I've been considering doing an AOR since this Spring but got busy with work and so am just now starting it up.
Thanks to all the other AOR posters as this process would be ridiculously more complicated without their help. If you want to know more about AOR's start here with SIS's post. Additionally, thanks to Hindustani(AOR link) and Thisguy(link) for their latest AOR posts as alot of my apps came from them.
Background:
Age:23
Personal Income:$80K
I don't have any outstanding debts, only CC balances which get paid in full each month.
Pre-AOR Prep
- Read alot of recent AOR posts as the terms of apps and rules of issuers are always changing
- In Mid November I did a non hard pull CLI on my Citi mTVU card and got an extra $1000 on my CL.
- Calculated my income and Business Revenue for this year as I'm self employed and my income varies annually. I did this in case I needed to provide this info for Biz cards
- Downloaded and installed RoboForm.
FAKO Scores
I have been using PM123(fw link for newbs) for the last 6 weeks or so and bumped 1 TU off. My current FAKO scores are as follows as of 12/12/07:
12/11/07: TU: 721(2 Inqs 2months old) EX: 787 (3 Inqs, all 1 year old) EQ: 752 (4 Inqs, 1 in last 6 mo's, and other 3 are 1yr old)
12/12/07: TU: 732(1 Inq **one bumped, woot) EX: 787 (3 Inqs) EQ: 752 (4 Inqs)
12/13/07(17 apps applied for today): TU: 732(3 Inqs (2 new ones) ) EX: 783 (6 Inqs, 3 new ones) EQ: 737 (10 Inqs, 6 new ones)
12/14/07: TU: 732(2 Inqs ,2 fell off, but not bumped; neither of the 2 from BRCLYSBANKDE(2 juniper cards) that were there yesterday are there, woot! i guess and 1 got added from NCBK-NCCS) EX: 783(6 Inqs) EQ: 737(10 Inqs)
12/15/07: TU: 721(2 inqs), EX: 783(6 Inqs), EZ: 737(10 Inqs)
12/17/07: TU: 716(3 inqs, 1 BRCLYSBANKDE added back), EX: 783(6 Inqs), EZ: 737(10 Inqs)
Current Accounts
Current Cards / Limit(Utilization) / Age:
1. Citi mTVU Visa/ $3,260($1,756)/ 1.75 Years
2. Juniper Emigrant Direct Platinum MC/ $2,500($0)/ 0.66 Years
3. Citi Professional MC/ $27,750($1,196)/ 1.58 Years (for this card I'm an authorized user on my mother's account as I needed it for business expenditures last year)
4. Chase Visa/ $14,000($2,316)/ 14 Years (i'm also an authorized user on this card from my parents as I was hoping to age my credit before they disallow AU benefits)
Goals
Primary goal: Maximize $ earned by either card bonuses or BT arbitrage and get the Chase Freedom Card to use as a 3% Daily Spender
Secondary goal: I'd also like to add as many cards as possible to allow for more relationships with banks and eventually more older cards to improve results for future AORs. Additionally I don't want any Adverse Action so I will minimize the BTs on the personal side. I also want at least 1 AMEX to be able to use AMEX Credit Secure.
AOR 1.0 Apps
1P = First purchase
TYP = http://www.thankyou.com
CS = http://www.cardselection.com
1) Chase Freedom Visa (1P->$100, no BT offer)
2) Chase Platinum Visa Business Card,($30 CS , 12/$99)
3)Chase Business Rebate, (12/$99, $30 CS)
4) AMEX IN:LA ($30 CS, 6/$0)
5) Gold Delta Business Skymiles AMEX (not direct link but click small business and then 3rd card in bottom row), (no BT offer, 1P->15K Skymiles, $85 ann. fee waived 1st year)
6) AMEX Blue, (15/0% purchases), $30 CS bonus)
7) Citi Business, (12/$0, 1P->15K TYP)
8) Citi Professional, (12/$0, 1P->15K TYP)
9 Cit Amex Platinum(no BT, $300 spent->15K TYP, $99 ann. fee waived 1st year)
10) Lifespring Visa,(12/$0) Requested $20K BT on Application.
