Well, after wondering if I should do it with the current state of app rejections and AA. I decided to do a more conservative approach. I'm gonna apply only to cards I really want and only a few to each company. I'm gonna ask the FWF community for advice and help before committing to it. So here goes...
GOALS
Apply to personal cards that I will use in the future
Apply to personal cards with good BT offers
Apply to biz cards with good BT offers
Transfer personal credit to business credit where available to reduce personal BT debt.
Use the BT to payoff nearly $10k in car loans. This is safe because I have $12k in the bank right now to back this up.
Find a good place to put leftover BT money to make some interest.
SCORES I don't have anything concrete since I don't currently have a score reporting service. Last I checked about 3 months ago, it was 750. I have since paid off a $10k BT. I'm not gonna bother looking up my score again as I feel that 750 is sufficient, and it should be more than that now. EDIT: From my new WAMU ESPN card, my FIKO is 766. I think this was the score I had at the time they pulled my report. So that was probably what I had going into this AOR
INFO Age: 25 HHI: $115k (w/ wife) No mortgage LOTS of student loans (w/ wife)... 1 Car loan = $10k
CURRENT ACCOUNTS Credit Cards Used - Card that I use on a regular basis Unused - Card that has no balance and does not get used on a regular basis None of the cards have a current BT. No used card ever exceeds 10% util (except Discover due to low limit).
American Express TrueEarnings Business Card (Costco) $16,000 CL Used heavily
Chase Cash plus Rewards $22,500 CL Used heavily
Chase Freedom Visa $7,500 CL Used sparingly
Chase Freedom MasterCard $10,500 CL Used heavily
Discover More Card $2,250 CL Used rarely
Citi Dividend MasterCard $25,000 CL Unused
Citi Dividend American Express $6,400 CL Unused
Citi Professional Card $11,700 CL Unused
Total $101,850 CL
BOA NEA Visa Card (before I realized I had a bad BOA Plat link)
RESULTSPersonal
Credit Card CL Approved/Denied Instant/Deferred Notes
Platinum Plus MasterCard - --------------- ---------------- See bottom notes
NEA Visa Card $15,000 Approved Deferred/Instant See bottom notes
Amazon.com Visa Card $400 Approved Instant Hahah...nice...
Associated Bank Visa $15,000 Approved Instant Failed to consolidate
Discover Open Road Card $20,000 Approved Deferred $5,100 from Biz
I Fly America Visa $2,500 Approved Deferred Reallocated to Biz
The Linux Fund Visa Card $25,000 Approved Deferred Had to be verified
ESPN Total Access Visa $7,500 Approved Instant
Business
Credit Card CL Approved/Denied Instant/Deferred Notes
Advanta BusinessCard $11,000 Approved/Verified Instant/Verified VERIFIED!!!
Business Rebate Declined Deferred Too many inquiries
CitiBusiness MasterCard $9,000 Approved Deferred Unable to reallocate old CC
Discover Business Card $10,100 Approved Deferred Had to be verified
BankAtlantic BusinessCard $5,000 Approved Deferred Consolidated personal
Cambridge Trust Company $0 Withdrawn Deferred Unable to prove biz
Total
Personal $85,400, $88,000 after reallocation
Business $35,100, $32,500 after reallocation
Total $120,500
Balance Transfers (Completed)Personal
Credit Card BT CL Notes
NEA Visa Card $13,000 $15,000 DD to Checking
Associated Bank Visa $13,000 $15,000 Asked for check to myself online
Discover Open Road Card $22,000 $25,000 Asked for blank checks. ($5,000 reallocated from biz)
The Linux Fund Visa Card $22,000 $25,000 Sent check to Checking via phone call
ESPN Total Access Visa $6,500 $7,5000 Sent $4,000 check to car loan, $2,500 BT to pay off CC
Business
Credit Card BT CL Notes
Advanta BusinessCard $10,670 $11,000 FINALLY VERIFIED!!! Details below. DD to Checking
CitiBusiness MasterCard $9,000 $9,000 Asked for check to myself online
Discover Business Card $2,160 $5,000 Paid tuition. Will spend more later.
BankAtlantic BusinessCard $7,250 $7,500 BT to BOA NEA, then DD from BOA to checking
Total
Personal $78,700
Business $29,080
Total $107,780
Fees $300
QUESTIONS
Do I have enough?
Do I have too much?
I'm debating the 3 smaller banks (maybes), on one hand applying to Chase and Citi allows me to consolidate my older cards which already have high CL to a new card for a bigger BT. On the other hand I already have 3 cards with Chase and also 3 with Citi. Would it be better to apply to banks that I have no accounts with?
