after soaking up the wisdom on this board for a while in silence, i decided to take the plunge and did a 23 card AOR on March 31st from 12.00-4.00pm EST.
Age: 40 HHI: $114,000 State: Queens, NY 113**
Existing Cards 01 AMEX HiltonHonors $19000 02 AMEX Blue $7000 03 Citi Professional MC $9700 04 Citi Diamond Preferred MC $5700 05 Chase Continental MC $25000 ($2000 balance)(CL not reporting) 06 Chase Flexible Rewards Visa $6100 (CL not reporting) 07 BofA Platinum Plus MC $11700 ($6950 0% balance carried) 08 Bananacard $900 AU AMEX $24000 AU Citi $9100
Existing Pulls 4 TU, 2 EX, 3 EQ
CITIUSA 02/12/2008 TransUnion GEMB/BANAN 01/19/2008 Equifax CHASE BANK USA, NA 10/23/2007 Experian ONSITE MGR 05/29/2007 TransUnion BK OF AMER 05/04/2007 TransUnion CREDENTIAL RESEARCHERS 01/30/2007 Experian AMEX 11/29/2006 Equifax FIRST USA 05/10/2006 Equifax CITI 05/01/2006 TransUnion
AOR 01 AMEX Business Gold targeted (1P -> $100 & 5K MR) approved NPSL 02 AMEX SPG (CS $25, 1P -> 10K SP) deferred/approved $1000 03 AMEX SPG Business (CS $25, 1P -> 10K SP) approved $7400 04 Citi PremierPass Elite (1P -> 15K TYP, 12/$0) deferred/approved $8500 05 Citi Platinum AMEX (1P -> 15K TYP, 12/$0) deferred/declined 06 CitiBusiness® PremierPassSM Card (1P -> 15K TYP, 12/$0) deferred/approved $12000 07 CitiBusiness® Card with ThankYouSM Network (1P -> 15K TYP, 12/$0) deferred/approved $6000 08 Chase Marriott Visa Business (1P -> 25K MR) deferred/approved $15000 09 Chase Marriott Prem Visa Sig (1P -> 25K MR) deferred/approved $11000 10 BofA WorldPoints Visa (1P-> $50, 12/$30) approved $5000 CLI $7500 11 BofA Platinum Plus Business Visa (12/$30) declined 12 Chase Amtrak (1P-> 5K AGR) deferred/approved $14000 13 Citi HiltonHonors Visa (1P -> 25K HH) deferred/approved $14000 14 Advanta Platinum BusinessCard with Rewards (CS $30) approved $5000 15 Discover Miles Card (CS $40) deferred/approved $6000 16 Discover Business Miles Card (CS $40) deferred/approved $6000 17 Juniper National Park Foundation Platinum Visa (12/$50) deferred/info requested/approved $12500 18 Bank Atlantic Rewards Business Card (15/$75) deferred/declined 19 National City Lifespring Health Everyday Rewards Visa Platinum (12/$0) deferred/approved/blocked/info requested/lifted $7500 20 USBank Sons of Norway Visa Platinum Card (12/$0) deferred/approved $10000 21 M&T Bank Visa Business Platinum Rewards Card (6/$0) approved $7500 22 Chase AMA Platinum Visa Business Card (1P -> $50, 12/$75) deferred/approved $14000 23 WAMU Plat targeted (FICO) approved $3500
Final Total: 20 approved, 3 declined
New Business Credit Lines: $72900 & 1 NPSL New Personal Credit Lines: $87500 Total Credit Lines: $245500 & 1 NPSL
New Pulls 8 TU, 6 EX, 0 EQ
NCBK-NCCS 04/01/2008 TransUnion AMEX 03/31/2008 Experian CHASE BANK USA, NA 03/31/2008 Experian CHASE BANK USA, NA 03/31/2008 Experian BANK OF AMERICA 03/31/2008 Experian ELAN FINANCIAL SERVICE 03/31/2008 Experian ADVANTA FINANCIAL CORP 03/31/2008 Experian CBUSA 03/31/2008 TransUnion BRCLYSBANKDE 03/31/2008 TransUnion DISCOVER FIN 03/31/2008 TransUnion WASHMTL/PROV 03/31/2008 TransUnion FIA CSNA 03/31/2008 TransUnion CITI/CBSD 03/31/2008 TransUnion CITI 03/31/2008 TransUnion
Credit Scores 15th March FICO: 738 CK:788 31st March (pre-AOR) TU:747 EX:778 EQ:786 CK:803 FICO:730 1st April TU:763 EX:767 EQ:786 CK:828 2nd April TU:748 EX:774 EQ:786 CK:805 3rd April TU:746 EX:761 EQ:786 CK:801 5th April TU:730 EX:761 EQ:776 CK:777 6th April CK:773 11th April CK:800 15th April CK:794
Observations: the combination of living in NY and being a Permanent Resident rather than US Citizen prevented me from applying for some of the smaller financial institutions (Pulaski, Iberia, FifthThird), and in BofA's case they redirected me to a different card because of my location.
business apps seem to be approved instantly or quickly, personal seem to be taking their time (i had no business cards previously, so maybe i'm regarded as fresh blood).
my AU status on my (US Citizen) wife's cards seems to extend my credit history (with Equifax at least) to 13 years (as against 4). but it has proved a confusing factor for a few card issuers re different addresses reported.
