Mystery of Application Spree

BronzeTrader · ‎01-15-2018

Credit card application spree is very common here with this board and a lot folks do it. We only have a huge "Garden" thread for the followers. Great. Here are some the pros and cons of credit card app spree:

Pros:

1. Grow total credit line quickly. Reduce utilization ratio to some low level, like 10% or 5%

2. Grow total card AAoA and let all the cards age when folks stay in the "garden".

3. Diversify the card portfolio to multiple banks and different kinds of rewards.

Cons:

1. Credit stress. Lower FICO scores, many credit inquiries and credit denials.

2. Multi-line with low card credit limit. It is not very useful to have 5 cards each with $1k CLs, than one card with a $5k CL

3. Quality of card offering. Most of the good cards have high underwriting standards and app sprees typically do not yield high quality cards.

4. Blocked from future credit card offerings. The Chase 5/24 is an example. We all kick ourselves for not able to receive the 100k CSR bonus.

5. Sacrifice of welcome bonus. with a spree, the total required spending can be substantial. This can be a huge financial burden to spend and get all the welcome bonuses.

IMO, app spree can be successful for folks who have 2-3 year of stable credit history, but still young and want to grow very quickly. It can be very stressful for folks with very weak credit profile. For folks with stronger credit history, there is not much need for the spree and sacrify SUB.

I'll be just happy to apply 2 new cards a year and get about $1,000 SUB. If I add the SO's 2 new cards, it can be a $2,000 SUB a year. I'll focus more on the earnings from existing cards and spend the reward points....

CreditCuriosity · ‎01-15-2018

Different flavors for different people. Me never do sprees but add a card about every 3 months. Granted I have a very mature credit profile with accounts on my CR that are over 25 years old so I can take a beating vs. people newer to credit at the same time I was rebuilding and still have a few baddies aka lates and paid CO's that will fall off towards the end of this year. I usually get every card I apply for with decent terms and limits that I wouldn't even come close to maxing out. It just depends what your goals are as Inquires only hurt you for a year and AAoA with a "spree" all age at the same time and your AAoA will become stronger in the long term and inquiries will age at the same time and points will recover soon enough. I am not saying going out and applying for 5+ cards in a day is a good thing, but understand why people apply for say two chase cards then get approved prior to applying for other cards they want to avoid and get by the stupid 5/24 rule. There are ways to trick most systems etc. Just my 2 cents as there is no right or wrong way to do something and every person credit profile is different. What I don't suggest for certain is picking up 10 SCT or something like that with toy limits in a day or month or whatever. Without specifics to a persons profile prior to them doing a spree we can't be ones to judge as we can give advice, but ultimately it is their credit and hopefully they know best.

FinStar · ‎01-15-2018

Something that wasn't listed in your op was AA. The lending landscape changes quite frequently. Given the rise in delinquencies and charge offs with some lenders, it's no surprise most would tighten their UW criteria and tend to perform more frequent reviews - some which can be more hyper-sensitive. Barclays, Chase, BoA, Synchrony, Comenity to name a few - from CLDs to closures.

BronzeTrader · ‎01-15-2018

@FinStar wrote:
Something that wasn't listed in your op was AA. The lending landscape changes quite frequently. Given the rise in delinquencies and charge offs with some lenders, it's no surprise most would tighten their UW criteria and tend to perform more frequent reviews - some which can be more hyper-sensitive. Barclays, Chase, BoA, Synchrony, Comenity to name a few - from CLDs to closures.

Then I figure this will be a con for the spree...

DeeBee78 · ‎01-15-2018

@BronzeTrader wrote:
Credit card application spree is very common here with this board and a lot folks do it. We only have a huge "Garden" thread for the followers. Great. Here are some the pros and cons of credit card app spree:

Pros:
1. Grow total credit line quickly. Reduce utilization ratio to some low level, like 10% or 5%
2. Grow total card AAoA and let all the cards age when folks stay in the "garden".
3. Diversify the card portfolio to multiple banks and different kinds of rewards.

