Goal $100K in 0% BT money, trying for business credit and a few personal cards. HHI $140K Sole Proprietor: $0 income, 0 years in business
Current Cards
Issuer/Name CL Balance
AM3X Blue $35000 $0
BoA Fidelity 529 $20000 $2034
BoA Motely Fool $30000 $0
Chase Sony $27000 $19,868 (should be $0 by next statement close 11/18)
Chase Cash Plus $5000 $117
Chase Freedom $4500 $312
Citi Diamond $24500 $16895 (69% util, for life 0% BT)
Citi Dividend $1500 $0
Citi PP $2000 $0
Discover $15000 $2761 (18% util, for life 0% BT)
Discover $17000 $0
DCU Visa $15000 $0
HSBC $5000 $0
Providian $7500 $0
------------------------
14 cards Total CL $209K
1 business card
Advanta $2500 Useless now that they have crappy Cash Back.
True Credit
FAKO scores/# of inq TU Ex Eq
11/15 766/1 735/2 761/3
11/18 760/1 735/2 763/2 <-- sure NOW it starts bumping inquires.
11/26 753/4 730/4 759/4
11/29 753/4 730/4 761/4 <-- 3 new account showing. TC fakos are so messed up.
Inquries are over 1 year old, except for the 1 TU Inq.
Waiting for the Chase Sony card to report before pulling trigger, statement close is 11/18 hopefully the update will show on credit report in time to start AOR before Thanks giving holiday.
Now then to shamlessly rip off from other recent AOR's to build my list of cards...
Good tips on getting the BT money to savings account here
More cards to follow, suggestions welcome. Not sure what to do with Citi since I'll still have a large BT out with them.
11/26 ----------- Phase 1 ---- Apply for cards ----------
Applied for
----------
1 Discover Business Miles via CS $40 Deferred | Approved $10K
2 Chase Business via CS $30 Deferred | Approved $10K
3 Juniper National Park Foundation $15K instant
4 Juniper BankAtlantic biz Deferred | Denied "Sufficient credit available on Juniper account"
5 AMEX inChicago via CS $30 instant $20100
6 Citi Biz, 15K TY after first purchase Deferred | Approved $6K
7 Citi home rebate, instant $7.5K 6% rebate on utilites for 12 months.
8 RBS, instant approval no limit info | Limit $7K
9 BoA NEA, instant $5K
New Personal $54.5K
New Business $26K
Inquires right after I finnished applying, nice spread on the CRAs.
Creditor Name Date of Inquiry Credit Bureau
BANK OF AMERICA 11/26/2007 Experian
AMEX 11/26/2007 Experian
CBUSA/CBSD 11/26/2007 Equifax
CITI 11/26/2007 Equifax
RBS CC 11/26/2007 Equifax
BRCLYSBANKDE 11/26/2007 TransUnion
BRCLYSBANKDE 11/26/2007 TransUnion
DISCOVER 11/26/2007 TransUnion
No Chase inquiry?
All the personal cards (5) were instantly approved, all biz cards (4) where deferred.
Disappointed with the biz cards, but with 0 years in business and 0 income it guess its to be expected.
12/12 ----------- Phase 3 ---- Reallocate and Get the money ----------
Reallocated AMEX on line IN:Chigago $20K is now $45K. No fee BT. BT'ed $20K to BoA card that has Billpay choice. BoA card has nearly that much from paying off chase card (see above) from previous AOR. Will probably do another $20k next billing cycle.
Closed the Chase Sony card (it was my youngest chase card) and reallocated all $27K to the Chase Biz card now at $37K. Deposited $35K directly into Fidelity account using BT check that came with card.
Juniper's BankAtlanic biz card...now approved. Called and had Juniper close the personal card in favor of the biz card as suggested here.
Discover miles biz, reallocated $10K from one of my personal cards for a total CL of of $20K. Need to get a BT target for this card.
RBS, only $7K with them, probably just let leave it to decrease overall utilization.
BoA NEA, leaving it for now. Need the credit limits on existing BoA cards for BT targets.
Before AOR, 14 cards Total CL $209K New Personal $39.5K New Business $41K
After reallocation 18 personal cards $211.5K 4 biz cards $78K
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How about Chevy Chase Biz, GM Business, and Amazon Biz? I got ~$10K from each and consolidated. Definitely check with 5/3 so you don't waste the inquiries. I don't see any reason you should settle for $100K in BT money, especially with more biz apps.
Nm, Glitch beat me to it about the BofA expired deal.
I just kept my Citi 0-for-life open during my recent AOR. I'm just not taking another personal BT out with them, and going to try and reallocate as much as possible to business. I've only been declined for 1 card so far (except a couple store cards at the end), so I don't think it spooked too many. Some are starting to think it might be healthy to have a decent BT showing before taking $100+ more out.
I'd really like somebody to try Compass Bank (and they definitely do business in TX). They have a personal 12 months/$75 fee offer and a business 6 months/$75 fee offer. Both are phone apps, I believe.
Glitch99 said:The BofA no-fee platinum link is not valid anymore. The $30-cap NEA card, and random $75-cap cards are still available from BofA.
Close the Advanta card since you say it is useless, and you wont do any worse with a new app w/promo.
