So after lurking here for a year or two and reading as much as I could on AOR's, I decided to jump on the bandwagon. This AOR was for several purposes - collect sign-up bonuses, get some 0% money, generally increase my available credit, and establish trade lines with issuers I did not already have a relationship with. So without further ado, here are the details of my AOR that was performed on 24 December 2006. I'll try to update as more approvals and CLs come in.
Me: Age 24 Annual income 75k No bankruptcies, late payments, etc.
Credit scores (obtained from Citi's Identity Monitor on 06 December 2006): TU: 753 EXP: 754 EQ: 756 Very consistent!
Existing cards/loans/debts/etc, includes only credit that is currently open and not cards that have been closed: (Name - limit/balance - age), number in [brackets] is new CL after CLI. Overall utilization is ~0, with 2-3 cards used regularly ($4-500 balances, paid in full every month)
Credit Cards: AMEX Blue Cash for Students - $1k [$7.5k] - 4.5 yrs AMEX Blue Cash - $17.5k [$20k] - 2.5 yrs Chase Cash Rewards - $5k [$8.5k] - 9 mos Chase Amazon.com Platinum - $9k [$13k] - 3.5 yrs Citi Simplicity Cash - $3.8k [10k] - 9 mos Citi Dividend Platinum - $8k [10k] - 1.75 yrs
Discover Miles Card - 0% BT no fee link APPROVED 8k Inquiry: TU
BOA Rewards AMEX - $75 link APPROVED 8.3K Inquiry: EXP
Citi Professional w/TY - $150 link APPROVED 11k Inquiry: EQ
Advanta - 0% BT <=$50 link APPROVED 10K Inquiry: EQ
AMEX Business Gold Rewards - $250 GC link APPROVED
BOA WP Platinum MC - $75 link APPROVED 8.3K AFTER DEFERRAL Inquiry: EQ
Chase United MP Business Visa - 25k miles link APPROVED 5K AFTER DEFERRAL
Citi AT&T Universal Rewards - 0% BT no fee link DEFERRED Inquiry: EQ
GE Money - 0% BT <= $75 link DEFERRED - DENIED BY MAIL - TOO MANY INQUIRIES Inquiry: EQ
Chase United MP Visa - 25k miles link DEFERRED, DENIED BY MAIL - TOO MANY INQUIRIES Inquiry: EQ
Bank of Albuquerque Platinum Visa - 0% BT <=$75 link DEFERRED, DENIED BY MAIL - TOO MANY INQUIRIES Inquiry: EQ
Net (approved) results so far: $700 in cash and gift cards $31k+ in 0% money (some limits remain unknown until receive approval in mail, should be closer to $40k) $88.3k+ in total new credit, including CLIs
Lessons: Next time, save the CLIs for last. I did all of the web-based CLIs I could before submitting new applications, and I think this is what caused my denials. Rookie mistake. Do more research into which issuers will allow reallocation instead of consolidation. I may not be able to effectively use all of my available credit simply because the actively use some of the cards with high limits and don't want to close them to increase the new 0% line. Options: consolidate and invest a large amount of 0% BT money and just replace the closed card in a few months, or invest what I have now and age/CLI the card so that I can consolidate it during the next AOR.
So I know I probably did some things wrong, but I don't see anything that is actually detrimental, I just didn't everything right in order to maximize results. I'll chalk it up as a learning experience, take my (somewhat reduced) profits, and do better next time! If you have any observations or suggestions please feel free to share them Hopefully this information can help out someone else on their first (or additional!) AORs.
UPDATES:
Post-AOR credit scores (obtained from Citi's Identity Monitor on 06 January 2006): TU: 756 EXP: 756 EQ: 754 New scores were obtained prior to any BTs, and likely do not include new several trade lines that haven't reported to the bureaus yet.
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posted: Dec. 31, 2006 @ 12:00p
sithlordabe
Ancient Member
posted: Dec. 31, 2006 @ 5:47p
Giving green for a clear and concise post.
I do wish you posted your AOR stuff before actually doing the AOR, though, as there are lots of very knowledgeable folks on here that would've given you pointers (as you stated yourself).
Oh well, next time, in 6 or 7 months when your scores heal a bit, you should be able to go at it again.
