ahself's AOR 1.1 - Wife-O-Rama - 3/5/08

I got the IN:NYC card in the mail today with a $20,000 CL. I'm actually surprised considering I also got a $20,000 CL on the Starwood card. Now I'm torn about doing a BT on the IN card and just use the limit I was given. Not sure what to do since I'm leary of a FR at this point and am not sure a 6 month BT is worth it.

Related to AMEX, I still hadn't seen anything on the Gold Skymles card. So I checked the status link again today and noticed that it said "Cancelled". When I clicked for more details, I got the following:
Thank you for your recent application for the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express. It is our pleasure to service your request for an American Express card. However, our records indicate that you have recently submitted more than one application for American Express card(s), therefore this request has been cancelled.

Your original application(s) has been reviewed and we are happy to inform you that you were approved! Your new card(s) has been sent to you and, after calling to activate, you may begin using the Card(s) immediately and start enjoying all of the benefits of Cardmembership.

I'm not sure if this means they think I submitted multiple Gold Skymiles applications or just that I submitted multiple AMEX applications. Of course, the latter is true, but I was approved for the other two and I thought I've seen others being approved for more than one personal AMEX (maybe not).

Does anyone think there's a chance I could get an approval for the Skymiles card if I offered to reallocate CL from one of the other AMEX cards? Maybe it's not worth it, but getting those 15k skymiles would put my wife over 25k miles, or enough for a RT US ticket.

yeah ... 10K on the NEA was below what I'd anticipated ... did the rep tell your wife *how* the $30K AU card played into the decision? Almost looks as if they counted half of the $30K line toward your wife's exposure with them: 1/2*$30K+10K = $25K -- my wife (similar credit stats) got an IOWA card last summer and CLIed it to $22K easily (not waiting 6 month between CLIs), but last time she tried to go to $27K (just a few days ago) she got shot down for "enough credit with us." Let's hope the GA State card will bring some sweetness into this story.

Updates:

- My wife called about the Advanta card to see if she could get a larger line. The CSR told her that the CL she received was based on the information she provided. She ran the information through the system again and came back with the same results and wasn't able to increase the CL. So, we cancelled the card.

- She also called about GA State AMEX and was told it was declined. The CSR referenced the BOA NEA card, but said we'd have to wait for the letter to read the actual reason. Well, the letter arrived today and stated, "unable to approved your request because you do not have a sufficient number of credit references and you do not have sufficient established revolving credit accounts...based on EX report." The weird thing is that my wife was targeted via an application in the mail...oh well.

- The funny thing about the BOA and Chase denials is that my wife received two new pre-approved/pre-qualified offers in the mail yesterday for the Chase Disney and the BOA Platinum Plus cards, both with 0% offers...BOA for 12 mos and Disney for 15 months. I figured what the heck and applied for and was deferred for both. I noticed that the Chase inquiry appeared on EX as CHASE BANK USA, NA and BOA showed up on EQ as FIA CSNA...both appeared as different bank names and pulled from different agencies than the Chase and BOA inquiries from before (as noted in the OP). I'm not holding my breath on either card, but we'll see.

- Lastly, my wife finally called on the Delta Gold Skymiles AMEX and was told that somehow two apps were submitted and both were cancelled. The CSR couldn't resubmit the app and my wife would need to reapply. On one hand, I'm not sure I want another credit pull...on the other hand, it probably won't matter at this point.

One more update, on the topic of handling my wife's accounts...

With the exception of my wife talking to a CSR when she calls to activate cards, I'm talking to all CSRs now. I call and tell them that I'm calling on my wife's behalf, they ask to speak to my wife to verify her identity and make sure it's okay to speak to me, and then I take it from there. It's been very easy with no questions asked after the verification and approval with my wife. So far, Bank Atlantic is the only issuer that's offered to authorize me on her account (i.e. authorized to speak, but not receive a card).

My wife received the BoA Platinum Plus card in the mail. It was very surprising since they pulled EQ, where she had several inquiries, and BoA already told us she'd reached her max CL on the NEA card. I guess the fact that she was targeted made a difference.

I think I'm going to go ahead and take her off my BoA card as an AU. I'm assuming that'll allow me to hit the BoA CLI (on crack) button to boost both of her cards.

I guess we're done with new cards for her...all approvals and declines are in. Total new credit is $246,500.

While she hasn't received any TYPs yet, she has received the 25k United miles and 10k Starwood points.

I've already completed several BTs and am in the middle of several more. Total BT money from this WOR is planned to be ~$140k. I should be able to keep all cards at 89% utilization or below and total personal utilization below 50%...at least that's the plan.

For a split-second the title made my mind wander to what is happening in Texas with the polygamists

A few more rewards posted - All 45k TYPs posted, each 15k bonus after the statement closed for each card. Also, the 25k AA miles bonus posted.

I mentioned before that I was planning on using my wife's BT offers to pay off some of my balances from my A0R, which is wrapping up...and I did this with a few of her cards.

