topic Re: 20 cards in 9 months.... What I learned.... in Credit Cards

20 cards in 9 months.... What I learned....

Larsim — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 23:16:13 GMT

Earlier this year I posted about my app spree and how I was using my wife's credit profile and how I was alternating - I would apply for one card under her name, add me as an AU, then apply for another card from a different issuer under my name, then add her as AU and so on.

Well, 20 cards later (16 personal and 4 business) I think I am finally done . Not showing on this list yet is the Amex Cash Magnet (approved yesterday) and the Apple Card (approved in August but not reporting yet).

I must say this would NOT have been possible without the knowledge I gained from this forum. So as a way of giving back here is what I learned and things I would have done differently if I could go back in time.

Favorite cards:

- Savor

- Venture

- Amex BCP

- US Bank Cash+

- Propel

- Citi DC

- BBVA Compass

- Discover IT Miles

- Chase Ink Preferred

- Freedom

Cards I did not get but wish I would have gotten/applied for first/cannot qualify for now:

- BOA Cash Rewards

- Chase Amazon

- ABOC Platinum Rewards

- PNC Rewards

Started this spree party with scores in the 770s, this where they stand now so all in all not bad:

So now I seriously need to lock myself in the garden and throw the key away.....

Re: 20 cards in 9 months.... What I learned....

FireMedic1 — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 23:32:21 GMT

I'd say your set til 2025......... J/K

Re: 20 cards in 9 months.... What I learned....

ToxikPH — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 00:38:09 GMT

I'm seriously surprised by some of these approvals but I bet the majority of it falls down to AAoA. That 10.5 year card is holding your file up very high.

Re: 20 cards in 9 months.... What I learned....

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 00:45:29 GMT

@Larsim wrote:
Earlier this year I posted about my app spree and how I was using my wife's credit profile and how I was alternating - I would apply for one card under her name, add me as an AU, then apply for another card from a different issuer under my name, then add her as AU and so on.

Well, 20 cards later (16 personal and 4 business) I think I am finally done . Not showing on this list yet is the Amex Cash Magnet (approved yesterday) and the Apple Card (approved in August but not reporting yet).

I must say this would NOT have been possible without the knowledge I gained from this forum. So as a way of giving back here is what I learned and things I would have done differently if I could go back in time.

Favorite cards:
- Savor
- Venture
- Amex BCP
- US Bank Cash+
- Propel
- Citi DC
- BBVA Compass
- Discover IT Miles
- Chase Ink Preferred
- Freedom

Cards I did not get but wish I would have gotten/applied for first/cannot qualify for now:
- BOA Cash Rewards
- Chase Amazon
- ABOC Platinum Rewards
- PNC Rewards

Started this spree party with scores in the 770s, this where they stand now so all in all not bad:

So now I seriously need to lock myself in the garden and throw the key away.....

At some point, I'd get rid of some of those cards, now that you have some better cards on there. For instance, Merrick bank. Its like having a DUI on your resume lol.

Re: 20 cards in 9 months.... What I learned....

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 02:04:29 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
At some point, I'd get rid of some of those cards, now that you have some better cards on there. For instance, Merrick bank. Its like having a DUI on your resume lol.

Based on the young age of the vast majority of the OPs accounts, I'd keep Merrick bank open just because it's his second oldest revolver.

Re: 20 cards in 9 months.... What I learned....

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 02:09:17 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
At some point, I'd get rid of some of those cards, now that you have some better cards on there. For instance, Merrick bank. Its like having a DUI on your resume lol.
Based on the young age of the vast majority of the OPs accounts, I'd keep Merrick bank open just because it's his second oldest revolver.

It will stay on the report for 10 years. By the time its removed, he may have another card with a 10 year history that's still active. It's a red headed step child on a report. I'd keep it for a while longer.

Re: 20 cards in 9 months.... What I learned....

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 02:25:54 GMT

Wow, 20 cards in 9 months!? That must have really destroyed your AAoA. lol

That's 2 cards per month, even I don't have that much courage. Also must be nice not having to keep 5/24 in mind.

Re: 20 cards in 9 months.... What I learned....

Larsim — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 02:42:11 GMT

Great points, didn't even think about the AAoA. But here it goes:

Re: 20 cards in 9 months.... What I learned....

Larsim — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 02:51:36 GMT

Let me also add a list of issuers that declined either me of my wife:

- PNC

- BOA

- HSBC

- Suntrust

And that's about it if I recall correctly. Once again getting the information from this forum and stratregizing properly no doubt kept the declinations to a minimum.

Re: 20 cards in 9 months.... What I learned....

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 03:16:23 GMT

Insanely impressive!! Lol congrats on all the success

Re: 20 cards in 9 months.... What I learned....

BronzeTrader — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 11:59:36 GMT

@Larsim wrote:
Let me also add a list of issuers that declined either me of my wife:

- PNC
- BOA
- HSBC
- Suntrust

And that's about it if I recall correctly. Once again getting the information from this forum and stratregizing properly no doubt kept the declinations to a minimum.