By the way, were your CLI requests hard or soft? I'm assuming hard just based on what you said - in which case yes, you should've waited until the end of your AOR since you already have the cards and if the CLI is denied, then no biggie. Soft pull CLI's, however, should definitely be done before the AOR, in fact, long before so that they report the new limit to the CRA's. High reported limits (esp. on old accounts) usually result in creditors granting you higher limits on new cards too.
markkundinger
Senior Member - 2K
posted: Jan. 1, 2007 @ 10:18a
How many of those new accounts are on the credit report yet? To be honest, if you wanted to apply for more cards, you probably could. I bet none of the balances are showing up, anyway, and that's the really killer part. Of course, this all depends on how aggressively you want to play the 0% game.
What struck me was how successful your CLI's were. You got one on each card! It might have been worth waiting an extra cycle to lets those CLI's get reported, to increase the chance of getting bigger limits on other cards.
draco067
Member
posted: Jan. 1, 2007 @ 10:37a
markkundinger said: What struck me was how successful your CLI's were. You got one on each card! It might have been worth waiting an extra cycle to lets those CLI's get reported, to increase the chance of getting bigger limits on other cards.
As far as the CLIs go, I think one of the Citi increases was soft, and the AMEXs should have been soft as well. The rest were hard, I -think-. When I did the requests at Chase, they asked how much credit I wanted and I made a modest request, like an extra $2-3k per card. I got messages back from customer service saying that because I was so awesome they were giving me more than I asked for, and if I wanted them to be reduced later then they would do so at my request
cardjuggler
Senior Member
posted: Jan. 1, 2007 @ 12:14p
Bank of Albuquerque's application links to FirstUSA.com; First USA was bought by Chase (per the CC Issuer FAQ). I don't know how Chase counts applications from affiliates, but the denial may have been more due to # of apps to Chase than total # of inquiries (regardless of what was printed on the letter!).
Or may not!
In any case, well done. And, don't worry about trying to use all the available credit; there are great arguments for not doing so.
fir2
Senior Member
posted: Jan. 1, 2007 @ 2:32p
Well, I too am lurking here about the app-o-ramas.
I do have a few questions.
[1] You pay off your credit card bills every month. So do I. Why would you then apply for credit limit increases? Is the primary reason because you want to create competition among credit card issuers for your business (which might increase the chances of getting approved)?
[2] Now, I know this is personal but you posted the information. What do you do for a living that at age 24 you earn $75K? Good for you! I'm just curious.
[3] Also, and again, I'm just wondering. I regularly wonder myself about whether rebates and serious bargain chasing is worth my time (bargain chasing is always good but there probsably is a limit where I'd earn more doing work on something some one would pay me for). Does this ever hit you too?
Thanks for the info and enlightenment.
draco067
Member
posted: Jan. 1, 2007 @ 2:59p
[1] You pay off your credit card bills every month. So do I. Why would you then apply for credit limit increases? Is the primary reason because you want to create competition among credit card issuers for your business (which might increase the chances of getting approved)?
Increasing credit limits serves several purposes. On cards that will not be used for transferring balances (or for any other reason, really), you increase the total amount of credit available to you, thus driving your overall utilization down across your credit profile when you BT on another card. Or, you can use the increases and reallocate the credit to a new card for BTs, effectively giving yourself a higher initial credit line.
[2] Now, I know this is personal but you posted the information. What do you do for a living that at age 24 you earn $75K? Good for you! I'm just curious.
I'm a systems engineer for a government contractor, lots of defense-type work. I also live in the DC area, so you figure compensations are a bit higher to attract and retain employees in an area where it costs exactly $43567934543789/year to live?
[3] Also, and again, I'm just wondering. I regularly wonder myself about whether rebates and serious bargain chasing is worth my time (bargain chasing is always good but there probsably is a limit where I'd earn more doing work on something some one would pay me for). Does this ever hit you too?
Part of the motivation behind all this is that it interests me, so you could call it a hobby I guess. Financially it beats my other hobbies, which tend to suck money out rather than bring it in Even if I spend 10-20 hours researching, applying, talking to CSRs, and managing these accounts, if I'm pulling in an extra $500-$1000 (at a minimum) then that's still $25/hr (worst case, in this example) doing something I enjoy and probably would have done anyway.
amalpani
Addicted Member
posted: Jan. 1, 2007 @ 3:43p
Credit scores (obtained from Citi's Identity Monitor on 06 December 2006): TU: 753 EXP: 754 EQ: 756 Very consistent!
Can you post your new scores.
draco067
Member
posted: Jan. 1, 2007 @ 8:00p
amalpani said: Credit scores (obtained from Citi's Identity Monitor on 06 December 2006): TU: 753 EXP: 754 EQ: 756 Very consistent!
Can you post your new scores.
