1) Get your actual FICO scores rather than Vantage Score 3.0. You can get a 7-day trial of all three major bureaus (TU, EX and EQ) from Credit Check Total for $1.
2) Visit the various issuers' prequalification sites - Citi, Chase, Amex, Capital One, Discover.
3) If you use the so-called "shopping cart trick" whereby you can get many Comenity-issued store cards without a hard inquiry, be VERY cautious, and only apply for one or two cards that you actually plan to use. Overall, when it comes to store cards, only get cards that you intend to use.
4) Pace yourself and try not to apply for too many cards at a time. You often hear people talking about app sprees, but they usually had high credit scores to begin with, and as many issuers tighten up on their requirements for approval - Chase, for example, is notorious for not allowing anyone who's gotten more than 5 cards from any issuer in the past 24 months to have one of their cards - I think sprees are going to become more or less a thing of the past. Try to let at least a couple of months go by, if you can, between each app so that your new card accounts have at least a little time to get established and build usage and payment histories.
5) Make sure to exercise good credit habits, particularly always paying on time and over the minimum specified amount for each card, limiting your utilization (the percentage of your total available revolving credit in use and carried as a balance), and also paying in full whenever possible. Good payment history and low overall utilization are the most important components of your FICO scores.
