upgrading credit card

[zach]

I am new to credit. On May 13th I will have had my own credit card for one year. I have paid my balance in full every month and I have never been late on a payment. After 3-4 consecutive on time payments Capital One raised my limit from 1000 to 1500.

Back in October 2008 I took a free credit report from equifax, I got tip'd from a PF blog. The report gave me a credit score than of 795 and that I had a history of 30+ years. This is most likely due to my name being on a credit card that my mom uses as well. We did this as a way to build me credit when I was younger.

I would really like to ask Capital One to upgrade my credit card. I do not want to close my card and apply for a new one. I am hopeful this is possible. I would ideally upgrade to their cash back card. I am on here looking for people's opinions and experiences on going about negotiating with a Credit Card company.

Too my advantage, I see that I have never missed a payment, and while they don't see any interest from that, I do frequently use my credit card, for everyday transactions, and they do get paid from merchant per transactions. Also I am aware my score was last 795 and has quite possibly gone up. myFico estimator guesses that i have somewhere between 690-740, but that was done without my "30 year" credit history. I think I have moved from a limited history to average and COne does offer a cashback to the average user with a yearly fee that I am hoping to get waived.

What do you think...and sorry if this is the wrong forum, I didn't really see an appropriate one. But I love this site, and I am looking for cash back, so I am eager for your thoughts?

thanks

[Creditnet.com]

First, congratulations on showing one full year of financial responsibility! Keep up the good work, and when we ride out this "recession", you'll be happy to have your good/excellent credit to show off.

The best thing for you to do is to call Capital One and ask them what your options are for upgrading your account. Oftentimes, credit card issuers will tell you they're going to upgrade your account, but what they essentially do is close your old account and open a new one (while of course running a credit check). If that is the case, then you're better off just applying for a new credit card. That way you'll still have your first card, which you should keep for a LONG time if you are charged $0 in annual fees, and you'll have a new rewards card. Your available credit will increase, which means your credit utilization will decrease if your spending remains the same (low credit utilization is a good thing! Calculate credit utilization by dividing your monthly balance by your total available credit on all cards, should not be more than 30%). Most important is that you do not end the history of your first card!

[MrCreditCard]

Zach

while creditnet is correct, I would just apply for a new cash back card simply because capital one's cash back card pays only 1% or 1.25% on purchases depending on which card they steer you towards. Eg of cards to consider

Amex Costco
Discover Gas
Blue Cash