I know that app-o-rama play-by-plays are dime-a-dozen, so feel free to either ignore this, or ask for more info if there's something useful you can learn from my experience.
Structure of this Topic: The Original Post is the intro to my AOR, it doesn't really change. The Topic summary contains an updated running list of the results of the AOR. And then many of my own posts to this thread are stream-of-consciousness updates, as events occur.
Background: I haven't done an app-o-rama before. In fact, the only "unnecessary" card I had is a Schwab Visa I got last year for a gift card (which leads to the next point).
Turns out I had a $15 charge on this card which I forgot about, and bills were being mailed to the wrong address, and I went about 120 days delinquent, and MBNA/Schwab shut down the card. Eventually, in April, I called up MBNA, talked to a nice man in the credit department named Tom, and we noticed that the bills were going to a building that didn't exist. He reopened the card, reversed the fees, and corrected the credit entries.
So, before that was resolved, credit was dinged: Experian and Transunion FAKOs were 727 and 668. I was even denied for a credit union CC I applied for (the horror). Therefore, I decided to wait about a month until the cleaned up entry was reported to the bureaus until resuming applying for CC's. However, I still opened some new bank accounts during that period, with the rationale that bank's don't really care about credit scores. Was that a mistake? We'll find out.
OBJECTIVE: Unlike jairocon's simultaneous AOR, my objective is more geared towards racking up signup bonuses, with BT's as a side deal. I'm not carrying any balances now, and I just don't spend that much a year through cards. Also, I tried to stack up applications from one bank as closely to each other as possible, in the hopes of disguising the credit inquiries. (For the Citi cards, I submitted 4 apps in under one second).
EARLY (mid-April) CC APPLICATIONS: (cards listed in order of app)
Citi mtvU, approved by mail, $2k CL (wanted 5% on restaurants/movies and $40 through cardoffers.com) Advanta Rewards, approved instantly, $2.5k CL (wanted 5% on phone/computers) Cabrillo Credit Union Mastercard, denied (where I discovered the 669 FAKO)
BANK-O-RAMA (early May):
NetBank checking, $500 deposit, $75 cash Netbank Money Market, $1000 deposit, $75 cash Fidelity Account, $10,000 deposit for $100 cash and 15k UAL miles BofA Savings for $25 cash BofA Checking for $75 cash BofA autotransfer checking -> savings for $15 (and a Keep The Change card which I am exploiting to the fullest)
PAUSE and wait for credit score to get repaired FAKOs from privacymatters.com: TU 776, EXP 785, EQU 760
FULL-ON APP-O-RAMA (May 13) (cards listed in order of application) Chase Cash Plus MC, $100 cash and 12mo 0% BT, (telephone app), deferred Chase Sony, $100 cash and 12mo 0% BT, deferred Citi Diamond Pref Rewards MC, $100 GC and 12mo 0% free BT, insta-approved $7.3k Citi Simplicity Rewards MC, $100 GC and 12mo 0% free BT, deferred Citi Diamond Pref AMEX, $100 GC and 12mo 0% free BT, deferred Citi Platinum AAdvantage MC, either 20k miles or 15k miles and $40 from cardoffers.com, deferred MBNA NY Jets MC, Ipod Nano(!) and 15mo 0% unlimited fee BT, deferred MBNA Fidelity MC, 1.5% rebate to Fidelity account, deferred HSBC GM FlexEarnings MC, 12mo 0% BT and $35 from cardoffers.com, deferred Discover Gas Card, 12mo 0% BT and $40 from cardoffers.com, deferred RBS Platinum MC, 10mo 0% BT, deferred (I want an angle on the CustomCash) Chase Marriot Rewards Visa (I had forgotten about this one, deferred)
INITIAL REACTION
Geeze, only one instant approval? I feel like a putz. Should I have waited on the bank apps until after the CCS? Should I not have applied for the bulk of the cards at the same time? I guess I'll find out as I hear back on the CC offers.
LATER REACTION
Okay, it has turned out better than that. See Quick Summary (or endless update postings) for details
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Lessons Learnt
- Check your credit report before beginning to look for any derogatory information that needs cleaning! My unpaid MBNA card caused a big snafu early on. - Don't stagger applications over the course of months. It's not necessary to do them at the same moment, but having inquiries within a day or two is really the target. - Do bank applications after credit card apps. Banks are much much less picky. - Citi caps your applications, it appears to be two consumer apps within 60 days. - A bunch of simultaneous inquiries might spook credit card companies, regardless of FICO - Something is up with my credit report, or short residential history, that causes lots of credit card issuers to doubt my existence. - If you ever get an email or postcard from Citibank wanting to "verify information", there's a better-than-even chance they want to sell you a business card.