11) Advanta Platinum BusinessCard with Rewards,(15/$90, $25 CS)
12) National Park Foundation Platinum Visa,(12/$50)
13)Bank Atlantic MC (Business), (15/$75)
14)Discover Business, (18/$75)
15) Discover More,(12/$75, $500 spent->$40 bonus)
16) BoA NEA, (12/$30)
17) BoA Platinum Plus,(6/$0)
Removed Apps:
- Wells Fargo,(6,$0)
- Principal Bank(part of FNBO), (12,$75)
- RBS Platinum, (10,$60)
- US Bank Baylor Alumni, (12,$0)
- Citi Home Rebate,(12,$0, $25 CS)
-Citi Drivers Edge (12,$0)
Detailed AOR 1.0 Results:
Card , Initial Status , Final Status , Credit Limit
1) Chase Freedom Visa,Instant Approval, $6,000 CL
2) Chase Platinum Visa Business Card, Deferred,Approved, $7,000 CL
3)Chase Business Rebate,Deferred,Approved, $8,000 CL
4) AMEX IN:LA, Instant Approval, $7,300 CL
5) Gold Delta Business Skymiles AMEX (not direct link but click small business and then 3rd card in bottom row), Instant Approval, $3,000 CL
6) AMEX Blue,Deferred,Approved, $3,000 CL
7) Citi Business, Deferred, Approved, $7,500 CL
8) Citi Professional, Instant Approval, $6,000 CL
9) Citi Amex Platinum, Instant Approval, $8,000 CL
10) Lifespring Visa,Deferred,Approved,$7500 CL
11) Advanta Platinum BusinessCard with Rewards,Instant Approval, $5,000 CL
12)National Park Foundation Platinum Visa,Deferred,Rejected(sufficient credit with current account was the reason)
13)Bank Atlantic MC (Business),Deferred,Rejected (Reason given:Insufficient Credit History), pulled from TU
14)Discover Business,Deferred,Approved, $2,000 CL
15) Discover More, Instant Approval, $2,000 CL
16) BoA NEA,Deferred,Approved, $5,000 CL
17) BoA Platinum Plus, Deferred, Rejected(reason was "because the amount of credit extended to you by us and/or our affiliates is adequate)
Total New Personal Cards/Total New Personal Credit: 8 /$44,800
Total New Business Cards/Total New Business Credit:6 /$32,500
Total New Cards/Total New Credit:14 /$77,300
##..Approved Amount.....Adjusted...APR...Term.....BT Fee...BT Amount
01......$6,000......$2,000....n/a no good BT rate so reallocated
02......$7,000......$0........reallocated...and eventually reconsolidated to below Chase Biz card
03......$8,000......19,000....0%...12........$99......$16,100(89.99% utilization with the fees included)
04......$7,300......$38,800...0%....6.........$0......$19,200(49.48% util, reallocation also included to AMEX on crack CLIs)
05......$3,000......$1,000....reallocated......................
06......$3,000......$1,000....reallocated......................
07......$7,500......$13,700...0%....12........$0......$12,300(89.78% utilization)
08......$6,000......$1,000....reallocated......................
09......$8,000......$8,000....eventually reconsolidated to existing Citi mTVu card after learning I couldn't have less than a 8,000 CL
10......$7,500......$7,500....0%....12...$0..........undecided
11......$5,000......$5,000....0%....15.......$90.....$4,750(96.8% utilization with the fees included)
12......Rejected..................................................
13......Rejected..................................................
14......$2,000......$3,000....0%....18.......$75.....undecided
15......$2,000......$1,000.....reallocated.....................
16......$5,000......$5,000....0%....12.......$30.....undecided
17......Rejected..................................................
Total...$77,300........$106,500...................$189(so far)...$52,350 so far (49.33% Utilization so far)
Total Personal Utilization: $19,200 utilized of $64,300 Total (29.86%)
Total Business Utilization: $33,339 utilized of $41,700 Total (79.94%)
Mini Biz AOR Started 3/12/08:
1. CitiBusiness PremierPass, (1P -> 15K TYP, 12/$0 ,$75 annual fee waived 1st year) Deferred, Approved, $4,000 CL
2. Bank Atlantic Rewards Business(Juniper), (15/$75) Deferred, Rejected, Sufficient Credit already with Juniper
3. Starwood Preferred Guest Business AMEX, (CB $65, 1P -> 10k SPG,$45 annual fee waived 1st year) Not processed yet: App sent but they haven't checked my credit yet due to the Experian Freeze being in Effect. CSR told me this app was denied to reapply and lift the freeze to be able to apply for this card.
4. M&T Business (Elan), (6/$0)Instant Approval, $10,000 CL. I will attempt to CLI when asking about my BT after I get the card in 7-10 days.
5. Chase Business Cash Rewards, ($35 CS, 12/$99) Deferred, Rejected with reasons listed: "Outstanding Credit Obligations owed on Closed Accounts[i have no idea what this has to do with]; Total Credit Lines On Open Accounts Too Low; Insufficient History of Credit Information is Reported"
6. BoA Platinum Business, (9/$99) Deferred, Approved(called in to check status and talked to credit analyst which sped up the decision time it seems), $5,000 CL
7. Capital One® Visa® Business Platinum with Preferred No Hassle Miles,($60 CS,0% on purchases for 12 months)Instant Approval, $500 CL
8. Cambridge Trust (Elan), (6/$0) Instant Approval, $10,000 CL. I will attempt to CLI when asking about my BT after I get the card in 7-10 days.