State Farm and WAMU both have relatively short terms on their BTs. Is it still worth it considering the no fee and the extra benefits? (Fico, Turbo Tax)
What are my chances of getting both NEA cards from BoA in one shot? Should I just go for one?
I'm applying to 3 Chase cards (1 personal, 2 biz). Is that too many at once? Should I drop one of the biz cards?
Are there better cards out there that I should swap in.
UPDATES/CHANGES
Added better BoA card - thanks devildoc
Removed NEA cards - thanks devildoc
Added Juniper cards - thanks devildoc
Added better Chase Biz Card - thanks devildoc
Removed 2 Chase Biz cards to avoid pissing off Chase - thanks markkundinger
Added Discover Biz card. Decided that $100 cash was worth it. Will see what I can do to make use of the 0% on purchases. - thanks fotomaniak
Removed State Farm Good Neighbor Card after reading more about the viciousness of 3 pulls here, thanks devildoc for the warning
Added US Bank - thanks devildoc
I have applied to some banking accounts in anticipation of the AOR. The MidWest America FCU Rewards Checking Account. I am going to turn this into my regular checking/savings account from now on. It's a good rate to just leave my money in between AOR, and I can access the money easily for bills, checks, ATM withdrawals, etc. I also opened a WAMU checking/savings account to put money over the $25k. I'll transition money from there to a WAMU CD as I receive the BT. The MidWest might take a while to open, but the WAMU account should be all set after the initial deposit. I'll be moving my ETrade money over shortly.
If everything works out, I'll be applying to the cards on 08/18/08.
LESSONS LEARNED General
Don't call in too often to check the status of a card. It will come, and you will find out in due time. I got into trouble with US Bank needing to verify me, and I think it was because I kept calling.
Plan the BT flow chart before doing the AOR. I lost about half a months worth of interest because I didn't have all the bank accounts set up, or because I was stuck figuring out how to get money out of the credit cards.
Know what each CC company will allow. Push the limits, but know what they are. Some cards can not be consolidated/relocated. Some companies have a very strict rule on what it can do via BT. Asking for more than they can do is futile and costs you interest while you wait.
49%/89% rule. I didn't know about this until jack pointed it out. I means not to go above 49% overall utilization, and 89% per card. This one is probably common knowledge, but these are lessons I have learned... (Biz cards do not follow this rule)
Ask for a BT ASAP. It took much longer than I expected, and each passing day is interest lost. Most cards have 0% terms starting from when your account is open (Citi is from posting date), so you have limited time to use the money.
Know your bank accounts. Each have different rules for how long they hold your funds, and when interest starts to accrue. For example, I have been using BOA checking to deposit checks and then ACH to my online/non local savings accounts. This worked out TERRIBLY, as BOA held a $23,000 check for almost 2 weeks. I suggest mailing any checks to yourself directly to your bank. E Trade on the other hand has a one day turn around on their Quick Transfers.
Each bank has different minimal payment rules. Most I have seen are at 1% of your current balance. Discovoer was 2%.
Best way to deal with CC that won't send you a check or deposit to checking is: BT from a CC(1) that has DD. BT from CC(2) to CC(1). DD from CC(1) again. Of course, it is preferred that the CC(1) has no BT fee.
Chase is easily spooked. I knew this, but didn't know they were THAT spooked. I got a Amazon card with $400 limit, and my Biz card took forever to get denied (too many inquiries) even though it was the 2nd card I applied for.
US Bank is paranoid. By far the most verification needed for me.
Citi is the village bicycle... They give out credit like there is no tomorrow, and make it so easy to ask for a BT. I have abused them long before I found out about AORs, and they were no different this time.
Discover is insecure. They called to verify a few things, but wasn't too much of a hassle. They gave me a big CL after verifying my work.
WAMU is nice. They were simple during the whole process. Even though I got a relatively small CL, and the BT term was only 6 months, my experience with them was very positive.
Need to search more...
Need more patience...
Biz
Have a EIN... There is no cost, no negatives and I think it drastically improves approval on your first try.
Get ready to have documentation. 3 out of 5 called for verification. 1 denied me when I couldn't show enough.
Red flags: Addresses with an Apt number, SS# as tax ID, own name as name of biz. Each of these were mentioned by the 3 companies who called to verify.
If possible, have a biz checking account. All 3 companies said this would be sufficient in verifying my biz.
Advanta will give you an instant approval, but if you do something fishy too early (like ask for $10k+ in BT within 2 days....) they will shut you down and verify you. If I had to do it again, I might make a purchase first and then try the BT.
