@jesseh wrote:I'm gonna miss out on all sign up bonusses... I don't expect to get the CSP or ihg bonus.
So the sign up bonusses are no reason to apply for me at all. (although the first spend bonus on the ihg is nice)
Which cards should I go for?
Preapprovals:
Barclay: Rewards (you may also be interested in Ring, Arrival Plus)Amex: BCE, ED, Green, Gold
Cap1: QSone, Platinum
Citi: DC, AA plat select, TY Pref. (you may also be interested in TY Premier, Hhonors)
or something else?
Are you sure those are true pre approvals? Barclays pre approval site isn't very reliable. Amex's is, but only if it says "Congratulations. You are prequalified for the following offers" or something to that effect; if it says anything about "we recommend," then it's not a true prequal. Cap1 I'd hold off until you qualify for QS (with no AF) and/or Venture.
@jesseh wrote:
Where should i stop in terms of inqs? Barclays will be my fourth TU inq
That is a question each person has to consider for themselves, there is no answer book for number of INQ.
On the bright side, any INQ you get now will be no longer affecting your score in 12 months, so INQ are all temporary.
With the CSP, do you pay rent? Even if there's a small fee, using rent to contribute to bonus spend is a good idea. What is your overall spend rate per month? The 40,000 UR points that it is possible to earn with this card (plus the $4k spend to get it = 44,000 points at least) can be transferred to United Airlines where a typical round-trip domestic flight goes for about 25,000 miles. Hyatt hotels is also a transfer partner, and the points per night tend to be reasonable, so you can get a couple nights at a nice Hyatt.
Regarding the Barclay Rewards card, it give 2% cash back, however you already have the CSP in your wallet, and the transfer value of those points is often close to 2c per point. Dining out, including fast food, is 2x points on the CSP, but even basic spend could be similar return to the Barclay Rewards card.
This is the point where you decide if you are going Snail or Spree. You have some large credit lines now, due to your good credit history. The CSP has the possibility to earn good points, and transfer those to useful partners, and if you can make the spend, you get a clear payback in terms of being able to make a trip for nearly free. The likelihood that you will come back around to get a CSP bonus is probably near zero, yet you have the opportunity to concentrate spend to get that bonus now.
Edit to add: Your initial goal was to get high credit limits. You accomplished that with your first two cards. At your spend level, any additional cards will not make any noticeable difference in your Utilization percentage, and thus will not noticeably increase your FICO score. Taking more INQ, that has the definite possibility to lower your FICO score temporarily. At this point, the only thing that is going to really improve your FICO score is time; more months of solid payment history. You have enough cards and enough CL to accomplish this. Could you get more cards? Yes, definitely. Are they going to really give you more benefits? Doubtful, unless you can cover the bonus spend requirements. In FICO score benefits? Additional cards not helpful.
