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The Points Guy believes that credit cards can transform lives, helping you leverage everyday spending for cash back or travel experiences that might otherwise be out of reach. That's why we publish a variety of editorial content and card comparisons: to help you find a great card to turn your goals into reality.
Our site may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened with our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear. While we don't cover all available credit cards, our editorial team creates and maintains all of the analysis of these cards, and our content is not influenced nor subject to review by any credit card company, bank or partner prior to (or after) publication. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.
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6 things to do to improve your credit score in 2026
Nick Ewen is TPG's editor-in-chief and helps readers leverage credit cards (he has more than 25 of them) and loyalty programs to travel more for less. He's been at TPG for over 11 years.
Matt Moffitt is a contributing editor and expert in getting the most out of credit cards and points (he carries at least 25 cards in his wallet at any given time). Originally from Sydney, Australia, he won the Green Card Lottery and lived in Austin, Texas for 10 years before relocating to Spain in 2025.
also contributed to this story
January 6, 2026 • 9 min read
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By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
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Quick summary
Your credit score significantly impacts loan approvals, interest rates and access to travel rewards products.
Key factors influencing your score include payment history, credit utilization, account age, new credit and credit mix.
Strategies to improve your score include reviewing your credit report for errors, expanding your available credit and setting up automatic payments.
Monitoring your credit profile and budgeting to pay down outstanding balances are also recommended steps.
What to consider
Regularly check your credit report for inaccuracies, as errors are common and can negatively affect your score.
Requesting a credit line increase or opening a new account may temporarily lower your score due to hard inquiries but can improve utilization in the long run if spending remains controlled.
Setting up automatic payments helps avoid late fees but requires maintaining sufficient funds to prevent overdrafts.
What you'll miss from the article
A detailed, step-by-step guide to disputing credit report errors and practical examples for managing credit utilization effectively.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
When it comes to your financial persona, there are few metrics more important than your credit score. This number can influence not only your ability to get approved for top travel credit cards but also the interest rate you pay on a mortgage, your ability to obtain an auto loan and a host of other aspects of your life.
If you’ve made a New Year’s resolution to improve your credit score in 2026, here are some strategies to successfully do just that.
Understand credit score basics
Before getting into these tips, let’s start with a quick overview of just what constitutes your credit score. Right off the bat, it’s important to note that there are two main credit scoring models: VantageScore and FICO.
While there are a few differences between the two, they both attempt to numerically measure the same thing: your likelihood of repaying borrowed funds on time.
A lower score indicates a higher risk of defaulting on a loan, thus lowering the amount of money or credit a financial institution is willing to lend you (or lowering the chances of you being approved for a loan at all).
A higher score, on the other hand, indicates that you’re less likely to default and thus able to handle larger loan amounts and smaller fees.
The five factors that make up your FICO score. FICO
Both scores fall on the same scale (300 to 850) and use the same general criteria:
Payment history: How many payments you’ve missed or made late across your credit history
Amounts owed: Frequently referred to as your credit utilization ratio; measures how much of your available credit is currently being used
Length of credit history: The average age of your accounts across lenders
New credit: How much new credit you’ve recently gained access to, including the number of hard inquiries
Credit mix: The different types of accounts you’ve had (credit cards, auto loans, mortgages, etc.)
By paying close attention to these five items — especially the first two — you can be well on your way to improving your credit score.
One of the most important things you should do is review your credit report for inaccurate information.
According to a 2024 survey from Consumer Reports and WorkMoney, 44% of consumers who successfully checked their credit reports found at least one error. In many cases, these issues aren’t malicious (such as identity theft) but instead stem from simple inaccuracies (including mixed-up accounts or similar names).
Fortunately, there’s an official process for removing these errors. This article from the Federal Trade Commission provides full details of these steps, including how to request your free credit report every week.
Even if your credit score is high, errors on your report may be dragging it down. TOLGART/GETTY IMAGES
Once you’ve identified an error, submit a dispute letter directly to the credit reporting company; you can use the FTC’s sample for inspiration. The bureau must investigate the complaint, typically involving going to the organization that provided the disputed information.
If this doesn’t help, the next step is to contact the information provider directly with your complaint; again, the FTC provides a sample dispute letter for this purpose. Be detailed but concise and include copies of any documentation that supports your dispute.