US Bank will shut down both your biz and personal app if you give them enough reason (like calling 3 times in one day to get your status).
Discover is willing to reallocate to personal. This is important as it is one of the few companies to offer 0% in personal, and nothing in biz.
Juniper WILL NOT BT to anything but another CC. I have called several times, and each time this was case. They won't send you a check, or anything.
Citi is very YMMV on reallocation/consolidations. Some have reported success, 5 tries from me from various phone numbers have yielded nothing.
8/18/08 - Took me a little over an hour. I went with cards I wanted most first, then continued with the rest.
8/18/08 - Sadly, I got deferred on 8 of 12 cards. Is that normal? Is it a bad sign?
8/18/08 - BOA link was dead after the initial page. I tried FF and IE, neither worked. Anyone else having problems? !!!NOT TRUE - read further down.
8/18/08 - Cardoffers link for the Discover Open Road Card was also dead. I had to apply for it on Discover's site.
8/18/08 - I'll update the status as I get them, but right now, I'm not feeling too hot.
8/18/08 - Amazon Chase gave me $400... Probably cause it was the last card I applied for.
8/18/08 - Oddly enough, Advanta was the only business card to give me an instant approval, but didn't tell me how much.
8/18/08 - Added the BOA NEA Visa card since I didn't have a BOA card in my list anymore.
8/18/08 - BOA at first deferred my NEA application. But 3 minutes later sent me an email saying they had made a decision. I checked the status and got $15,000!
8/18/08 - I have no idea what happened, but it seems FW formatting screwed up my link to the BOA Platinum MC. I have removed and relinked it in my list. I will not be applying since I already got approved for the NEA card. This little formatting error cost me $30 I guess. Doh!
8/19/08 - NEA BOA card showed up in my online account (I use them for checking) the day after I got approved. Shows 15k with a link to do a BT. I'm gonna wait for the welcome package. I think since other cards haven't finalized, doing a BT now might hurt my chances.
8/20/08 - Discover Business called on 8/19/08. I wasn't able to pick up. They called again 8/20/08. Asked me some questions about my "business". Told her I sold stuff online (true) and did some consulting work (semi-true) and I was hoping to expand with a business CC (uhm...). They approved me over the phone with $10,100 CL. Yippee! Oh, and they asked me about my other business card (showed up on my business credit report). That's the Costco True Earnings card I listed. So I guess Discover Business will look at business credit reports.
8/20/08 - Odd, online status shows me having been approved for the Discover business miles card. Called back and was assured I'd get the Discover business card with Cash Back. I hope they get it right.
8/20/08 - Interesting. So while checking out my Discover business approval, I noticed that my personal card app was canceled. At first I thought this was a denial, but the word canceled seemed weird. I called Discover for the 3rd time today. Turns out, they canceled the Personal app because they thought I changed my mind. I told them I wanted 2 cards to separate my purchases. They said that's fine and approved me for $10,000 and said it can be more if I provide a proof of income. I'm probably not gonna go through all that, but just a note for others.
8/20/08 - Called personal US Bank. Automated system said I was approved. Continuing on, I was told my CL was $15,000
8/20/08 - Used the online status checks and got approved by Juniper.
8/20/08 - Called US Bank biz. Was told they are holding my app for a 24 hour review. Told to call back tomorrow.
8/20/08 - Called to check my citi biz status again. I was approved. Offices were close, so I don't know what the CL is.
8/21/08 - Called Citi back to find the CL of my biz card. $9,000. That's less than I was hoping for, but I'll take it. This is the card that I will be abusing the most. I have a lot of overall citi CL (by my standards) and don't use their cards at all, so I'll be doing some reallocation and maxing out my BT from there.
8/21/08 - Called US Bank biz, was approved last night for $25,000. Card was sent out today. That's $40,000 total from US Bank alone as a first time customer. They sure are generous! !!!NOT TRUE, see notes further down
8/21/08 - Called to check on Chase Biz again... Still no decision. They are now my last card. Might be of interest to people that Chase was the last card I applied for before my AOR. I got 2 freedom cards in 02/02/08. Maybe they will reject me based on recent cards. The Amazon Chase card was already crippled to $400.
8/21/08 - Called up Advanta instead of using the online status. Automated system told my my CL was $11,000
8/21/08 - Cardoffers has my advanta card showing as approved. $50. Discover isn't showing yet.
