Regularly requesting credit limit increases, if done correctly, can increase your credit score and mitigate the effects of canceling credit cards. This post will explain how to navigate the menus of American Express’ online interface so that you can request a credit limit increase without triggering a hard credit inquiry. I have done this successfully myself several times.

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If a recent Your Take post on credit card credit limits is any indication, there’s no secret to getting a higher credit limit on your card. I thought I was high with a near $70,000 credit limit but plenty of people had total unsecured credit limits in the $60,000 – $100,000 range. While it wasn’t a scientific survey, I wouldn’t surprised to read that, in general, unsecured credit limits are much higher than people expect.

That being said, I think a good way for a consumer to protect themselves from the somewhat unpredictable credit score system is by increase their credit limits as much as possible without increasing how many credit cards they have.

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I thought it would be fun to add up all the credit limits of every credit card and line of credit we had to see what that amount was.

My total? $69,600 (we don’t have any lines of credit)

My cards (starred ones are cards I actively use):

• * Citi mtvU Card – $9,600
• Discover Miles – $1,000
• Discover More – $11,000
• * Capital One Platinum Mastercard – $10,000
• Citi Platinum Select MasterCard – $18,000
• * American Express TrueEarnings – $20,000

My wife? $35,500. (and we just did a quick Citi credit limit increase request and they raised my wife’s limit on one of her cards by $1,500 with no credit pull)

I win! (just kidding)

Is there a point to all this other than to have a meaningless pissing contest? First, it’s important to know your total credit limit because you want to know, if the crap hits the fan, how much money you have access to. Knowing that we have $100,000 in unsecured credit is only important if we ever need that sum in the first place. While unsecured credit cards won’t be the first place we turn to for funds, at least we know it’s there and we can make informed decisions knowing the “worst case.”

Another benefit of this exercise is that we have a listing of every credit card we have. I don’t carry the Discover Cards or the Citi Platinum Dividend card, they’re hidden somewhere in our house. Even though I don’t use them, I should know that I have an account there and the details of that account. Going through this little exercise jogs my memory about the credit cards I have.

Finally, I was a little surprised that I had $69,600 of unsecured credit at my fingertips (though if you ever read some of the App-o-rama’s at Fatwallet, $69k is what those wizards can get in a day’s time). I can see now why credit card companies are cutting credit limits. All it takes is a job loss, which isn’t reported to credit card companies or credit bureaus, and I could very quickly rack up some unsecured credit card debt.

So, do you know your total credit limit? If so, how much is it?

(Photo: Andres Rueda)

Every six months or so (I just do it whenever I remember), I pop into a few of my accounts and request a credit line increase. Why? I know that I don’t need the additional credit but I still ask for it because now is when they’re most likely to grant me a credit line increase. Banks usually won’t give you money when you actually need it, it’s a paradox! Well, most credit card companies will not entertain the notion of an increase within the first six or first twelve months because they’ve given you all they’re comfortable with and won’t even consider increasing it… yet. If you even try requesting one from a newly minted card, you’ll be greeted with a message to come back later. But, after you leave credit limit purgatory… the sky’s the limit and you should try to soar.

Once you’ve made it out of the no-increase period, requesting an increase is easier at some companies than others. Citi and American Express will both allow you to increase your credit line entirely online whereas Discover will force you to call their 800 number and talk to a human being. Now, when you go to request an increase, prior to entering any information, the company may offer you a small increase. This isn’t meant to placate you, this is because they planned on increasing it some amount in the near future and since you asked, they’ll just give it to you now. I always accept this increase because it comes without any pull of your credit history.

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