I had an interesting conversation with a Citi rep about credit balances. I asked the question because I wasn't sure if a BT would post in time to avoid the higher interest rate on one of my cards and I asked about having a credit balance if I paid off the card and the BT payment hit as well. She said that it's no problem and that I would be transferred to another department to request the balance via a check, which I knew. In addition, she also said that $4k was the magic number...if the balance was $4k or more, an additional review would occur to make sure the balance was legit...under $4k and the check would be processed with no issues. I hadn't seen that threshold mentioned elsewhere and thought it was interesting.

I tried a BT from her Bank Atlantic Business card online and after a week of seeing the Pending status, I sent a secured email to see what was up. I got a response back that I hadn't provided enough information and it was denied. So, I called and the CSR couldn't see that I left anything out. Regardless, I asked her to process it. However, even though I was added as someone authorized to speak on my wife's account, the CSR said that only my wife could request the BT. So, I got my wife on the phone and she did it with no problems (with a little help from me on the side).

I also did two BTs from the US Bank Baylor card. I called up, had my wife verify her identity and then I was able to request both BTs. The CSR confirmed the 0% APR and no BT fees.

Interestingly enough, my wife received another targeted offer for a Delta Gold Skymiles card. You can't use the offer code online, but I may have her take them up on it via phone.

Also, I'm putting all of this BT money into an Alliant CU savings account. I think I'm going to take advantage of the Citi 40k TYPs bank accounts offer too.

Any reason I shouldn't just go ahead with the BTs, knowing that the terms will still be good even if they close the accounts?ahself said: Text

I'd do it.

My wife received a particularly juicy CC offer in the mail yesterday. It's for the Chase Visa Platinum Card, 0% on purchases and BTs until 9/2009, no annual fee and no BT fee.

While I know she has several inquiries, particularly on EQ, it appears the Chase pre-approved offers (e.g. Disney) pull EX for us (did for both me and my wife), where she only has 3 inquiries. Besides, it says she's pre-approved (not pre-qualified, pre-screened, etc.).

I know we're only a little over a month beyond her A0R, but is there any reason why I shouldn't go for this?

Go.

ahself said: It appears that Chase pulls EQ in my state, GA.
I got that card via a parallel preapproved offer (different time period - they just move the date up on future offers) and am also in GA. They will pull EQ. If you go for a CLI on the card after issue they will also hard pull EQ (unless you can get someone with a clue - I didn't).

ETA: I got my card in December. $6K CL. CLI-ed it up to $13K with a second hard pull at activation. They wouldn't go higher.

swishyx said: Did you decide whether to pull the trigger on the Chase Platinum? Just curious.

Yes, I pulled the trigger...couldn't resist those terms. I put a BT request on the app, but I got a deferred (in 30 days) response. I guess we'll see.

Also, as you said, they pulled EQ. However, it was pulled as First USA vs. Chase Bank USA (like the Disney card).

How long does your bank place a hold on your funds? Mine is holding it for like 5-10 business days for anything over 5k. I'm about to deposit a 46k check from Chase...

A few updates:

I decided to hold off on the remaining Citi BTs for now. I figured that, since they are 12 months from the BT, then I have a while to take advantage of them. I'm trying to bump off inquiries and may CLI once I have the cards for 6 months.

To help with B*, in addition to TC, I signed up for CreditSecure (but can't do daily pulls for 30 days), Chase ID Protection and Credit Karma. I tried for National City Identity Protect but didn't receive anything and may be blacklisted from dealpass.

My wife's TC scores continue to drop...started at (EQ,EX,TU) 752 760 776, and are now at 663 691 694, with all but the Baylor BT showing on EX. Her EX score dipped to 676 yesterday, but shot up a little today with the SGP and IN:NYC AMEX cards finally showing.

swishyx said: NCIP may yet respond. Took a few days for mine to go through.

Coincidentally, I received the NCIP letter in the mail today, including the membership ID. However, when I try to log in I get an error code, EC7010, and instructions to contact membership services. I'll probably do that, but I'm not counting on getting access.

Also, in the mail today was my approval letter for the Chase Platinum card I mentioned a few posts above...the actual card also arrived as well. It came with a credit line of (drum roll please) $500. As I mentioned, I put a BT on the app (of $13k) and the letter stated that they couldn't process my BT request "because my credit profile does not support the balance transfer amount requested." However, they were able to transfer a portion, $300...good thing there was no BT fee. I guess a CLI request probably isn't worth it at this point.

Interesting update on my TU inquiries as 3 dropped off in the last 3 days. The interesting thing is that they fell off after only 45-50 pulls of my TU report (specifically on the 45th, 48th and 50th pulls).

Alright, go on Fidelity.

If you transfer in the other amount ($40k), even if you have to do it in batches, even if you have to transfer money out then in you'll probably get the last 10k miles.

where are you putting your BT money?