8/21/08 - US Bank / Elan called me at work. They said that they have both my personal and biz app. My personal shows that I work for one company, and my biz app shows me owning my own biz. She questioned me about my biz and asked what I did. I told her I did freelance consulting for websites (true). She said she needed proof of my business in terms of a federal ID, a biz checking account statement, a biz website etc. I didn't have any of these and told her I have been doing freelance work for 3 years now, and looking to expand (worked with Discover). She didn't like my answers and proceeded to cancel my application. Note that this is AFTER I had called and they said I was APPROVED for $25,000. I will update the status more clearly once I get a rejection letter.
8/21/08 - Called US Bank biz line, told I was definitely approved for $25,000. Asked which card it was specifically. Told that it was the personal, and that the biz app is still under review... Called personal line, automated systems says I was approved for $15,000. I no longer have any idea which card got approved, and for how much. I will set both statuses to nothing until I get a welcome package or rejection letter for either card.
8/22/08 - Got excited when I saw my first letter from a CC company. Advanta sent me a letter congratulating me and telling me my card will arrive in about 3 days. Uhm...thanks? Why not just send the card?
8/23/08 - Received Associated Bank Platinum Card
8/25/08 - Got a lot of cards today...2 Discover, Chase Amazon, BOA NEA, and get this...US BANK Linux card. So I'm calling to activate my cards, and US Bank comes up. 3 calls, transferred 3 times to a voice mail in account investigation. I'm thinking here's what happened. After all my calls to US Bank (because they wouldn't give me a straight answer on what I was approved for an how much), the last CSR decided it was her duty to mark my account for fraud. How annoying... I'm being treated like a criminal at this point. I'm calling them tomorrow. Will update later. On a bright note, IF I get approved, it shows a $25,000 CL.
8/25/08 - Activated BOA NEA card, taken directly to CSR who offered to give me a BT direct deposited to my checking account. Real nice of her. I asked for $7,000 but she said that I should do more since the fee is the same... Haha, what the heck. I asked for $10,000. I know I'm breaking the 50% util rule, but I figured this way, I can do another BT over to BOA from a card that doesn't offer checks and bring it below 50% before anyone does a financial review on me.
8/26/08 - Called the fraud prevention department of US Bank. They said that because I couldn't provide the required info for biz application, they flagged both apps. I am sending them a copy of my pay stub and lease today. The CSR claims that this will approve BOTH applications. Needless to say, I'm not holding my breath.
8/26/08 - Call from BOA fraud department... Oh dear. They asked me some personal questions to verify that it was me who applied for the card, and that I did in fact asked for a $10,000 BT to my checking. Said funds will be in on Friday.
8/26/08 - Got my Advanta card. Called to activate and immediately asked for a direct deposit of $10670 into my checking. Offer ends 11/19/09. Sweet!
8/27/08 - Checked my Discover personal account today. $10,000 CL has been upped to $20,000 after I faxed them my pay stub.
8/29/08 - US Bank personal verified me and activated my card. They said my biz app was withdrawn because I was unable to give them documents. Whatever, it was only a 6 month 0% term anyways. I'll let it go.
8/29/08 - Reallocated $5100 from Discover biz to Discover personal. The Discover biz doesn't have a 0% offer, so this is just to increase the amount I can do a BT for on the Personal.
8/29/08 - Called Citi biz to do some reallocation. Put in a request to move $24,000 from Citi dividend MC to biz. Gave him first 4 digets of dividend AMEX before he stopped me and said AMEX isn't possible at all. Said same thing about Professional. Will wait to see how the request goes and then try to close out Associated Bank and move to Biz so I can BT all of it.
9/2/08 - Advanta is standing firm on wanting a biz document. The EIN document I sent them was unsuccessful. So I guess I won't be getting the card unless anyone has another idea.
9/2/08 - Chase sent me a rejection letter. Too many inquiries. This is kind of interesting since I applied to Chase Biz card 2nd. So they had to have pulled my credit, deferred me, and then saw that there was too many inquiries afterwards?
9/3/08 - Closed the I Fly America Juniper card and moved the CL to Bank Atlantic. New CL showed up within hours on Bank Atlantic. I Fly America still showing $500 CL online.
9/4/08 - Called up Advanta and told them I can't provide what they needed. Said I would just go ahead and cancel the card and withdraw my application. The CSR wanted me to have it, so she said she will just go ahead with it if I can fax over a better copy of my driver's license. We'll see where this goes.
9/4/08 - Having trouble with Citi reallocation and consolidation. Read later posts for more details.
9/5/08 - My BT attempt to my car loan via WAMU got canceled. The finance company wasn't in their system. They are sending me a check made out to my name instead. Works for me...
