goal: to gain as much 0% cash w/no fee as possible. Based on this thread, my method is to request large Balance Transfers to help achieve large credit lines. To get the cash off the card and into the bank, I did all BTs to various Credit Union cards that offer no-fee cash advance convenience checks. I also BT'd to various MBNA cards that can send cash to these CU cards through MBNA Billpay. **NOTE: DO NOT DO THIS. IT DID NOT WORK. SEE POST ON 4/15 and 5/4** Before the demise of the Penfed CD deal, I would have purchased CDs for the amount with my MBNA Fidelity/529 2% rebate card.
2nd goal: cash bonuses for applications through cardoffers.com
planning: I paid down all 0% BTs and waited for CRs to update. But, due to the Penfed CD deal expiring in mid Feb, I was caught without a method of washing the BT funds. So I joined 4 credit unions and applied for their credit cards in order to have someplace to BT to. I did not want to wait for aging and bumpage to remove the hard inquiries because NONE of the CUs had reported the new credit cards yet, and I decided a few recent inquiries was better than showing $100K in new credit card limits!
All applications were entered on Monday between 9am-2pm ET. I tried to only apply for a single card from each issuer, but did apply for a Chase card and a Bank One card (now the same company)
Capital One Business Platinum VISA 0% BT for 12 months. requested $20K BT pulled ALL THREE CRs Tuesday told to wait 7 days for written response. waited 3 weeks and APPROVED $12K line
Amex In:NYC card 0% BT for 6 months. requested $24.5K BT pulled TR same day APPROVED instantly $25K line $30 bonus from cardoffers.com
Citi Upromise 0% BT for 12 months. no request for BT on app pulled EQ same day told to wait for written response. called 800#, APPROVED $4.5K line. Once card arrives I will reallocate from other cards before asking for BT. $40 bonus from cardoffers.com
Discover Gold Card 0% BT for 12 months. requested $25K pulled EX Tuesday and EQ&TR on Thursday! told to wait 30 days for written response. $40 bonues from cardoffers.com if approved update: phone call from Discover Friday 4pm verifying info. Since I use VOIP they could not verify my home phone #. Asked for the main phone # of my office (as opposed to my direct line) APPROVED $6K line. I was able to reallocate from an existing card to increase it.
GM Mastercard 0% BT for 12 months. requested $25K pulled ?? told to wait 10-14 days for written response. no update as of today from online status. $20 bonus from cardoffers.com if approved DECLINED - already have a GM Card. Offered to consolidate/cancel, but my available credit exceeds my income and they will not offer a new card.
Chase Cashbuilder 0% BT for 12 months. requested $25K pulled TR Tuesday told to wait for written response. called 800#, spoke to underwriter. Agreed to close $11K Chase card and lower BankOne Amazon card from $6.5K to $2.5K. APPROVED for $25.2K
Bank One targeted offer 0% BT for 14 months. requested $25K pulled TR same day (listed as FirstUSA. thanks deals4travel) told to wait for written response. According to 800#, APPROVED $11K on Friday with BT of $10.5K
Providian Pay-Pal VISA targeted offer 0% BT for 11 months. requested $25K pulled TR same day told to wait for written response. According to 800#, APPROVED for $15K with BT of $14.5K
National City Diamond Elite VISA 0% BT for 6 months. requested %30K. website not working, applied by phone pulled TR same day APPROVED for $10K with BT of $9.5K
1st National Bank of Omaha 0% BT for 6 months. requested $30K pulled ?? told to wait for written response. called Thurs afternoon and due to "high number of internet apps" had not even looked at mine yet. Also said they had 3 apps from me (one was internet crash on their end, the other is Hibernia card below). Said they will only process 1 and will have a decision in 2 weeks. DECLINED - too many inquiries
Hibernia SmartOne VISA 0% BT for 6 months. requested $30K pulled ?? told to wait for written response (note: website app looked identical to 1st Nat'l Omaha. are these the same company??) note #2: see above. This app was cancelled by issuer because of app for 1st Nat'l bank of Omaha
Juniper Caesar's Mastercard 0% BT for 6 months. requested $20K pulled TR & EX same day DENIED. "Excessive credit applications"
HSBC Platinum VISA 0% BT for 6 months. requested $40K pulled EQ same day APPROVED $1.5K line. I plan to call and ask for an increase or will cancel card. update Monday: received card, called to ask for credit line increase. CSR said they would run another credit check, I declined. Offered to transfer to a manager, sat on hold for 15 minutes and gave up. Called back later and cancelled the card without activating.
