FirstNational's 2006 App-O-Slamma-Jamma UPDATED 02/01/07

PRE-AOR:

CL Card (Bal)
$15K NFCU Line of Credit
$50K NFCU Visa Platinum ($23K at 9.9%)
$25K USAA MC Platinum ($8K at 1.9% LOB)
$30K USAA MC Standard ($6K in grace period)
$8K BofA Visa Platinum ($4K at 0% til 3/07)

Total: $128K
Total Utilization: 32%
Highest Utilization: 50%

11/13 FICO: 709
INCOME: $230K

GOALs:
1. Maximize BT arbitrage profit
2. Obtain cash signup bonuses
3. Obtain additional cards from NFCU and USAA
4. No annual fees so I can keep these cards in my sock drawer indefinitely.
5. Only apply online.

NOTES:
It’s my first AOR, so I went all-out. Plan is for 50% utilization on BT cards and total to avoid adverse consequences. As of 12/21/06, I’ve had none of the account closings I’ve read about here, so that seems to be working.

Prepared by prioritizing cards based on rate, length of time, bonus, all in a spreadsheet with links for speed.

Used RoboForm (thanks theman2), and queued up apps using FireFox tabs, though there were just too many to queue them all up at once.

Started at 12:30am CST on Tuesday, 11/14. Completed 3-4am.

• Personal (54):

Advanta
Life of Balance Platinum Card ($50, 2.99% for life, 3%<=$50)

AMEX
Blue ($40, 4.99% for life BT/ 0%purch for 15mo, no BT fee)
Blue Cash ($40, 0% for 6mo, 3%)
Clear ($0, 3.99% for life BT/0%purch for 12mo, no BT fee)
IN:LA ($40 cardoffers, 0% for 6mo, no BT fee)
Optima Platinum ($0, 0% for 6mo, no BT fee)

Bank of Albuquerque
Platinum VISA ($0, 0% for 12mo, 3%<=$75)

BofA
Anne Geddes Platinum VISA ($0, 1.9% for 6mo, no BT fee)
FIA Elite Rewards Platinum Plus MC ($0, 0% for 12mo, 3%<=$75)
Financial Rewards VISA ($30 cardoffers, 0% for 6mo, no BT fee with offer)
Make-A-Wish Platinum VISA ($30 cardoffers, 1.9% for 6mo, no BT fee with offer)
MBNA American Mensa Platinum Plus VISA ($0, 0% for 12mo, 3%)
World Points MC ($40 cardoffers, 0% for 12mo, 3%)

Bank of Omaha
Platinum VISA ($0, 0% for 12mo, 3%<=$75)

Bank of Texas
Platinum VISA ($0, 0% for 12mo, 3%<=$75)

Chase
Disney Rewards VISA ($0, 0% for 12mo, 3%<=$50)
Flexible Rewards USNA MC ($0, 0% for 12mo, 3%<=$75)
Starbucks Card Duetto VISA ($0, 0% for 6mo, 3%<=$75)
Sony Platinum VISA ($0, 0% for 12mo, 3%<=$75)

Citi
AT&T Universal Platinum ($30 cardoffers, 0% for 12mo, no BT fee with offer)
AT&T Universal Rewards ($30 cardoffers, 0% for 12mo, no BT fee with offer)
Diamond Preferred MC ($0, 0% for life, 3%<=$75)
Driver’s Edge Platinum Select ($30 cardoffers, 0% for 12mo, no BT fee with offer)
Home Rebates Platinum Select MC ($30 cardoffers, 0% for 12mo, 0%initial/3%standard BT fee)

Emigrant Savings Bank
Platinum Edition VISA ($0, 0% for 12mo, 3%<=$75)

FIA
Amtrack Guest Rewards Platinum Plus MC ($0, 0% for 12mo, 3%<=$75)

First Bankcard
Emigrant Savings Bank College VISA ($0, 0% for 6mo, no BT fee)
Kaw Valley Platinum Edition VISA ($0, 0% for 6mo, no BT fee)
Smithtown Platinum Edition VISA ($0, 0% for 6mo, no BT fee)

