Advice for Upcoming App Spree

[BalisongAddict]

So I'm planning to apply for 4 cards some time next week: Sallie Mae, Fidelity AmEx, Chase Freedom, and AmEx PRG.

As far as my background, I'm 19 and I have one year of credit history (Discover It). I'll have about $33000 in income next year. My current CL on my Discover It is only $500 as they refuse to give me a SP CLI. I have pretty much perfect history and 7% utilization, so my TU FICO is 746 (from Discover). I have 2 inquiries on TU. One was in June 2014 from opening the Discover account, and the other was in September 2014 for naively asking for a credit limit increase. My EX FAKO is 731 (from credit.com), and I have 1 inquiry on EX from a BofA app in June 2014. My EQ FAKO is 721 (from quizzle.com), and I have no inquiries on EQ. I imagine that my EX and EQ FICOs are higher because they both have fewer inquiries than TU.

So I was originally planning to just apply for the Sallie Mae and the Fidelity AmEx because they have great rewards for my spending habits, but then AmEx PRG added that extra $100 for airline incidentals that I will definitely use because I fly fairly often, and the 50000 points bonus and 3X points for flying are pretty attractive. I don't plan to keep the PRG when the annual fee comes around. I was also planning to wait until Chase had their $200 sign up bonus for the Freedom before applying for that, but then it hit, so I added that to the list. I could hold off on these two, but might as well get them now so they all start aging.

So I'd really appreciate help with what order I should apply for these cards. Because Sallie Mae will be the only TU, I can probably apply for that any time, but I think I'll apply for it first just in case. Also, I'm guessing that because BofA pulled EX for me before that they will pull EX again. Any chance they'll change and pull EQ? Also, I'm pretty sure that AmEx will pull EX, and I'm guesssing that Chase will pull EX or EQ (or possibly TU) just based on "research."

Mu current plan is:

1. Sallie Mae

2. Fidelity AmEx

3/4 Chase Freedom or AmEx PRG (unsure)

However, I could definitely change #2 above if you think that's a good idea. I'm really not sure how BofA, Chase, and AmEx respond to app sprees or the fact that I have so few inquiries. All I know is the new Chase rule about 5 accounts in the past 2 years, but that doesn't apply to me.

Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Couple of quick questions. Do you have verifiable income now? From your Discover HP were there other reasons mentioned other than the length of credit history? Do you carry a balance on the Discover or PIF? While your Discover Fico is solid, I would encourage you to know your FICO for EX and EQ because knowledge is power.

Have you not considered any of the CAP one cards?

While your TU score is strong, I think your file is pretty thin for some of the cards on your list especially if your carrying a balance on the $500 limit, in my opinion, but I will leave that up to those on the forum with stronger knowledge. Who knows YMMV!

Good luck and I hope you get some solid advice soon. Can't wait to see what you decide!

[BalisongAddict]

Thanks for asking those questions; I knew I was bound to leave some information out.

Unfortunately, I don't have verifiable income during the summer, but I did during the school year, and I will during this upcoming school year.

The only reason I was denied for the Discover CLI was because my history was so short (didn't even have a FICO score yet).

I always PIF. I didn't even think to include that because that just seems like it should go without question with the way I view credit haha. Anyway, yeah I always plan to PIF with any credit cards.

As far as getting my other FICOs, is there any free way? Just the whole reason I'm into credit cards is to save money (rewards now and lower interest on loans in the future), so paying for anything credit related kind of contradicts why I do this stuff. I do plan to get a Citi Double Cash in the future, and then I'll have a monthly EQ FICO score as well.

I have looked at all of the Capital One cards, but none of them are really rewards leaders. Because I'm mostly just interested in the very best cards for me and Capital One triple pulls, I'm not really interested in them.

As far as the plausibility of getting these cards, I think that if I applied for only one of the them (except maybe the Fidelity), I would be approved because I've seen many thin, clean files approved for AmEx cards, seen people with only 6 months of credit history approved for the Freedom despite Chase saying that they like to see a year of history, and the Sallie Mae seems to be geared towards students or recent graduates, so it makes sense that thinner files get approved for the Sallie Mae card. Anyway, I could be totally wrong about any of this, but I think that I stand a decent chance for these cards on their own, but applying in the right order might be key to getting hopefully at least 3.

[Anonymous]

I agree that for some on your list, thin clean files are acceptable, but without verifiable income, it may get a sticky! I'm confused about the 7% utilization though. But again, I'm sure you will get advice from people on the Boards with better info than I.

[BalisongAddict]

Oh darn. Do they usually require people to send them pay stubs?

I just mean that I let 7% report at the end of a cycle and then PIF before it can incur interest.

[juniornj23]

I know what you mean about you pif and have 7% reported. So now is my question why you don't try cap 1 first. If you have discover call them and ask to doble your cash back. Are you fidelity member because I think you have to be to get approve for they card. If you have less than 6 moths with your discover I suggest you wait 6 moths before pull the trigger

[BalisongAddict]

I'm not trying Capital One because I have no reason to get any of their cards.

I already enrolled in Discover's double cash back, and I plan to ask Discover for a CLI after the applications; I'm not too worried about lower limits. I've had the Discover card for a year.

I am, indeed, a Fidelity member.

[BalisongAddict]

Any seasoned appers have advice?

[Anonymous]

I am no expert, but I would be pretty cautious about going on any App Spree's. 

I envy your age and glad you are being smart enough to use credit cards (unlike me, a former rebel). However the last thing you want is a 20 point drop in score because of some denials. I think in your case, no offense, this is a situation where just a score alone even excellent, is not enough.

I do like your idea of Amex, but I think you would be better off applying for a lower end product. That bad part is you cant get any useful info from a credit pull database (again based on score alone). Their Everyday card is their entry level card. I have no idea what they look for in a profile.

Capital one would be a great way for you to be for sure approved. Get their journey card, use the heck out of it, and then you can PC it to something better later. 

Have you checked any of the sites for preapprovals? They say if you are preapproved with chase thats a 80% guarantee.  Chase likes thin files. Let that be the first card you apply for.

I dont think you are going to need to show proof of income for any of these. You arent asking for over 25k limits. But what do I know.

[BalisongAddict]

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I'm definitely a bit worried about having a successful app spree and then Barclays closing my account because of too many recent accounts.

I was under the impression that the charge cards are easier to get approved for than the revolvers, and the PRG is a charge card while the ED is a revolver. Either way, I don't really see the point of applying for cards just because I am more likely to get approved for them. I'm more interested in applying for cards because their rewards fit my spending habits. This same logic goes for why I don't intend to apply for a Capital One card.

Also, as far as feasibility of my approval for these cards, here are a few relevant links so that we hopefully don't have to talk that much about that on this thread:

• Sallie Mae approval with 9 months history and a 642 TU FICO
• Sallie Mae and Chase Freedom approval with 8 months history and a 707 TU FICO
• Fidelity Amex approval with 9 months history, 7 months AAoA, 723 EQ FICO, and 741 TU FICO
• Amex ED approval with 6 months history and 696 EX
• Amex BCP approval with 6 months history
• Amex PRG approval with 7 months history
• Amex BCE approval with 9 months history
• Amex BCE and Chase Freedom approval with 8 months history
• Chase Freedom approval with similar profile
• Chase Freedom approval with short history