I am not much of a contributor, but since I have learned so much from the many individuals here at FWF, I thought I would share my own AOR experience. This is my first attempt at an AOR and in contrast to many others, I decided to refrain from posting my version until after I had completed all the material segments.
As shown below, I broke my AOR into four main stages:

(1) Preparation:
Here, I organized my pre-AOR cards in a way I thought to be most beneficial to the
actual AOR.

(2) Implementation:
This is where I actually submitted the apps for all the new credit.

(3) Maximization:
Here, I completed all my balance transfers in order to maximize my profits.

(4) Finalization:
Here I discuss what I did with my AOR funds, the results, and my comments. While I
was happy with my first AOR, there were definitely things that I could have done
better (these are discussed in Stage 4).


Hopefully, someone will find this information interesting and/or useful.

Credit Profile before beginning my AOR (as of 12/1/2005): FICO scores: 763/744/730

Card----------------------------Age---- Limit--------- Balance------------ Promo
CapOne Platinum---------- ‘02 -----11K --------------0
Chase Yahoo Visa--------- ’00----- 18.5K------------ 0
Chase Sony Card---------- ’04----- 8.5K --------------0
Chase Platinum------------ ’03 -----11.5K -------------0
Chase Platinum------------ ’04----- 16K ---------------6K------------------ 0% till 1/06
Chase Amazon -------------’03----- 9K -----------------0
Citi AT&T Platinum-------- ’04----- 11.5K------------- 0
Citi Diam. Pref. Rewards- ’04----- 1.5K-------------- 0
Discover Platinum Gas--- ’96----- 10K---------------- 0
HSBC GM Platinum------- ’03------ 11.5K------------- 0

Totals------------------------------------ 109K------------- 6K


Stage 1: Preparation - Restructuring my current cards for a more effective usage of an AOR

•I requested credit line increases on all cards without a hard pull on my credit report. If
not available, I did nothing in order to avoid a pre-AOR credit score hit.

•I had my lovely wife add me to her MBNA Chicago Bulls card with a 1992 history and $25k
limit in order to increase my credit history and size of average CL.

•I consolidated my Chase Sony card into the other three Chase cards so that I have a 20K+
limit on each of the 3 remaining cards, and thus, in my opinion, increased the possibility
of larger lines on new cards from my AOR. This move also decreased my overall # of Chase
cards in order to increase the possibility of approval for new cards with 0% promos from
the AOR. Despite the "never close a line" rule, I felt that the benefits, as stated above,
outweighed the costs of eliminating this card that was opened in 2004.

•I consolidated my AT&T Universal Platinum into my Citibank Diamond Preferred Rewards card
for a total new credit line of $13,500 in order to take advantage of a 0%, 12 month, no fee
BT to "refresh" my only current 0% balance on one of my Chase cards. Once again, I thought
the benefits outweighed the costs here. The card was only opened in 2004, so not a big hit
to my average age. Plus, I wanted to keep my utilization low with the $6,000 BT, thus the
transfer of the full credit line to the Diamond Preferred card. Finally, this lowered my
total Citi cards to just one, increasing my odds of multiple approvals for new Citi cards w
with 0%/no fee BT promos from my AOR.


Credit Profile after Stage 1 was completed:
Card----------------------- Age---------- Limit---------------- Balance--------------- Promo
CapOne Platinum------ ’02------------ 11K---------------------- 0
Chase Yahoo Visa----- ’00------------ 20K---------------------- 0
Chase Platinum--------- ’03------------ 20K--------------------- 0
Chase Platinum--------- ’04----------- 21K---------------------- 0
Chase Amazon---------- ’03----------- 14K---------------------- 0
Citi Diam. Pref. Rew---. ’04---------- 13.5K-------------------- 6K----------------- 0% till 12/06
Discover Platinum Gas- ’96--------- 12.5K--------------------- 0
HSBC GM Platinum---- ’03----------- 11.5K--------------------- 0
MBNA Chicago Bulls--- ’94------------ 25K----------------------- 0

Totals------------------------------------ 148.5K----------------------- 6K


Stage 1 Results:
•I increased my overall credit by $39,500 without any hits to my credit score via hard
pulls. Individual card average increased from $10,900 to $16,500.

•I went from zero to four credit lines of $20,000 or more. I theorize that this will help me
get larger lines during the actual AOR

•I decreased my Chase cards to 3 and my Citi cards to 1 in order to open more "spots" for
new cards from these issuers during the actual AOR

•I extended my current 0% deal for another 12 months without any fees.

•I helped to increase my overall credit history by adding my wife's 1994 MBNA card.