BofA (pulled Experian (twice!) for the online savings app) NetBank (no pull) Citibank (pulled TU)
DENIED Applications: Cabrillo Credit Union Mastercard, (pulled TU w/ 668 FAKO) Citi Simplicity Rewards MC, (no pull, too many inquiries) Citi Diamond Pref AMEX, (no pull, see above) Citi Platinum AAdvantage MC, (no pull, see above)
Goodies actually received $100 deposit from Fidelity 15,000 UAL miles from Fidelity (+10,000 later with $50k deposit) $75 from BofA for checking $75 + $75 from NetBank $50 from cardoffers for Advanta biz card $100 check from Chase for Rewards Plus card $15 Credit Protector check for Citi mtvU $50 Sharebuilder bonus 40,000 Citibank ThankYou points -> $400 via student loan rebate. $20 first-purchase CashBack from Discover $100 for first half MGSF bonus from Citibank $40 from cardoffers for Discover card $40 from cardoffers for Hilton AMEX card $20 from Citi Credit Protector (off mtvU card) $25 from BofA Efectiva for initial bonus + BT CashBack $25 from ING for new savings signup $100 from Chase for Sony card $25 (twice!) from BofA for first savings account Ipod Nano (!) from MBNA Jets card $35 for GM Flexcard from cardoffers $30 for BofA Efectiva from cardoffers $20 from Chase (twice!) for payment protector $500 from TD Ameritrade for Apex promo $20 from Ebates for first Sharebuilder promo $50 for second Sharebuilder promo $125 for BofA THZ3 checking + saving promo $40 from Cardoffers for AMEX Gold card 10,000 Hilton points from AMEX Hilton card 10,000 AMEX MR points -> 20,000 Hilton points $100 from Citibank for second part of MGSF promo $250 in BofA Keep The Change money (after one year) Total = about $2000
FICO/FAKO Scores (from TrueCredit) Starting: TU 776, EXP 785, EQU 760 (5/13/06) Lowest: TU 601, EX 604, EQ 605 (8/16/06) Final: TU 799, EX 779, EQ 784 (7/13/07)
Reported Household Income: $52k
Adverse Action Chase reduced credit limits across cards twice over life of BT. $5k the first time, $4.4k the second.
Money In $2000 in signup bonuses (and an ipod) Approx $3500 in interest, dividends, and capital gains from investing BT money
Money Out $135 in balance transfer fees Approx $60 in "mistakes" (finance charges and minimum balance fees)
Message edited by: markkundinger on 2008-02-12 01:06:51 CST
markkundinger said:Geeze, only one instant approval? I feel like a putz. Should I have waited on the bank apps until after the CCs? Should I not have applied for the bulk of the cards at the same time? I guess I'll find out as I hear back on the CC offers.
I think you pretty much know what happened, but yes, you should have submitted more apps at or around the same time, but given your discovery about the negatives sort of threw a wrench in that. If you were able to submit at the same time only the inquiries and not all the new trade lines would be seen.
Another thought, since you only have 3 cards, all the new ones are going to skew your average age of accounts, much moreso than someone who has 10+ other cards to help the averages. This might make a large AOR more difficult.
Good points guys. While I've examined my experian and Equifax reports individually (and they had no errors), I can't guarantee that there's not some crack-smoking going on on my credit report. for instance, the combined report from privacymatters had some flakey information attributed to equifax that wasn't actually on the equifax report I'm holding in my hand.
And hair, I suspect that if I get approved up for most of these cards, my age of credit is going to be downright infantile. I plan on closing/consolidating several of them if possible (I know it doesn't really affect the score, but I don't need 6 cards from on issuer).
kennybrowneyes said:Uhh.. stupid question. But what does deferred mean?
My bad, I may have been trying to invent a word. The whole "we will evaluate your application and respond within 30 days" thing. I'll update as I receive letters of acceptance or declination.
markkundinger said:kennybrowneyes said:Uhh.. stupid question. But what does deferred mean?
My bad, I may have been trying to invent a word. The whole "we will evaluate your application and respond within 30 days" thing. I'll update as I receive letters of acceptance or declination.
Because dangit, I wanted those cards now.
That's not necessarily bad, not everyone gives instant credit. I got three Citicards and one Chase all at the same time and did not get instant decision on any of them, but heard through mail later than I had been accepted. I think you were unrealistically expecting too much.