I'll do so when I get my next update - only allowed 1 pull per month (I know, I am going to switch to CreditSecure), so later this week I'll get the new reports.
UnixLab
Senior Member
posted: Jan. 1, 2007 @ 8:31p
Just let you know that from I can see, Advanta is no longer no fee BT. Of course you have targeted offer, then that is a different story.
draco067
Member
posted: Jan. 4, 2007 @ 7:17p
So I ran the credit score simulator tool that is part of Citi Identity Monitor, and was able to add custom scenarios to see what would happen to my FAKO scores as the result of this AOR. I assumed a credit limit of $8k for the one card I have not received yet, and assumed that all cards that were deferred would end up denied (5 inquiries without accounts being opened). AMEX Gold Rewards Business card is ignored. This analysis DOES take into account increased credit limits on existing accounts due to CLI requests. I thought it'd be interesting to see how the predicted scores match my new scores when I pull them in a couple days.
Old credit scores (obtained 06 December 2006): TU: 753 EXP: 754 EQ: 756
So I haven't done this before, but my impression is that these predictions seem way too conservative (not a large enough drop). Guess I'll find out in a couple of days.
Thanks for "keeping it real" here. Too many here sugar coat and lie. Aors will HAVE to result in some denials after some period. You can't get 55 credit cards - these ain't yokels.
I appreciate your candor and have received some real wisdom re AOR from it.
peace
rainman01
Member
posted: Jan. 4, 2007 @ 8:28p
draco067 said: So I ran the credit score simulator tool that is part of Citi Identity Monitor, and was able to add custom scenarios to see what would happen to my FAKO scores as the result of this AOR. I assumed a credit limit of $8k for the one card I have not received yet, and assumed that all cards that were deferred would end up denied (5 inquiries without accounts being opened). AMEX Gold Rewards Business card is ignored. This analysis DOES take into account increased credit limits on existing accounts due to CLI requests. I thought it'd be interesting to see how the predicted scores match my new scores when I pull them in a couple days.
Old credit scores (obtained 06 December 2006): TU: 753 EXP: 754 EQ: 756
So I haven't done this before, but my impression is that these predictions seem way too conservative (not a large enough drop). Guess I'll find out in a couple of days.
Good job on your first AOR! I am planning my first AOR also. Can you tell me where you got your credit reports and how much it cost you? I know you used the Citi Identity Monitor to predict your new scores, but does that also give the real credit reports?
FirstNational
Ancient Member
posted: Jan. 4, 2007 @ 8:46p
Hey great post! Green for putting it out there and giving us the detail.
Be sure you are including all of your gross income, including bonuses, per diem, whatever. Everything counts.
Don't be shy about asking for CLI's. I got a lot of small intitial CL's on my AOR, but often (especially from AMEX) got an INSTANT web-requested CLI. Now I always ask for $100K. I don't think there is a downside to asking for a large CL. Your experience in getting more than you requested is rare, based on what I've read here and elsewhere.
dmk112
Member
posted: Jan. 5, 2007 @ 10:34p
FirstNational said: Hey great post! Green for putting it out there and giving us the detail.
Be sure you are including all of your gross income, including bonuses, per diem, whatever. Everything counts.
Don't be shy about asking for CLI's. I got a lot of small intitial CL's on my AOR, but often (especially from AMEX) got an INSTANT web-requested CLI. Now I always ask for $100K. I don't think there is a downside to asking for a large CL. Your experience in getting more than you requested is rare, based on what I've read here and elsewhere.
Where you able to find any 0% BT's for AMEX cards that are longer that 6 months? It seems not really worth doing the transfer for 6 months...what do you guys think?
draco067
Member
posted: Jan. 8, 2007 @ 2:40p
New credit scores (obtained from Citi's Identity Monitor on 06 January 2006): TU: 756 EXP: 756 EQ: 754
So this is odd. My scores practically didn't move. I've not done any BTs yet, so my overall utilization must have gone down, thus offsetting the score hits for new inquiries? Very likely there are still some new cards that not reported to the bureaus yet, as I've only seen two new accounts show up so far.
Unfortunately, I may not have the opportunity to take advantage of the 0% offers (can't have the high balances showing up on my report for some rather unique reasons), so it looks like this AOR may end up being simply for signup bonuses and new trade lines. I'll post new scores next month after the rest of the accounts have reported in.
jde126
Geeky member
posted: Jan. 8, 2007 @ 3:47p
FYI:
If you are obtaining a clearance, DISCO checks your credit report.
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