Rasher's App-o-rama Lamma Ding Dong

Purpose:
Priority One: Take advantage of 0% BT offers
Priority Two: Bonus rewards and incentives

Existing Accounts:
Bank of America Visa - Opened 2001 - $33,000 Limit - ~$8,700 Balance - 26% Utilization <-After approving the new Visa Platinum Rewards for $26,000, BofA reduced this one down to $10,000
Wells Fargo Visa Signature - Opened 1997 - $19,000 Limit - $0 Balance - 0% Utilization
BoA MBNA Visa - Opened 1997 - $1,600 limit - $0 Balance - 0% Utiliztion
E-Trade HELOC - Opened 2005 (for home improvements) - $28,400 Limit - ~$28,000 Balance - 99% Utilitiztion

Personal Info:
Age: 33
Household income: $100,000
House Payment: $800
Last Fico (12/06): 792

Plan:
The HELOC was opened late 2005 to make significant improvements to my rental house. (Added a garage, driveway, etc.) HELOC is currently at 8.25% interest (floats with prime), but all of this interest is tax-deductible. With the current rent I'm getting for the house, I'm on a schedule to have it paid off in 10 years (assuming interest rates don't skyrocket). I wouldn't mind taking advantage of BT deals to accelerate that schedule a bit, though.

I intend to use my BTs to first pay down my HELOC. After HELOC balance is zero, then I'll continue to BT into HELOC and request refund check.

Cards to Apply For:
Edit: Cards are grouped by issuer and listed in application order. The assumption is that the cards applied for first will be approved before the later cards.

Advanta:
Advanta Platinum Business Card with Rewards -- 0% for 15 months -- 3% max. $50 -- Cardoffers: $50 -- LINK
Application Status: Applied -- Approved (1/19) for $12,500
Advanta Life of Balance Platinum -- 2.99% for life of BT (if done within 3 months of opening) -- No BT fee (with offer) -- Cardoffers: $50 -- LINK
<<<Perhaps someone would care to comment on a 2.99% for life? Is this a good idea?>>>
Application Status: Applied - but a screen came up saying that I already had an Advanta card (see above application)

American Express:
American Express Blue -- 0% for 15 months (purch. only) -- No BT Offer -- Cardoffers: $75 -- LINK
Application Status: Applied -- Approved for $5,900
IN:CHICAGO Card from American Express -- 0% for 6 months -- No BT Fee (with offer) -- Cardoffers: $40 -- LINK
Application Status: Applied -- "System not responding" (Will send notice within 14 days) -- DENIED (Credit Acquisition Risk Too High)

Bank of America:
Financial Rewards Platinum Plus -- 0% for 6 months -- No BT fees -- Cardoffers: NONE --
Application Status: Applied -- Approved for $26,000
BofA American Express -- 0% for 12 months -- 3% BT fee, no max. (??) -- Cardoffers: NONE --
Application Status: Applied -- Pending

Chase:
Chase Platinum Visa -- 0% for 12 months -- 3% max. $75 -- Cardoffers: NONE -- LINK
Application Status: Applied -- Approved (1/18) for $11,000 -- BT'd $9,600 into Etrade (see BT notes below)
Chase Business Cash Rewards -- 0% for 12 months -- 3% max. $75 -- Cardoffers: NONE -- LINK
Application Status: Applied -- Approved (1/29) for $10,000 -- BT check for $8,900 into personal checking account
Sony Visa Card (Chase) -- 0% for 12 months -- 3% max. $75 -- Cardoffers: NONE (BUT $100 GC after first purchase) -- LINK
Application Status: Applied -- Approved (1/18) for $11,000 -- BT'd $9,600 into Etrade (see BT notes below)

Citibank Business:
CitiBusiness Premier Pass -- 0% for 12 months -- No BT fee (with offer) -- Cardoffers: $10 -- LINK
Application Status: Applied -- Under Review (response within 30 days)
CitiBusiness with TY Network Card -- 0% for 12 months -- No BT fee (with offer) -- Cardoffers: $10 -- LINK
Application Status: Applied -- Approved (1/22) for $7,500.00
CitiBusiness Card -- 0% for 12 months -- No BT fee (with offer) -- Cardoffers: $10 -- LINK
Application Status: Not Applied -- It looks like this page is the sane as the CitiBusiness with TY Network