•I indirectly lowered my overall average age by consolidating two cards obtained in 2004. I
realize that this will have a negative impact when I open all the new AOR accounts in 2006.
I felt that the additional benefits, as previously stated, outweighed this.

Stage 2: Implementation: FICO scores as of 2/1/2006: 744/746/757
I performed the AOR on a weekday morning, started early, and submitted all applications online to increase efficiency.

Card---------------------------------- 0% BT?-------------- CL Approved--------------- Comment
Advanta Plat. Business------------- N/A-------------------- 12.5K----------------------- Bonus via cardoffers.com
AMEX Delta Skymiles--------------- N/A-------------------- 4.3K----------------------- --17.5K bonus miles
AMEX Blue----------------------------- N/A-------------------- 20K--------------------------Bonus via cardoffers.com
AMEX Gold Rewards Plus---------- N/A------------------- N/A---------------------------50K points bonus
AMEX Platinum------------------------ N/A------------------- N/A---------------------------100K points bonus
BofA Choice Privileges Visa--------- N/A------------------ 8K----------------------------3 free nights at Choice Hotels
BofA Platinum Visa -------------------0% for 12-------------1.5K
CapOne Business Platinum-------- 0% for 12------------ 20K
Chase Marriott Rewards --------------N/A------------------- 17K--------------------------- Free night, 15K bonus points
Citi Platinum Select------------------- 0% for 15------------12.9k
Citi Professional Rewards----------- 0% for 12------------10.6K-------------------------10K bonus points
Commerce Bank Visa ---------------------0% for 12-------------- 18K
eTrade Platinum Visa-----------------------0% for 12------------ 20K---------------- 2K bonus points
HSBC GM Flex Earnings--------------- --N/A--------------------- 2.5k---------------- Bonus via cardoffers.com
MBNA Jets------------------------------------ N/A-------------------- 10K---------------- Free iPod Nano
Discover Platinum ---------------------------0% for 12------------ 10K---------------- Bonus via cardoffers.com
RBS Platinum --------------------------------0% for 12------------- 15K
WaMu Platinum------------------------------ 0% for 12------------- 30K---------------- Free TU credit scores

Totals----------------------------------------------------------------------214.7K

Credit Profile after Stage 2 was completed: FICO score as of 4/10/2006: 747(Transunion)
Card----------------------------------------- Age----------- Limit----------------- Balance------------ Promo
Advanta Platinum Business------------- ’06-------------- 12.5K---------------- 0
AMEX Delta SkyMiles--------------------- ’06-------------- 4.3K----------------- 0
AMEX Blue----------------------------------- ’06-------------- 20K------------------ 0
AMEX Gold Rewards Plus--------------- ’06----------------- --------------------- 0
AMEX Platinum------------------------------ ’06---------------- ----------------------0
BofA Choice Privileges-------------------- ’06-----------------3K------------------ 0
BofA Platinum------------------------------- ’06----------------11.9K--------------- 0------------------ 0% for 12
CapOne Plat. Business-------------------- ’06-------------- 20K ----------------- 0-------------------0% for 12
CapOne Platinum--------------------------- ’02-------------- 11K------------------ 0
Chase Platinum----------------------------- ’02-------------- 11K------------------- 0
Chase Yahoo --------------------------------’00-------------- 20K--------------------0
Chase Platinum----------------------------- ’04-------------- 20K------------------- 0
Chase Marriott Rewards------------------ ’06-------------- 17K------------------- 0
Chase Amazon------------------------------ ’03-------------- 14K--------------------0
Citi Diamond Preferred-------------------- ’04-------------- 13.5K---------------- 6K---------------- -0% till 12/06
Citi Platinum Select------------------------- ’06------------- 12.9K---------------- 0------------------- 0% for 15
Citi Professional Rewards----------------- ’06------------- 10.6K---------------- 0 -------------------0% for 12
Commerce Bank Visa---------------------- ’06-------------- 18K----------------- -0 -------------------0% for 12
Discover Platinum Gas-------------------- ’96--------------- 12.5K----------------0
Discover Platinum-------------------------- ’06--------------- 10K-------------------0------------------ 0% for 12
eTrade Platinum---------------------------- ’06--------------- 20K-------------------0------------------ 0% for 12
HSBC GM Platinum------------------------ ’03-------------- 11.5K-----------------0
HSBC GM FlexEarnings------------------ ’06-------------- 2.5K-------------------0
MBNA Chicago Bulls---------------------- ’94-------------- 25K---------------------0
MBNA Jets----------------------------------- ’06-------------- 10K---------------------0
RBS Platinum------------------------------- ’06-------------- 15K---------------------0----------------- 0% till 3/07
WaMu Platinum----------------------------- ’06-------------- 30K---------------------0------------------0% for 12

