Because of your existing Discover, Schwab, JC Penney and HSBC cards, the new cards that you don't plan on using for BTs, and the Citi and BoA cards that you're delaying BTs with, don't you have more BT money available? I thought the rule of thumb was to keep overall utilization below 50%, not each individual card.

Pakaderm said:From a previous post:
It depends on your goal. There are (at least) 2 different AOR strategies:
1. big AOR, BT to 89% on each (letting total utilization across all cards fall where it may), ignore credit score, and treat mild adverse action as evidence that we're pushing the system hard enough. In this situation, we don't get good 0% offers so we don't have to worry about whether to take them. Pay down to $0 at the end, wait for credit reports to update, then repeat (for larger stakes each time).

2. BT to 49% on each, which could eventually keep overall utilization below 35%, maintaining high credit score to be able to take the BEST offers that come along. Dave Hanson makes a good case that this approach can be more profitable. It's certainly better for those who want to minimize the risk of adverse action.
~~~~~

My plan is to keep each card under 50%, in addition to total utilization. Actually, total utilization will be in the mid-high 30% range.

I'm taking a conservative approach, and while I may be leaving some money on the table now, I expect it to strengthen my position in the future. I am using AMEX for a portion of the BT cash, so I want to be careful with how aggressive I am.

-Pak

Makes sense, not only the ability to get the best offers as they come along but, particularly the aspect of minimizing the risk of adverse action since you're BT'ing from AMEX.

You can go ahead and arrange a payment on the Juniper card so that it will pay back to zero around the same time as the charge actually hits. Then you can immediately leap on doing the BT.

markkundinger said:You can go ahead and arrange a payment on the Juniper card so that it will pay back to zero around the same time as the charge actually hits. Then you can immediately leap on doing the BT.

Roger that, just added a payment.

-Pak

Pakaderm said:I still have a couple of new accounts NOT showing up on my credit report. Does that seem weird, since it's been over three weeks. Neither of the Chase cards (Sony or United Mileage) nor the AMEX IN:NYC are showing up on the CR this morning. I checked my older report printouts from last week and the week before and the none of those cards ever showed up.

Also as of now, the Juniper and the PNC Bank are not yet reported to TU, but EX and EQ have them. Maybe it just takes a while (until the first statement?) for the cards to post to the report?

Anyone know?

Thanks,
-Pak

I'm in the same situation with a few of my cards. Of the 9 personal cards I was approved for, 4 of them - Sony, United Mileage, AMEX Gold and Starwood AMEX - still aren't showing on any CR. I've read that it takes a little longer for AMEX cards to show up. I think it really varies as to when cards show and which CRA they show with.

Juniper (as BRCLYSBANKDE) showed in all 3 two days after my AOR date. Discover showed in all 3 a couple days later. PNC and Citi Professional are both showing in EQ and EXP, but not in TU. ATT just showed up in EXP, but not the other two.

Not sure whether the statement date is a trigger with all CRAs, but it may be with EXP for some cards. Both ATT and the Citi Professional cards showed up in EXP the day after the statement date.

I received the $50 st credit from PNC. Very fast!

In total, I have balance transferred $65,500+ into HYS accounts.

My credit scores have remained unchanged for almost the entire month of April, but Chase Sony/United and the AMEX IN:NYC have yet to post.

Thanks,
-Pakaderm

After TrueCredit.com begin down for two days, I was finally able to check my CR. There was a big drop today because both the Chase cards finally made it on there, and the Sony card was reporting the $16K BT. All scores are still in the 700s, but there are still 4 BTs that will show up at the next statement and I'm sure drop EX into the 600s. EQ is still holding fast at 772, so I bet I could get more cards if they only pulled from EQ.

One weird thing, the Chase United card shows up under "Installment Accounts", not "Revolving Accounts" as I would have expected.

-Pak

Many of the rewards have posted. Sony $100 st. credit, PNC $50 st. credit, Juniper $15 st. credit are all received. From Citi I've received 15k, 5.6k, and 10k ThankYou pts which I'll probably redeem for GCs. I don't plan air travel in the foreseeable future.

But, I lost my AMEX Gold 20k bonus pts. They just disappeared. I remember reading about others' problems with this so I'll have to find those posts. Very lame.

Still waiting for cardoffers.com.

Oh yeah, I've also received two issues to Flying Magazine from Juniper. Too bad I can't use TY pts toward the purchase of a new Gulfstream G150!

My scores are still dropping as expected. All are still above 700, but barely. 726 701 748. However, with 4 more BTs not reporting yet, they will fall. But I have earned almost $200 in my HYS account!

-Pak

I have a few updates to make.

All bureaus now report every CC and BT. I don't believe my score will drop any lower. They bottomed out at (total drop from beginning of AOR in parens):
TU: 690 (82 pts)
EX: 682 (72 pts)
EQ: 748 (32 pts)

In other news, I did receive my 25K points from AMEX. After showing -25k/25k, and having the points completely drop off my account, the points are now available. This means I've received every bonus I expected. That is, except for cardoffers.com. I'm hoping that since it's now May they will cut the check.

-Pak

Just a small update. Yesterday, I saw my first inquiry bumped from TU. May daily bumpage is working. This came after 58 soft inquiries. I assume they will bump off daily now. Bumping that one inquiry raised my TU score 3 pts. Woohoo!

-Pak