I Have a $95,000 Credit Limit. Here's Why -- and How I Made It Happen

I have a credit card that has $95,000 of available credit on it. That huge credit line means I could spend a whole lot of money on luxury (or practical) purchases.

Now, since I always insist on paying off my credit card in full out of my checking account each month in order to avoid interest charges, it's very unlikely that I'll ever charge $95,000 a month or anything close to it.

So why do I have so much available credit, and how did I make it happen? Find out here.

This is why I have so much credit available to me

I chose to take steps to get a $95,000 credit line because by doing so, I can ensure that my credit utilization ratio is very low.

See, credit utilization ratio is the second-most important factor when your credit score is calculated. While payment history accounts for 35% in the popular FICO credit scoring formula, credit utilization ratio comes in a very close second at 30%. So it's a very important determining factor that shapes the score that lenders, landlords, insurers, and other companies use to decide if you're a reliable person to do business with.

Credit utilization ratio refers to the percent of credit used versus credit available. To figure out what yours is:

• Add up the amount owed on each of your credit cards.
• Divide this amount by the total lines of credit available to you.

Let's say, for example, you have the following three credit cards:

• A card with a $500 balance and a $1,000 limit
• A card with a $100 balance and a $500 limit
• A card with a $900 balance and a $1,500 limit

You would be carrying a total balance of $1,500 and would have $3,000 in credit available to you, so you'd have a 50% utilization rate. This is really high, and you don't want to be in this situation. Your utilization ratio should be below 30% to avoid hurting your credit and, ideally, should be as low as possible to get the best score.

I worked to get a $95,000 credit limit because having such a high limit means even if I charge a lot, my utilization ratio would still be very low. To get above 30%, I would need a credit card balance of $28,500 or higher. That's not very likely to happen.

Here's how I ended up with a $95,000 credit line

That explains why I have a $95,000 credit line. But not how.

Fortunately, the process of getting such a large credit line was simple. I opened the credit card, and I regularly signed into my online account. Periodically, an option would show up in my online account to request a credit line increase. Every single time that showed up, I submitted the request and asked for a $100,000 credit line.

Now, the card issuer didn't increase my credit line that much all at once. But my limit was raised each time I requested an increase and with no credit check required. By doing this repeatedly for years, I ended up with a ton of available credit.

If you want to make sure your own utilization ratio stays low -- and you can trust yourself not to charge a fortune if you have a high credit limit -- sign into your own account regularly and make credit line increase requests. You could end up with a $95,000 credit line over time, too, if you work at it for enough years -- and you'd get the credit score benefits that come along with it.