:
- No credit check to apply
- Find out instantly if you’re approved, no credit risk to apply
Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card
- You typically need a credit score above 640 for this card so it’s a bit more risky to apply
- earn rewards from the start
Chime Credit Builder Secured Visa® Credit Card
- No credit check to apply
- No minimum security deposit required

2. Entering Chase

While I got the secured credit card, I decided to also open a checking account with Chase to generate a spending history there as well given my ultimate goal was to qualify for the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. I used this checking account as my main checking account going forward.

3. Getting Upgraded To Unsecured Credit Card

After I got my regular Citi credit card, I didn’t change anything in my strategy: I put all of my expenses on the card, now earning cash back which made me really happy and I paid the card off twice a week. With the upgrade to a regular credit card, they also increased my credit limit to I think double what I had at the time so $3000 which was still low but helped me bring my credit card utilization percentage down even more. Now it was time for me to think about my next credit card move… which was.

4. Trying for the Chase Freedom Unlimited

Remember my initial goal to get the Chase Sapphire Reserve®? Well, that’s not what’s coming next. Indeed, I decided to apply for the Chase Freedom Unlimited® first because I wanted to earn points instead of cash back which is what Citi provided me. I ultimately got approved for the card with an initial whooping credit limit of $8000 which I was positively surprised by. My total credit limit now increased to $10,000. I opened the card in a branch in San Francisco and talked with the banker about my goal of getting the Chase Sapphire Reserve® eventually and he recommended me to keep the Chase Freedom Unlimited® for 6 months and then come back to apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve®.

Why didn’t I just stay with Citi at the time?

Now, one could have told me “Maria, you’re already with Citi, why not get their Citi Custom Cash℠ Card, Citi® Double Cash Card and Citi Premier® Card which is a similar trifecta? Well, to be honest: I didn’t do enough research back then but those cards are a wonderful trio and actually have a custom cash + the premier right now in addition to my Chase credit cards. If you’re interested in why, here’s a blog post and video.

5. Waiting for the 6 months to go by

While I knew I couldn’t do much in those 6 months, I tried to keep my credit card utilization low and whenever I received a raise or bonus at work, I proactively updated my yearly total compensation in the tools Citi and Chase provided. Whenever that happened, I would call both banks and ask them if they could give me a credit line increase given my increase compensation and both banks did that. By the time of applying to the Chase Sapphire Reserve® later on, I managed to get my Citi card to a $4500 credit line and my Chase Freedom Unlimited® card to $13,000.

6. Let’s get the Chase Sapphire Reserve®! (and a second card!)

So, 6 months went by and I went back to the Chase San Francisco branch with a clear goal: Apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve® again. I made an appointment with the banker who helped me get the Chase Freedom Unlimited® and we applied for the card together in the branch. My credit score according to Credit Karma was 718 so I knew there was a chance it could get rejected. However, the banker told me he had high confidence that my case would go through given my credit history and salary but unfortunately, my application got the ‘we need more information to process this application’ message. Thankfully, I had Mr. Awesome Banker with me who proactively called some line at Chase for me and got the card approved with an insane credit limit of $25,100. I was really speechless because I didn’t expect it to be that high and walked out of the bank really happy.

During the whole whirlwind of application madness, when I got home, I realized that I totally forgot to ask if we can also do an application for the Chase Freedom® Flex because I knew that credit card would help me achieve the Chase Trifecta so I went online and applied for the Card on the same day and to my surprise, I was approved to with a credit limit of $7000.

So within one day, my credit line went from $17500 to $49600 but my credit score also tanked about 20 points which is what a bit disappointing given I worked so hard to get it above 700 but a couple of months later, my credit score went up to 740 actually given my credit line increased so much and I think it was a good tradeoff given I didn’t plan on applying for any apartments anytime soon.

Summary

My credit card journey doesn’t end here but I didn’t add any new credit cards to my wallet for over two years after I had my initial set-up ready. I put all my expenses on the Chase Trifecta cards, didn’t use the Citi card that much and only kept it for credit history purposes. In the past few years, I added 6 more cards to my wallet and you can find that in a previous blog post or video here.

TLDR, what are the top 5 things I did to get my dream credit card so quickly?

Get a secured credit card (Citi® Secured Mastercard®)
Put all expenses on the cards and pay off credit card twice a week
Ask for credit line increases often
Have a bank account with the Bank you want your credit card from
Start small and be patient

Learn more about all of my credit card picks here

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Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, vendors or companies, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

How I Climbed the Credit Card Ladder (Immigrant + No Credit Score -> Chase Sapphire Reserve)