<prompt> Human: My credit history is at 2 years and a few months. My transunion credit score was around 750 and it dropped to 711. The only thing that could have caused this is a hard credit inquiry that incurred due to being approved for the amazon store card. My cc utilization is at 20, I have never had a late payment, and I always pay off the full balance at the end of each month. Continuing this behavior, how long until my score increases back to 750?  <response>: Okay lemme set a few things straight here. Applying for almost any card save some business cards will result in a hard inquiry on your credit. No, they are not grouped like for mortgagecar shopping. Each CC is a new inquiry. While inquiries will temporarily hurt your score they shouldnt drop it 40 points, unless you have a ton.What might drop it 40 points is if you have had one card for 2.5 years. Your average age of accounts is 2.5 years. Now you get an inquiry and open another account and your average age drops to 1.25 years. This is likely what happened your score should recover eventually. 