Applying for multiple cards

[Anonymous]

Hey guys, so i dont know what my exact Fico scores are. I plan on getting them through this site very soon though. 

Credit one said my Experian is 598 (what?!) and Credit Karma says my Trans is 706 and Eq 689.

Up until yesterday, i have a $500 Credit One, $850 Cap1 Quick, $850 Cap1 QuickONE, and $2000 Synch Care Credit. AAoA is 2.1 years. Credit karma shows 1 inquiry with 1 small collections for $40 that will fall off in a few months. 100% payment history. Credit karma allowed me to dispute a ton of stuff and get it taken off really easily. Credit ones report is showing much much more stuff hence the low score.

Anyways, i was worried my scores were really much lower than what Credit karma showed so i definitely took a gamble and applied for a Chase Freedom yesterday. Got approved for $3000. I was pumped. Obviously my biggest line of credit so far.

Today, i was trying the pre-qualify on all the major websites. I pre-qualified for literally everycard that capital one, Citi, and Discver has. No prequals for Amex though :/ It was between the cap1 venture, Citi DC, or Disc IT.  

I crossed my fingers and went for the Disc IT and BOOM, i got approved for $6500! Holy snap. Maybe my credit is somehow better than i thought?

I have this itch, i know you guys know what i'm talking about. I really just want to see a big limit. I'm actually very responsible, my utilization is reasonably low at 35% (about to pay the rest off with my tax return).

I was thinking about applying for a Citi or Amex card also. If i dont get approved then i'll probably call it quits for a year or two and just take care of all the accounts that i now have.

Sorry for all the text. My question is, is it pretty bad to get 2-3 new cards in a few days? I mean its not like i have a bunch of existing inquiries or anything. I know that the new inquiries will hurt my credit. I also know that the new accounts probably aren't good for my AAoA, but i now have a much more vast amount of overall available credit than i did before so will that help offset the previous two?

What do you guys think? I got prequal'd for a bunch of Citi cards so i feel like my chances are good ill get approved. I just dont know if three new cards will end up hurting my credit badly even if i have much more available credit?

What do you guys think should i go for it? I'v been working on my credit and being patient for two years and i feel like its finally starting to pay off.

[Anonymous]

Congrats on your approvals. I don’t have personal negative experience regarding an app spree with any bank other than Chase. During an January app spree of 7 cards in 8 days, Chase got spooked and closed my accounts before the cards arrived. I was able to recon through a Sr Underwriter, but it was a thorough 6-day process. Ultimately they were reinstated. The other creditors I got cards from at the time did not seem to be spooked. Those were USAA, Amex, Discover, Citi, and HSBC.

I would suggest you grow the two you just got for about 6 months and then maybe apply for one or two more at that point.

[Anonymous]

Stop applying lol. Good spree and congrats. Let these accounts mature. Credit is a marathon, not a sprint. Your scores thru credit karma are not to go by. Check your FICO 8 scores. That will get you a better idea. Just because you qualify doesn’t mean you have to apply for every card out there. Only apply for cards that give you rewards for your spending patterns. And please always PIF. That 35% use is way way to high. Ideally get your usage below 8.9%. I never understand people thinking paying 12% to 25% interest is just fine. It’s not. I know many can have emergencies for a month here and there. But pay off those cards. And if you need to maximize scores, AZERO is great for that. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

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wrote:

Stop applying lol. Good spree and congrats. Let these accounts mature. Credit is a marathon, not a sprint. Your scores thru credit karma are not to go by. Check your FICO 8 scores. That will get you a better idea. Just because you qualify doesn’t mean you have to apply for every card out there. Only apply for cards that give you rewards for your spending patterns. And please always PIF. That 35% use is way way to high. Ideally get your usage below 8.9%. I never understand people thinking paying 12% to 25% interest is just fine. It’s not. I know many can have emergencies for a month here and there. But pay off those cards. And if you need to maximize scores, AZERO is great for that. Good luck.

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Thanks guys i appreciate the advice. ya'll are right theres really no reason to apply for anymore at the moment. I'm happy with the two that i just got. I don't care about travel miles or lounges or anything like that because i don't travel. I'm really only after cash back rewards cards. and Yah 99% of that utilization is on my care credit. I had to have surgery recently and didn't have insurance so i racked up a care credit bill from ortho visits. Once my tax return hits my checking i'm going to pay the rest off.