First National Bank of Omaha
Henry Doorly Zoo VISA ($0, 0%for 12mo, no BT fee)
Platinum Edition VISA ($0, 0% for 12mo, 3%<=$75)

First USA
Frost Bank Platinum VISA ($0, 0% for 12mo, 3%<=$50)

GE Money
Low APR Card ($0, 0% for 12mo, 3%<=$75)

HSBC
GM Flexible Earnings Card ($35 cardoffers, 0% for 12mo, 3%<=$75)
MC with Cash Back Rewards ($0, 0% for 6mo, 3%<=$50)
Platinum MC with Cash or Fly Rewards ($0, 0% for 12mo, 3%<=$50)

Infibank
Principal Bank Super Low Rate Gold VISA ($0, 0% for 12mo, no BT fee)
Principal Bank Super Low Rate Platinum VISA ($0, 0% for 12mo, no BT fee)

Juniper
Best Western Platinum MC ($0, 0% for 6mo, 3%<=$50)
Carnival Sea Miles Platinum MC ($0, 0% for 6mo, no BT fee)

Morgan Stanley
Discover Gas ($40 cardoffers, 0% for 12mo,no BT fee with offer)
Discover Miles ($40 cardoffers, 0% for 12mo, no BT fee with offer)
Discover Platinum Clear ($40 cardoffers, 0% for 12mo, 3%<=$50)

National City
Diamond Edition Elite VISA ($0, 0% for 3mo, no BT fee)

Navy Federal Credit Union
nRewards ($0, N/A, N/A)
Platinum MC ($0, N/A, N/A)

Providian
Democratic Party VISA Platinum ($0, 0% for 3mo, no BT fee)

Pulaski
Gold VISA ($40 cardoffers, 0% for 6mo, no BT fee)

RBS National Bank
People’s Bank Platinum MC ($0, 0% for 8mo, 3%<=$60)

State Farm Bank
Platinum Rewards VISA ($0, 2.9% for 9mo, no BT fee)

Wachovia
Signature VISA ($0, 0% for 6mo, 2%<=$50)

Wells Fargo
Cash Back Platinum VISA ($0, 0% for 6mo, no BT fee)
Platinum VISA ($0, 0% for 6mo, no BT fee)

USAA
Cash Rewards AMEX ($0, 5% rebates for 6mo, n/a)

• Business (11):

Advanta
Platinum Rewards BusinessCard MC ($50, 0% for 15mo, 3%<=$50)
Platinum BusinessCard MC ($50, 0% for 15mo, 3%<=$50)

AMEX
Blue Cash for Business ($75, 7.99% for life, no BT fee)
Platinum Business ($75, 4.99% for life, no BT fee)

Amazon.com
Business VISA ($0, 0% for 6mo, 3%<=$75)

Chase
Business Cash Rewards ($0, 0% for 12mo, 3%<=$75)
GM Business ($0, 0% for 12mo, 3%<=$75)

Citi
CitiBusiness Card with Thank You Network ($10 cardoffers, 0% for 12mo, no BT fee)
Professional Card with Thank You Network ($40 cardoffers, 0% for 9mo, 3%)

GE Money
Business Credit ($0, 0% for 5mo, 3%<=$50)

Morgan Stanley
Discover Business ($45, 5.99%BT/0%purch for 12mo, 3%<=$50)


Approved Personal (CL):
BofA Financial Rewards VISA ($20K)
Juniper Carnival Sea Miles Platinum MC ($20K)
HSBC GM Flexible Earnings Card ($600)
HSBC Platinum MC with Cash or Fly Rewards ($600)
USAA Cash Rewards AMEX ($15K)
MBNA American Mensa Platinum Plus VISA ($2K)
BofA World Points MC ($7500)
FIA Elite Rewards Platinum Plus MC ($50K)
BofA Make-A-Wish Platinum VISA ($2K)
AMEX Blue Cash ($20K)
First USA Frost Bank Platinum VISA ($8500)
Bank of Albuquerque Platinum VISA ($3500)
Citi AT&T Universal Rewards ($3600)
Citi AT&T Universal Platinum ($3600)
AMEX Blue ($25K)
Chase Sony Platinum VISA ($5K)
AMEX IN:LA ($25K)
AMEX Optima Platinum ($2700)
AMEX Clear ($8300)
AMEX Clear ($8300)
AMEX Clear ($8300) <-3 separate cards issued