9/5/08 - Received Discover BT checks
9/8/08 - I'm giving up on Citi consolidation and am going through with asking for BTs from all my CC. $14,000 requested from Associated Bank. $23,000 Discover check made out to wife. $2,160 tuition on Discover Biz. Waiting for Citi Biz to post my payment for 1st purchase, then asking for $9,000 check. Calling US Bank and Juniper tonight.
9/8/08 - Talked to Advanta again... They asked me some more questions, and said they needed another biz doc, blah, blah, blah. I told them that my last call was to simply cancel the application, and that the CSR told me a Driver's License was sufficient to get it approved. I was very kind and honest with the CSR. I told her, I can't provide any document they are asking for because I am just starting up. I sent them a Tax ID document because I was told that they needed something to prove I was starting a biz. Them saying that the date was after my application was true, but the circumstances were honest. The CSR said they will get back to me, and I told them, this time if it doesn't go through, just cancel my application because there was nothing more I could do. Got a call an hour later, application is approved, blocked removed, ready to use!!! Sweet, another $11,000 to play with!
9/19/08 - All BTs completed. Updated post with info and lessons learned.
Couple of things 1 - there is a 15month chase card out there 2 - there is a $0 fee BoA card 3 - state farm is a bad idea, rarely approves except for existing customers, pulls all 3 CRAs 4 - WAMU unsolicited applications rarely get a decent CL 5 - I have had better luck with Juniper (and you get a blank check to deposit) 6 - USBank isn't bad either
PoisnBGood
Senior Member
posted: Aug. 8, 2008 @ 2:18p
devildoc said: Couple of things 1 - there is a 15month chase card out there 2 - there is a $0 fee BoA card 3 - state farm is a bad idea, rarely approves except for existing customers, pulls all 3 CRAs 4 - WAMU unsolicited applications rarely get a decent CL 5 - I have had better luck with Juniper (and you get a blank check to deposit) 6 - USBank isn't bad either
Thanks for the info. 1. Can you give me a link? 2. Ditto 3. I see. I'll look more into it. 4. It's more for the FICO score than anything else. But they have been sending me a letter per month now for a while. I'll use one of those instead of the links. Thanks for the heads up. 5. I'll consider it more now. 6. Ditto
Why not add one more Citi Personal(i.e. Premier Pass with 20K points) From what I've read and my own experience you can apply at the same time for 2 citi personal, 2 co branded i.e. AT&T and 2 business cards). I personally applied for 2 personal & 2 business during one AOR and got approved.
You can also add Discover Business Card Discover Business @ CardSelection.com - get $40 from Card selection & $100 from discover after you spend $1000. unfortunately it comes with 0% on purchases only.
Why no AMEX? Business Gold (25K points), Starwood Personal & Businness (10K pts each)
PoisnBGood
Senior Member
posted: Aug. 8, 2008 @ 2:30p
naas said: Why 2 NEA cards? Just to do the same thing twice and pay 2 BT fees?
I thought the point was to apply to many cards to get more credit. In theory, if I get approved for both, won't I get more credit to use for BT? If this isn't true, I would just stick with one card instead. All that might not matter if I can find the $0 fee BoA card that devildoc says is out there.
fotomaniak said: Why not add one more Citi Personal(i.e. Premier Pass with 20K points) From what I've read and my own experience you can apply at the same time for 2 citi personal, 2 co branded i.e. AT&T and 2 business cards). I personally applied for 2 personal & 2 business during one AOR and got approved.
You can also add Discover Business Card Discover Business @ CardSelection.com - get $40 from Card selection & $100 from discover after you spend $1000. unfortunately it comes with 0% on purchases only.
Why no AMEX? Business Gold (25K points), Starwood Personal & Businness (10K pts each)
Thanks for the advice. It's because I've read so much about AA from too many inquiries. I'm more interested in BT offers than points/Cash Back for now. I'm kind of afraid that if I expand it too much I might get my old cards closed like others have experienced.
PoisnBGood
Senior Member
posted: Aug. 8, 2008 @ 2:34p
devildoc said: Chase 15 month biz BoA no fee Thanks! Should I still apply to an NEA card? Or should I just use the one BoA card you linked.
PoisnBGood said: devildoc said: Chase 15 month biz BoA no fee Thanks! Should I still apply to an NEA card? Or should I just use the one BoA card you linked. The only reasons to apply for both would be either as a safety or to combine CLs. Only downside is possible AA.
PoisnBGood
Senior Member
posted: Aug. 8, 2008 @ 2:46p
devildoc said: PoisnBGood said: devildoc said: Chase 15 month biz BoA no fee Thanks! Should I still apply to an NEA card? Or should I just use the one BoA card you linked. The only reasons to apply for both would be either as a safety or to combine CLs. Only downside is possible AA.
