Apporama 2024

[drchaos]

Paid down credit cards have now been reported to rating agencies.  Plan to apply for more cards within the next 48 hours.

My goal is to obtain several high balance 0% purchase and 0% balance transfer credit cards.  

Any help regarding which cards to apply for or any potential mistakes that I could avoid would be greatly appreciated.

I live in the NYC area and am self employed.

I am hoping for suggestions but in order the list below includes the cards I want to apply for:

1. Chase Slate Edge

2. American Express Cash Magnet Card

3. TD Flex Pay Credit Card

4. Bank Americard Credit card

5. PenFed Gold Visa® Card

6. Navy Federal Credit Union CashRewards

7. AARP® Essential Rewards Mastercard® from Barclays

8. US Bank Business Platinum Credit Card

9. Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card

10. Fifth Third 1% Cash/Back card

11. Citi Custom Cash® Card

12. PNC points® Visa® Credit Card

Two items that I do not expect to have much impact:

1. PENFED car loan which started at $25K and has now been paid down to 10K after three years

2. Edward Jones CC paid down to $0 from $22K last month (limit 25K) as it does not show up on credit reports

3. Depending on which credit agency you look at I have 2 or 3 hard inquiries dating back to 2022

After paying down the existing cards on December 29th of last year I made additional payments to pay the cards down further last week.  The following payments have not yet been reported by the CC companies yet:

Discover Card - paid off remaining $1,495 balance (29% of limit)

Wells Fargo - Paid card down from 29% of limit to 21% of limit

Citizens - Paid card down from 29% of limit to 21% of limit

US Bank - Paid card down from 29% of limit to 21% of limit

Existing Cards:

$8,927.22 Bank of America ($48,000 limit = 18.6% used) 0% card is due in May 2024

$4,070.00 Wells Farfo ($19,000 limit = 21.4% Used) 0% card is due Oct 2024

$2,882.00 Citizens Credit Card ($13,500K limit = 21.35% Used) card is due in Jun 2024

$2,396.00 US Bank Platinum Visa ($11,300 limit = 21.20% Used) card is due Jun 2024

$500.00 TD Bank Business Solutions ($10,500 limit) spender paid off every month

$300.00 BJ's Capital One Mastercard ($12,500 limit) spender paid off every month

$300.00 PENFED Platinum Rewards Card ($33,000 limit) spender paid off every month

$100.00 AMEX Everyday Card  ($25,000 limit) spender paid off every month

$63.00 Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Visa Signature Card ($2,000 limit) spender paid off every month

$27.00 Alliant Visa Platinum W/Rewards Plan Card ($10,000 limit) spender paid off every month

$27.00 Citi Double Cash® Card ($9,500 limit) spender paid off every month

$0.00 US Bank U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Signature® Card ($15,000 limit) 0% card paid off last month

$0.00 Navy Federal Credit Union Visa Platinum Card ($7,100 limit) 0% card paid off last month

$0.00 Discover IT Garnet Card ($6,000 limit) 0% card paid off this month

$0.00 Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card ($4/800 limit) spender paid off every month

$19,492.11 combined balance ($243,600 = 8% of limit excluding JD Edwards limit)

Thanks in advance.

[pizzadude]

Moving to credit card applications for better visibility

[drchaos]

Thanks for your help moving the thread.

[SouthJamaica]

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@drchaos wrote:
....

I am hoping for suggestions but in order the list below includes the cards I want to apply for:

1. Chase Slate Edge

Will get too small a starting limit. Useless afterwards.

2. American Express Cash Magnet Card

Many find this card to be mediocre.

3. TD Flex Pay Credit Card

I have found TD unpleasant to deal with. Have never been able to get assistance online or by phone.

4. Bank Americard Credit card

5. PenFed Gold Visa® Card

6. Navy Federal Credit Union CashRewards

7. AARP® Essential Rewards Mastercard® from Barclays

8. US Bank Business Platinum Credit Card

9. Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card

10. Fifth Third 1% Cash/Back card

11. Citi Custom Cash® Card

12. PNC points® Visa® Credit Card

.......

I would suggest getting another credit union, non-rewards, no-balance-transfer-fee, platinum card, similar to your NFCU Platinum card.

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[drchaos]

South Jamaica:

 Thanks for the prompt reply to my inquiry.

I am very happy with my mix of spenders and the cash back rewards they have.

As I have many business expenses and want to push out paying them until next year I have the opportunity to get lots of cash back rewards (from the business expenses) and will be able to invest my revenues into stocks and inventory instead of paying up front for everything.

That is why I will not apply for any credit cards this month unless they have 0% interest on either purchases or balance transfers.

I have my main checking account with TD Bank (I love that I can see a person in their branch on Saturday or Sunday) so I have a good relationship with them.

My expectation with both Chase and Bank of America is that if I get a new card with a low balance I can move some or all of the limit from an existing card to the new card.

As for AMEX I really don't care much about the rewards, I just want a card that will allow me to spend money or do a balance transfer that I do not have to pay back for 15-18 months (or longer).

My goal with this thread is the following:

1. Find other credit cards with 0% cards to apply to

2. To find better cards from the companies currently on my list (to apply to instead)

3. To get feedback regarding the pecking order of the cards and which ones to apply to first

4. While I think I have paid the cards down enough with the cash flows I have available any general advice regarding the debt ratios or timing of the applications would be appreciated.

[drchaos]

Applied for 10 of the 12 cards this morning, here are the results:

1. Chase Slate Edge - Declined

2. American Express Cash Magnet Card - Approved, do not know limit yet

3. TD Flex Pay Credit Card - Aprroved $25,000 limit

4. Bank Americard Credit card - Declined

5. PenFed Gold Visa® Card - Declined

6. Navy Federal Credit Union CashRewards - Pending

7. AARP® Essential Rewards Mastercard® from Barclays - Did not apply, 0 % BT offer now has 5% fee, no 0% on purchases

8. US Bank Business Platinum Credit Card - Pending

9. Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card - Declined

10. Fifth Third 1% Cash/Back card - Could not apply, lady on the phone said they only cover Midwestern States

11. Citi Custom Cash® Card - Declined

12. PNC points® Visa® Credit Card - Pending

Very surprised by some of the rejections.

Chase was the first card I applied for, I didn't think there was any way they would say no.

[drchaos]

Just notified by PENFED that they approved my card application with a $1,000 limit.

PNC and US Bank still pending.

Are there any other cards I should apply for today before these inquiries show up on my credit report?

[drewricomakeubu]

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@drchaos wrote:

Just notified by PENFED that they approved my card application with a $1,000 limit.

PNC and US Bank still pending.

Are there any other cards I should apply for today before these inquiries show up on my credit report?

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If they hard pulled your credit the inquiries are already being reported to your credit. 

[drchaos]

Just realized there was no discover card on my list.

A few minutes ago I applied for the Discover It Balance Transfer card and was rejected.

[drchaos]

Called Navy Federal Credit Union to see if I could combine my new cards so the new card would get a limit of $8,100 instead of $1,000.

They said that the only way it could happen is if I do a balance transfer from another card to the new card.

At that time they would need to evaluate and approve the transaction.