Approved Business (CL):
AMEX Platinum Business ($10K)
Chase Business Cash Rewards ($2K)
Citi Professional Card with Thank You Network ($6K)
CitiBusiness Platinum Select MC ($14K)

Summary:
Total New Lines: 25 (21 personal, 4 business)
Total New CL: $271,500
Bonuses: $440
New total CL: $399,500
FICO: -30 points (average of 2, EQ has split?) as of 1/1/07.

More Notes:
1. 11/17/06 first credit hit on Equifax Score Watch, dropped 10 points on the GE Money inquiry.
3. I have a website with Google/Amazon ads on it. That’s my business.
4. Probably because I did not request BT’s initially, I got low initial limits on many cards that later increased the limits on
request.
5. As of 12/21 I still have 6 deferred decisions that have not been approved/denied. I also have some outstanding CLI requests.
6. Utilization will be approximately 50% overall and individual.
7. BT’s are currently split between E-LOAN (5.38%) and GMAC (5.20%). Interest gains should between $2K and $3K over the next year.

Lessons Learned:
1. Be sure all of your accounts/credit reports have your current address. I did this the week I moved, which
caused a lot of verification work after the fact.
2. When applying for a CLI, aim high. AMEX requires 30 days between CLI's.
3. Wait for BT checks, fees are often waived if these are used.
4. When transferring funds, use unique figures (e.g. $1000.12 instead of $1000) to help keep track of what is going where.

UPDATE 12/22/06 - to reflect CLI to $25K on AMEX IN:LA card.
UPDATE 12/30/06 - to reflect approvals on AMEX Optima Platinum and CitiBusiness Platinum Select MC
UPDATE 01/01/07 - to reflect FICO decrease to 679.
UPDATE 01/03/07 - to reflect approval on 3 separate AMEX Clear cards.
UPDATE 01/04/07 - CLI's on all 3 AMEX Clear cards approved to $8300 ea.
UPDATE 02/01/07 - FICO avg. is back up to 685. Only EQ went down, due to uncorrected file split.

Great work. Detail appreciated by me

were you surprised (frustrated)by the low cl. Damn with that income and those pre-aor credit limits I would expect some bigger lines - especially from those with 0% 12 month bts

i have some HUGE Citi cls - any idea why they were so stingy?

No luv whatsoever from CHASE?

Do you feel that you would have been better off with a more focused aor?

Again, thanks for doing the detail and putting yourself out there.

PolarDude said: Who are the banks still in the pipeline?
Are you planning to ask for reconsideration on the denials?
I think this is the biggest AOR I have seen so far. Lots of nice BT deals in there. I would use more than 50% though IMHO. Too much money on the table. I used 50% at first, then transfered more later, now I have 98% on some cards..

98% is too aggressive and is not focused on long term. AMEX does not play man. These CC are wising up. Have you reviewd your reports for their reviews of your util. also 98% will halt new offers in the mail.

IMHO, keeping a high FICO is key to "Cycling" offers from 0% bt to 0% bt.

iwould have a heloc available if i was playing with that kind of fire

PolarDude said: patch96 said:
98% is too aggressive and is not focused on long term. AMEX does not play man. These CC are wising up. Have you reviewd your reports for their reviews of your util. also 98% will halt new offers in the mail.

IMHO, keeping a high FICO is key to "Cycling" offers from 0% bt to 0% bt.

iwould have a heloc available if i was playing with that kind of fire

I rarely get good offers in the mail. Only have 1 anex card now. I really need some business cards to hide my utilization, and just got an offer to apply for Open from AMEX. 0% for 12mos. Of course, when I am ready for another AOR, I will pay down the cards to near 10% utilization to max my Fico. The scoring models don't have memory as far as I know.