I guess it would make more sense to remove them and add cards from juniper or US Bank.
PoisnBGood
Senior Member
posted: Aug. 8, 2008 @ 2:48p
Also, does having a card of the exact same type restrict me from applying for it again? I have a Citi Professional card already, but it's the best personal card to apply for IMO with TYP and no fee 0% BT. I would love to get it again.
PoisnBGood said: Also, does having a card of the exact same type restrict me from applying for it again? I have a Citi Professional card already, but it's the best personal card to apply for IMO with TYP and no fee 0% BT. I would love to get it again. Some issuers will allow multiple identical cards, I'm not sure about Citi. Just get the biz card and move all the CLs over.
PoisnBGood
Senior Member
posted: Aug. 8, 2008 @ 2:53p
devildoc said: PoisnBGood said: Also, does having a card of the exact same type restrict me from applying for it again? I have a Citi Professional card already, but it's the best personal card to apply for IMO with TYP and no fee 0% BT. I would love to get it again. Some issuers will allow multiple identical cards, I'm not sure about Citi. Just get the biz card and move all the CLs over.
Ya, I guess that will be a card I can try on my next AOR. Although I do hear that Professional is notorious for being difficult to consolidate.
markkundinger
Senior Member - 2K
posted: Aug. 8, 2008 @ 3:07p
I'd dial back one or two Chase apps, probably the ones that have neither good BT deals, nor compelling spendability.
PoisnBGood
Senior Member
posted: Aug. 8, 2008 @ 3:12p
markkundinger said: I'd dial back one or two Chase apps, probably the ones that have neither good BT deals, nor compelling spendability.
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Especially since devildoc gave me the link to the better BT card.
PoisnBGood said: devildoc said: PoisnBGood said: Also, does having a card of the exact same type restrict me from applying for it again? I have a Citi Professional card already, but it's the best personal card to apply for IMO with TYP and no fee 0% BT. I would love to get it again. Some issuers will allow multiple identical cards, I'm not sure about Citi. Just get the biz card and move all the CLs over.
Ya, I guess that will be a card I can try on my next AOR. Although I do hear that Professional is notorious for being difficult to consolidate. Citi is just hit or miss. Call back till you get the CSR who gets it done.
I applied to 2 BoA cards in my AOR here...the first one got deferred so I applied for the second. I got approved for both, although the CL from the 2nd came from my existing BoA CL. Either way I consolidated and used the first offer.
PoisnBGood
Senior Member
posted: Aug. 8, 2008 @ 4:42p
ShaneM said: I applied to 2 BoA cards in my AOR here...the first one got deferred so I applied for the second. I got approved for both, although the CL from the 2nd came from my existing BoA CL. Either way I consolidated and used the first offer.
I see. I guess if it all comes from the same pool, I'll save myself the trouble and just apply to the one card. Less inquiries is always good. Let's hope they give me a big fat CL. Haha.
PoisnBGood said: ShaneM said: I applied to 2 BoA cards in my AOR here...the first one got deferred so I applied for the second. I got approved for both, although the CL from the 2nd came from my existing BoA CL. Either way I consolidated and used the first offer.
I see. I guess if it all comes from the same pool, I'll save myself the trouble and just apply to the one card. Less inquiries is always good. Let's hope they give me a big fat CL. Haha. I agree, I had the same experience as Shane, one new card with new CL, one new card took CL from old card.
PoisnBGood
Senior Member
posted: Aug. 8, 2008 @ 7:41p
devildoc said: Couple of things 1 - there is a 15month chase card out there 2 - there is a $0 fee BoA card 3 - state farm is a bad idea, rarely approves except for existing customers, pulls all 3 CRAs 4 - WAMU unsolicited applications rarely get a decent CL 5 - I have had better luck with Juniper (and you get a blank check to deposit) 6 - USBank isn't bad either
Regarding USBank. All the apps I see say that the balance transfer fee is $0 if I ask for it on the application. If I have not CC debt, where can I transfer it to? How much should I ask for?
PoisnBGood said: devildoc said: Couple of things 1 - there is a 15month chase card out there 2 - there is a $0 fee BoA card 3 - state farm is a bad idea, rarely approves except for existing customers, pulls all 3 CRAs 4 - WAMU unsolicited applications rarely get a decent CL 5 - I have had better luck with Juniper (and you get a blank check to deposit) 6 - USBank isn't bad either
Regarding USBank. All the apps I see say that the balance transfer fee is $0 if I ask for it on the application. If I have not CC debt, where can I transfer it to? How much should I ask for? You can call after approval and BT 89% (or as much as you're willing to) with no fee (for the first 30 days or so). I am not a believer in requesting BTs with apps. I don't think it helps get approved and/or higher CLs. And if they approve you for less than the BT, it causes delays.
