I guess I'll use my first reply in this forum here. I've been visiting this forum for a little while now, just reading and learning. It's given me the strength to fix my credit issues and helped me to re-establish my credit as well.
With that being said- You can lead a horse to water but can't make it drink.
Everyone's familiar with that statement, but can you imagine seeing a whole bunch of people standing around the horse making fun of it and searching for new ways to be more condescending than the last guy? That's what this thread looks like to me, the new guy, who thought this forum and these members was/were better than that. You don't have to agree with someone's choices but you can definitely look much more mature based on your responses and reactions to them.
OP: I went on an app spree over the course of about a month and picked up 13 cards. It really wasn't a month worth of applying though, it was more like a couple of days of applying followed by a few weeks of modifying and sending reconsideration letters for the last five cards and making a couple of phone calls. I didn't start out with a stellar credit score, but I can't imagine that a whirlwind of apps would be viewed much differently with a higher score.
If I had it to do over again, I think I would just pick one card that I really wanted from each lender and app them all at the same time. I would probably start with whatever card I wanted the most and work my way down, then (afterwards) figure out what went well (or didn't) and plan a second round for another day after evaluating the data. Maybe you apply at ten lenders with ten approvals and don't mind coming back the next day or maybe you apply at ten and only get two approvals and return next month. Either way, it gives you a cutoff point for which you can evaluate your progress and re-evaluate your goals.
I didn't have much of a plan and semi-haphazardly applied at cards that were somewhat beneficial to me but hadn't been fully thought through. TBH, it really was a situation where I got an approval that I wasn't fully expecting that led me to apply and keep applying until my welcome had been worn out. With a better starting score and a more solid plan, I think I could have probably gotten much further than I did. It definitely wouldn't have been a one-night thing, though.
Nonetheless, make sure you have the CSR numbers and a solid recon letter waiting because you're definitely going to be using them for any significant spree. Fwiw, I didn't take a 'huge' hit on my score (~20-30 pts), but I have definitely cornered myself into the garden for a hot minute. Good luck, I'm definitely curious as to how this turns out in the end.
but yeah id keep checking your accounts, thats alot of Comenity exposure in a short period of time