While this process can be time-consuming, cleaning up your credit report to be clear of all inaccuracies is an important step you can take to immediately improve your score — or, at the very least, prevent any future drops in your score related to errors.
Another way to boost your credit score in the new year is to expand the credit line to which you have access. This may seem counterintuitive: Surely more credit means more money to spend and, therefore, more risk, right?
While that’s true on the surface, remember that your credit utilization ratio makes up almost a third of your FICO score (and is also a key part of your VantageScore). That’s why gaining access to additional credit can improve your credit score.
There are two different ways to accomplish this:
Request credit line increases on existing accounts: Some issuers make it very easy to request increases online, which generally won’t result in a hard inquiry on your credit report.
Apply for a new credit card: Even though this will result in a hard inquiry and temporarily drop your score, it can still give you a new line of credit (not to mention unlock a potentially valuable welcome bonus). This may outweigh the temporary drop in the short run and will almost certainly help in the long run.
A new credit card or an expanded credit limit could boost your credit score. RUDI_SUARDI/GETTY IMAGES
Here’s an example of how this would work. Let’s say you have a single credit card with a limit of $5,000. Even though you pay it off in full every month, the card still has an average balance of roughly $2,500, as you use it as your primary credit card and will continue charging purchases to it as your payment due date approaches.
The general rule of thumb is to keep your utilization under 30%, so in this example, you’re well above that (50%).
Now, let’s say you request — and are granted — an increase of $5,000. Or, maybe you apply for a new card and are given a $5,000 line. With this one action, you’ve just boosted your available credit to $10,000. As long as your balance remains in the $2,500 range, your utilization drops to 25%, which should result in a noticeable increase in your score over time.
However, this only works if you do not use the new credit line to spend beyond your means. As long as your spending remains consistent, you’re simply spreading that amount out over a larger credit limit, dropping your utilization and increasing your score. Credit cards are not necessarily a surefire way to get into debt; make sure you keep your purchases in line with your income.
If you’re prone to missing a deadline here or there, you should at least have calendar reminders for your credit card payment due dates and, at best, have automatic payments enabled on your accounts.
As noted above, your payment history is the most important factor in determining your credit score, and even a single late payment can dramatically reduce your score, as it indicates that you may be struggling to pay off your balance.
By setting up reminders or enabling automatic payments from your bank account, you ensure that every payment will be processed on or before your statement due date.
Setting up autopay may be the right choice if you’re prone to forgetting to schedule your payments. AMERICAN EXPRESS
Of course, this comes with the caveat that you must maintain enough money in your bank account to cover the balance that will be paid automatically. Otherwise, the overdraft fee could eat away at your earnings and still result in a late payment.
If you carry a credit card balance from month to month, the interest charges that accrue will easily cancel out the value of the points or miles you’re earning on the card — and then some.
A simple budget is critical if you’re trying to pay down a credit card debt. D3SIGN/GETTY IMAGES
However, you may have an old debt from your freewheeling days as a college student, or maybe you elected to finance a large purchase with an introductory 0% annual percentage rate credit card or deferred interest offer on a store credit card.
Do not let these balances go unpaid. If you haven’t already done so, sit down and create a budget for how you’ll pay these balances off to avoid (or minimize) your interest exposure.
Sign up for credit monitoring
This final suggestion won’t necessarily result in an immediate increase in your credit score. Still, it’s a best practice to keep tabs on your score and quickly identify any issues that may arise. Sign up for a service that monitors your credit profile and notifies you of any changes.
Services like Credit Karma can notify you of credit score changes. CREDIT KARMA
We like to use Credit Karma, a free service that tracks your TransUnion and Equifax scores and allows you to view your credit report whenever you want. You can also set alerts for various things, such as changes to your report.
Bottom line
Whether you’re new to the world of points and miles or have been around for a while, keeping your credit score high is one of the most important things you can do. This will increase your approval odds for top travel rewards credit cards, expand your access to installment loans and even lower the interest rates and fees you’d pay to lenders.
If you’ve made a resolution to boost your scores in 2026, we hope this guide has given you some concrete steps to improve your credit health in the coming weeks and months.
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