========================================================================= I got hard pulls from "Infibank" and "First USA" and I don't know which cards they go with. First USA is gone, and I've never heard of Infibank. Can anyone shed some light?
I will update this post as the responses come in...
edit: added BankOne CR inquiry (listed as FirstUSA) edit #2: added First Nat'l Bank Omaha /Hibernia account status edit #3: added approval from Bank One edit #4: added updated info from Discover edit #5: added my cancellation of HSBC card edit #6: added delines from Household GM and 1st Nat'l Omaha edit #7: added approval from Capital One business card 4/8/05 edit #8: added approval from Discover card on 4/11/05 edit #9: added important note re: Credit Union credit cards 4/15/05
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I like that this particular persons apporama is being kept separate.. easier to follow the result.. thanks for making your post so well organized.. and good luck
Derffie said:I like that this particular persons apporama is being kept separate.. easier to follow the result.. thanks for making your post so well organized.. and good luck What he said )
davelanton said:Sharing the results of my recent app-o-rama:
========================================================================= I got hard pulls from "Infibank" and "First USA" and I don't know which cards they go with. First USA is gone, and I've never heard of Infibank. Can anyone shed some light?
I will update this post as the responses come in...
"InfiBank, N.A. provides financial institutions with the ability to realize all the benefits of a competitive credit card program without the inherent responsibilities of issuance." It was most likely a hard pull for one of the credit unioin cards you have applied for underwritten by Infibank.
Good job for posting all the info. Keep us updated. Just one question for you - you will get large $$$ interest free for 6 months - 1 year. What is your goal with the money for such short term? Will you pay it all off at end of 12 months or again carry it over somewhere else?
deals4travel said:Good job for posting all the info. Keep us updated. Just one question for you - you will get large $$$ interest free for 6 months - 1 year. What is your goal with the money for such short term? Will you pay it all off at end of 12 months or again carry it over somewhere else?
In the past I have paid it all back and started anew. But now that my available credit is something like 4x salary, it may be harder next time around.
Thx for the detail on your experience. I'd have missed this in a pre-existing thread.
Thought:
Would it be better to do this on a Tue on the premise that you're less likely to compete w/ weekend backlog in the approval departments, thus avoiding CR-pull timing risk?
Bagofchips said:Thx for the detail on your experience. I'd have missed this in a pre-existing thread.
Thought:
Would it be better to do this on a Tue on the premise that you're less likely to compete w/ weekend backlog in the approval departments, thus avoiding CR-pull timing risk?
Perhaps. Many of the internet apps were instant pulls, but based on what I had read here and other places, I expected the phone apps to do an instant pull. Since Cap One pulled all 3 and took their sweet time doing it, I'm almost positive they will decline me.
davelanton said:planning: I paid down all 0% BTs and waited for CRs to update. But, due to the Penfed CD deal expiring in mid Feb, I was caught without a method of washing the BT funds. So I joined 4 credit unions and applied for their credit cards in order to have someplace to BT to. I did not want to wait for aging and bumpage to remove the hard inquiries because NONE of the CUs had reported the new credit cards yet, and I decided a few recent inquiries was better than showing $100K in new credit card limits!
What credit unions did you join that gave such generous credit limits?
may I ask some basic questions about your credit history before your App-O-Rama?
what is your age, your current household income, how many CC you had before hand, how high were the limits on those CC before hand.
I ask that becuase when I apply for new cards my limit tend to be on the low end near 5k while i am young and i understand why. I wonder how people get those 25k limit to start.
denbo32 said:may I ask some basic questions about your credit history before your App-O-Rama?
what is your age, your current household income, how many CC you had before hand, how high were the limits on those CC before hand.
I ask that becuase when I apply for new cards my limit tend to be on the low end near 5k while i am young and i understand why. I wonder how people get those 25k limit to start. Age: 34 income: approx $100K # cards: many (more than 12) credit lines running from $5K - $22K
My experience with Credit Unions has been that they are more generous than traditional issuers, but are also more likely to verify income. On most of the recent cards I received, I had to fax or mail W-2 or paystubs. But, the formulas the CUs use to figure the credit line can be 3x or 4x gross monthly income!
jlgrandam said:That's quite a haul of sign up bonuses from cardoffers.com! How long does it usually take for them to pay out? I believe the fine print says 6-8 weeks, but this is my first time using them.
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