Jevon90's 1st AOR (Update 4/4/08: A/A from Citi appearing )

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)

##..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)

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.

Nice list...i'll be following along so keep us posted on how things go

Best of luck with your AOR. I am still waiting for my paid balances to post to my credit report before doing the AOR

With that kind of revenue from your business you should go really heavy on biz cards. Citi Drivers Edge now has $75 BT fees. Add one more BofA card as they tend to have high max exposure per customer and you don't have any cards with them.

planning on doing an AOR soon also, thanks for the post.
for the wells fargo account, i think its only available to existing wells fargo account holder (your link is bad a link btw).
i have a usaa mastercard. they gave me a 2k limit without a pull and in 6 months, it went up to 30k. its good for utilization but thats all, at least for me, no good bt offers.

I suggest the Juniper National Parks Visa 12mo/$50 and the Bank Atlantic MC (Business) 15mo/$75. Especially the Bank Atlantic; it should give a nice CL and its a business card. You need to bt to another card but I had no trouble funneling it through my Citi Professional (no fee bt) even when it gives me a large negative balance.

I would also might try for a Chase Business Rebate12mo/$75/$30 cardselection. I learned from a recent AOR that I should have included more business cards and a couple more cards for utilization.

byex0039 said: I have noticed the US Bank Baylor card in many recent AORS, however, it seems the offer now has a 3% BT fee with no maximum. I cannot see anywhere on the 4 cards in the link where it says no balance transfer fee with this offer. I hope I am wrong.

It says at the bottom that BT fees will apply after 6 months of account opening.

I'd be tempted to only apply for two AMEX cards. Note that the Blue is 0% only on purchases.

I'd also be tempted to only apply for one USBank card.

Agree that the Barclays Juniper/BankAtlantic combo is good.

Might want to divert one of the Citibank cards towards a bonus hustle, like airline miles or more TY points. (the goal should be to reallocate credit to the business card and max out the 0%).

Principal is run by FNBO, and tends to deny people with too many inquiries.

I can't determine the expiration date on this Sony deal?
http://sonycard.sony.com/sonygateway/Gateway.aspx?offerLink=SonyRewardsBtS2007

I wouldn't worry too much about the AOR being too aggressive, as long as you don't need your credit score for at least a year or two.

After the card apps, I wouldn't stress out about more inquiries for bank accounts. And if you build up a good wad of 0% money, I'd recommend opening a Fidelity account for the $100 and airline miles.

Hindustani said: byex0039 said: I have noticed the US Bank Baylor card in many recent AORS, however, it seems the offer now has a 3% BT fee with no maximum. I cannot see anywhere on the 4 cards in the link where it says no balance transfer fee with this offer. I hope I am wrong.

It says at the bottom that BT fees will apply after 6 months of account opening.
I don't see this anymore either ...

I'd do discover for 18 months promo. Assuming xfer of 10k and 5% apr at HYS, you'd make 250 more with that offer, which more than offsets $40 CS bonus.

I'd also make your first AOR MUCH smaller. You have a handful of cards, so such a massive app spree is likely to drop your score a lot and potentially cause lots of adverse reaction, especially in this "credit crunch" environment. Read about how citi, bofa, chase closed people's accounts (all of them). I'd probably limit your AOR to 5-6 cards MAX

for now I also apologize if some of the app links do not work but it seems for the 2 citi apps and the discover biz, the link doesn't work unless I've just included it with the www.fatwallet.com/bounce prefix and that gets removed everytime I edit it, so until I figure out that technical problem I apologize for any confusion

jevon90 said: -I'll probably look to change the Citi Driver's Edge card to another with a big bonus as I doubt I get a very high CL with this card though there are no fees so a bonus might be preferableCiti Professional 15000 TYP, 0%/12 months, no BT fee.

(And those three card links arent working because you used the wrong button to create the link (use https, not http)

jevon90 said: Glitch99 said: jevon90 said: -I'll probably look to change the Citi Driver's Edge card to another with a big bonus as I doubt I get a very high CL with this card though there are no fees so a bonus might be preferableCiti Professional 15000 TYP, 0%/12 months, no BT fee.