Totals ------------------------------------------------------------363.2K

Stage 2 Results:
•All cards applied for were approved

•I more than tripled my total available credit when compared to pre-Stage 1 results

•Created more than $160,000 in 0% balance transfer opportunities

•Earned $275.00 in cash rebates by applying through cardoffers.com (received check on 6/6/06)

•Earned a net $1,200.00 in Home Depot gift cards through card point bonuses (AMEX Platinum,
Gold Rewards Plus, and Citibank Professional Rewards). These gift cards were sold on eBay
when received.

•Earned various other hotel, airfare, Ipod rewards/credits

Stage 3: BT Maximization:

Card------------------------------------ Limit---------------- BT---------- Promo------------------ Method
Commerce Bank Visa---------------- 18K-------------- 15K--------------- 0% for 12------------ via BT check
WaMu Platinum-------------------------30K-------------- 25K--------------- 0% for 12------------ via BT check
eTrade Platinum----------------------- 20K --------------15K--------------- 0% for 12------------ via BT to Citi card
Discover Platinum--------------------- 10K---------------7.5K --------------0% for 12-------------via BT check
CapOne Business Plat---------------20K-------------- 15K ---------------0% till 3/07----------- via BT to Citi card
BofA Platinum------------------------- 11.9K------------ 10K--------------- 0% for 12------------ via BT to Citi card
Chase Platinum----------------------- 55K--------------- 48K--------------- 0% till 11/06-------- via BT check
Citi Platinum Select------------------ 12.9K------------- 10K--------------- 0% for 15----------- via BT check
Citi Professional-----------------------10.6K-------------- 8k---------------- 0% for 12----------- via BT check
RBS Platinum--------------------------15K--------------- 11.5K------------- 0% till 3/07---------- via BT check

Totals -----------------------------------211.4K------------- 171K


•I reallocated 20,000 from my Chase Platinum Visa and 15,000 from my Chase Yahoo Visa to my
second Chase Platinum Visa for a total credit line of $55,000 in order to maximize a 0% BT
opportunity on that card.

•I consolidated BofA Choice Priveleges card into BofA Platinum Visa in order to maximize BT
offer for a total credit line of 11,900 and then reapplied for the Choice Priveleges card
for a $3K CL in order to get 3 more free nights.

•I also reallocated 8,000 from Citibank Dividend Rewards to Citibank Platinum Select in
order to take further advantage of 0% BT rate

•I had other BT offers, but only used those that had a BT fee that was not profit
prohibitive (usually $50 or less). I also requested 15K BT on applications if the option was available and I was sure of the 0% rate.

Ending credit profile as of 7/1/06
Card ---------------------------------Age---------- Limit------------- Balance------------ Promo
Advanta Platinum Bus----------- ’06------------ 12.5K------------ 0
AMEX Delta SkyMiles------------’06------------- 4.3K------------- 0
AMEX Blue------------------------- ’06------------- 20K-------------- 0
AMEX Gold Rewards Plus--------’06--------------- ----------------- 0
AMEX Platinum------------------- ’06 --------------------------------- 0
BofA Platinum----------------------’06------------ 11.9K------------ 10K---------------- 0% for 12
CapOne Business Plat---------- ’06------------ 20K-------------- 15K----------------- 0% for 12
CapOne Platinum---------------- ’02------------ 11K----------------- 0
Chase Platinum------------------ ’03 -------------1.5K---------------- 0
Chase Yahoo---------------------- ’00-------------5K------------------ 0
Chase Platinum------------------- ’04-------------55K----------------- 48K------------- 0% till 11/06
Chase Marriott-------------------- ’06--------------17K ----------------0
Chase Amazon --------------------’03-------------14K---------------- 0
Citi Diamond Prefer-------------- ’04--------------5K------------------ 0
Citi Platinum Select--------------- ’06------------ 20.9K------------- 16K--------------- 0% for 15
Citi Professional-------------------- ’06------------ 10.6K------------- 8K---------------- 0% for 12
Commerce Bank Visa------------- ’06------------ 18K --------------15K---------------- 0% for 12
Discover Platinum Gas------------’96-------------12.5K-------------- 0
Discover Platinum-------------------’06-------------10K-------------- 7.5K---------------- 0% for 12
eTrade Platinum-------------------- ’06--------------20K-------------- 15K----------------- 0% for 12
HSBC GM Platinum--------------- ’03--------------11.5K -------------0
HSBC GM FlexEarnings---------- ’06--------------2.5K----------------0
MBNA Chicago Bulls--------------- ’94------------- 25K--------------- 0
MBNA Jets Card-------------------- ’06-------------- 10K--------------- 0
RBS Platinum------------------------ ’06 --------------15K ------------11.5K--------------- 0% till 3/07
WaMu Platinum--------------------- ’06-------------- 30K------------- 25K------------------ 0% for 12