I have a credit history of only 4.5 yrs. 12 accounts in total. 5 accounts opened 4 yrs back and the rest in between. I recently closed 7 "newer" accounts and two old accounts because the CLs were not increasing even though they were 0 balances and low CLs. I also closed 2 old accounts with low CLs. Now my CL on the 3 remaining cards are around 10K each. How long should I wait till I start my apporama. I applied for new cards like crazy last year, so lots of inquiries and only a car loan last month where FICO was around 700, now fell down to 687. So, am planning to wait till FICO crosses 750 or maybe 800 to do an apporama. balances on current cards are less than 20% of CLs. current TU/EX score is 732 and equifax is 697.
Q is wont the banks deny the C apps because I have closed many accounts with lower CLs recently which they themselves have issued. If so am I better off applying for apps with banks that I never have had a CC with before (BoA, Providian etc)
also, does any1 remember the thread where the "list of institutions and the CRA agency they use when you apply for a credit card" is present. thx
Grifman said:markkundinger said:kennybrowneyes said:Uhh.. stupid question. But what does deferred mean?
My bad, I may have been trying to invent a word. The whole "we will evaluate your application and respond within 30 days" thing. I'll update as I receive letters of acceptance or declination.
Because dangit, I wanted those cards now.
That's not necessarily bad, not everyone gives instant credit. I got three Citicards and one Chase all at the same time and did not get instant decision on any of them, but heard through mail later than I had been accepted. I think you were unrealistically expecting too much.
Yeah I wouldn't worry at all. Most of these "deferred" cards you will end up getting. I recently did an App-O-Rama and had the same experience and was worried, but in the end I got like 10/12 cards I applied for (and the last one was insta-denied b/c of excessive inquiries). My total credit was about doubled in the end.
minghi said:also, does any1 remember the thread where the "list of institutions and the CRA agency they use when you apply for a credit card" is present. thx
I don't know for sure, but I do remember that this AOR had some mention with it.
I have a hunch, though that with the big CC issuers, the bureau pulled for any one application may vary randomly. I guess I'll find out soon when the four near-simultanous Citi inquiries hit... actually, I'll try to update the summary with who hit which bureau.
Keep us updated...always good to know what the CC companies are up to.
Re: speed, not too many too fast, I'd say it's too many too slowly. The single-day approach has advantages, especially if your applying for more than one account (multiple cards and/or multiple types of products) from a single creditor.
Also, I think your biggest mistake was going after the banks first. Banks are EASY. Credit cards are the ones who have to trust you and think you're a creditworthy individual. Banks are falling over themselves to give you money so that they can hold on to yours.
The only comment I have re: the past due MBNA account is that anyone who's trying to keep track of this many accounts using only their paper statements is either 1) a curmudgeon, 2) a sadist, or 3) well, let's just say they shouldn't be doing AORs...
The FIRST thing to do when you get a new account is to get it hooked up online and then add that online account to your account aggregation service so that you can keep tabs on it, know if its status changes, and know when action is due. Doing so will save you a lot of headaches and allow you to preserve your sanity and sleep well at night.
markkundinger said:kennybrowneyes said:Uhh.. stupid question. But what does deferred mean?
My bad, I may have been trying to invent a word. The whole "we will evaluate your application and respond within 30 days" thing. I'll update as I receive letters of acceptance or declination.
Because dangit, I wanted those cards now. You could say 'Pending' or 'TBD' for To Be Determined. Deferred means it will be approved but not now. Defer: To put off; postpone.
P.S.: 'Pending' or "We will evaluate..." == Tough luck! or only a few hunder $ CL.
Instant approvals are meaningless. Get over it. It doesn't mean anything.
Everything you've done is fine. Just wait for the applications to come in. Call some of the companies to check on it...they may have already made a decision or they may make it while they've got you on the phone.
it takes 30 to 60 days to update, no specific mention of time frames but unless you waited 30 days min the other inq. on your cbr would not have been seen by any of the others.
Well, I pulled my own credit report right before applying, and it had the 3 CC and 1 bank pull on it. Presumably a lender's credit report pull would be just as up to date.
However, it only had one of the two new CC accounts on it, I guess the other updated slightly slower.
Aaaand today was the today that the inquiries start to show up:
HSBC pulled Equifax MBNA, Discover, and Chase (twice) pulled Experian Transunion shows one Citi pull (wonder if all 4 apps got lumped into one?)
Also, I got an email from HSBC with a link to check application status. Good news: I got accepted. Bad news: It's a $2k credit limit. With the associated BT fee, this doesn't even make it worthwhile to do anything with.
So if I were to view this as a "beach head" into HSBC, anyone have an idea of how I can parlay this card into a decent credit limit or a no-fee BT? (same card, add'l cards?)
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