I just talked to an AmEx rep who said it would be multiple pulls if I tried for different cards in close proximity. Does anyone here have any experience otherwise?
At any rate here's the plan: Get home from this deployment this month, pay off the SL with my travel voucher, and pay down the CCs before the statements close so they show ~5% util, then apply for the Blue Cash Preferred in about a month. I'll also pull an EX Fico to make sureeverything's good. I dunno if I can get the conditions to be any more optimal than that. I'll post when I apply to let everyone know how it turns out.
Starting Score: 690
I have the Preferred and it's a great card in my opinion.
What is your interest rate on your student loans vs. auto? Usually they're lower and give you more time to pay. I wouldn't worry too much with the inquiries. I was approved for their Preferred with 6 inquiries on EX (2 from them already for other cards) within the last year and 10 inquiries on EX in the last 2 years. I don't think it's a hard card to get and am not sure why I keep reading this. Also, you can't buy your EX score anymore, but pulling your other ones may give you a similar indication of what's on your reports.
Please keep us updated!
Starting Score: 648
I guess I meant I'll pull my Experian report and whatever score comes with it (Vantage) just to make sure there are no surprises.
The APR on my SL is 2.11% and the car is 4.69% so mathematically yes it is better to put it toward the car, but getting the student loan monkey off my back after 10 years will be a relief, not to mention the extra $100 a month it will free up. After a couple more deployments I should be able to pay off the car anyway.
After AmEx I plan on rounding out the CC collection with a Visa, probably BofA Cash Rewards or PenFed, then go into permanent gardening mode with one of each V,MC,AX,DSC.
I couldn't stand it anymore so I went for it. I figured my MC and Disc both had decent Util and paying off the SL may or may not help. Besides if I don't get it the inq will be mostly moot in a year. I got the dreaded 14 day wait message but I guess that's better than an insta-decline like they've given me before. This is going to be a long 2 weeks!
Not sure which you applied for, but I hope it was the credit product you wanted. I noticed earlier in the thread there was a discussion about upgrading from a charge product. You can't do a product change from a charge product to a credit product. Only charge to charge and credit to credit. In any event, hope you are approved. And worst case scenario if you did go for a charge product is that you would have to take another inquiry later on to get a credit product, not really that big of a deal.
Nah, I decided to shoot the moon and go for the Blue Cash Preferred. Dealing with a charge card is not in my long term plan so I decided against that.
OK so my itchy trigger finger got the better of me again, (I know, it's only been like 15 minutes) so I hit the app status button and got the following:
Congratulations! Your application has been approved and you should receive your new card within 7-10 days.
Woohoo! Now to call them and see if they can backdate it before they actually send it out.
@LTomBerry wrote:OK so my itchy trigger finger got the better of me again, (I know, it's only been like 15 minutes) so I hit the app status button and got the following:
Congratulations! Your application has been approved and you should receive your new card within 7-10 days.
Woohoo! Now to call them and see if they can backdate it before they actually send it out.
Congrats, indeed! It's wonderful to hear that you were able to get the card that you actually wanted. 
Current Scores: EQ 775 (03/04/2014), EX 756 (03/01/2014), TU 760 (03/01/2014)
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