9. National City Business Visa,(1P->5K Points, 6/$0?) Deferred(they say: "Under review - A Specialist will contact you)(update 3/17: was never contacted),Approved, $5,000 CL
10. Woodforest(Elan) (6/$0) Deferred, Rejected I finally got a letter on 4/4/08 that said the Reason was -Already has maximum number of requested products, so I suspect there's a limit of either 2 Business Cards allowed all together or maybe just 2 applications within 60-90 days.
11. Wachovia Business Cardapplied 3/17/08 via phone Deferred, Rejected
##..Approved Amount.....Adjusted...APR...Term.....BT Fee...BT Amount
01...........$4,000.......$1,000.......0%...12........0.......NDY(not done yet, but plan on reallocating to CitiBiz and BTing from there for now and then when that offer expires reallocating to this card)
02...........Rejected........................................................................
03...........Rejected........................................................................
04...........$10,000......$10,000...0%....6.........$0......$9,600(96% util for now and plan to pay off $101 before statement balance)
05...........Rejected........................................................................
06...........$5,000.................0%....9.........3%......NDY(not done yet, am waiting to receive a capped BT offer)
07...........$500..........................no BT promotional rate............................
08...........$10,000......$10,000.....0%....6.........$0......$9,600(96% util for now and plan to pay off $101 before statement balance)
09...........$5,000.................0%....6.........$0?.....$4,750(95% util)
10...........Rejected........................................................................
11...........Rejected........................................................................
Total........$34,500........$34,500...................$0(so far)...$19,200 so far (55.65% Utilization so far)
Total New Business Cards/Total New Business Credit:6 /$34,500
The Plan:
Phase 1: Select Cards
-Finalize card choices by early next week at the latest and then apply for the cards
-Look for more Business cards as my business had over $300,000 revenue each of the past 2 years so I feel like I could probably get higher limits on biz cards maybe.
-Possibly lessen the total amount of applications as I have a short credit history and don’t want to overload and get lots of declines.
-Make sure that I’m not over the limit on cards per issuer
Phase 2: Apply
-Apply for final card list and be sure to put BT amounts on cards that are improved by BT requests at time of application(only did for Lifespring, otherwise I am waiting to transfer limits around and maximize by BTs
-After I apply for all credit cards I will also probably apply for bank accounts that I know do hard pulls and that have bonuses such as the Chase $100 bonus, Wachovia $50 bonus and Wells Fargo $50 bonus as well as others
Phase 3: Reallocate Credit Lines, apply for BTs and make purchases to earn rewards
Phase 4:Transfer BT money into my Online Savings Accounts/Money Market Accounts
-hoping to be able to transfer to Citi cards and request checks for negative balances and/or use any direct checks or transfers to bank accounts(BoA and Wells Fargo should make this handy)
-Holding all funds in my Fidelity MyCash Account in FSLXX with yield dipping from 4% to 3.5% so far.
Phase 5: Pay Monthly payments ontime and close all cards with annual fees before fee is charged<---I am here 2/26/08
BTs made:
$16,100 from Chase Business Rebate (check)($99 fee)(initiated 01/08)
$12,300 from Citi Business (check)(initiated 01/08)
$4,750 from Advanta Business (via CSR to Citi Pro card)($90 fee)(initiated 01/08)
$19,200 from AMEX IN:LA (via CSR to Citi Pro card)(initiated 02/08)
$9,760 from M&T Business Card (via CSR to Citi Pro card) -initiated 03/22/08...received at Citi Pro Card 4/01/08
$9,760 from Cambridge Trust Biz Card (via CSR to Citi Pro card) -initiated 03/22/08...received at Citi Pro Card 4/01/08
$4,750 from Nat City Biz Card (via CSR to Citi Pro card) -initiated 03/25/08 -received at Citi Pro Card4/01/08
$15,712 from Citi Business (ACH online to Fidelity MyCash Checking Account) -initiated 03/27/08...arrived in Fidelity Account 03/31/08
Rewards Received:
15,000 TYP from Citi Business -received with card's 1st statement
15,000 TYP from Citi Professional -received with card's 1st statement
15,000 TYP from Citi AMEX Platinum -received with card's 1st statement
$100 from Chase Freedom -received with card's 1st statement
$125 from Cardselection.com -received about 60 days after AOR though 1 card I clicked on wasn't included so something messed up and CS wouldn't give me the credit when I explained the situation
$75 bonus from opening Chase Checking Account
$100 bonus from opening optionsXpress account
$100 and 15,000 UAL Miles from opening Fidelity
15,000 Delta Skymiles from AMEX Gold Delta Biz Skymiles for 1P
$25 from FNBO BillPay -received 03/31/08
$25 from Chase Business Card for Spending $100 within 6 weeks via a Promo offer Letter I got at the end of March(double checked and both purchases and BTs are 0% so I'm not getting screwed) -received 04/01/08
$50 from Wachovia for opening new checking account(offer ATM2 has expired as of 4/16/08)->applied 01/08 ->received 04/15/08
Current(as of 3/27/08) Credit Cards and Lines
Card.............................Credit Line...Age(Yrs)...Description/Plans
Personal Lines
1.Citi mTVU card.................$2,000........2..........Use as Everyday spender.
