2Cor521s Lazy-o-Rama App-O-Rama AOR January 23, 2007
It's a Lazy-o-Rama because:
1. I'm not going to check my credit scores at all.
2. I'm only applying for cards that meet my criteria (see below). Even so I found 28 cards.
3. I'm not doing bumpage or anything. My credit score is high enough for now.
4. I'm not jumping through complicated hoops for any of my bonuses.
5. I didn't do exhaustive research on everyone else's AOR and read all the FW threads. I did read a bunch though. I particularly liked SIS' AOR FAQ thread, Rasher's AOR, and Hindustani's AOR.
** Credit and Background **
Following info from Equifax:
---> Mortgage accounts: 5 / all at zero balance
---> Installment accounts: 2 / both at zero balance
---> Revolving accounts: 23 / $17,535 total balance
---> Oldest open account: September 1978
---> Inquiries: 4 in last 12 months
CS: 761 as of early December when I applied for my mortgage
Age: 37 years old
Income: In upper five figures
Total existing credit before AOR: $265,200
** Goals **
1. BT 0% money
---> Additional cards from existing issuers
---> Cards from new issuers to increase my overall credit limit
2. Sign up and card offer bonuses
3. 5% cards
4. Decrease overall utilization by increasing available credit
5. Learn about doing AORs by actually doing one
** Criteria for Inclusion **
1. Must be able to apply online
2. No annual fees ever
3. No complicated routines to get my bonuses
4. BT offers must be at least 12 months and max $75 fee
5. Cards must offer potential for at least $100 in either bonuses or 0% interest
** Existing Personal Cards **
Card Name -- Date Opened -- Balance - Limit -- Notes
BOA MBNA - 11/2005 -- $0 -- $30,000
Chase - 1/1997 -- $0 -- $10,000
Chase - 9/2005 -- $0 -- $10,000
Chase 12/2005 -- $0 -- $34,900
Citi - 8/2005 -- $0 -- $1,000
Citi - 8/2006 -- $17,535 -- $35,900 - at 0% until 9/1/07
Citi - 10/2005 -- $0 -- $1,000
D3ll - 5/2006 -- $0 -- $7,000
Discover - 7/2006 -- $0 -- $15,000
Macys - 9/1978 -- $0 -- $1,750 - my Dads card but I dont dispute it because it's "my" oldest account and Dad is OK with it.
Pier1 - 11/2003 -- $0 -- $2,500
USAA - 12/2005 -- $0 -- $30,000
USBank - 6/2006 -- $0 -- $8,000
USBank - 6/2006 -- $0 -- $8,000
USBank LOC - 2/2006 -- $0 -- $4,000
Also have a USAA HELOC which reports as a mortgage line at $42,900.
** Existing Business Cards **
Card Name -- Date Opened -- Balance - Limit -- Notes
AM3X - 10/2004 - $0 -- $25,000 -- AM3X reduced to $500 in conjunction with my AM3X business card applications in this AOR -- Increased back to $24,900 later via "AM3X CLI on crack"
** Personal Cards Applied For **
p1 Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards MC -- Deferred -> Approved $500
p2 Citi Professional Card -- Deferred -> Approved $1,000
p3 Chase SonyStyle Card -- Approved $8,500
p4 Morgan Stanley Discover Gas -- Declined - Existing Discover card opened too recently
p5 Morgan Stanley Discover Platinum -- Declined - duplicate app
p6 Citi AT&T Universal Rewards -- Approved $3,600
p7 Citi Platinum Select Card -- Deferred -> Declined limited apps 60 days
p8 AM3X Platinum Business Premium Cash Rebate -- Didn't apply phone app office closed
p9 FNB of Omaha Platinum Edition Visa -- Deferred -> Approved $13,700
p10 Chase Disney Rewards Visa -- Approved via reallocation from other Chase lines $27,600
p11 HSBC GM Flexible Earnings Card -- Approved $600
p12 Bank of Omaha Platinum Visa -- Declined - duplicate app
p13 Chase Bank of Albuquerque Platinum Visa -- Deferred -> Approved $5,000 -> Closed into Chase Disney above
p14 FNB Bucks Back Platinum Visa - Declined - duplicate app
p15 Chase Freedom Visa -- Approved $6,200
p16 Chase Free Cash Rewards Visa -- Deferred -> Lost
p17 Bank of Texas Platinum Visa -- Deferred -> Approved $5,000
p18 Penfed Visa Platinum Cash Rewards -- Deferred -> Approved $25,000
** Business Cards Applied For **
b1 Citi Business Card with TYN -- Error -> Lost
b2 Citi Business Card with TYN -- Error -> Lost
b3 Advanta Platinum Rewards BusinessCard MC -- Deferred -> Approved $5,000
b4 Advanta Platinum BusinessCard MC -- Deferred -> Declined duplicate app
b5 Advanta BusinessCard -- Error -> Lost
b6 Chase Business Cash Rewards -- Deferred -> Approved $15,000
b7 Chase GM Business -- Deferred -> Approved $25,000
b8 AM3X Simply Cash Business Card -- Approved $27,500
b9 AM3X Platinum Business FreedomPass Card -- Approved $27,500
b10 AM3X Platinum Business Card -- Deferred -> Approved $3,000
** BT activity **
(The CL's mentioned below were after I did some reallocating.)