FIco has no memory - correct. But i NEED to be able to appy for a $250 AMEX Plat Bus for the $250 statement credit and the $150 Sony Chase when these offers are hot!

p-Dude - did you do you aor yet? If yes, how has those inq affected your score or apps?

patch96 said: PolarDude said: patch96 said:
98% is too aggressive and is not focused on long term. AMEX does not play man. These CC are wising up. Have you reviewd your reports for their reviews of your util. also 98% will halt new offers in the mail.

IMHO, keeping a high FICO is key to "Cycling" offers from 0% bt to 0% bt.

iwould have a heloc available if i was playing with that kind of fire

I rarely get good offers in the mail. Only have 1 anex card now. I really need some business cards to hide my utilization, and just got an offer to apply for Open from AMEX. 0% for 12mos. Of course, when I am ready for another AOR, I will pay down the cards to near 10% utilization to max my Fico. The scoring models don't have memory as far as I know.

FIco has no memory - correct. But i NEED to be able to appy for a $250 AMEX Plat Bus for the $250 statement credit and the $150 Sony Chase when these offers are hot!

p-Dude - did you do you aor yet? If yes, how has those inq affected your score or apps?


I haven't done an AOR since May.. My utilization is quite high, about 65% across the board. I may be able to do some BTs and time the statements to get it under for a short period, but if I have to pay major fees, I will wait.. I showed my friend my list of banks, and he was impressed. He won't be ready until March because of some inquiries that need to age. Another friend of mine should be ready in early February, although they too have inqs recently. This guy only had a 707 fico with those balances. I think 680 is the minimum I want to be, otherwise I risk denials. I want a Wells card, but I heard you need an account there first..? I don't have ANY credit unions in my portfolio, and theres plenty of new banks I am itching to add. I might get trigger happy and start early. I will certainly do my next AOR by june. My WAMU fico was in the 770s last time, and I got every card I applied for (only 9..) I don't think Inqs can drop your score more than 10%, because the FICO model only has new credit as 10% of your score. I am cheap and only pay for monitoring services.. I am good enough I can estimate ficos now

HappyGuy said: OP, thanks for the post. I just want to confirm FIA Elite Rewards Platinum Plus MC gave you a $50,000 limit?

Yes. That was obviously the best deal yet. I'm banking $25K at 0% for a year, with a fee of only $75.

HappyGuy said:
I'll pay $20K on it at that time, assuming I can't find an investment that beats 9.9% after taxes.



You have access to 0% money why would you continue to maintain this balance? Could you confirm FIA Elite Rewards Platinum Plus MC gave you a $50,000 limit?

Thanks

1. I want to stay below 50% utilization. 2. See post above.

scott1961 said:
Yes, FIA is great for big CL. Did they offer you the $75 cap in the initial offer or when you called? I got a $100k CL from FIA but with 3%, When I called to activate card CSR asked if I wanted a cash advance sent to my bank account and I said not at 3%, He then said how about capped at $75? I said sure. Still find it hard to believe they transferred $99,925 into my checking account for 14 months of 0%

The cap was in the initial offer.

That's great. You know I haven't been asking for more than $50K. I wonder if I should just ask for $1 Million now? Or would I be kicking myself when they gave it to me?

FirstNational said: scott1961 said:
Yes, FIA is great for big CL. Did they offer you the $75 cap in the initial offer or when you called? I got a $100k CL from FIA but with 3%, When I called to activate card CSR asked if I wanted a cash advance sent to my bank account and I said not at 3%, He then said how about capped at $75? I said sure. Still find it hard to believe they transferred $99,925 into my checking account for 14 months of 0%

The cap was in the initial offer.

That's great. You know I haven't been asking for more than $50K. I wonder if I should just ask for $1 Million now? Or would I be kicking myself when they gave it to me?
With your income, you would probably need very substantial savings (like Scott has) to get much beyond $50K. But it certainly never hurts to try.

