topic Re: Premier, Pathfinder, and Alaska (me) + Venture X (P2) approvals in Credit Card Approvals

Premier, Pathfinder, and Alaska (me) + Venture X (P2) approvals

okurosetta — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 20:09:05 GMT

Post One - tl;dr DPs

For my applications - Premier, Pathfinder, & Alaska

Accounts: 0/6, 4/12, 10/24
Age of Oldest Account: 17 years 4 months
Age of Youngest Account: 7 months
Average Age of Accounts: 4 years 1 month
Income: $80k
Live in NY (relevant for bureau pulled)

Citi Premier - Instant approval for $6.2k

Pulled TU - Last known TU FICO® 8: 739
Inquiries: 0/6, 3/12, 8/24
Have two Citi Cards (first opened 9/19), no other banking relationship

Penfed Pathfinder - Instant approval for $10k

Pulled EQ - Last known EQ FICO® 8: 745
Inquiries: 0/6, 1/12, 2/24
No prior relationship with Penfed - joined while applying

Bank of America Alaska Mileage Plan - Instant approval for $20k

Pulled EX - Last known EX FICO® 8: 739
Inquiries: 0/6, 4/12, 8/24
Have been AU on one card, but no personal relationship with BoA except for ~20 years ago

P2 - Capital One Venture X - Instant approval for $20k

P2 is not as interested in details with credit cards, so information is limited
FICO® 8 scores typically around 730-740
Definitely 0/6 accounts, most likely 0/12 but possibly 1/12
Income: $80k
Showed pre-approved for Venture (and three other cards) before applying
I was added (as Account Manager) after P2 was approved

Edited to include these other recent credit moves:

Closed Venmo Visa ($10k) and NFCU More Rewards ($10k) last month
Was removed as AU from family Disney card ($15k) and an old, unused account was closed that I was AU on ($10k) this month
This means I closed or was removed from $45k in credit and added $56.2k in credit - got rid of unused/unwanted credit and replaced it with what we want

Re: Premier, Pathfinder, and Alaska (me) + Venture X (P2) approvals

okurosetta — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 18:04:53 GMT

Post Two - An Excessive Amount of Details/Rambling

P2 and I were already unlikely to buy a new house this summer but have been gardening on the small chance that it would happen. With current (and expected) mortgage rates being what they are, we ran the numbers and it just would not be a good decision since we have a house in good shape in a nice area at ~3%. We want to move, but the urgency is not there. Plan is to continue working on the house in ways that add value - we had a list of things to do if selling this year and a second list if we stayed at least another year. We are officially working on the second list, with paint drying as I type.

Premier was primarily for the 80k SUB before it ~~goes~~ went away. This does have a chance at being a long-term keeper, particularly as I have two Custom Cash’s, it will just depend on if we actually see enough value from the hotel credit (early searches say doubtful) and how much return we see on our TYP, which we plan to use on transfer partners.

Pathfinder is definitely a long-term keeper. If truly crunching the numbers, keeping $500 in their Access America checking at .15% will (currently) be a yearly opportunity cost loss of $15.75 for me, based on that $500 not being in my uncapped HYSA that earns 3.3%, but this will cause the $95 AF to be waived and also unlocks 4X (minimum 3.4% via gift card) on travel. We will also very likely use at least $60 of the $100 annual ancillary domestic airline credit on checked bags.

Alaska Mileage Plan is the least likely to be held long-term, though there is a chance that the annual companion pass (and to a lesser extent checked bag benefit) proves otherwise - the Alaska Airlines flight we took three months ago would have been ~$380 less with this card, including the AF. Saw news of the potential increased SUB days after applying - would have been better but oh well, return on spend still high, can’t win ‘em all.

Venture X is a card that both P2 and I have been declined for, with P2 being much more of their “type” of customer - less accounts, lower velocity, higher utilization, and puts a lot of spend through her (grandfathered no AF) Savor - so we agreed a little less than a year ago that she would go for the card when the timing was right. I was added as an Account Manager on Venture X (and am AU on Savor), so she’ll keep transferring her Savor’s cashback to VM and I’ll keep booking our trips - I like playing the points game, she does not, but we both enjoy the trips.

The Pathfinder and Venture X are moves with the long-term in mind - wanting to move away from Amex Platinum while replacing the perks that we have enjoyed with better/more efficient options:

We typically fly at least twice per year, are not loyal to any airline or alliance, and often pay to check one bag on domestic flights - Plat only covers this if the selected airline happens to match up while Pathfinder’s $100 credit is flexible
We now both have keeper cards that reimburse for Global Entry/TSA PreCheck, rather than just me having it via Plat
We usually rent from Hertz and have been using Amex’s add-on primary coverage ($20/rental) - Venture X also confers President’s Circle but primary coverage is included, plus has a much higher earning rate on rental cars than our other cards
We have not seen much value from lounge access, including Centurion lounges specifically - Venture X still has Priority Pass access, which will likely continue to be hit or miss but is at least nice to have as an option, and I won’t be able to bring P2 with me into Centurion lounges without paying a fee soon anyways

So P2 has a nice three card set-up - Amazon card for 5% on Amazon, Savor for its 4X on dining, entertainment, and streaming and 3X on grocery, and Venture X for everything else at 2X (or higher if booking travel through portal, but I will do that for us) - and I continue to add to my strange, allegedly overly complicated (but still thoroughly enjoyed by me) mix of no AF cashback cards and rewards cards. We traveled 40 nights in 2022 and plan to continue doing so (30 nights already booked for 2023), with credit cards continuing to help make this possible.

Re: Premier, Pathfinder, and Alaska (me) + Venture X (P2) approvals

sznthescore — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 18:00:53 GMT

Congratulations on the approvals! 🎉 Thanks for the DP's (excessive rambling 😉).

Re: Premier, Pathfinder, and Alaska (me) + Venture X (P2) approvals

JoeRockhead — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 18:36:28 GMT

That's outstanding! over 56k in approvals warrants a bit of rambling, all the DPs are nice, congratulations on all your approvals!!!

Re: Premier, Pathfinder, and Alaska (me) + Venture X (P2) approvals

CreditAggie — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 19:32:20 GMT

Congratulations on the approvals!

Re: Premier, Pathfinder, and Alaska (me) + Venture X (P2) approvals

cashorcharge — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 19:45:01 GMT

WooHoo!! Congratulations on your Approvals!!👏🏼🍾🥂

Re: Premier, Pathfinder, and Alaska (me) + Venture X (P2) approvals

NoMoreDebt — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 23:53:55 GMT

Congrats on the approvals

Re: Premier, Pathfinder, and Alaska (me) + Venture X (P2) approvals

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 00:00:05 GMT

Congratulations to you both!

Re: Premier, Pathfinder, and Alaska (me) + Venture X (P2) approvals

KingRue8500 — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 02:24:26 GMT

Congrats on your approvals

Re: Premier, Pathfinder, and Alaska (me) + Venture X (P2) approvals

galahad15 — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 12:59:33 GMT

Congratulations!