p1 - $11,100 on CL of $20,600 ($0 fee)
p3 - $18,000 on CL of $35,000 ($75 fee waived)
p9 - $10,900 on CL of $13,700 ($75 fee)
p10 - $22,819 on CL of $32,600 ($50 fee waived)
b6 - $30,000 on CL of $35,000 ($75 fee - twice refused to waive)
Total: $91,928. Assuming 1 year at Amboy Direct that's about $4,800 gross.
** Potential Bonuses / Bonuses Received **
p1 - 10K TYP - received at TYN by 2/25/07 - requested gift 2/26/07
p2 - 15K TYP - received at TYN by 2/25/07 - requested gift 2/26/07
p3 - $100 credit - received 3/27/07
p6 - $30 CO - approved on CO 1/24/07
p7 - $30 CO
p10 - $15 Disney GC - received early March 2007
p11 - $35 CO - approved on CO 2/5/07
b3 - $50 CO - approved on CO 1/24/07
b8 - $75 CO
b9 - $75 CO - approved on CO 1/24/07
b10 - $75 CO
Total: $705, but to me the Disney GC isn't really worth much.
** Total Additional Credit **
I'm now up to $427,200 of CL as of 3/8/07, so that's $162,000 of new credit after accounting for any reductions in existing lines to open the new lines. I'm pretty happy with that because I already had a fair amount of credit with the major issuers (Chase, Citi, Discover, AM3X).
** Lessons Learned / Good Ideas **
Before AOR:
1. Prioritize your card applications so if you're declined for a duplicate app you're more likely to get the one you want more.
2. Keep a spreadsheet (I am using Excel) to keep track of everything you need to do.
3. Download and set up Roboform.
4. Consider the wisdom of FW information with respect to the card companies' limitations on multiple applications. I don't really mind the rejection or the minimal reduction in my credit score, but filling out the app and tracking it was a hassle. Next time I'll probably be more selective on which cards I apply for.
During AOR:
1. Save off a copy of the cardoffers webpages, T&C pages, any bonus information, and any approval or decline web pages you get. I used filenames like p8tc which would be the terms and conditions for the 8th personal card on my list. This may help you later if you don't get a bonus you think you should have.
2. If you request BTs with your application, make it for an odd amount. For example, I made a BT request for $20,009 for the ninth card in my list. That way you can keep track of what BT's are going where.
3. Figure on an average of 3 minutes per application. This assumes you have the link already stashed in your spreadsheet, you're using Roboform, and you can type pretty quickly.
4. If you get an error from Citi, clear your browser cache and cookies and restart a clean browser session. I got an error on two of my business cards and found out later that the applications were lost in the Internet ether. Cost me at least $150 in TYP bonuses.
After AOR:
1. Discover declined me because my existing Discover Card account was opened too recently. The existing Discover card had been open about 6 months.
2. I was going to wait until after I had made my first purchase and paid it off before doing any BT's, but it seems like the opportunity cost of interest -- at least with Chase -- is way more than the cost of interest on a $1.00 item for 12 months. I think I figured I'll be getting about $113 in interest every month from Chase.
3. Skip the GM Flexible Earnings card. A waste of plastic IMHO. Sure, you can get a BT for 0% for 12 months, but on a credit line of $600, why waste your time?
4. In retrospect, I would probably try to limit the number of cards I apply for. Having a bunch of 0% 12 month BT offers for $75 like I do isn't really useful because in reality I will want to reallocate all the CL's per issuer to a single card to minimize the BT fees and make it easier on myself.
5. On everything, measure three times and cut once. See 20070302 entry below.
Other:
1. I think having just moved a month or two prior to my AOR could be one of the reasons for the inconsistent CL's issued.
