I wasn't planning on posting, as this one really pales in comparison to some of the other recent 'ramas, but the results (I thought) were rather interesting and I wanted to share.
My credit is somewhat in the tank (FAKOs in the low 700's) after a mini-AOR of my own about 6 months ago so I thought about doing one for the wife. Checked her scores via CreditSecure free trial and found that she's got an average of 763 so I figured it was worth a shot. I was hoping to launch this on 7/7/07 due to superstition, but figured the extra 10 days of studying and prep would more than make up for any potential "luck" that the 7th was supposed to bring (I'm only half-kidding, sadly).
Pre-AOR picture:
Age - 27 (both) HHI - $155,000 (slightly higher due to commissions, etc., but 155 is the "base") Own a home (3.5 years) - mortgage in my name only Goals of AOR - get new 0% lines to BT mine as they expire (we used my AOR to finance a semi-large home improvement project last fall). Build wife's base of credit, as she has limited accounts and, mostly, small lines. Reallocate where possible following completion of 0% periods.
Current Credit Profile (as per CreditSecure)
PLUS Score - 763 (all three) Open Accounts (EX / EQ / TU) 10 / 10 / 9 Inquiries 3/2/2
Account / Age / Limit / Balance AMEX Blue (AU on mine) / 4.5 years / 22,000 / 3,234 BofA Visa Platinum / 1 year / 2,500 / 0 DSNB Macy's (joint account) / 4 years / 2,000 / 0 DSNB Macy's (personal) / 1 year / 2,500 / 68 (paid - balance only showing on TU) WFNNB - Express / 2 years / 750 / 0 GEMB - Old Navy / 1 year / 600 / 0 Raymour & Flanigan / 1 year / 6,500 / 0 Target National Bank / 2 years / 9,000 / 0 Visa - DSNB / 1 year / 5,000 / 0 (not showing on TU)
Average age - slightly under 2 years (she's not a US citizen, and had some trouble getting started) Total credit available - $50,850 Total Utilization - $3,302 (including the $68 that's only showing on TU) / ~6.5%
I wasn't nearly as ambitious as some others recently - only went with a dozen cards (7 personal, 5 business). Applied through cardselection.com for bonuses where available. Launched apps online yesterday afternoon between 1:00 and 2:00 ET (had to do something during lunch), and the results were semi-encouraging. Despite conventional AOR logic, I opted not to request BTs with the apps.
Card / terms / Bonus through cardselection / Result / line / other notes
BofA Platinum Visa (Personal) / 0 / Instant approval / 12 months 0%, no fee / $3,100 / Going to see about getting a CLI and moving some of the line from her existing card over, then BT to checking. - received
Chase Sony Card / 0% 12 mos, $75 cap, $100 bonus with first purchase / 0 / deferred - Approved - $6,500
Citi Professional Cash / 0% for 12 mos (from date of BT if within 12 mos of opening), $50 cap) / $25 / Instant approval / 9,000
CitiBusiness / 0% for 12 mos, no fee, 15,000 TYP (close the app without applying and you'll get the pop-up offering the extra 5k - same as the CitiProfessional, but 12 mos 0% instead of 9) / $25 / Deferred [Update 7/20] Approved - $20,000
Discover Business / 0% for 12 mos, $75 cap / 40 / deferred - Approved - $8,000
DiscoverMore / 0% for 12 mos, $75 cap / 40 / Instant approval / CLI not given / When activating the card, may ask for CLI and depending on limit & size of BT, may try to get PLDA promo (0% for life with purchases) - received - $8,000
AMEX In-NYC / 0% for 6 mos, no fee / 30 / Instant Approval / 2,000 / plan to play the CLI on Crack and try to get the line up before doing the BT. If it doesn't work, we'll see about reallocating some of the 22,000 from our existing Blue card to this one. - received - instant CLI to 20k
Totals - 5 Instant Approvals Total new credit - 18,100 (plus unknown Discover line) 7 Deferrals 1 non-instant approval On day 1, only Barclay's has pulled (on TU). Day 2, 5 additional pulls (all EX)
I'll update as additional data becomes available, and am thinking about throwing another couple of apps on the barbie, seeing as how well the initial round went. Lines are a little disappointing, but 5 instant approvals was way more than I expected.
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Update 7/19 - 5 new pulls (all Experian) We've got hits from 7/18 (posted to CreditSecure on the 19th) from Advanta, BofA, AMEX, Discover and First USA Nothing on Equifax yet, and only the Barclays on TU
Update - 7/20 - First non-Instant Approval Got an email this morning from Citi congratulating the wife on her CitiBusiness account. I'm guessing that means we're approved. No mention of a limit, but it said we'd receive the card and welcome package in 10 days. Gonna make a quick purchase to get the 15k TYP, and will determine timing of the BT once I see what we get in terms of the 6 apps still outstanding. Citi lets you defer the BT and gives you the terms as long as it's done within 12 months of opening the account.
Update - 7/23 - cards they are a comin' Came home from work to find some shiny new cards in the mail. Received the BofA platinum (3100 limit), the inNYC (2k limit, one-click CLI to 20k thanks to the "on crack" CLIs) and the discover (8k limit)
Update - 7/24 - Stragglers Just got a note that she's been approved for the Juniper National Parks Visa...much to my chagrin, I set up the online access to find that we've got a measly $1k limit.