Totals--------------------------------------------------- 363.2K------------- 171K

Recent Credit Scores since finishing the AOR:
•Transunion FICO Credit score as of 6/10/06: 683
•Transunion FICO Credit score as of 7/10/06: 622
•Transunion FICO Credit score as of 8/10/06: 642


8/17/06:
Received letters from Chase stating that they were closing 5 of my 6 credit card accounts due to "balances too high compared to credit limit, number of accts currently in use, and balance owed on revolving accts too high". The only account left open was my Platinum account where I had a $48K 0% BT. All the other cards had a zero balance. I called Chase in order to get the cards reopened. After providing them with proof of enough liquid assets to cover my liabilities, they agreed to reopen all the cards.


Stage 4: Finalization

•approximately $100K of my 170K balance transfer money went into my HSBC savings account
currently at 5% interest.

•Approximately $50K of my 170K balance transfer money went into my eTrade brokerage account.
I used this money to trade mutual funds and individual stocks. To date, I have made 6 stock
trades, netting approx. $4,000.00. I also have an unrealized gain of $1,200 on a mutual
fund that I purchased using the BT money.

•Approximately $20K of my 170L balance transfer money went into another savings account that
I have more direct access to than HSBC. This is to ensure that I have access to some cash
in case my one of my balances become unexpectedly called due to a missed payment, etc.

•While I have earned an excellent return by trading stocks on the BT money, I would not
recommend it to inexperienced investors, nor will I do it again myself. In general, I
consider myself an intermediate trader that usually utilizes trends and statistics, as opposed to
emotions and speculation, and only trade in a handful of stocks that I have been tracking
for the past few years. While my net result was a gain of approx. $4K, I did get nailed on
two trades for losses one of which was a purely speculative trade where I luckily did not
lose much more. I believe that the stress of trading with "other people's money" is not
worth the gain that I have achieved to date in this area. If I perform any additional AOR's
in the future, I plan to park all of the money in more conservative investments such as high yield
savings accounts.

•In addition, if I do another AOR, I would plan my card selections much more carefully.
While my results were good, I feel that I missed out on some rewards and BT opportunities
that I would have found if I had planned better.

•Finally, in any future AOR's, I will reduce my utilization of all BT's to below 75% in
order to avoid negative actions similar to my dealings with Chase discussed above. While most of my utilization % were good, my one large Chase BT was not. While this issue was eventually resolved in my favor, I would rather not deal with any of this in the future.

As of 9/1, my profits from my first AOR are approximately………..
275.00 from cardoffers.com bonus’
1,500.00 HSBC savings account interest
500.00 other savings account interest
4,000.00 from stock trading
1,200.00 from unrealized mutual fund gain
1,200.00 from free gift card sales
100.00 from free iPod sale
Total 8,775.00

The money earned from the HSBC interest should continue to grow, as most of my BT’s have a ways to go before I need to pay them back. My large 48K Chase BT is set to expire soon, at which time I will pay it off, and do a new BT at an available .99% rate. The money intially used to make equity trades has gone back into a high yield savings account.

I check out FWF a few times a week, so feel free to ask questions, make comments, etc. and I will try to respond/update as much as possible. In a nutshell - Anyone that wants to do an AOR needs to do ONE thing: READ, READ, READ all the great threads already posted on the subject!!

Thanks to all the AOR Guru’s for helping me make some extra $$$$ !!
Text

Update – 3/29/07
I closed out the last of my BTs from this AOR in
December 2006 and am now in the final planning stages
for my second AOR. The following is a final recap of
my first one, along with some additional comments.

275.00 from cardoffers.com bonuses
approx. 2,500.00 HSBC savings account interest
approx. 500.00 other savings account interest
approx. 6,500.00 gross from stock trading
approx. 1,000.00 gross mutual fund gain
approx. 2,300.00 net from free gift card sales
approx. 100.00 from free iPod sale
Total: approx. $13,175.00 gross

For my AMEX cards bonuses, I initially received a
targeted offer for 50K points and one for 100K points.
The 50K points were received pretty quickly, but the
100K did not show in my account even after the stated
wait time. So I called and after providing the
relevant documentation, they made a manual adjustment
to my account. A few weeks later I received another
100K points, which I think was the original 100K that
should have been applied automatically by their
system. In all, I used all the points for 2,500 in
Home Depot gift cards, which I then sold for cash.
Pretty sweet (and lucky) deal!