Is there an issue with reallocating credit (total over 15k) to the bofa No fee card? The note that "Credit Line: may be as high as $15,000" makes me leery of including this card in my next AOR.
Is there an issue with reallocating credit (total over 15k) to the bofa No fee card? The note that "Credit Line: may be as high as $15,000" makes me leery of including this card in my next AOR.
I think that's the initial line. My current, consolidated CL on that card is $171,000. Not quite Scott1961, but respectable still.
PoisnBGood
Senior Member
posted: Aug. 11, 2008 @ 7:43a
Ok, almost ready to start. Couple for questions for you fine people: 1. Should I group my applications by type (personal, business), issuer (Citi, Chase, Discover), or the cards I want. Is there any benefit to applying all the cards in one category together? Or is it all the same in the end?
2. I read about people advocating utilizations from 50 to 89. What's the optimal, but safe % to use? Is it any different for business accounts as opposed to personal?
3. If I am going to use a card, is it better to get a personal or business version? Cards like Amazon.com is near identical. Is it better to have the CL report to my personal (higher overall reporting CL), or not at all.
4. Where should i put all the BT money? I got a savings at 3.30 right now. I'm also considering the WAMU 8 month CD at 4.80. I'd like to avoid the rewards checking due to the limit, and extra work needed. Where are people generally putting their money right now?
markkundinger
Senior Member - 2K
posted: Aug. 11, 2008 @ 9:19a
1) I generally advocate ordering apps by desirability, not by lender. Some lenders might be touchier about inquiries, so you'd do them first if you really want the card. Grouping by lender is normally unnecessary. There was one case of Citibank freaking on out someone's account when they say more than five inquiries on his CR, but fingers crossed, that hasn't been widely reported.
2) The utilization on personal cards is very, well, personal, as you mentioned, you'll see recommendations from 49 to 89. It depends mainly on how worried you are about adverse action. For business cards, since they don't report on your personal credit report, you can generally be more aggressive, usually maxing them out. (biz credit reports do exist, but they're not checked as often).
3) If you're just going to love 'em and leave 'em, biz cards are the way to go. Not only does the util not hurt you, but then you don't have a "new account" on your credit report lowering your average age.
4) I'm putting all my money into chinese pork belly futures. Short term CD's could work, just make sure that you leave enough money to pay minimum payments until the CD matures.
Your Advanta Biz card above is for 12 months. I'd suggest looking at one of their other cards which are identical (for our purpose) but are good for 15 months.
Oh yeah, and if applied thru Card offers, eligible for $50 bonus.
Ok, almost ready to start. Couple for questions for you fine people: 1. Should I group my applications by type (personal, business), issuer (Citi, Chase, Discover), or the cards I want. Is there any benefit to applying all the cards in one category together? Or is it all the same in the end?Business cards 1st - like markkundinger said, "love em and leave em"
2. I read about people advocating utilizations from 50 to 89. What's the optimal, but safe % to use? Is it any different for business accounts as opposed to personal?as mark said... in my terms biz = 99% ALWAYS...personal = 49% for each card (just make certain your TOTAL personal revolving credit utilization never exceeds 30-35%)
3. If I am going to use a card, is it better to get a personal or business version? Cards like Amazon.com is near identical. Is it better to have the CL report to my personal (higher overall reporting CL), or not at all.Biz
4. Where should i put all the BT money? I got a savings at 3.30 right now. I'm also considering the WAMU 8 month CD at 4.80. I'd like to avoid the rewards checking due to the limit, and extra work needed. Where are people generally putting their money right now?4.76% 90day-intro-APY Everbank FreeNet Checking and Yield Pledge Money Market Account (Bank Deals post)
Last year I was hit with a hard inquiry at Experian (CUSTOMER ONE FIN/EVERB)(note: I applied for the overdraft protection).
PoisnBGood
Senior Member
posted: Aug. 11, 2008 @ 3:07p
Thanks for the help guys. Where can I find the 15 month advanta offer?
Thanks for the help guys. Where can I find the 15 month advanta offer?I'll give you a break since you're a senior member... but please do a little leg work next time.
Here's money to buy a spoon:
See that box named 'search' at the top right corner? Type "Advanta 15 months" and click GO.