Citibank Personal:
Citi Diamond Preferred (discussed HERE) -- 0% for 12 months -- No BT fee (with offer) -- Cardoffers: NONE -- LINK
<<<This offer has a 10,000 point bonus after first purchase (redeemable for $100). Enter code F1A6>>>
Application Status: Applied -- Approved for $7,300.00 -- CSR Called and switched me over to Citi Professional -- Approved for $10,300
AT&T (Citibank) Universal Rewards Card -- 0% for 12 months -- No BT fee (with offer) -- Cardoffers: $30 -- LINK
Application Status: Applied -- Under Review (response within 30 days) -- Denied
Citibank Premier Pass -- 0% for 12 months -- No BT fee (with offer) -- Cardoffers: $33 -- LINK
Application Status: Applied -- Under Review (response within 30 days) -- Denied (1/23) too many applications
Citi Home Rebate Platinum Select -- 0% for 12 months -- No BT fee (with offer) -- Cardoffers: $30 -- LINK
Application Status: Applied -- Approved (1/22) for $7,500.00

Discover:
Discover Gas Card -- 0% for 12 months -- No BT fee (with offer) -- Cardoffers: $40 -- LINK
Application Status: Applied -- Approved (1/19) for $12,000 -- BT'd $9,600 into Etrade (see BT notes below)
Discover® Platinum American Flag Card - 0% for 12 months -- No BT fee (with offer) -- Cardoffers: $40 -- LINK
Application Status: Denied -- Said I'd already applied for a Discover (Gas Card above...)

HSBC:
GM Flexible Earnings (HSBC) -- 0% for 12 months -- 3% max. $75 -- Cardoffers: $35 -- LINK
Application Status: Did not apply due to forum comments
HSBC Platinum Mastercard -- 0% for 12 months -- 3% max. $99 - Cardoffers: NONE -- LINK
Application Status: Applied -- Approved for $2,500.00

Other Issuers:
First National Bank of Omaha Platinum Edition Visa Card -- 0% for 15 months -- 3% max. $75 -- Cardoffers: NONE -- LINK
Application Status: Applied -- Denied (too many inquiries, etc.)
Kroger 1-2-3 Rewards -- 0% for 12 months -- 3% max. $60 -- Cardoffers: NONE -- LINK
Application Status: Applied -- Under review (response within 7-10 days) -- Denied (Unable to verify credit references as provided)
PNC Select Rewards Visa Platinum Card -- 0% for 12 months -- No BT Fee (with offer) -- Cardoffers: NONE -- LINK
Application Status: Applied -- Approved (1/20) for $10,000
Midwest Airlines (Juniper) Platinum MasterCard -- 0% for 6 months -- 3% max. $50 -- Cardoffers: NONE -- LINK
Application Status: Applied -- Approved (1/23) for $34,000(!!) -- BT'd $25,000 into Etrade
GE Money Low APR Card -- 0% for 12 months -- 3% max. $75 -- Cardoffers: NONE -- LINK
Application Status: Applied -- Under review -- DENIED (Too many inquiries)
Wells Fargo Visa -- 0% for 6 months -- no BT fee -- Cardoffers: NONE --
Application Status: Applied -- Under review -- Denied (I expected this...)

Breakdown of Cards Issued (by Issuer):
Advanta: 1 (of 1)
American Express: 1 (of 2)
Bank of America: 1 (of 2)
Chase (Personal): 2 (of 2)
Chase (Business): 1 (of 1)
Citibank (Personal): 2 (of 4)
Citibank (Business): 1 (of 2)
Discover: 1 (of 1)
HSBC: 1 (of 1)
First National Bank of Omaha: 0 (of 1)
Kroger: 0 (of 1)
PNC: 1 (of 1)
Juniper: 1 (of 1)
GE: 0 (of 1)
Wells Fargo: 0 (of 1)
-------------------------------
Total New Cards Issued: 13 (of 22)

New Credit Issued (to date):
$137,200 (BofA reduced the CL on my existing Visa from $33,000 to $10,000 after appoving a new Visa)

Balance Transfer Notes:
Chase Visa AND Chase Sony Visa: Website application said my application would be reviewed. I recieved a phone call verifying my apps for security purposes. Two days later I recieved a phone call from the BT department to confirm balance transfers. They told me BOTH cards were approved for $11,000 each. I asked to BT direct into my E-Trade HELOC and the CSR said that they could not do that. I gave them my account information (Acct. #, Linked Visa card #, and payment mailing address) for my linked brokerage account and they are sending checks (two checks for $9,600 each) to that account instead. When those post, I'll just transfer from Brokerage to HELOC over the E-Trade website. CSR said processing will take 14-21 days.
Discover Gas Card: Website application said my application would be reviewed. Got a call a week later on 1/19 to verify account info and confirm balance transer. Approved for $12,000. Asked for $9,500 to be transferred to my HELOC.

