First App Spree. Need advice

[Anonymous]

Hi y’all. Very new to this forum. Looking for advice for an app spree. I have a very specific list of cards I want for certain airlines and general hotel stays, but I don’t have many open individual credit lines because I closed many over the years.

Individual Accounts:
Capital One Quicksilver One, CL 2500 (opened 11/2014)
USAA Preferred Cash Rewards, CL 1500 (opened 4/2015)

Authorized User Accounts:
Chase Sapphire (not the preferred version), CL 5000 (opened 11/2014)
Barclay Arrival World MC, CL 7500 (opened 11/2014)

My Information:
FICO Scores: EQ 677, TU 675, EX 767
CK Scores: EQ 664, TU 665
Reported Utilization: 0 - 10% for all cards (the only two I have)
20k balance on auto loan
5.5k balance on student loan
Credit History: 16+ years for EQ, TU, EX
FICO AAoA: EQ 5yr 11mo, TU 4yr 6mo, EX 7yr 2mo
Vantage AAoA: EQ 2yr 8mo, TU 0yr 6mo, EX 2yr 6mo (**bleep**)
Perfect payment history for everything except ONE
1 Charge-off (month of first delinquency was 8/2011), Sears store card, reports only on TU and EQ
Inquiries 0-3 months old: EQ 1, TU 0, EX 0
Inquiries 4-6 months old: EQ 0, TU 0, EX 0
Inquiries 7-9 months old: EQ 1, TU 1, EX 2
Inquiries 10-12 months old: EQ 1, TU 1, EX 4
Inquiries 13-24 months old: EQ 1, TU 0, EX 1

My Fiance’s Accounts:
Chase Sapphire (not the preferred version), CL 5000 (opened 11/2014)
Barclay Arrival World MC, CL 7500 (opened 11/2014)
First Hawaiian Bank Priority Rewards, CL 4000 (opened 7/2007)

My Fiance’s Information:
FICO Scores: > 760 for all
CK Scores: >750 for all
Utilization: 0 - 10% (Chase, Barclay), 49% (FHB)
8k balance on student loan
Credit history, FICO AAoA, Vantage AAoA: 11+ years for all
Perfect payment history and no derogs
Inquiries: only two inquiries in 11/2014. Nothing else in past 24 months.

The cards I really want to apply for have < $100 annual fee and either have great hotel perks, points transfer potential or both. I’m specifically looking for free hotel nights with no spend requirements, and transfer partners for Krisflyer, United, and British Airways miles. Chase Ritz Carlton, any HHonors, and Choice cards have spending requirements for award nights, so they’re off the list. Here’s the list:

Chase Freedom: Helps stack Ultimate Rewards points with my Chase Sapphire. Plus, UR points transfers 1:1 to Krisflyer, United, and BA. $100 cash back after spending $500 in 3 months.

Citi Thank You Premier: 3x Travel/Gas. Used when Freedom is out of gas rotation. Thank You points transfers 1:1 to Krisflyer, United, and BA. 50k bonus points after spending 3k in 3 months.

Chase IHG Rewards: 1 free annual night at any IHG property with no spend requirement. 70k pts signup bonus after spending 1k in first 3 months. Bonus points transferable 5:1 to Krisflyer, United, and BA.

Chase Hyatt Visa: 1 free annual night at cat 1-4 properties with no spend requirement. 2 bonus free nights at any Hyatt property after spending 1k in first 3 months. Bonus points transferable 2.5:1 to Krisflyer, United and BA. Earns additional 500 miles per night spent at Hyatt.

Chase Marriot: 1 free annual night at cat 1-5 properties with no spend requirements. 1 free night signup bonus, 50k pts bonus after spending 1k in 3 months. Bonus points transferable 4:1 United, 5:1 BA, 6.6:1 Krisflyer.

US Bank Club Carlson Premier Rewards: 40k annual renewal points with no spend requirements! (equivalent to 1-7 free nights a year depending on hotel!). 85k bonus points after spending 2.5k in 3 months. 5x points for everyday spending, no limit! **bleep**! Bonus points transferable to Krisflyer, United, and BA (not sure on rates).

Discover IT: $100 bonus with first purchase (through Amazon). No FX fees and can “supposedly” be used on JCB (Japan) and UnionPay (largest global network) networks.

Barclay Rewards Mastercard: No FX, no annual fee. Complements the Arrival nicely. I just want my own Barclay card and this one “should” be a shoo-in considering all the apps I’m attempting.

BankAmericard Cash Rewards: No annual fee. Shiny. I like the color. $100 cash back after spending $500 in 3 months. This one really isn’t necessary.

If I manage to get all the hotel cards, I’ll get 4-10 free nights a year forever, not counting the signup bonuses depending on how I use the Club Carlson points. If my other half gets them as well, that means 8-20 free nights a year! Also, we’ll only have to spend 8.5k in the first 3 months to get all the bonus points. Other cards I’m considering but falls short:

AMEX Everyday Preferred: I want an AMEX, but the member rewards transfer to Krisflyer is 2:1.