(And those three card links arent working because you used the wrong button to create the link (use https, not http)

Thanks, I'll look to fix those links now
and I'm already an Authorized User on my mother's Citi Professional. Am I allowed to apply for another and/or can I apply for the Citi Professional with Thank You Points instead? If I can, those terms look great as a replacement for the Citi Driver's Edge card.

yeah you can have multiple citi pro cards. i have 2 and was approved for a 3rd in my recent AOR. i was also able to reallocate lines from one pro to another pro last week after a couple phone calls. regular csrs couldn't do it but an "account specialist" did it with no problems. i keep getting this card because i like the 15k signup bonus and no fee 0% bt.

markkundinger said: *if* you can find a Chase Sony offer, I would replace the generic Chase platinum card with it. Same 0% BT deal, but also a statement credit.

Also, I didn't notice that you were just AU on the existing CitiPro card, so applying for it is definitely a good move, just for the points grab.

Finally, I just want to mention that if you get approved for a lot of these cards and successfully max them out, your credit score could CRASH, just because your current file is fairly "thin". Again, there's not necessarily anything wrong with this, as long as you really don't need your credit for a while, and don't mind taking lumps from various lenders.

markkundinger said: I can't determine the expiration date on this Sony deal?
http://sonycard.sony.com/sonygateway/Gateway.aspx?offerLink=SonyRewardsBtS2007

Ok, so on that link above it actually just expired on 11/30/07 when you scroll over the 1 in the top left of the page and the other Sony Card link that DJspray provided doesn't appear to have a 0% BT offer and the $100 statement credit seems to require a purchase at a SonyStyle store or SonyStyle.com for over $299 which is not going to happen for me. That's a good idea, so I'll keep looking for another Chase Sony offer or another Chase card altogether.
edit:
Changes to OP:
-I decided to scrap the Chase Platinum MC and replaced it with the Chase Platinum Visa Business Card as it include $5 more from CS and is a business card and not a personal card which should help me out once BTs get made
-I also added the BoA Platinum Plus card after discovering it is indeed 0% for 12 months and $0 fees

makitaws said: jevon90 said: -I also added the BoA Platinum Plus card after discovering it is indeed 0% for 12 months and $0 fees
That link doesnt go anywhere, does it? When I click on continue, it says its an invalid offer. I still haven't been able to find a working link
looks like you're right, I checked the terms but not if the App was still valid, thanks

Good work indeed, green for you for laying out your plan in detail, including links, and soliciting advice.

I'll be following this one closely... Planning my 2nd AOR for this Jan/Feb (first AOR was done on Jan 10-11, 2007). My 2nd AOR will be more of a Business AOR with the intent of taking advantage of BT offers while keeping the BT balances off my personal credit report. My 1st AOR was mainly to maximize bonuses, to increase total CL available (both personal and biz) and to get some cards that I've always wanted to have.

jevon, have you not gotten a Chase Professional (not CITI Professional) mailing recently? The card offers 0% BT for 12 months with the fee capped at $99. There is also an online app here (open to everybody, but 0% BT is only for 6 months (though the fee is capped at $75) ... I guess this card is more suitable for folks with large existing lines with Chase (ripe for reallocation).

The current Discover Business Card that you have linked contains in the terms and conditions that BT are at 0% until April 1, 2009, which is less than 18 months...

Update 2,
-Bumped another TU inq, and PM123 score is now 732. Nice!
-I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on Thurs. or Friday with these 15 or so apps and just see how it goes.
-I'll look into the chase visa business platinum 15 month 0% APR that silam mentions and also the discover miles instead of discover more that fotomaniak mentions
-no site of that Chase Pro offer cyberkost, I may look into that later on
-also not sure what's up with the Discover Biz not being a full 18 months

good idea, done i updated the QS and will continue to do so

Good for you! Keep us updated. Should be able to clear 100k in new credit, the way you're going, if not 150k.

jevon90 said: Update: I changed a couple of the cards and applied for all 17 of them this morning with 7 Instant approvals and no Instant Denials, woot! So far the 3 CL's I know total $21,300. Right now my brain is a little mushy from 3 hours of app reading and applying so I'll give more updates and clarify the OP.

Interesting, I did get my 15K TYPs from my new Citi Biz PP for my $.96 purchase of copies at kinkos so looks like ThankYouNetwork account is still working smoothly. Woot!