Well, I think I'm finally done! It's been a busy few weeks on the credit front, and I've accomplished most of what I set out to do. Dropping my run of approvals/denials as DPs for the community -- please note that I ran something of an aggressive campaign and I would not recommend others follow my path. My major actions were in the name of "finances before FICO" with an additional push toward lender diversification in my credit profile (basically, hedging against the possibility that Synchrony may or may not pitch a fit... but so far, so good). In an earlier post, I highlighted some of my pre-game action -- Home Depot CLI and PenFed Pathfinder approval -- so here's all I've done since then (in order of action):
- DCU: Applied for auto refi loan, approved with slightly lower APR and brought monthly payment down $100. Yay! HP to EQ.
- DCU: Applied for personal loan on same pull ($50k over 60 mo), declined but counter-offered ($5000 over 60 mo) which I have not accepted. Intended to refinance existing PenFed personal loan + payoff remainder of DW's BK13 100% plan + other upcoming loan-appropriate expenses.
- Upgrade: Went to CK and Experian to check pre-approved loan offers after the DCU plan fell through. Experian showed pre-approvals from Upgrade at an acceptable rate, so I followed that path until getting approval for $36k over 60mo (decided not to pursue refinancing the PenFed loan to increase my odds of approval with a lower, more necessary amount). HP to TU. Funds were dispersed a couple days later and I promptly wrote a payoff check to DW's trustee... her discharge process is now underway 1.5 years ahead of schedule and soon she'll be getting full paychecks once again, so this was easily the biggest win! Note: Upgrade has since pre-approved me for one of their LOC Visas with a SL of $500... I have *not* taken them up on this offer
- "But wait, this is a credit card approval thread, where are the cards???" My friends, continue reading...
- Nordstrom Visa (TD Bank): Instant approval, SL $3000, HP to EX. I stumbled upon this card while browsing the forums, of course! Not a Nordy enthusiast (yet) but the CL growth potential is pretty impressive and I appreciate the opportunity to build a stronger relationship with TD Bank... perhaps they'll even start giving my Target RedCard some luv! (yeah right...)
- Capital One Savor One: Declined, triple pull. I'd been getting consistent pre-approvals for the "good credit" version of the Savor One, but I really wanted that $200 SUB so that's the one I app'd. Got greedy, paid the price lol... interestingly, the only reason that came back for the decline was "number of revolving accounts" and nothing else. So that's good to know, I probably won't pursue a CapOne card again until I age the profile and pare it down some.
- DCU Platinum: Declined, still using same pull from before. After my "Truist prequal debacle" (see prior thread), I started thinking of what other products I might want to have in place for the near future. Thinking that a decent card for BT would be nice, I put in an app with DCU since I knew it wouldn't be an additional pull. They declined citing number of new accounts, which is fair. I'll see if I can get in with them next year or something.
- Wells Fargo Reflect: Declined, HP to TU. Continuing my pursuit of a BT card, I'd read how WF has given approvals for people as early as 3 years past DC even when IIB, so I thought I might give it a shot. But that door is not yet open to me, as I was declined citing previous relationship (I had burned them in my BK7). I did call in for a recon but that came back declined as well. Fair enough.
- Bank of America Unlimited Rewards: Declined, but approved for 99/500 secured version! HP to EX. BoA had a decent 0% window for purchases and BT on this card and I knew they'd pull EX which had not taken a lot of heat recently, so I figured why not take the shot? Was not surprised to get declined for that offer, but was pleasantly surprised to get a counter-offer for the 99/500 secured card! I had honestly forgotten all about that product; I had tried to go for BoA and trigger this offer a couple years ago but it didn't come up for me then. While a $500 CL is not particularly useful to me, the opportunity to get in with BoA in any capacity was mighty appealing, so I accepted. Will treat this card really well and hope for a speedy graduation!
- Truist Enjoy Cash (3-2-1) and Enjoy Beyond: Approved (HP) and approved (SP), both $3500 SL. I detailed this result in a previous thread, no need to rehash here. Glad to finally be in with Truist after 2 years of holding a checking account with BB&T to hopefully trigger the SP approval machine. You may be asking why I didn't grab a Future card for BT purposes... based on my approval for the Enjoy Cash, I had suspected that I'd get a $3500 SL if I took a Future as well at this point, and that's a little low for the $4k-5k I had in mind for the BT, so I reached for the fancy travel card instead! May *possibly* try for the Future at some point in the future if the SP train is still running and maybe land a higher limit, but we'll see.
So that's it! New auto refi, new PL, a wallet full of new cards, a slew of HPs for my trouble, and a certificate of death for my AAoA. Sadly, not quite above $150k TCL like I'd hoped, but I'll get there through SP CLIs soon enough. Time to dig my gardening tools out of the shed, treat these new accounts well, and begin the PL paydown effort!
Grats to all your success 
Congratulations on your approvals! 🎉
Whats the reason for applying for so many cards at once when you already have so much available credit ?
Starting Score: 512
I enjoyed your story, thanks @sarux3 and congratulations on your approvals, specially that unsecured loan.
@Mdowning30 wrote:Whats the reason for applying for so many cards at once when you already have so much available credit ?
In part because I was applying on an ad-hoc basis after squaring away my loan needs. If, for instance, I had gotten my Truist SP approval earlier on, I probably would not have app'd CapOne and the rest... likewise, if I had been approved on the Savor One or the WF Reflect, I likely would have stopped there. I expected denials and was willing to accept the HPs since I was already beating up my INQs the past few weeks, but I re-evaluated my position at each stage and made thoughtful decisions about whether I wanted to try for another within this window. Even though a number of products were firm denials, it was valuable to see where I stood with those lenders for future planning.
Another reason is that, among my current credit lines, many of them are closed-loop ("store") cards. Those are great tools in their own right, but my credit needs are evolving as my profile improves, and now I am focused on boosting up Visa/MC products that I can use more broadly. Even with my new approvals, my TCL is only about 45% open-loop, so it could stand some further growth. Notably, a handful of my TLs are starter, low-limit cards that I will be trimming down now that I've got stronger cards to replace them. I'm preparing to drop my Credit One card this week, actually.
Yet another reason is that I'm a big believer in lender diversification within my credit profile. I'm pretty heavy on Comenity and Synchrony right now, and while I enjoy those products and like having higher limits with them, I do want to make sure that I am relying on other lenders so as to avoid "keeping my eggs in one basket". This is definitely a work-in-progress, but I've now got several non-Comenity/Synch products with growth potential that will bear fruit in months and years to come.
I'm realizing that I could go on ad nauseum, but you get the point... I had several reasons for taking a more aggressive stance in building up my credit portfolio at this time.
Congrats on your approvals
