@Anonymous wrote:
Not really the point of the topic, but I think there are pretty significant advantages of apping in sprees instead of spreading out your apps.
Suppose a hypothetical that involves two people applying for 6 cards over the course of a year, each using a different strategy
Scenario 1: Siegfried applies for 1 card at a time every two months from January to December. Assuming that Siegfried is approved for the first three cards he applies for, after Siegfried's fourth application, he will already have 3 approvals on his credit report from the last six months. He will also have 3 approvals in the last six months when he applies for #5 as well as #6. Not always a dealbreaker, but not ideal.
Scenario 2: Roy applies for 3 cards in January and 3 cards in....say, September. When Roy applies for his second card, card #1 has not yet reported to the bureaus. All lender #2 sees is an inquiry. When he applies for card #3, neither card #1 nor card #2 have reported to the bureaus. All lender #3 sees is two recent inquiries. Then when Roy applies for cards #4, #5, and #6 in September, cards #1,#2, and #3 will all be more than 6 months old at that point, and won't be looked upon quite as unfavorably as ones opened within the last 6 months. Apps #5 and #6 benefit similarly to #2 and #3, as card #4 has not reported yet.
If what you are cautioning about is unplanned, capricious app sprees, I agree with you that that is a dangerous practice. But when done with a lot of consideration and forethought, there can be a tremendous amount of logic behind an app spree strategy.
That said, it doesn't necessarily mean that applying for a new card is the best option for the OP. All we can do is give them the information and let them make their own choices.
I see your point, but still prefer my way.
When I apply my way, it's in small steps. Lenders see a series of small changes. If I were to get a CLD or APR hike, it might serve as a "canary in the coalmine" - an indication to stop applying for new cards before I faced an actual closure on one or several accounts. Of course, the worst AA I've actually had was a partially-approved CLI request, so this is based more on theory than practice.
An app might be more likely be declined my way, but it remains just that - the account is never opened. Inquiries fade quickly. Short-lived accounts are ugly scars that last.
If you apply for #4, #5, and #6 in a short period of time, the lender for #6 might later do a soft pull and say, "We would not have approved this account if we had known about #4 and #5. That's too many new accounts too quickly, and we're closing your card!"
Then you have an account that was closed by the lender after only a few months. That could make other lenders uneasy, and slow AAoA growth.
I'd rather have lenders see the full picture and decline me up front than face closure later on.