2.Citi Professional Card.........$1,000........0.33.......Plan to keep open to accept BTs from other cards but plan to close before Dec 08 to reapply for another bonus/BT offer ceteris paribus
3.Chase Freedom..................$2,000........0.33.......Plan to keep open as long as possible and is an everyday spender with mTVU card. Will ask for a CLI during next string of apps
4.AMEX IN:LA.....................$38,800.......0.33.......Currently paying monthly on the BT that's due back in mid June at which point I will likely CL reconsolidate the entire line over to another AMEX personal card and close out this card to reduce the number of newer accounts that were open or I may keep it open if I change my mind on that point.
5.AMEX Blue......................$1,000........0.33.......Plan to keep open as long as possible as can be used to be a possible spender option for my large business expeditures. Will request CLI again in ~60 days probably.
6.Lifespring Visa................$7,500........0.33.......Still haven't used the no fees BT with this card as I was looking to minimize my util on the personal side. I'll possibly look to CLI this card and might then use the BT or may apply for a Nat City Biz card and try and reallocate this CL to BT on the Biz side
7.Discover More..................$1,000........0.33.......Currently trying to earn the $40 from $500 in purchases and then may look to close this account to lessen the number of new accounts on my Credit report as I'm not going to use this for spending or the BT offer
8.Juniper Emigrant Direct........$2,500........0.9........Not much use for this card now as I don't use ED for my savings option anymore so I'll look to convert this card over to another card(maybe National Park's if that's possible) to keep the account's near 1 year age and/or look to CLI and reallocate to another Juniper card at next AOR
9.BOA NEA........................$5,000........0.33.......Still haven't used the BT option due to the low CL and it being on the personal side. I will look to keep this open for as long as possible and will look to apply for more BoA card(hopefully with good BT options on the Biz side) and move CLs accordingly
Total Personal Credit............$60,800
Authorized User Personal Lines
10.Citi Professional Card(AU)....$27,750.......1.83.......Still have card and am AU on parents account...will keep to make large purchases for my business
11.Chase(AU).....................$14,000.......14.33......This is my only other card where I'm an AU of my parents. it's over 14 years old and reported on my Credit.com free credit report as increasing my average account alot so I'll remain an AU as long as possible on it.
Total Personal Credit as an AU...$41,750
Business Lines
12.CitiBusiness Card.............$29,100.......0.33.......Plan to keep card open thru next December when the BT is paid off and will probably reallocate the line elsewhere and apply for another for another bonus/BT offer.
13.Chase Business Rebate Card....$19,000.......0.33.......Plan to keep open as long as possible and will keep paying off BT until December
14.Advanta Business Card.........$5,000........0.33.......Currently have 15 month BT going...may ask for a CLI in May
15.AMEX Gold Delta Biz Skymiles..$1,000........0.33.......Will request CLI again in ~60 days probably and look to close this account before next November to avoid annual fee
16.Discover Business.............$3,000........0.33.......Still haven't used the 18 month BT on this card due to the low CL and fees associated not being worth the time. I'll look to keep this open and hope to CLI after 6 months and or reallocate from personal and then eventually use the BT
17.Elan M&T Bank Business........$10,000.......0.01.......Just received and BT'd. Will pay off BT at end of September and probably keep the card and hope other 0% offers come in
18.Elan Cambridge Trust Business.$10,000.......0.01.......Just received and BT'd. Will pay off BT at end of September and probably keep the card and hope other 0% offers come in
19.Capitol One Business..........$500..........0.01.......They say I can't get a CLI until it's 6 months old so I'll just keep it and hope the CL will eventually grow
20.National City Business........$5,000........0.01.......Need to make purchase for 5,000 reward points. BT'd 4,750 for 6 months. Will keep as long as possible.
21.CitiBusiness Premier Pass.....$1,000........0.01.......Plan to keep to use 0% BT offer after other CitiBiz card ends and will cancel before 3/09 to avoid $75 fee.
22.BoA Platinum Business.........$5,000........0.01.......I am waiting to receive a capped BT offer from them to use this card. Will keep as long as possible.
Total Business Credit............$88,600
Please continue reading the Quick Summary for my blogging on what's been done when and in more detail.