App Spree - Best Cards to Apply for? and How Many? What's the Max?

[Anonymous]

Hey Everyone!

I'm planning a to App Spree this week. My goal is high limits and maximum Total Credit limit.   

How should I go about this?   

What are the best cards to apply for? (*Note: broke up with Amex and Discover in 2011 so they're out) 

What's the maximum nuber of cards I can app for?

What order should I app in?    All in one day or spread out?

*Note2: I think my EQ will jump up to over 720 this week because a Collection is coming off (they agreed to delete and I sent in dispute with their deletion letter)

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[Anonymous]

Well if you want travel rewards, the core chase lineup is probably your prime consideration if you're under 5/24. The Sapphire Preferred or Reserve, one or both Freedom cards, and if you have a business, the Ink Preferred are all great options.

Keep in mind that if you are looking at cards with high sign up bonuses, you need to be mindful of the minimum spend requirements. Just for the Sapphire and Ink Preferred cards, you're looking at 130k or more in sign up bonuses, but also a $9k spend requirement in 3 months. For that reason alone it's probably best to spread it out over some time.

Of the cards I have or am going for, aside from Amex and Discover and the aforementioned Chase cards, you may be interested in the US Bank Cash+ (more lucrative to get the FlexPerks gold card for the sign up bonus then PC to the cash+ in year 2 - just make sure the FP can be PCed to the C+ first), Vantage West CU Connect Rewards, Nusenda CU Platinum Cash Rewards, Penfed CU Pathfinder Rewards, Citi AAdvantage Platinum, and Citi Prestige. You may be interested in the paypal cash back visa, as linking it with the PayPal business debit will give you 3% on all credit purchases and, I believe, 2% back on debit transactions. Lastly, I'm also getting the Spirit Airlines MasterCard cuz it makes sense for me - I fly out of their second largest hub, their mileage earn and redemption rates are ridiculously lucrative if you can take advantage of their off peak dates, and they are insanely cheap if you can avoid their fees. This all applies to me so it should be a great option in my personal case.

[AverageJoesCredit]

My advice is dont app spree if you dont even know what cards you want or suit you. Everyone can give advise on whats best for them but not whats best for you. Read up on the different cards that interest you then you can list what ones you like and then i believe you can get better advice on how to go about aoping them. Just mho

[Anonymous]

AJC well yeah - I'm pretty sure this is his way of orienting himself cuz it sounds like he doesn't really know what are good cards and is trying to get some reference points.

To that end, he hasn't told us what he wants out of his cards either, which would influence things. Cash back or travel? Some other kind of perks? Ime most lucrative cards offer rewards in the form of cash back or travel.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the info F4phantom2500!!!    I haven't had any really substantial cards in awhile so yes I'm getting my bearings.

AJC, you make a great pointand that is why I'm doing my research now.  Thanks for pushing me to explore why I'm doing this.     

To give you more insight:

I need some high limits....because I have some large purchases upcoming and will need to carry some balances for awhile. I want to keep utilitization low.

I need some balance transfer cards...because I need to transfer the balance I'm carrying from above to keep from getting killed on interest!

I have a business, so the idea of charging on my personal and reimbursing (and getting cash back and/or miles) sounds great (if I'm understanding the best use of the Paypal Cash Back Visa)

I didn't realize there was a $9k minimum, but that shouldn't be a problem.

I travel on Southwest most often & Alaska 2nd.  Hoping to get some vacation travel in soon too (Miami, Puerto Rico, & Brazil all on my list!)

I'm really concerned about too many denials and wasting inquiries since I have the old charge offs, so the prequal idea seems great. I have a window now where my utilization is low and I need some credit now so I can't wait  to App until October when all my old Charge Offs should definitely come off. Fingers crossed for early exclusion success! 

Thanks again for the tips everyone!

[Anonymous]

Finding cards that are good for balance transfers and also offer lucrative rewards for longer-term is a bit of a balancing act. Ironically for you the Discover it is actually one of the best ones in that regard.

However, off the top of my head the Vantage West connect Rewards Card does offer 6-month 0% APR for purchases and balance transfers, and there are never any balance transfer fees with that card either. If you haven't read further about it it also offers a 5% cash back category that you actually get to choose including some useful ones like utilities and amazon.com. also, since it is a Visa signature card, the minimum credit line they would give you is $5,000. I was able to become a member with the credit union Buy applying for and becoming a member with one of their affiliate charities which requires I think like a $15 donation to that charity. I can't remember what it's called off hand but the one I joined has something to do with helping people as they get older to sustain their quality of life.

You should also consider the Chase Slate card as it is one of if not the de-facto best balance transfer card out there, at least During the period when there is no fee on balance transfers which I believe is the first 60 or 90 days of the account opening. But it's something like 15 months of 0% interest maybe 18 I forget on balance transfers. The great part is that after the first year you can then product change the card to one of the freedom cards. This is nice because being that all of those Chase cards are affected by the 5/24 rule, you can get your awesome balance transfer card now and then product change it to the lucrative cash back card in the future without having to worry about 5:24 at that point at least for that card.

To make sure I was clear earlier: he Sapphire card has a $4,000 minimum spend, while the ink preferred has a $5,000 minimum spend. So if you were to get both at the same time it would be $9,000 spend to get the sign-up bonuses. Oh, also, the Sapphire Reserve is a minimum $10k line of credit, and I suspect the Ink Preferred is as well, because that's what they gave me lol. Not 100% sure on that though - I opened up my sole proprietorship and literally stopped by a branch to apply for the Ink Preferred on my way home from the courthouse, so I can't assume the prowess of my business influenced that!

Concerning the Southwest and Alaska airlines travel, I know both cards are both well-regarded and under some circumstances can get you a Companion Pass wherein your companion traveler can travel with you I believe for free for a year. I haven't looked too much into these particular arrangements so you would have to do some research on the specifics. But do you know that the Southwest cards with Chase are affected by 5:24 so if you are seriously looking at those cards they should be on your shortlist sooner than later.

You can only get two Chase cards within a 30 day window I believe it is, so for balance transfer I would suggest the slate and then either one of the sapphire cards or one of the Southwest cards depending on which one you value more now. Might consider the other of the two in another month or two or just wait till October like you were saying before. Also consider the Vantage West card and the Alaska Airlines card sometime in there - although you may want to weigh the pros and cons of having either the Alaska or the Southwest card or the Alaska and the Southwest card.

[LionLaw]

If your primary concerns are getting high limits and long 0% into rates, the best cards are probably:

--Citi Diamond Preferred

--Chase Slate

--Bank of America BankAmericard

The downside to these cards is they have no rewards.  But, it's tough to find cards with decent rewards AND long 0% intro rate periods.