@godscountry wrote:
@kkapdolee wrote:
I went about as far as you did on my app spree last year but never got any AA. You cited three reasons for yours:
- Too much available revolving credit (over $117k......about $87k is mine the rest is as an AU)
- Too much credit seeking (22 recent inqs)
- High revolving debt without any payments
I bet the most important was the last one. I did nearly the same thing as you except I never carried any balance and never let high balance report (would PIF before statement cuts). I applied to so many cards and was getting so many new inqs on my reports that American Express started soft pulling my report almost daily (I think they may be receiving some sort of notification when a new inq shows up on my report). Although AE soft pulled me so often probably because they were worried, after watching me for a couple of months and seeing that I don't carry any balance and always try to PIF before statement, even paying multiple times a month sometimes, they gave me my 61 day 3X CLI with no problem and let me open 2 new cards with them both with instant approvals. The cards I opened weren't some store cards either but were mostly prime. CSP, Cash +, PRG, etc.
I'm a big proponent of mega sprees especially with a thin file like mine (my AAoA is just over 1 yr). The end result of my spree was something like 17 new credit cards and 9 CLIs in a matter of months and close to a couple of thousand dollars in sign up bonuses and rewards. Plus, I have a solid base and will barely take any hit on my AAoA when I decide to open some new great cards down the road.
It's not like I sacrificed my scores either. My TU 08 score from Walmart was 770 just a few months ago. It went down recently when I crossed the 1 yr AAoA mark but I think that was just temporary due to rebucketing. IMO, it's just a matter of how well you can handle it. I synchronize all my credit card statements dates (don't care about the due date) and set up autopay for all of them. If you can handle credit "responsibly" (in the eyes of a lender) and are able to play the credit score "game", then mega sprees can be extremely beneficial.
Handling credit responsibly in reality can be different from handling credit responsibly in the eyes of the lenders. IMO, having high util but PIFing each month is just as responsible as having low util and PIFing each month but the lenders don't see it that way. You just gotta play by their rules.
+1 for everything you said.
I didnt sacrifice my credit either, in fact, after my new mortgage was added and all my new TL's my scores went up a few points.
but yes.....my main issue was....I used some of the cards "too fast" and let them report high balances. I'll bet if I never let them report those balances....(which I am usually good at) the CSP wouldve never been closed. Like I said, it was a lot of circumstance because my smaller balance cards I received in the mail first and had to use them asap and kept checking on site when I could make payment and most of them I couldnt.
On another note, several of the cards I received, I used the day I was approved so I had balances before I received the cards...BUT....those cards reported at zero. so some cards reported at zero and some reported balances, even though I had used them all from the moment I received the TLs.
Looks like you learned alot from this. Looking on the brightside, you still have some awesome cards left, especially the AMEX PRG, Discover IT, QuickSilver, and Citi DC...all wasn't lost.