After stating originally that I would not do any more
stock trading with the AOR funds, I made a few more
small trades that I couldn’t pass up. Considering the
current market conditions, I doubt I will use the BT
funds from the next AOR for anything other than a high
yield internet savings account, but that may change if
presented with the right opportunity.

I only tracked my Transunion FICO score each month
through the free score provided by my WaMu credit card
and they slowly increased to the current levels, as
shown below. Using my annual free credit report from
each agency, I disputed a bunch of accounts at the end
of my AOR that did not have updated balances (showing
that the BTs had been paid off). These accounts were
updated fairly quickly and I believe this helped the
gradual jump in my credit score.

Transunion FICO Credit score as of 12/1/05: 763
Transunion FICO Credit score as of 2/1/06: 757
Transunion FICO Credit score as of 4/1/06: 747
Transunion FICO Credit score as of 6/10/06: 683
Transunion FICO Credit score as of 7/10/06: 622
Transunion FICO Credit score as of 8/10/06: 642
Transunion FICO Credit score as of 9/10/06: 622
Transunion FICO Credit score as of 10/10/06: 622
Transunion FICO Credit score as of 11/10/06: 683
Transunion FICO Credit score as of 12/10/06: 723
Transunion FICO Credit Score as of 1/10/07: 729
Transunion FICO Credit Score as of 2/10/07: 733
Transunion FICO Credit Score as of 3/10/07: 756

Essentially, it took about a year for my score to fully recover to pre-AOR levels.

With the decline of 0% BT offers with minimal fees
continuing, I feel that the BT game will slowly lose a
lot of its value over the coming years (however I am
sure my fellow FW’ers will find other ways to milk the
system), so I am going to try to maximize my next AOR
to its fullest extent possible. This means going for max.
bonus and BT opportunities. With over $400K in
current CLs, It will be very interesting to see what
kind of new credit lines I receive, as I believe that
the first AOR (when properly planned) is the best
chance at maximizing returns.

Finally, my wife recently completed a medium sized
AOR, which I will include in my 2nd AOR results.

Bravo. Well written, and nice to see everything summed up from start to finish.

Nicely laid out. Thank you for the time you put into this!

Jeebus!

thanks for the write-up! I'm printing this one out to show my wife a real example of what I've been talking about.

Just looking at the way you organized the thread, its obvious why you could organize your AOR as well. Great job!

steevyniu2004 said:8/17/06:
Received letters from Chase stating that they were closing 5 of my 6 credit card accounts due to "balances too high compared to credit limit, number of accts currently in use, and balance owed on revolving accts too high". The only account left open was my Platinum account where I had a $48K 0% BT. All the other cards had a zero balance. I called Chase in order to get the cards reopened. After providing them with proof of enough liquid assets to cover my liabilities, they agreed to reopen all the cards.


How did this reopening play out? Could you tell us more details?

Thanks a lot!

As of 9/1, my profits from my first AOR are approximately………..
275.00 from cardoffers.com bonus’
1,500.00 HSBC savings account interest
500.00 other savings account interest
1,200.00 from unrealized mutual fund gain
1,200.00 from free gift card sales
100.00 from free iPod sale
Total 4,775.00


-4,000.00 from stock trading for those who dont play in the market. Still nice, but would be great if 9k all interest.

Steevy, great post. Good planning, and it's so refreshing to see an AOR recap that already has the "big picture" fully developed in the original post. So many AOR recaps turn into a more off-the-cuff blog (mine included).

Actually, my only quibble is that the data "tables" are kind of hard to read.

I am also curious about Chase's adverse action, as well as your recourse, mainly because they jacked me as well, but perhaps not as much. First, how much CL was kiboshed when they closed those 5 accounts? And second, who precisely did you talk to get the lines restored? I wasn't expecting that to be worth it, but may want to give it a shot myself.

And finally, I'm a little unclear on how many CL increases you got during your phase 1?

You got 150,000 Membership Rewards points from the two AMEX cards (Gold Rewards and Platinum) and you only netted $1,200 total from Home Depot gift card sales, which includes points from other cards?!? Also, where did you even get the offers for 50k and 100k points for the Gold Rewards and Platinum cards, I'm sure curious, I'll take a Gold Rewards card for 50k bonus points, and didn't you have to pay the annual fee on those?