I am trying to find out where to apply for the FIA card, do you have a link? Is it a BofA card? I wonder how much more I can get out of BofA, I already had $51k CL on a card from MBNA before the merger... TIA! b.

b8b said: I am trying to find out where to apply for the FIA card, do you have a link? Is it a BofA card? I wonder how much more I can get out of BofA, I already had $51k CL on a card from MBNA before the merger... TIA! b.
I doubt much. When I applied I originally got $8,500. Took a bunch of work to turn it into $100k. Then a month later I got a nice offer on a BoA card and got $11,500 line. I tried for an increase and got denied, They said they felt I had enough available credit. You would probably hear the same from BoA

Congrats on your successful AOR. I was wondering if your business is google ads on your website, how much did you report as your annual business revenue on the apps?

FirstNational said: Hindustani said: Congrats on your successful AOR. I was wondering if your business is google ads on your website, how much did you report as your annual business revenue on the apps?

I think I said $20 or something.

Hmm.. well even I have a website with google ads on it. I don't think I make more than $20 per year on it Does this qualify as a business and make me eligible to apply for business credit cards? I didn't know you can be approved for a business credit card for a business with annual revenues of $20!!! I recently completed an AOR and did not apply for any business cards. Maybe I should have.

Hindustani said: FirstNational said: Hindustani said: Congrats on your successful AOR. I was wondering if your business is google ads on your website, how much did you report as your annual business revenue on the apps?

I think I said $20 or something.

Hmm.. well even I have a website with google ads on it. I don't think I make more than $20 per year on it Does this qualify as a business and make me eligible to apply for business credit cards? I didn't know you can be approved for a business credit card for a business with annual revenues of $20!!! I recently completed an AOR and did not apply for any business cards. Maybe I should have.

I think you just answered your own question. $20 a year = $18K in business credit lines.

FirstNational, I Googled and couldn't find a FIA (BoA) Elite Rewards card with a $75 capped BT fee?

Closest thing I found is this

Would this be the right card?

Sorry, I must have missed it, I can't find it in your thread?

Found your link, sorry.

App off Cardoffers dosent work.

I'm wondering how much income plays into getting a large CL. I have great credit (over 800), but low income. FirstNational has an income of $230K?!?!? I don't think I'll ever get there (not because I'm uneducated, because I'm a biologist with a phd). Any ideas?

rainman01 said: I'm wondering how much income plays into getting a large CL. I have great credit (over 800), but low income. FirstNational has an income of $230K?!?!? I don't think I'll ever get there (not because I'm uneducated, because I'm a biologist with a phd). Any ideas?

I'm assuming it does play a part, and there is a payments/income, debt/income, or CL/income ratio involved. How much it matters is unknown, but I did receive at least one rejection reason (for a card or CLI) of "You already have sufficient credit for your income level."

However, it should matter less the higher the score is. I mean, if you somehow manage to make payments despite your income, why should they care? Also, bank account balances should matter, since you could use accumulated cash to make payments. I think some issuers would allow you to provide proof of this. Unfortunately (for this purpose) bank balances do not show up on credit reports. So it would probably require a call to the issuer.

However, it should matter less the higher the score is. I mean, if you somehow manage to make payments despite your income, why should they care? Also, bank account balances should matter, since you could use accumulated cash to make payments. I think some issuers would allow you to provide proof of this. Unfortunately (for this purpose) bank balances do not show up on credit reports. So it would probably require a call to the issuer.

Thanks for the input guys. I am planning my own AOR right now. Hopefully do it some time after the new year. I think how much one has in the bank should stay OUT of the credit reports...just too much information out in public databases!

jcrash said: FirstNational said: Updated with the FICO increase. This is really good news. I considered this a relatively large AOR, I only dropped 30 points, and less than 3 months later I'm on my way back up. I'm trying to get the Equifax split file fixed, but I'm getting bureaucratic pushback. Apparently they want me to list every single account that was removed. This could take a while. Anyone who has had success with this, suggestions are most welcome.

Ok I read it all..still don't see where you are making money.

J Crash you are right.

The focus of my soon to be AOR (will not post here due to FWF saturation of AOR) is new 0% lines PRIMARILY with cc that allow consolidation so i can reconsolidate CC lines and bt $150000-$250000 into interest bearing accounts.

i have no need for a $50 gift card of a new account with a $500 CL.

That is where the money is made