Also, what is AZERO?

[Anonymous]

AZERO is all credit cards show $0 except one under 8.9%. It gives you max FICO points in utilization category. You can use all cards. Just pay off each card except one by statement cut.

[Anonymous]

Many of us do it. To each their own .Like you said all youd be losing is an inquiry hit .Id try for an amex if I were you and get your foot in the door and then call it quits .That's just me though .Everyone's opinion differs .Imo its better to let all the accounts age together rather than bringing the AAOA back down 6 months down the road. I did quite the spree last month that started with 1 card and led me to getting a total of 7 in 1-2 days .Because I wanted them all to age together and that's what ive been working so hard on my credit for. I wanted to get in with all the prime banks and cards on my wish list and call it quits .And that's what I did .I'm in the garden for a couple years now .Don't need any more credit .Got more than I need now and will be closing out my starter cards as each of them reaches the 12 month mark and before the annual fees renew or just closing them out just because I don't need them any more . after getting in with discover and navy and usaa the only other bank I REALLY cared to get in with was amex so I said what the beck .Its just an inquiry .And I got in .Now I'm done and can let all my accounts age .That's one thing I don't have is good age on my report but that's what I'm gonna work on now that I've achieved what I set out to do. So ill be gardening my age and letting inquiries and my 1 baddie fall off .Til then I'm living through everyone elses approvals on here. I say go for it . best of luck in whatever endeavors you choose to do .

Oh and by the way DO NOT believe credit ones score .I have a 675 score and they show me around 598 .I think they're using old scoring models or one of their own internal models .That's not a true fico score .Your CK are more realistic then credit one .Also when those cards come in the mail read the papers .Your credit scores will be on one of those papers .

[Anonymous]

I advise against too many cards in a spree. To each his own, however just know that you open yourself up to AA. No matter what anyone tells you AA for opening too many cards at once IS a thing just search for it. Chase is notorious for this and has even closed cards of people before they even receive them in the mail (again there are threads about this). It doesn't happen to everyone but I think it's only fair that you know ALL of the possibilities before making your decision.

On another note congrats on your approvals and your journey and good job!

[arkane]

Agreed. Unless you have a thick and established file with excellent FICO scores, app spreeing can be risky business. Glad it seems to have worked out for you, but for now stay deep in the garden and practice responsible credit usage for at least 6 months before even thinking about anything that involves a hard pull.

[SouthJamaica]

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wrote:

Hey guys, so i dont know what my exact Fico scores are. I plan on getting them through this site very soon though. 

Credit one said my Experian is 598 (what?!) and Credit Karma says my Trans is 706 and Eq 689.

Up until yesterday, i have a $500 Credit One, $850 Cap1 Quick, $850 Cap1 QuickONE, and $2000 Synch Care Credit. AAoA is 2.1 years. Credit karma shows 1 inquiry with 1 small collections for $40 that will fall off in a few months. 100% payment history. Credit karma allowed me to dispute a ton of stuff and get it taken off really easily. Credit ones report is showing much much more stuff hence the low score.

Anyways, i was worried my scores were really much lower than what Credit karma showed so i definitely took a gamble and applied for a Chase Freedom yesterday. Got approved for $3000. I was pumped. Obviously my biggest line of credit so far.

Today, i was trying the pre-qualify on all the major websites. I pre-qualified for literally everycard that capital one, Citi, and Discver has. No prequals for Amex though :/ It was between the cap1 venture, Citi DC, or Disc IT.  

I crossed my fingers and went for the Disc IT and BOOM, i got approved for $6500! Holy snap. Maybe my credit is somehow better than i thought?

I have this itch, i know you guys know what i'm talking about. I really just want to see a big limit. I'm actually very responsible, my utilization is reasonably low at 35% (about to pay the rest off with my tax return).

I was thinking about applying for a Citi or Amex card also. If i dont get approved then i'll probably call it quits for a year or two and just take care of all the accounts that i now have.

Sorry for all the text. My question is, is it pretty bad to get 2-3 new cards in a few days? I mean its not like i have a bunch of existing inquiries or anything. I know that the new inquiries will hurt my credit. I also know that the new accounts probably aren't good for my AAoA, but i now have a much more vast amount of overall available credit than i did before so will that help offset the previous two?