How long has that link been down? I hit a window in June where it was down (had to apply for another card), but it wasn't down for long. Might be worth checking periodically.
EDIT: If you have MBNA billpay, I would just max that instead of showing a BT balance with BofA. Check out jairocon's thread about his BofA adverse action and how billpay might have spared him from losing all his BofA cards.
Glitch99 said:The BofA no-fee platinum link is not valid anymore. The $30-cap NEA card, and random $75-cap cards are still available from BofA.
Close the Advanta card since you say it is useless, and you wont do any worse with a new app w/promo.
I think the BOA offer is still valid.
I was wondering about the no-fee 0% 12 months BT on the BOA Platinum (planning a mini-AOR myself) so I did an "online chat" with a BOA rep to see if it's still valid.
Here's the transcript of the conversation.
you: Hi.. I'm planning to apply for the Visa Platinum card at this link (https://offers.bankofamerica.com/ConsumerCard/OTS5Offer.aspx) .. and wanted to confirm that the 0% 12 months balance transfer with no fees offer is still valid? you: Some reps have said that there is a fee ($75 capped) and some said there is no fee, so I'm a little confused. Christina: It should be listed under the terms and conditions tab on your link you: It states, "None for each such cash advance (minimum $0)." I assume that applies to balance transfers AND check cash advances? Christina: Great! That means there are no fees for balance transfers you: Ok, thanks! Have a good day. Christina: You are very welcome.
Also, the information about the card at this page here also indicates that there is no fee for balance transfers, so this would confirm what the rep. said.
As of this moment, I can see the BofA no-fee offer no problem.
You might want to toy with consolidating your two discover cards before doing the AOR. Might make your credit profile look better (I don't know which card is older though).
No Chase personal card? How about another Sony? Also, if you want to go after the bonuses, you could apply for one Chase biz card with a 0% deal, and another with bonuses (ex. United).
No Citi Professional card with 15k points?
The Fidelity 529 card doesn't report credit limit, does it? You might have an opportunity to use MBNA billpay to max out the balance to get it pegged with a really large "high balance" that would probably do your credit report good in the future.
Infibank is FNBO, so there's a decent chance of a denial due to too many inquiries.
With your existing lines, scores, and HHI, you could aim for 200K
The BofA link -- I used it on 10/04. It's no fee and 0% on BTs, cash advances, and purchases (i.e., awesome!). Just save or print the T&C and you should be fine.
For Citi, I hope you've been making more than minimum payments on that 0% balance. I mentioned somewhere deep in FWF -- about a year ago I was denied a card with reason "you've been making minimum payments on other accounts with us." I had a 0% BT for life also. It wasn't much so I paid it off and reapplied successfully 3 months later. Another warning about Citi here and a few posts above.
Are you sure you can reallocate National Park Foundation to Bank Atlantic Business? They are issued by different banks (Barclays vs BankAtlantic), kind of like HSBC Ca$h Back is issued by Household Bank, and H$BC Direct Rewards is issued by Direct Merchants Bank. If this is possible... I wish I'd known a month ago.
Regarding Discover Business -- the issuer FAQ says it shows up on personal CR. Mine hasn't shown up yet and I hope it doesn't, but it hasn't been long enough.
markkundinger said:As of this moment, I can see the BofA no-fee offer no problem.The page is still there, but you cant pull up an application. And there is no mention of an offer code to refer to when calling in to apply.
Good point, didn't notice that. It's a shame. If I had to guess, the codes are FAATCY for MC and FAATC5 for Visa (sc value in the URL of the second page). Worth a shot
scripta said:Are you sure you can reallocate National Park Foundation to Bank Atlantic Business? They are issued by different banks (Barclays vs BankAtlantic)...
Barclays is fronting for BankATL. You can reallocate, no problem. I've done it twice. Call the Juniper/Barclays credit department directly. Look for the number in the credit card issuer faq.
If Approved....added bit of info... disregard if N/A or not that important... They pulled EXPERIAN 4 me
I've delayed the clock from starting by requesting a change to my due date and made random payments...
My story:
PRINCIPAL 1-877-875-8078 LINE=14,000 BT$=9600 Util%=69% ________ = 08/05 Req $9,600 to CITI Div Plat Select ________ = 08-06 $9,600 posts to Principal card ________ = 08-06 AMOCO OIL 06615108 4.15 ________ = 08-08 PAYMENT - THANK YOU ($4.15) ________ = 08-15 12:12PM CST ... I requested online a "statement date" for the 5th trying for a due date of the 30th. Response was: per your request your new due date will be anywhere from the 6th - 9th of the month ________ = 08-20 1:54PM CST ... I RE-requested online a "DUE date" for the 30th because my original request was not understood. Response was: per your request, your new due date will be anywhere from the 31st ? 3rd of the month ________ = 08-21 PAYMENT - THANK YOU ($10.00) ________ = 09-07 PAYMENT - THANK YOU ($200.00) ________ = 09-17 PAYMENT - THANK YOU ($100.00) ________ = 09-21 CALLED IN ASKING FOR STATEMENT DATE!???! "WHEN DO I NEED TO PAY YOU?"
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