Total Rewards:
Cardoffers: $220
ThankYou Points: 25,000
Sony GC: $100

AOR Date:
Friday, January 12, 2007
(Applied for Wells Fargo Visa on Wednesday, January 17)

Credit Score History:
TU = TransUnion
EX = Experian
EQ = Equifax
First number is credit score
Credit report is through True Credit, using the $11.21/mo through WalMart link HERE
12/01/06 -- TU: ??? -- EX: 792 -- EQ: ???
01/25/07 -- TU: 764 -- EX: 739 -- EQ: 726
01/29/07 -- TU: 762 -- EX: 739 -- EQ: 714 -- Still going down...
02/05/07 -- TU: 718 -- EX: 704 -- EQ: 700 -- Going down into the toilet!...
02/09/07 -- TU: 743 -- EX: 704 -- EQ: 697 -- Don't know why TU would be bumping back up...
02/22/07 -- TU: 715 -- EX: 679 -- EQ: 692 -- Ouch!
03/01/07 -- TU: 685 -- EX: 668 -- EQ: 684
06/01/07 -- TU: 695 -- EX: 701 -- EQ: 699
07/23/07 -- TU: 716 -- EX: 702 -- EQ: 693
08/01/07 -- TU: 741 -- EX: 706 -- EQ: 699 -- Coming back up pretty good...
08/23/07 -- TU: 734 -- EX: 706 -- EQ: 703
09/19/07 -- TU: 732 -- EX: 722 -- EQ: 695 -- Just finally took advantage of Citicards BTs, so I anticipate further declines.

Balance Transfer Synopsis:
After AOR: Had almost all CCS send BT checks to my E-Trade HELOC, then I just transfered funds from my HELOC into my E-Trade brokerage sweep account. Then I linked the sweep account to various external savings and checking accounts and moved everything over to my Emigrant Savings. This worked without a hitch, just gave the CCS the HELOC account number and mailing address.
01/31/07: Opened and HSBC Internet Savings account (6.00% APR until 04/30/07) and started the funding process
02/22/07: Finally getting everything set up to run automatically. My current balance in the HSBC savings is ~$65,000. MY HELOC ($28,000) is now paid down to zero. All of my CCs that charge interest are paid off.
09/17/07: After my 6 month deals ran out in June/July and I paid them down, I finally took advantage of my Citicard BT offers.

Any particular order that I should apply for these cards?
I'm assuming I can do all of these online.
Thanks for any and all advice/help.

Yeah, I kind of thought that would be the case...
Anyone want to tell me which TWO citi cards to apply for, or does it really make a difference?
I'm assuming that CitiBusiness (and all of the other "Business") cards will not count as a "Personal" card. I have a business, but no TIN, so I'd be using my SSN to apply for all of these business cards. Will that hurt?

Another question on that Advanta Life of Balance Platinum card:
I couldn't find any minimum monthly purchase requirements in my quick scan of the T&C. Did I miss it, or can I really expect to be able to have my entire balance transfer sit in the account at 2.99% (with no BT fees) forever (minus minimum payments of course)?

rasher said: Another question on that Advanta Life of Balance Platinum card:
I couldn't find any minimum monthly purchase requirements in my quick scan of the T&C. Did I miss it, or can I really expect to be able to have my entire balance transfer sit in the account at 2.99% (with no BT fees) forever (minus minimum payments of course)?

Every non-zero "for life" deal I ever had never had a purchase requirement. The only ones I've ever seen were on the 0.0% ones.

It isn't too good to be true, I've done it.

Congrats on being a member of FatWallet's $100k Club.

Rashers, use this link for Citibusiness w/TYN for the 15k points. Citi hasn't freely been giving the extra 5k points, so take a screen shot, and you'll prolly have to mail it in. No fee BT as well.

Green for Ding.

Squeezer99 said: kai2007 said: Congrats on being a member of FatWallet's $100k Club.

everyone here is a member

Well, if it weren't for the wifey's $52k this year, I wouldn't. Bless her heart!

tuphat said:

You've obviously never seen Otis Day and the Knights perform at the Dexter Lake Club. Totally not gay, not that there's anything wrong with that.

