Credit Cards

[Duncanrr]

My magic number will be 10-12 total open cards.  Im at 7 right now but two of them are secured cards that will eventually get the axe.  That leaves me with 5 cards to acquire: AMEX SPG, AMEX Gold or better charge, CSP, a Citi card and maybe a discover card. (also considering BCP).  I dont want to manage more than 10 but will be willing to go up to 12 while Im in building mode.

To OP, app in a manner in which you are comfortable.  FICO scores are not the end all be all.   I used the app spree method recently to great success and will use that method again after refi in June.  Just have a plan and follow it and you should be fine.

[SevenNEW]

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Duncanrr wrote:

My magic number will be 10-12 total open cards.  Im at 7 right now but two of them are secured cards that will eventually get the axe.  That leaves me with 5 cards to acquire: AMEX SPG, AMEX Gold or better charge, CSP, a Citi card and maybe a discover card. (also considering BCP).  I dont want to manage more than 10 but will be willing to go up to 12 while Im in building mode.

To OP, app in a manner in which you are comfortable.  FICO scores are not the end all be all.   I used the app spree method recently to great success and will use that method again after refi in June.  Just have a plan and follow it and you should be fine.

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I think 5 or 6 is more than enough. I now have an old C1 MC (in the sock drawer), Chase Freedom, and Amex BCP. I would like to have a Venture One for fee-less foreign transactions, and perhaps another Master Card, but I feel I am pretty much done.

[Duncanrr]

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SevenNEW wrote:

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Duncanrr wrote:

My magic number will be 10-12 total open cards.  Im at 7 right now but two of them are secured cards that will eventually get the axe.  That leaves me with 5 cards to acquire: AMEX SPG, AMEX Gold or better charge, CSP, a Citi card and maybe a discover card. (also considering BCP).  I dont want to manage more than 10 but will be willing to go up to 12 while Im in building mode.

To OP, app in a manner in which you are comfortable.  FICO scores are not the end all be all.   I used the app spree method recently to great success and will use that method again after refi in June.  Just have a plan and follow it and you should be fine.

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I think 5 or 6 is more than enough. I now have an old C1 MC (in the sock drawer), Chase Freedom, and Amex BCP. I would like to have a Venture One for fee-less foreign transactions, and perhaps another Master Card, but I feel I am pretty much done.

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I agree 5 or 6 is enough.  As Im building my credit back up 10-12 (prefer 10) is the max number I want to have during my building.  Once I get to a good spot, I'll probably widdle down the 10 or 12 some.  I just know I dont want to manage any more cards than that.

[7PM789]

I don't want more than 12 cards. The reasoning I had behind staggering them was that I've read about how people have been previously denied signature/world cards because they haven't had 5k plus tradelines for a long enough period of time. I've only had a 5k tradeline since the beginning of the month and I don't believe that is long enough to get approved for a C.S.P. Personally I don't like the idea of a large app spree (3+ apps) because it could be read as desperation/need for new credit. I just want to maximize my rewards in the areas of spending that are inevitable like gas, bills, groceries...

[Duncanrr]

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7PM789 wrote:
I don't want more than 12 cards. The reasoning I had behind staggering them was that I've read about how people have been previously denied signature/world cards because they haven't had 5k plus tradelines for a long enough period of time. I've only had a 5k tradeline since the beginning of the month and I don't believe that is long enough to get approved for a C.S.P. Personally I don't like the idea of a large app spree (3+ apps) because it could be read as desperation/need for new credit. I just want to maximize my rewards in the areas of spending that are inevitable like gas, bills, groceries...

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Thats why when you do an app spree you should keep your utilization very low (below 9%).  I never like carrying balances and havent paid a single payment on interest since my rebuild in June (no credit cards 7 years prior to that).  I try to keep reported balances low as well but I always PIF.

[TheConductor]

Mostly I prefer to spree, but the two exceptions I would make are waiting for a backdated AmEx account to report before making more apps (to get a better AAoA when applying for other cards - this is what I did after getting my Zync, but then I decided to just wait until January before doing a new spree), or waiting for a stellar limit to report (in the hope that the high limit will encourage other creditors to do likewise).

Most of my lifetime apping has been done in sprees, though. As long as you don't go overboard with it (I generally aim for 5-6 apps, or 4 approvals, whichever comes first), it seems to be the best approach. As Revelate noted, the mid-to-long-term effect for AAoA is better, plus opening all of those new limits at once makes managing utilization easier when you're trying to churn a lot of cash through a new card that has a bonus after $X of spend.