Discover left messages on the landline of my last address for both my personal and business applications, despite that number not appearing anywhere on my application. the number still appears on my credit reports, so they picked it up from there.
opening a online Provident Bank High Yield Savings account is taking far more time and effort than the AOR. (attempt online app - told to wait to hear from them. contact them by phone a week later - have to submit all details again. 3 minutes after my call - i get a message from them inquiring if i still want to apply. asked to fax State ID. 2 days later - asked to fax SS card.) finally called a week after hearing nothing to find out that i have been approved and welcome pack is on its way.
both Transunion and Experian got a selection of Hard Pulls, but Equifax had nothing pulled except a couple of soft... so i was looking to see if there were any great cards recommended that generally pull on Equifax in NY, that i can apply for quickly before the other accounts start showing on the credit reports. after following the credit pulls database suggestion, it looks like the major players are HSBC,RBS and PenFed and none seemed appealing apart from additional utilization. the DCU looked promising but i didn't comply with their conditions - but it seems like a great way to utilise other credit lines that won't do DD or BT check for those who do.
it was great fun, incredibly tiring, and i can't wait to do the next.
thanks to everyone (you know who you are) for the inspiration and incredible advice on this board.
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thanks for the creditboards.com database suggestion - HSBC,RBS and PenFed seem to be the only significant ones and none of the cards i can find are all that appealing to me (ie no capped 0%BTs that i can find or exciting bonuses).
so, i'm thinking of sticking with the current crop and keeping my EQ score high. unless of course, anybody has any better ideas...
TheManWithout is now the TheManWith (an AOR). Welcome to the club!
I find in very peculiar that: 1. 23 apps resulted in only 14 hards (I'm assuming deferred pulls had shown up already) 2. You've picked up 8 TU and only 6 EX.
On this last point -- I'm in NY too and BOA, Chase, AMEX, ELAN, WAMU, Discover & Advanta (pretty much everybody except CITI, Wachovia and Barclays/Juniper) pull EX for me. If I were to apply for the list you did, I would have picked up abpout 13 EXs ... Would you mind sharing you ZIP code and or county? I'm in Westchester, ZIP=105XX. Also, it would be helpful if you could match the pulls to the cards or at least list the names of the issuers next to the pulls.
updated my original post with details of hard pulls both existing and new - harder to match all of them individually to cards as i did multiple apps to the same card issuer, but it should give you a rough breakdown. i have a feeling that there are still a few hard pulls in store, cause it really doesn't match up, but your guess is as good as mine.
i am in ZIPcode:113** in Queens - interesting how different my pulls seem to be from your experience. all just makes it that little bit harder, and more exciting, when planning AORs.
on a side note - Discover left messages on the landline of my last address for both my personal and business applications, despite that number not appearing anywhere on my application. the number still appears on my credit reports, so they picked it up from there.
TheManWithout said:i have a feeling that there are still a few hard pulls in store
Probably so. I recently had a similar ratio of hard pulls to applications as you did, and then there were more over the next few days up to a week later.
still no more hard pulls coming up - and i am one deferred card away from completion. (now the complicated bit - BT juggling etc)
on the whole a decent AOR - some low CLs but i've already managed to up one of those (BofA to 7500) - and a whole slew of bonus points on the way (which was one of the major reasons for doing it now - to provide some cushioning for a European trip)
final tally is now in, and i'm really pleased i managed to secure 20 cards with so few pulls.
all this plus a nice invitation from AMEX for their Platinum with 25,000 MR points bonus, and my scores are around the same as when i started! although all that may change when the BTs post, no doubt - having said that, i'm going to be modest with the BTs and stick to the O%/$0 fee ones, so that'll limit my exposure to mostly business lines.
i'm happy to respond to specific questions, or update if there is anything notable to report (which probably means something bad). otherwise i won't be going into too much detail over the CLRs and BTs unless anyone really wants me to.
National Park VISA - 'Portfolio Credit Unit' AA: BT convenience check returned and CL reduced to $1000 (reason given: too many new accounts - 5 observed - plus too many additional inquiries).
since i was paying $50 for the BT i decided to go for $12400 out of $12500. i think it might have been this that flagged the AA.
mind you, with the interest rates nose-diving it's not really that big an issue, just a shame.
Wow. that's a pity. Along with being declined for Bankatlantic, that's really no love from Juniper (note, why was Bankatlantic so low on your list?)
How long after you got the card did you request the BT? Was there any sort of untoward delay? In this case it seems possible it might have been better to have the BT processed faster, rather than slower.
although both Bank Atlantic and National Park have been traditionally great at giving large CLs, i was less bothered about them in the current low interest climate because of their attached fees - hence a low place on my list. as it stands i've probably got the FW record for the lowest CL with either...
unfortunately Juniper was the only bank that required me to send (not fax) copies of utility bills, photo id etc. before approving and sending me the National Park card which delayed the possibility of a BT until April 22 (FWIW i used the attached convenience check and banked it the next day) - by that time the close-to-the-limit BT flag resulted in a pull which showed far too much activity for their liking hence the dropped CL and returned check.
they have intimated (but not guaranteed) that they will reimburse me any bank fees from the returned check, and i will update as it proceeds. if i get the fee back, the lack of love means i'll probably close the card - it's pretty useless to me as it stands. (unless, of course, you know better...)
as i said, not too bothered about this - as long as it doesn't have some weird knock on effect with Citi, Chase or AMEX. (i can just imagine Juniper posting my current "balance" $22450 and my current "limit" $1000 with them to the various credit agencies and all hell will break loose).
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Congrats on results!