** Chronology **
20070123:
Applied for 17 personal cards and 10 business cards. Instant status:
----> Approved: 6
----> Declined: 4
----> Deferred: 14
----> Web Error: 3
1 soft inquiry:
----> AM3X OPEN
20070124:
7 Equifax hard inquiries:
----> Pentagon FCU
----> Citi cards CBS DNA
----> Citi cards CBS DNA
----> Advanta Business Card
----> Household Credit
----> First National Bank So Dakota
----> Citibank USA NA
2 Experian hard inquiries:
----> AM3X
----> First USA Bank
Received email approval for Advanta Platinum Rewards BusinessCard MC.
Received phone call approval for Citi Diamond Preferred Reward $500 limit.
Received phone call approval for Citi Professional $1000 limit.
20070125:
Received email from Advanta on second account sort of implying that it would only be processed further if I called.
20070127:
Receive AM3X Platinum Business FreedomPass Credit Card via second day UPS!
20070128:
Called and found out that the Advanta Business Card was approved for $5,000.
20070129:
Received first two AM3X business cards (b8 and b9) in the mail today. Both came with essentially identical letters saying that they had "moved" my credit from my existing AM3X card. Both were approved for $27,500. This is an example of the real power of an AOR.
20070201:
1 Experian hard inquiry:
----> First USA Bank
20070202:
Received a funny series of calls from a Chase representative. First call she wanted to verify my address and approve one of my applications. A few minutes go by and then she calls again, and she remembers me from the first call. She then approves the second card and then just decides to go in and approve all the apps in the system for me, including the Disney card (possibly 2) and who knows what else. Will see what cards show up in the mail 
.
20070204:
Decide to try to increase my original AM3X card CL because they reduced it to $500 as a result of this AOR. This wasn't part of my original plan. See this thread for details.
20070211:
Reallocated my Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards MC up to $17,500 and reallocated my Chase Sony card up to $35K in preparation for BT activity. Right now it looks like I will be aiming for about $57K in new BT money that will be parked at Emigrant Direct, which means about $2,992 in gross BT money.
20070212:
Called Citi application hotline and they couldn't find my Citi Professional applications (b1, b2). They offered to take an application over the phone right then but I decided against it since I knew my credit score was already plummeting.
Reallocated a lot of my Chase CL to the Bank of Albuquerque Visa card.
20070213:
Received a call from the Chase folks regarding the Disney Visa. Decided to accept her suggestion to close out the Bank of Albuquerque Visa and reallocate all of that CL to the Disney Visa. Originally I was going to leave the Bank of Alb. card open with $500, but my theory is that the card probably won't even ever report to the credit bureaus because it was only open for a few days. Also, I have no reason to keep the card other than it's BT offer, and the Disney BT capped fee is lower ($50 vs. $75). Will be doing a BT when I get the card.
20070226:
5 BT's are in full swing. It's slower and more complicated to get the BT's to my savings account than I thought it would be. Generally they want you to have the actual card in your hand when you make a BT, so there's waiting for the card itself. If I get a BT check, I wait for it to be mailed to me, then I deposit it at my local bank, then I wait a day to move it to my other checking account, then I wait three business days to move it to Amboy Direct. In other cases, where I have them BT directly to my debit card, they mail a check to USAA and it takes a while for it to show up in my USAA account. What I am doing is keeping track of them all in a spreadsheet - how much each BT is for, what method I used, how many days it is supposed to take, where I've moved the money to, etc.
I have also opened an Amtrust account because by the time all is said and done, I will have over $100K in cash and I want to respect the FDIC limit for insurance. I opened it yesterday, and hopefully it should be up and running by the time I get all the BT money in hand.
20070302:
I goofed up today. I tried to move some BT money from my checking account to AmTrust but forgot about the hold that my checking account bank had put on the money. AmTrust can't cancel an ACH pull once you've submitted it. Fortunately I had enough available balance (from another BT in progress), so I didn't overdraft my checking account by $10K! Lesson: Measure three times, cut once.
I called the Chase application status line on my last outstanding application. They only keep them 30 days, but based on the information she gave me it looks like that application got lost somehow.
Amtrust account is up and running.
20070308:
Logged into AM3X website and saw that my CLI was increased to $24,900. Sweet. See 20070204 entry above.
** Measurements against goals **
1. BT 0% money --> Working on $91,928 in new 0% BT money.
---> Additional cards from existing issuers --> 13 new cards from existing issuers
---> Cards from new issuers to increase my overall credit limit --> 4 new cards from new issuers
2. Sign up and card offer bonuses --> $705 in sign up and CO bonuses.
3. 5% cards --> Got the PenFed 5% gas Visa card.
4. Decrease overall utilization by increasing available credit --> Available credit increased to $427,200
5. Learn about doing AORs by actually doing one --> See lessons learned above
Will update this OP as warranted.
2Cor521