AMEX Starwood Preferred Guest: No free annual night and 2:1 Krisflyer. I want to avoid spending to get rewards, but the double-dipping on points on this card for hotels and Gold Delta miles is pretty useful.

I’m planning on an app spree in June after my statement dates. Does anyone here think that I can bang out all 8 cards (not the AMEXs or BofA) with my score and history? I’m kinda worried that the Freedom, Marriot, IHG, and Hyatt are all from Chase so that may not happen. My strategies are listed below:

1. Go for the whole shebang (minus AMEXs).
2. Apply for the Freedom, Citi, IHG, Discover and Barclay. Have my fiance apply for the Marriot, Hyatt, and Club Carlson. AU my fiance for the Freedom, Citi, and Discover.  After 3-6 months of gardening, apply for the Marriot, Hyatt, Club Carlson, BofA and an AMEX. Have my fiance apply for the IHG and SPG.

Sorry this was so long. I hope I’ve provided enough info. Any input will help. Thanks.

[TRC_WA]

I think you'll be OK as long as they don't pull EQ and TU.

That CO is ugly.

100 points.  Ouch.   I'd definitely expect some resistance.  

Barclays will pull TU.  

[Anonymous]

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@CA91342 wrote:

My Information:
FICO Scores: EQ 677, TU 675, EX 767Go for the whole shebang (minus AMEXs).

1. Apply for the Freedom, Citi, IHG, Discover and Barclay. Have my fiance apply for the Marriot, Hyatt, and Club Carlson. AU my fiance for the Freedom, Citi, and Discover.  After 3-6 months of gardening, apply for the Marriot, Hyatt, Club Carlson, BofA and an AMEX. Have my fiance apply for the IHG and SPG. 

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You are in luck.  Chase seems to be in their EX cycle right now so with luck, they won't know about any chargeoffs.

The bad news is, I highly doubt Chase will give you more than 2 accounts for awhile.  Chase makes you build some relationship with them before they start granting the 3rd/4th/5th cards.

I do like the IHG card indeed...if you actually spend with them, they're always trying to find ways for you to earn bonus points.  

Amex pulls Experian so I'd get them.  Discover is super strict on baddies and Citi ain't no walk in the park either.

And how could you forget the Venture card?   I'd get that card just for the crazy starting limit alone.  It has a $3000 spend for $400 in travel credit bonus right now  Add this card to your portfolio at the end of your spree.  It has an  AF (waived first year only) but you can PC it next year to avoid the AF.

The major obstacle you're gonna run into is all these spend requirements for bonus at once.

[Anonymous]

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@TRC_WA wrote:

I think you'll be OK as long as they don't pull EQ and TU.

That CO is ugly.

100 points.  Ouch.   I'd definitely expect some resistance.  

Barclays will pull TU.  

---

The CO is ugly... and it was less than $1400.  Times were really bad back then.  I offered to pay it three times over the last two years and Citi told me that they wouldn't even report it as a "paid" charge-off.  I should probably pay it and dispute if they don't report it as paid, but I was mad and told them to pound sand.  According to my CRs, it should fall off 8/2018, but maybe I shouldn't wait that long...

[Anonymous]

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CreditFlunky wrote

You are in luck.  Chase seems to be in their EX cycle right now so with luck, they won't know about any chargeoffs.

The bad news is, I highly doubt Chase will give you more than 2 accounts for awhile.  Chase makes you build some relationship with them before they start granting the 3rd/4th/5th cards.

I do like the IHG card indeed...if you actually spend with them, they're always trying to find ways for you to earn bonus points.  

Amex pulls Experian so I'd get them.  Discover is super strict on baddies and Citi ain't no walk in the park either.

And how could you forget the Venture card?   I'd get that card just for the crazy starting limit alone.  It has a $3000 spend for $400 in travel credit bonus right now  Add this card to your portfolio at the end of your spree.  It has an  AF (waived first year only) but you can PC it next year to avoid the AF.

The major obstacle you're gonna run into is all these spend requirements for bonus at once.

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I'm an AU on my fiance's Sapphire.  How long do you think it should take to "build a relationship?"

I could probably pull for a Discover IT student card since I'm a part timer and upgrade later.

The Barclay Rewards is usually for "fair" credit, so I'm not worried if they pull TU.

I actually looked pretty hard at the Venture Card since I already have a card with them, but we already have a Barclay World Arrival which does pretty much the same thing for travel plus 10% back on points you use for travel and no AF.  The Venture's 2% on anything is tempting though.

We already have a plan for the 8500 spend requirements for all the bonuses, but less is always better.

IMHO, I think the Citi is the wild card.  Maybe I should have my fiance apply for that one and make me an AU.

[Anonymous]

Citi remembers, well takes note of baddies worse than the others you mention. Fiance should get the citi and you, barclays. if the economy continues to improve, banks are going to be in more competition with other, even average consumers get online and read, so new incentives may come out in the future. It's nice to have history with all of the big hitters to play.

[Anonymous]

You could wait to see if your CS gives some auto luv.