To get approved for high-limit credit cards, you'll most likely need to have good or excellent credit and a steady income to support a higher credit limit. Picking the right card is important, too. You may be able to find the minimum starting credit limits listed in some cards' terms and conditions.
You need to have excellent credit in order to get approved for a high limit credit card. However, that might not be enough, because issuers also look at your income, monthly expenses, payment history and credit utilization before approving you.
A high-limit credit card typically comes with a credit line between $5,000 to $10,000 (and some even go beyond $10,000). You're more likely to have a higher credit limit if you have good or excellent credit.
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
With a credit limit starting at $10,000, the Chase Sapphire Reserve is best known as a travel rewards credit card, allowing you to earn points quickly that can be redeemed for travel.
Ways to increase your credit limit
Getting a higher credit limit is fairly straightforward, with four primary options available: You can contact your issuer online via the app or online portal, phone customer service, check for an issuer card offer, or apply for a new card that will bump your overall available credit.
To get approved for high-limit credit cards, you'll most likely need to have good or excellent credit and a steady income to support a higher credit limit. Picking the right card is important, too. You may be able to find the minimum starting credit limits listed in some cards' terms and conditions.
The average credit card limit for a 25-year-old is around $3,000. To get to that number, it's important to know that the average credit score in that age bracket is 650, which is fair credit. Of course, a credit score is not the only factor issuers take into account when determining credit limits.
If you only make minimum payments, a $10,000 credit card balance will cost you $16,056.59 in interest and take 346 months to pay off. Minimum payments on a $10,000 balance would start at $267 and decrease as you paid down what you owe.
One of the easiest high limit credit cards to get is the Citi Double Cash® Card. This card offers a minimum credit limit of $500 and cardholders report getting a starting credit limit as high as $11,500. The Citi Double Cash Card has a $0 annual fee and requires at least fair credit for approval.
When you think about available credit, you probably figure that the more you have, the better off you are. In general, that's true. But there's no magic number for available credit. Whether your available credit is $1,000 or $10,000, you can do well, as long as you manage it responsibly.
As such, if you have one of these cards, you might consider a $5,000 credit limit to be bad and a limit of $10,000 or more to be good. Overall, any credit limit of five figures or more is broadly accepted as a high credit limit. The main exception to the usual credit limit rules are secured credit cards.
Most credit experts advise keeping your credit utilization below 30 percent, especially if you want to maintain a good credit score. This means if you have $10,000 in available credit, your outstanding balances should not exceed $3,000.
To get a $10,000 credit limit on a Capital One credit card, you will need to apply for a high-end card like Capital One Venture X and meet the income requirements. Other Capital One cards may offer $10,000 starting credit limits to qualified applicants, but the odds of getting a limit that high are not as good.
Apply for a High-Limit Card.
Explore credit cards designed for individuals with good or excellent credit. While there's probably no card that guarantees a $20K starting limit, there are still cards that offer high credit limits. For example, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card offers a $10,000 minimum credit limit.
If you have a credit score of 500, the easiest credit cards to get will be secured credit cards that require a deposit, such as the Discover it® Secured Credit Card or U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa® Secured Card.
Having any credit card debt can be stressful, but $10,000 in credit card debt is a different level of stress. The average credit card interest rate is over 20%, so interest charges alone will take up a large chunk of your payments. On $10,000 in balances, you could end up paying over $2,000 per year in interest.
$10,000 with a 20% APR: Your minimum payment would be $266.67 per month and it would take 346 months to pay off $10,000 at 20% interest. You would pay $16,056.59 in interest over that time. $25,000 at 20%: Your minimum payment would be $666.67 per month and it would take 437 months to pay off $25,000 at 20% interest.
What's considered too much debt is relative and varies by person based on the financial situation. There's no specific definition of “a lot of debt” — $10,000 might be a high amount of debt to one person, for example, but a very manageable debt for someone else.
A credit score of 700 or more is considered good and acceptable by most banks/lenders. Score is not a factor of the age of individual. Irrespective of one's age, 700 or more score is good. If you are just 20, that means you may not have had much exposure to credit/loans yet.
To figure out your DTI, simply divide your total monthly debt by your gross monthly income—the lower your percentage, the better. Many lenders prefer a DTI below 36%. A lower DTI paired with solid income could unlock a higher credit limit.
With the FICO credit scoring model, credit scores ranging from 300 to 579 are considered poor. Scores that range from 580 to 669 are considered fair. Anywhere between 670 to 739 is considered good. A credit score between 740 to 799 is considered very good.