The question we should all ask is that,

What purpose of applying those many CCs within a short time period? You churning and aim for sign up bonus? Some of those cards do not even have good bonus. I do not see you need that much credit.

More CCs would certainly hurt your credit. You never know when your financial situation changes or even some good CCs come up such as Chase CSR 100,000 bonus. It would be out of reach to many people.

Re: 20 cards in 9 months.... What I learned....

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 12:15:25 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
It will stay on the report for 10 years. By the time its removed, he may have another card with a 10 year history that's still active.

With 20 cards, all of them would be 10 years in age a decade from now. But, that's not the point. Looking at AoOA, maximum scoring potential is achieved somewhere around 17 years. The question is whether or not the OP would like to increase the chances of his AoOA being ~19-20 years old a decade from now. He's got an old Discover card, but you can't put all of your eggs in one basket and if they were to pull the plug on his account (for whatever reason) sometime in the next couple of years the card in question above would become his AoOA at some point.

Re: 20 cards in 9 months.... What I learned....

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 12:18:02 GMT

@BronzeTrader wrote:
What purpose of applying those many CCs within a short time period?

I can't speak for the OP regarding the purpose, but one long term benefit would be that a decade from now the OP will have a pretty bulletproof AAoA with that many 10 year old accounts factored in.

Re: 20 cards in 9 months.... What I learned....

Larsim — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 13:00:47 GMT

@BronzeTrader wrote:
@Larsim wrote:
Let me also add a list of issuers that declined either me of my wife:

- PNC
- BOA
- HSBC
- Suntrust

And that's about it if I recall correctly. Once again getting the information from this forum and stratregizing properly no doubt kept the declinations to a minimum.

The question we should all ask is that,
What purpose of applying those many CCs within a short time period? You churning and aim for sign up bonus? Some of those cards do not even have good bonus. I do not see you need that much credit.

More CCs would certainly hurt your credit. You never know when your financial situation changes or even some good CCs come up such as Chase CSR 100,000 bonus. It would be out of reach to many people.

Very good question. Most cards I applied for was to maximize cash back on normal daily expenses. And I don't mind sharing my trusted Excel spreadsheet which is netting me between the personal and business cards around $350 per month on cash back. Safe to say that I am right now a "liabilty" to these card companies as instead of me paying them interest, they are paying me "interest" to carry their cards

Re: 20 cards in 9 months.... What I learned....

Larsim — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 13:03:09 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

At some point, I'd get rid of some of those cards, now that you have some better cards on there. For instance, Merrick bank. Its like having a DUI on your resume lol.

I thought about axing Merrick but they do give out monthly FICO TU scores which I like, plus there is no AF so I will keep it for now.

Re: 20 cards in 9 months.... What I learned....

ChessChik47 — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 13:05:14 GMT

OP, do you mind sharing the starting limits you received on the cards? A range is fine, if you don't want to be specific on each of them.

Thanks!

Re: 20 cards in 9 months.... What I learned....

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 13:13:33 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
It will stay on the report for 10 years. By the time its removed, he may have another card with a 10 year history that's still active.
With 20 cards, all of them would be 10 years in age a decade from now. But, that's not the point. Looking at AoOA, maximum scoring potential is achieved somewhere around 17 years. The question is whether or not the OP would like to increase the chances of his AoOA being ~19-20 years old a decade from now. He's got an old Discover card, but you can't put all of your eggs in one basket and if they were to pull the plug on his account (for whatever reason) sometime in the next couple of years the card in question above would become his AoOA at some point.

Yeah, that's why I said at some point, get rid of the card. Not right away.

Re: 20 cards in 9 months.... What I learned....

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 13:34:07 GMT

@Larsim wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
At some point, I'd get rid of some of those cards, now that you have some better cards on there. For instance, Merrick bank. Its like having a DUI on your resume lol.
I thought about axing Merrick but they do give out monthly FICO TU scores which I like, plus there is no AF so I will keep it for now.

Yes, you have to make sure your AAoA is in decent shape before you get rid of cards. But in the long term, having that card on your credit report when accessed by a creditor will reveal you were/are a subprime borrower. That shows up 10 years after you close the account.

Re: 20 cards in 9 months.... What I learned....

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 14:27:39 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
. But in the long term, having that card on your credit report when accessed by a creditor will reveal you were/are a subprime borrower. That shows up 10 years after you close the account.

But..... what impact do you think that will have? An issuer looking some years from now, they MIGHT notice it (a less than stellar card, but far from the worst) but they would also see lots of higher quality cards, (hopefully) no lates etc. Do you really think it will have any negative effect?

Re: 20 cards in 9 months.... What I learned....

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 14:49:51 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
. But in the long term, having that card on your credit report when accessed by a creditor will reveal you were/are a subprime borrower. That shows up 10 years after you close the account.
But..... what impact do you think that will have? An issuer looking some years from now, they MIGHT notice it (a less than stellar card, but far from the worst) but they would also see lots of higher quality cards, (hopefully) no lates etc. Do you really think it will have any negative effect?

It could in a tighter credit market. Not really when the credit market is wide open.