Otis! My Man!

rasher said: So it sounds like maybe I should add another Citibank Business-type card on there...
Done. Took out Citibank Upromise (personal) and added CitiBusiness w/ TYN (business). OP updated.I would recommend applying for the CitiBusiness PremierPass (CardOffers link) instead of the basic CitiBusiness card (keep the CitiBusiness with ThankYouNetwork card on the list though). It has a BT offer of 0% for 12 months with no fee, similar to the regular CitiBusiness card, but includes 15,000 ThankYou points upon first purchase. That's in addition to the $10 check you get for applying through CardOffers. That'd put you at 30,000 ThankYou points for just one purchase on the CitiBusiness with TYN card and one purchase on the PremierPass card. The one caveat is that the CitiBusiness PremierPass carries an annual fee of $75 after the first year, so you'd need to either decide that it's worth it to you or simply cancel the card. If you decide to cancel, you might be able to reallocate the CL to the CitiBusiness with TYN card, or another business card (I haven't dealt with CitiBusiness cards, so I don't know if reallocation or conversion between them is possible).

Is there a particular reason you've selected the personal Citi cards you have? I can certainly understand wanting cards with no BT fee as your primary purpose is to take advantage of BT offers. The Citi Professional card also offers no BT fee, though no one's definitively been able to figure out whether it's a personal card or business card (Citi's new site seems to list it as a personal card and it doesn't carry the CitiBusiness affiliation; however, reallocation attempts between the Professional card and personal cards have apparently given mixed results -- see discussion here). CardOffers has a $40 cash reward for this card, which also gives 10,000 TY points with first purchase. You can also apply directly through this link to receive 15,000 TY points with first purchase. That links to an ad that people have reported pops up when you close the Professional application (though I could never get the ad to pop up). One member who recently did an AOR reported that he went to apply through the CardOffers link, closed the browser, and then applied through the pop-up, receiving 15,000 TY points and the $40 through CardOffers, though your mileage may vary. One thing to note is that the CardOffers link offers a nine-month 0% BT period. If you can get the pop-up to come up (or if you apply through the direct link), it offers 12 months at 0%.

There's also a personal version of the PremierPass. CardOffers has a $33 cash reward for the regular version as well as the elite version. The PremierPass Elite, like the CitiBusiness PremierPass, has an annual fee of $75. However, that fee is not waived for the first year. You would likely have to convert the card after making, and presumably paying off, your first purchase, which would earn you 15,000 TY points (that's in addition to the $33 from CardOffers). If that sounds too complicated, the personal version carries no annual fee. If you apply through CardOffers, you receive the $33 cash reward and 5,000 points upon your first purchase. Alternatively, you can apply at http://apply.citicards.com and use code F1A1 to earn 10,000 TY points with your first purchase (link to scan from another thread).

Anyway, those are just some of my thoughts. I'm in the very beginning stages of planning an AOR, and Citi cards have become some of my favorite cards to apply for, especially with the TY points. If you were approved for the PremierPass (business and regular personal), CitiBusiness with TYN, and Professional cards, you could receive up to $83 through CardOffers ($43 if you can't get the Professional pop-up to come up and have to apply via the direct link), as well as 50,000 TY points. If you opted for TY points over Cash Rewards, you could get an extra 5,000 points through the F1A1 code for the PremierPass; however, 50,000 points should be enough to get some a pretty decent reward or two, and at that point you'll probably want the $33 cash reward instead. One good thing about Citi cards is that for 12-month offers, you typically have 12 months to initiate the BT (you'll need to double-check this on your account). This means that you could go out and make the qualifying purchases to get points and not have to worry about losing any time off your BT period. They also allow you to select online to send a BT check directly to yourself, making BT investing easier.

As far as other offers go, some that you may be interested in are:

• PNC Select Rewards Visa Platinum Card - 12 months 0% on BT, no BT fee, $50 statement credit with $500 purchase by 6/1/07
  
• First National Bank of Omaha Platinum Edition Visa Card - 15 months 0% on BT and purchases, 3% BT fee ($75 max)
  
• Kroger 1-2-3 Rewards Mastercard - 12 months 0% on BT, 2% BT fee ($60 max)

As far as other offers go, some that you may be interested in are:

• PNC Select Rewards Visa Platinum Card - 12 months 0% on BT, no BT fee, $50 statement credit with $500 purchase by 6/1/07
  
• First National Bank of Omaha Platinum Edition Visa Card - 15 months 0% on BT and purchases, 3% BT fee ($75 max)
  
• Kroger 1-2-3 Rewards Mastercard - 12 months 0% on BT, 2% BT fee ($60 max)
  
  Thanks for the heads up on these three cards! I've added them into my original post.

ex0dus said: Why no AMEX? Best consumer protection card there is basically. Citi doesn't even compare to AMEX's high CLs.

