The criteria that the card companies use to determine your eligibility for a credit line increase has little to nothing to do with how long ago you paid off your balances. It has more to do with (1) your payment history (100% on time preferred) with that card and (2) your credit score. For #2, the credit issuer can do a soft query on your credit report any time to check your score and your other credit balances (I'm assuming they're all zero except for maybe a mortgage or *gasp* an auto loan). They may ask you to update your employment information (employer, how long you've been there, your title, and your income) depending how long ago you originally applied and received the card. Think of it as re-applying. To maximize your credit score, you need to have very low credit utilization. Most card companies report the balance to the credit reporting agencies the day after they issue you your statement. I'm presuming that your credit utilization is very low, but it needs to be low overall and low on each individual credit line. In the case of your $1,000 credit line, get to a $0 statement. That means pay the entire outstanding balance off right before the statement closes because even a $200 balance on that one will be a 20% debt to credit available ratio -- which is too high to maximize your score. Two days after that statement is generated, call them or apply online for the credit line increase. Your credit score based on utilization can be volatile if you have low limits... I've seen score drop 50 points in a day with one charge on a low limit card and stay there until I pay off the balance. The day after it's paid off, my score jumps back up 50 points.