First adverse action here, hooray! I have cards with CITI, Chase, AMEX, BOA, PNC and WAMU. Guess which one was it? Don't look below (and no, this is not a trick question).

Well, you guessed it right -- my buddies from chase decided to poop under my Christmas tree (right before I was to put it away). To tell the truth, I was almost expecting it as the gap between the $49K CL and the $35.7K balance was too wide by their standards (as I read in so many posts here). They must've felt that a $300 headroom will fit me a lot better. Bastards, I direct-deposited with them almost since my first paycheck many-many years ago -- and that's how they paid me back for my true love? . Again, I kinda expected this to happen given all the posts describing similar AA ... what pisses me off to a degree though, is that I was within a month of paying my BT back and coming clean (under the assumption that the CL reduction would not have happened if I were not carrying the balance). Ah-h well, I'll just be milking them HARDER next time as I have such a good memory for bad things that happen to me .

Yes, I'll definitely use this opportunity to get a free credit report (if it's TU or EQ, EX is free "on-demand" anyway ) ... but before I do, I need to wait for a letter from them telling me which CRA they consulted with. I guess, there's also a possibility that they decided to trim my CL without looking at any credit report ... and, yes, I was planning to ask them for my CL back (without hard pull) once I pay the balance back.

Mark, thanks for condolences!

.. it's probably one of the last few posts in this thread ...

1. I was very pleased to see my 2007 1099s add up to about $9.3K I have to say that without FWF the number would have been more like $2-3K.
2. I still carry a $31K balance on my BOA card (promo APR through 06/01/2008) which shows on all 3 reports. Also my funding of CITI checking+MMA combo with Chase CC (around $25K) is reflected on EX and EQ reports. Even with these hefty (by all regular measures) balances my scores are 790 745 783 (EX has 11 hards showing). TU and EQ scores are already well above what they have been pre-AOR. I may even have a shot at touching 800 once all of the balances are repaid.
3. Not that I was waiting till the very last second to pay my AOR balances, but none of the issuers gave me trouble as far as coming up with a different (from mine) interpretation of when promo BT rate expires. I am very glad this phase of the AOR went problem-free.
4. As a result of my exposure to all the knowledge in FWF I now have a $73.5K CL @ AMEX, $38K CL @ BOA and had a $49K CL @ Chase (subsequently trimmed to $36K). These are single cards, not my combined limits with each issuer.

Plans:
1. Not do another AOR till HYSA rates start going up (4%+). Focus on account opening bonuses in the meanwhile. Maybe apply for a couple of miles cards. No TYPs, as between wife and me we'll be getting 80K TYPs that have to be used within 6 months (for fixed rate redemption to work) .. and we don't fly all that often.
2. Try to undo Chase CL trimming ($49K->$36K and $6K->$3K) once all of the balances are repaid.
3. Perhaps continue to dispute 2 BOA hards on EX (in connection with the opening of a savings account).
4. Re-organize card portfolio (wife's as well) through conversion, reallocation, consolidation (or new apps as described in 1 and 6) to have (preferably) no low limit cards (everything has to be $20K+) AND to have a "highly liquid / expendable" card wherever possible -- the one that can be most easily reallocated to the new cards with promo terms.
5. Trim down the number of HYSAs (e.g., close Emigrant and HSBC)
6. Perhaps apply for a couple of cards known for high initial CLs (I'm thinking PenFed and CITI HHonors, maybe Wachovia) that would broaden the list of issuers that "like" me and will help with overall utilization in the future.