No one seems to have mentioned the impact on AAoA (average age of accounts) with app sprees and repeated app'ing. While lenders might not look specifically at this number, it certainly affects your FICO scores, sometimes brutally.
I would keep two guidelines in mind: first, wait six months after a few apps before heading out there again, using the opening date of the most recent accounts to set my six-month wait. (This opening date is what new lenders will see, not when you app'd or when you received or activated your card. OK, they'll see the app date if it's on the CRA that they pull, but I think that they look at the age, aka opening date, of accounts.) Next, I learned this the hard way: don't app if a new account will drop your AAoA down one year. So if your AAoA is 4y 6m, and a new account will drop it to 4y 2m, well, OK. But if you're at 4y 6m, and a new account drops you to 3y 9m, I'd wait.
If you want to ignore the impact of FICO scoring, try to put yourself in the mind of the lender: is there some reason that you're app'ing so frequently? Are you in financial difficulties and you're scrambling for new credit, expecting to have to live off of CC's for a long stretch? Are you an undisciplined shopaholic? And so forth. If you do want to app again within 6 months, just have some cogent reasons that you can explain on a recon --you're upgrading your credit portfolio, and you think that their card is perfect for you, and you anticipate some heavy use for specific purposes, yada yada yada. Because lenders get nervous with what they see as wild shotgun applying.
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
