Help me catch my white whale!

[Adidas]

TL;DR I’d like to get the BoA BBR and the US Bank Cash+ Cards as part of a mini app-spree and I’d like help strategizing/estimating approval odds. See my credit scores below.

The Story:

The first CC I ever applied for out of college was the Cash+ because I calculated it would give me the greatest rewards. I was obviously denied and I now realize how naïve I was to think I could get approved for such a great rewards card with literally no credit history. I settled for the Discover It Student instead and after a year of PIF every month I applied for the Cash+ again. I was denied again. So I settled for the AmEx BCP (which I think was a better card for me anyway) and after 8 months of PIF on both accounts I got the Citi DC. That was 5 months ago. I’d like to try to get the Cash+ card because in spite of it being nerf’d several times there are still categories I would use. I would also like to get the BoA BBR card for the $120 per year cashback. My question is what are my odds of getting these? What order should I apply in? I have a few ideas see my strategy below.

Timeline:

2y1m ago Denied for Cash+

2y1m ago Approved Discover It Student

1y 3m ago Denied Cash+

1y3m ago Approved AmEx BCP

5m ago Approved Citi DC

Strategy:

I think my biggest problem is the cash+ is a “Visa Signature” card which means Visa requires it have a 5k limit minimum and with my low income (<35k/y) I don’t think I’ll be approved for that SL. Instead I may have to apply for the Visa Platinum card and PC after getting a CLI to 5k in 6 mo to a year. Can you confirm that is the best card to use for a PC or is there a better one? For the BoA BBR if I plan on opening a bank account with them to get an extra $20/y should I do that as part of the credit application or should I do it in advance? Which card should I apply for first? If I need to settle for a lesser BoA card and PC to the BBR which would you recommend?

Sorry for all the questions and thanks for any help!

My Quick Stats:

3 CC total

AAoA 1y3m (Oldest 2y1m / Newest 5m)

UTIL ~ 3%

No baddies

1 HP on each TU and EQ in last year

According to my Disc/AmEx/Citi my TU/EQ/EX FICO scores are 758/735/749

No student loans/car loans/mortgage and don’t plan on getting one for several years.

[Anonymous]

I do not think that your income is too low for a siggy card, Chase approved me for my first siggy card last December back when I was only making $31k a year, my income has increased substantially now and they have been very generous to me. If you have your heart set on the BBR card I personally would open the checking prior to apping for the card. IMO it is not worth it just for the additional $20 a year, but to each their own. Do you have any comparable limits near $5k?

[Adidas]

Yes I do actually! I should have mentioned before my limits are 9k, 5.6k, and 3k on my AmEx, Discover, and Citi respectively. However I only got those after CLI's and in the case of AmEx 2 rounds of CLIs. But your story gives me hope that I might get the Cash+ card directly rather than needing to PC into it. About the BoA BBR how long do you think I should have my bank account with them before I apply?

[Anonymous]

I am not sure, you could probably set it up after the fact too, having the checking account should not make a difference on whether or not they approve, you have some pretty good limits. I cancelled my BOA card because they gave me a $4500 Alaska Airlines Platinum instead of the VS, was fuming because I missed out on the bonus and they were unwilling to give me a $500 increase. The BBR though does not matter as long you are approved though. You might want to consider joining NFCU in the future they hand out pretty generous limits, they have me my first card at $15k right away back in January. 

[Adidas]

Yeah I've seen a lot of talk about NFCU but I haven't seen any cards that have rewards I would actually use. I like the BBR because I wouldn't need to use it more than once per month to get the reward. As for their generous limits my util is already ~3% and if I get these 2 cards it could easily drop below 1% so I don't need more credit right now. But in the future I might! I considered the PenFed card that gives cashback on gas but I don't spend enough on gas to need that right now.

What do you think are my odds of approval for the BBR? I've been reading on the boards but I still don't have a good feel for whether I need to garden more or not?

[Anonymous]

I would be extremely surprised if they didn't approve you. 

[Adidas]

I just called US Bank to ask a CSR whether I could apply and then if denied I could get their Visa Platinum card for now and then PC later into the cash+. They told me no. They said they don't do PC's and that I would have to do a hard pull in the future to reapply for a whole new card. Is this true? I thought basically all banks allowed a PC from one card into another?

[joltdude]

As an aside.. it seems that US Bank is issuing cash+ with lower limits than before .. If you want the Cash+ apply for it (if you think your scores and credit house are in order)....... they used to give a different card with a crappy reward structure if you werent eligible for Cash+ ... (flexperks or something like that)... 

Not anymore

-J