BTW OP: I have the Kroger Card, it's pretty good! and it's NOT issued by Kroger.. it's actually issued by RBS. You'll get a CLI after 6 months of perfect history I've been told.

No AMEX because there are no 0% BT deals. The best BT offer I can find on an AMEX card is, IIRC, 4.99% fixed for life. Should I apply for AMEX even if I don't need it and don't intend to use it? If so, how many different AMEX cards can/should I apply for with a reasonable chance of success?

I plan to do a very similar App-O-Rama, so this thread is very useful for me. I may wait to see your success rate for approval, then apply for the same ones.

I have zero debt other than a $110K primary mortgage. My intent is to get as much $$$ at 0% for 12 months, then invest it in a money market fund. I have toyed with the idea of paying off my mortgage, then trying to float it the next few years at 0% using balnce transfers. The idea of a 0% mortgage is nice, but there is some risk there so I will probably just invest the money.

One question I have is that should he apply for more credit cards that do not offer 0% APR just to have more credit to keep his utilization down after he starts making all the balance transfers? or do you just not worry about your credit score between App-O-Rama's?

The idea would be to keep the mortgage floating interest free from one App-O-Rama to the next, but I agree that this is not a good idea. There is really no reason for me to consider it since my mortgage is a 30-yr fixed at 6.125%.

I have a family, considerable savings, and a house so I can't do it, but if I were in or fresh out of college with with no responsibilities or assets I would consider performing a Mega-App-O-Rama and invest the entire credit line I generated in stock options (minus a small portion to pay the monthly payments). If the options worked out you would make a huge profit, and if they didn't you file bankruptcy and start over. This would be a huge risk of course, and only an option for those with no assets or responsibilities.

kai2007 said: Congrats on being a member of FatWallet's $100k Club.

ROFLMAO

How incredibly true. admittedly $100k in household income is "peanuts" nowadays w/ 2 income families. and if on the coast, you are barely surviving at $100K, yet FWF does seem to have an inordinate percentage of 20-29 year olds in the $100K club.

i love the internet.

Those two Advanta cards you mention are the same card with two different promo offers. I applied for both, the 2nd one got rejected as a duplicate. Pick one Advanta offer and forget the other. Luckily I did the one I really wanted (0%) first.

taxmantoo said: Those two Advanta cards you mention are the same card with two different promo offers. I applied for both, the 2nd one got rejected as a duplicate. Pick one Advanta offer and forget the other. Luckily I did the one I really wanted (0%) first.

Thanks for the tip about the Advanta cards. I think I'll apply for the 0% for 15 months first.

ORGINAL POST HAS BEEN UPDATED
Just to let you all know. Cards have been reorganized by issuer and ordered in application order. I added some cards from miscellaneous issuers, two AMEX cards, and the GM Card from HSBC. Also added the CitiBusiness Premier Pass. I'm still planning on beginning this AOR tomorrow (January 12, 2007) at 9:00am CST.

You may wish to consider one of the cards issued by Barclays Bank (Delaware), f/k/a Juniper Bank. They issue a lot of airline cards -- I've got their USAirways and Frontier cards, I think they also do the Apple Store VISA.

Like the other major issuers, they will look at you as a single credit risk, regardless of the brand the card carries. I don't know their current deals, but I got a pretty generous CL (about $40K, I recollect) with a 6-month 0% BT offer and airline bonus miles (a pretty good chunk, I think). Anyway, you may want to explore.

P.S. "Do you mind if I dance with your date?"

Finally got around to reallocating credit with the two Citibank (personal) cards.
Aske to move $6700 from Citi Home Rebate to the Citi Professional, to give it a $17,000 CL. They submitted a request which I'll hear back from in 3-5 days.
Quick and easy with Citi phone support, but we'll see how it goes...

Also did a CLI request online with the Citi Business card. Says I'll get a letter in a week or so. I don't have high hopes.