What do you guys think? I got prequal'd for a bunch of Citi cards so i feel like my chances are good ill get approved. I just dont know if three new cards will end up hurting my credit badly even if i have much more available credit?

What do you guys think should i go for it? I'v been working on my credit and being patient for two years and i feel like its finally starting to pay off.

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You absolutely should stop right now and let your portfolio age.

[Anonymous]

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wrote:

Hey guys, so i dont know what my exact Fico scores are. I plan on getting them through this site very soon though. 

Credit one said my Experian is 598 (what?!) and Credit Karma says my Trans is 706 and Eq 689. Quite common for vantage scores to be 100-200 points off.

Up until yesterday, i have a $500 Credit One(call in and chat, act like you are going to cancel, get all of your interest paid refunded. then close the card right before the AF is going to hit), $850 Cap1 Quick, $850 Cap1 QuickONE (how old are each of these?  id be combining them asap, no sense in paying AF, also, what is your purchase APR?), and $2000 Synch Care Credit. AAoA is 2.1 years. Credit karma shows 1 inquiry with 1 small collections for $40 that will fall off in a few months. 100% payment history. Credit karma allowed me to dispute a ton of stuff and get it taken off really easily. Credit ones report is showing much much more stuff hence the low score.

Anyways, i was worried my scores were really much lower than what Credit karma showed so i definitely took a gamble and applied for a Chase Freedom yesterday. Got approved for $3000. I was pumped. Obviously my biggest line of credit so far. (hope you applied in branch and got the $300 free offer)  You need to look at the link in my signature as a springboard for figuring out what cards will work the best for you. Dont just opening up cards just because you can.  The only thing your credit scores and do is go down. I like to mix the best cash back categories with good all time high sign up bonuses.  Also in 90 days you can take a HP with discover and ask them for a much higher limit, and the only reason i'd even suggest it, is because they must like your profile to start you off that high.  dont do it unless you really need it though, as they will grow quickly. and it always functions as a 4.99% card via no fee BT)

Today, i was trying the pre-qualify on all the major websites. I pre-qualified for literally everycard that capital one STAY AWAY, Citi, and Discver has. No prequals for Amex though :/ eh, amex prequals dont always work. It was between the cap1 venture, Citi DC, or Disc IT.  No need to go for a Citi DC right now. Youre getting an effective 2% on non category purchases the first year.

I crossed my fingers and went for the Disc IT and BOOM, i got approved for $6500! Holy snap. Maybe my credit is somehow better than i thought?

I have this itch, i know you guys know what i'm talking about. I really just want to see a big limit. I'm actually very responsible, my utilization is reasonably low at 35% (about to pay the rest off with my tax return).

I was thinking about applying for a Citi or Amex card also. If i dont get approved then i'll probably call it quits for a year or two and just take care of all the accounts that i now have.

Sorry for all the text. My question is, is it pretty bad to get 2-3 new cards in a few days? I mean its not like i have a bunch of existing inquiries or anything. I know that the new inquiries will hurt my credit. I also know that the new accounts probably aren't good for my AAoA, but i now have a much more vast amount of overall available credit than i did before so will that help offset the previous two?

What do you guys think? I got prequal'd for a bunch of Citi cards so i feel like my chances are good ill get approved. I just dont know if three new cards will end up hurting my credit badly even if i have much more available credit? What interest rates were you seeing with citi post promo?  Thats a good way to gauge how they view you, especially with BOA and Citi.

What do you guys think should i go for it? I'v been working on my credit and being patient for two years and i feel like its finally starting to pay off.

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I think you should see what your actual scores are. Just pay the money and get the real 3 bureau thing here.  So long as you aren't going for a mortgage, then whats the big deal?  Just rememer with chase for easiest approval, they have that 5 cards in 2 years rule.  So you may very well want to see how many are showing on your reports, the discover probably isnt yet....I know this is a stretch, but you could double dip and go for the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Preferred.  It won't be super easy but its the only way you can easily get both cards without waiting 2 years or for a preapproval.

Again, look at your monthly spending, and in which categories its spent in.  You should have most major categories covered and in the interim buy gift cards steeply discounted using your new discover card.  I'd also like to see you bank with a credit union by the end of the year.  Are you a traveler? If you are not, then cash back is your focus, but don't let that preclude you from getting a travel card and its bonus! Congrats on the great approval!