Update #2 - 7/24 - Biz Approval #2 Just logged into the BofA account online to see about getting a cli on the $3,100 Platinum Plus Visa (Personal) and noticed another new account added to the profile - She was approved for the business Visa with a $20k limit (woohoo)
Current stats - 8 approvals (2 biz, 5 personal, 1 "in between"), 1 rejection (biz), 3 pending (2 biz, 1 personal). Total new credit $65,300 CardSelection bonuses $145
7/25 Update - 2 more Received the Chase Sony card in the mail last night ($6500 limit) - guess that means we were approved Just got an email from Barclays that we got approved on the BankAtlantic biz card (no mention of a limit though)
We're 10 for 11 now, only one still pending is the Discover business...not bad for a first-timer (I hope)
7/26 Update - the home stretch Got the Discover biz last in the mail last night (8k limit) Activated the 5 cards we've received (AMEX, Chase Sony, BofA Personal and 2 discover) - waiting on Juniper parks, 3 from Citi, BofA Business and BankAtlantic Business. CLs on Citi Business and BankAtlantic still unknown.
Message edited by: lrothkcsa on 2007-07-26 07:51:45 CDT
Technologist said:Shouldn't that be "wifey: mini-aor"??? Otherwise, you have a small wife!
Actually, her name is Mini
Now that she's dealt with, I'm going to start planning my own (probably larger) AOR for late fall. I've got more history and bigger existing lines. Taking utilization down through the wife should allow me to go buck wild.
markkundinger - totally agree about increasing her "base," updated the goals in the OP to include that as well.
djspray - I'm not sure, but saw multiple Discover apps in a few of the AORs I "studied" in preparation. I think it's kind of interesting that ALL the business apps were deferred (she actually has a business, as she does some freelance graphic design, but revenue is VERY limited at this point). I'll update as soon as we hear from DSCO and the others.
lrothkcsa said:markkundinger - totally agree about increasing her "base," updated the goals in the OP to include that as well.
djspray - I'm not sure, but saw multiple Discover apps in a few of the AORs I "studied" in preparation. I think it's kind of interesting that ALL the business apps were deferred (she actually has a business, as she does some freelance graphic design, but revenue is VERY limited at this point). I'll update as soon as we hear from DSCO and the others. Most business apps are deferred (few give instant decisions). As for discover, they have been stingy with CL's lately with others and my family. I have seen occasions of people getting approved for one personal and one business with them, but I would not waste the inquiries with Discover due to thier low CL's. I would go somewhere like USbank or Keybank or National City and put a large BT request on the appliation instead.
Everybody's pulled except Citi. Based on how heavily it's weighted toward EX, I'm starting to think I need to subtitle this "how I ruined my wife's EX score"
Oh well, can't win them all...got a rejection from Advanta today. Excessive number of recent consumer inquiries, insufficient length of personal credit history, insufficient number of personal credit experiences and insufficient balance on open mortgage accounts. Gotta admit, I don't get that last one, since she doesn't have any open mortgage accounts (maybe that's what they're trying to say there).
On the bright side, got up to 20k on the AMEX (0% 6 mos, no fee), 8k on Discover (not too shabby considering that it's discover). Now, need to try and work some CLI or reallocation magic to get that BofA limit above 3100 and use the BT to checking that they're so generous with.
donthvname said:OP, did you get the Citi Business Link from the 3rd party?
Because the link in your post, the pop up window only offers 10K TYP, not 15K...
Also, how do you know the cash bonus from the creditselection - I could not find any tab on their site giving such info.
Thanks for update.
The Citi Business was done through the link I posted. It opens the app, which you have to close out of. Once you close, you should get the popup offering the "extra" 5,000 points. I just tried it now and it wasn't working (maybe because I already did it and it has the cookie), but was able to dig another link out of my history (straight to the app, which is showing the 15000 points) Here
As far as cardselection, you've got to sign up for an account and look at the offers when logged in. If you're just visiting, it won't show any bonuses.
lrothkcsa said: As far as cardselection, you've got to sign up for an account and look at the offers when logged in. If you're just visiting, it won't show any bonuses.
I sign up an account. It let me log in and show member profile, but I dont see any offer.
donthvname said:lrothkcsa said: As far as cardselection, you've got to sign up for an account and look at the offers when logged in. If you're just visiting, it won't show any bonuses.
I sign up an account. It let me log in and show member profile, but I dont see any offer.
Once you sign in, browse the cards (the same way I assume you were before) and find the ones you want. In the lists (above the "apply" button) it should be showing the bonus offers
Just got an email informing the wife that she's been approved for the BankAtlantic Business Card (no mention of CL, and we can't set up the online access without an account number)...hopefully it'll be a fat line, as the terms were pretty sweet (0% for 15 mos, $75 cap).
Just waiting on one more approval (Discover Business), info on 2 CLs (CitiBusiness and BankAtlantic) and a reply from Juniper about the CLI request on the national parks card.
Got our last answer yesterday (sorta) - received the discover business card in the mail with an 8K limit. Final stats - 11 out of 12. Total new credit still TBD, as we're waiting on the limits for CitiBusiness and BankAtlantic Business. Unfortunately, got a reply from Barclays on the CLI for the national parks card - no go. They said they'll review the account in 6 months for a possible CLI, but for now, we're stuck with a 1k limit. Can't win 'em all I suppose.
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