Cons:
1. Credit stress. Lower FICO scores, many credit inquiries and credit denials.
2. Multi-line with low card credit limit. It is not very useful to have 5 cards each with $1k CLs, than one card with a $5k CL
3. Quality of card offering. Most of the good cards have high underwriting standards and app sprees typically do not yield high quality cards.
4. Blocked from future credit card offerings. The Chase 5/24 is an example. We all kick ourselves for not able to receive the 100k CSR bonus.
5. Sacrifice of welcome bonus. with a spree, the total required spending can be substantial. This can be a huge financial burden to spend and get all the welcome bonuses.

IMO, app spree can be successful for folks who have 2-3 year of stable credit history, but still young and want to grow very quickly. It can be very stressful for folks with very weak credit profile. For folks with stronger credit history, there is not much need for the spree and sacrify SUB.

I'll be just happy to apply 2 new cards a year and get about $1,000 SUB. If I add the SO's 2 new cards, it can be a $2,000 SUB a year. I'll focus more on the earnings from existing cards and spend the reward points....

Chase's 5/24 rule actually had the opposite effect on me: I said screw it, I won't be under 5/24 until 2019 anyways, might as well grab some more cards.

I don't see myself ever applying for the CSR if the 100K bonus doesn't come back. I'll go for the CSP sometime next year when I fall under 5/24 again.

Anonymous · ‎01-16-2018

I personally feel it is a bit ridiculous to have 10+ CC's. I don't know A TON about credit scoring but I think too much emphasis is put on having a ton of Credit Card accounts. I mean, c'mon, 15+ inquiries on your report?

I think car loans, secured loans, and other types of lines of credit should be looked into if you really want to build.

Gmood1 · ‎01-16-2018

@Anonymous wrote:
I personally feel it is a bit ridiculous to have 10+ CC's. I don't know A TON about credit scoring but I think too much emphasis is put on having a ton of Credit Card accounts. I mean, c'mon, 15+ inquiries on your report?

I think car loans, secured loans, and other types of lines of credit should be looked into if you really want to build.

As you've discovered recently, the number of inqs or scores in the 800s don't have as much weight as you were led to believe. Those of us that have more than 10 CCs have them for various reasons. The #1 reason is because we can. #2 some of us like the churn and rewards. #3 we don't like our eggs in the same basket.#4 without us, some of you wouldn't have a clue into what a lender looks for in order to give you the best chance at a successful app. So, it's not all bad to have folks like me around that don't sit in the shower and sulk over a couple of inqs and a 5 point temporary drop in credit score, that in most cases doesn't mean squat in the real world of credit anyway.😉

kdm31091 · ‎01-16-2018

A lot of the benefit of sprees has pretty much disappeared in recent times. It used to be that when you applied for products the inquiry did not immediately hit your report, so other banks wouldn't see the recent ones. Now, it shows up pretty much instantly, and you are likely to be denied at some point for recent inquiries if they are excessive.

I don't think sprees are a great idea as you are damaging your score with an onslaught of inquiries and new accounts all at once. Best to spread things out especially with a thinner file. Thicker files can withstand more abuse, but I still don't see much advantage in spreeing. Choose and apply for cards carefully, especially as lenders have across the board been tightening up; you don't want appear credit hungry.

DeeBee78 · ‎01-16-2018

@Gmood1 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I personally feel it is a bit ridiculous to have 10+ CC's. I don't know A TON about credit scoring but I think too much emphasis is put on having a ton of Credit Card accounts. I mean, c'mon, 15+ inquiries on your report?

I think car loans, secured loans, and other types of lines of credit should be looked into if you really want to build.
As you've discovered recently, the number of inqs or scores in the 800s don't have as much weight as you were led to believe. Those of us that have more than 10 CCs have them for various reasons. The #1 reason is because we can. #2 some of us like the churn and rewards. #3 we don't like our eggs in the same basket.#4 without us, some of you wouldn't have a clue into what a lender looks for in order to give you the best chance at a successful app. So, it's not all bad to have folks like me around that don't sit in the shower and sulk over a couple of inqs and a 5 point temporary drop in credit score, that in most cases doesn't mean squat in the real world of credit anyway.😉

Gmood1 after going on an app spree

Gmood1 · ‎01-16-2018

DeeBee that's hilarious!!! 😂😂😂

Sad, but that's how I picture some of these folks crying over an inq and a few points. LMBO