PoisnBGood
Senior Member
posted: Aug. 11, 2008 @ 3:48p
jackcrawfish said: Thanks for the help guys. Where can I find the 15 month advanta offer?I'll give you a break since you're a senior member... but please do a little leg work next time.
Here's money to buy a spoon:
See that box named 'search' at the top right corner? Type "Advanta 15 months" and click GO.
Thanks...
Anyways, turns out I did have the 15 month term in my link. I just had the wrong info in my chart fixed that. Same with the Juniper card, it was 15 instead of the 12 in my info.
Don't forget, applying for Advanta thru Card offers = $50; and the Discover Open Road and Discover Business Card = $40 each.
PoisnBGood
Senior Member
posted: Aug. 18, 2008 @ 9:52a
So I finished applying for my cards... Took me a little over an hour. I went with cards I wanted most first, then continued with the rest. Sadly, I got deferred on 8 of 12 cards. Is that normal? Is it a bad sign? Amazon Chase gave me $400... Probably cause it was the last card I applied for. BOA link was dead after the initial page. I tried FF and IE, neither worked. Anyone else having problems? Cardoffers link for the Discover Open Road Card was also dead. I'll update the status as I get them, but right now, I'm not feeling too hot.
PoisnBGood said: So I finished applying for my cards... Took me a little over an hour. I went with cards I wanted most first, then continued with the rest. Sadly, I got deferred on 8 of 12 cards. Is that normal? Is it a bad sign? Amazon Chase gave me $400... Probably cause it was the last card I applied for. BOA link was dead after the initial page. I tried FF and IE, neither worked. Anyone else having problems? Cardoffers link for the Discover Open Road Card was also dead. I'll update the status as I get them, but right now, I'm not feeling too hot.If I could give 10 green, I would.... I am launching in the next 2-3 hours and your post contains vital information for future BOA Plat Plus applicants...
I am curious about your order of operations and the bureau pulls (you mentioned CHASE = $400 but it was your last applcation?)
PoisnBGood
Senior Member
posted: Aug. 18, 2008 @ 10:06a
I don't know the bureau pulls, as I had mentioned I don't have a credit reporting service. This was a somewhat amateurish AOR, but I didn't think it was going to be a big deal since I can grab the report later if I felt it was needed.
The BOA app not working was a downer. After you hit apply in the link, it goes to a page saying the "link" was to a non existent page. The quotes on the link came from BOA. Not sure why they had to put quotes around it. Made me feel like I was lying to them or something.
The order of my apps went: Citi biz Citi personal Chase biz Juniper biz Juniper personal US Bank biz US Bank personal BOA Personal (attempted) WAMU Personal Discover Biz Discover Personal Advanta Biz Chase Amazon
PoisnBGood
Senior Member
posted: Aug. 18, 2008 @ 10:18a
I just decided to apply to the BOA NEA Visa card, since the first BOA card failed. Got deferred again. I'll see what happens...
Edit: I'm actually a bit annoyed at this. I know it's an AOR and all, but I've been getting constant junk mail from BoA asking me to apply. I figured something in the system would just let it through. I guess I overestimated the worth of pre-approvals.
Edit #2: Haha, I take that back. I got an email like 3 mins later saying I was approved for $15,000. Does this count as instant or deferred? Haha.
I sympathize with your disgust regarding junk mail.
I don't know the details of your NEA application but often these applications look like pre-approvals when they are merely invitations to apply (ITA) which usually aren't equivalent to pre-approval...
PoisnBGood
Senior Member
posted: Aug. 18, 2008 @ 10:35a
Well, I didn't get a pre-approval for NEA. I've just been getting a letter a month from BOA saying I am pre-approved. I'm also reminded of that everytime I call to service my checking account. My issue was, either stop spamming me, or give me the benefit of the doubt when I apply. But it seems that my annoyance was premature, as they gave me $15,000 about 3 mins later.
Skipping 69 Messages...
PoisnBGood
Senior Member
posted: Sep. 19, 2008 @ 9:35a
So one month later, all the BT money is in my bank, and I'm done. $107,780 in free money to get interest on. I bought 2 WAMU CDs of $25k each. Put another $25k in a rewards checking. And the final $25k+ is in a WAMU savings account waiting to pay off the minimal payments. I also paid off my car.
This has been a trying but fun experience. I learned a lot along the way, and I posted it in the OP so other can learn from me as I have learned from those before me. I plan to do an AOR for my wife in maybe 6 months, and then another one for myself a year from now. I think until I decide the credit crunch makes the effort too much for the profit, I will continue to do this.
Again special thanks to jackcrawfish for holding my hand through this whole ordeal. This would not have been nearly as successful without the guidance of an expert.
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