App Spree. How did I do? What do you think?

[Anonymous]

Let me assure you, this was unplanned -- really.  It all started last week when the screen on my 2014 MacBook Pro didn't have enough loyalty to make it through the semester and went black.  Long story short -- I really need a computer for school -- low on cash -- decided to app for Best Buy's Citi card -- approved for 2K instantly.

Just 8 months ago my scores were pretty bad, hardly anyone would give me anything.  USAA gave me their lowest card (unsecured) at 1K, Discover approved me for a secured card at 1K, and Lowes gave me 2.4K for a store card (CLI to 5K after 3 statements).

Fast forward to the last 48 hours, emboldened by the Best Buy success and a 22K (6.4%) auto loan from USAA last month, I worked up the courage to app for a few new cards.  These are the results:

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AMEX Gold PRG: NPSL

AMEX BCE: $1,000

PenFed Pathfinder Rewards AMEX: $10,000

USAA Rewards AMEX:  $2,000

NFCU Visa cashRewards: $5,000

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Basically, I went form a total revolving credit line of $7,000 to $27,000 in the space of a week.  Truthfully, I almost apped for more (Justice FCU) but stopped myself because, frankly, I was applying blindly with no real sense of direction what I really wanted or needed.  I was denied only twice and one wasn't really a denial in the strictest sense; Chase turned me down for a Freedom card and PenFed turned me away for their Power Cash rewards card with the explanation that they'd first like to see me "exhibit 6 months of responsible behavior with the 10K they just gave me".  What do you think?

[patoot10]

Not a bad spree. It seems that you have short credit history and the best course of action right now is to get as many no annual fee cards as possbile to build your base of old cards (long term strategy) and if some of those cards come with nice signup bonus and you hit minimum spend on all of them within your app spree that would be ideal but the main goal is get as many accounts on your report as possible while still young.

[AverageJoesCredit]

Really good spree , good diversification of lenders. Please share your current scores and income estimate if you dont mind. For Pf to give out 10k you are doing something right. With what you have now i wouldnt app for at least a year to let them breath and build history. Great job

[imaximous]

Good job!
If you really want the other PenFed card, call and ask if you can transfer your limit from the Pathfinder. When I became a member about 10 days ago, I was told by 3 loan officers that the new max is 10k for the first 6 months of membership. So they offered to split the credit line between the 2 cards I applied for, which are the same you were going for. So I split 10k evenly and now have the 2 cards at 5k each.
I was told it’s better this way because you start building history with them on 2 cards rather than one, and I’d have to apply again for the second card. Now I can just qualify for auto CLIs or request CLIs with soft pulls.

[Anonymous]

That is a great spree! Now would be a good time to go into the garden and let all of your cards season for a bit. If you want a Chase product down the road, you need to get under the 5/24 rule. Congratulations on getting a good mix of cards. Most if not all of them will use SP for CLI.

[Anonymous]

Congrats on the approvals. Very nice haul.

If anything, aside from aging together, it sounds like this spree will give you a very nice utilization buffer with that Best Buy card reporting high utilization (I’m assuming you bought another MacBook...we all know those aren’t cheap.).