How many new accounts is too many?

[Anonymous]

I spend many hours a day reading through the myFICO forums and recently finished an app spree. My question is at what point do lenders look at a CR and say this person is a risk because they have opened X amount of accounts recently. I have had the same two CC for almost 4 years and two installment loans without tapping for any CC. I made a list of CC I would like to own and grow a total of 8 that I would use.
My list:
CapOne
Amex
Chase
Discover
Citi
Penfed
BoA
Marvel Mastercard
I had CapOne covered and just added Amex,Discover,Chase,Citi, and Penfed to my wallet in the past three weeks. I dont need or want anymore cards after I fulfill these eight. My question is will the 5 recently added accounts throw up red flags between each other and and trigger an AA? I tried getting the BoA was denied for too many new accounts/inquires so I am gardening until the end of the year to try again as I have a bunch of Inq falling off from my installment loans. I figured the BoA denial even after recon was a good sign to wait for the last two. I usually carry a $0 balance on my CapOne cards and plan to PIF every month and and grow these cards.

[Adkins]

Probably not. Barclays has been known to close an account after it's been opened if the person opens a bunch of accounts afterwards. Chase also does this on occasion. Since you are PIF, keeping the balances low and aren't carrying high balances I wouldn't worry about it, especially since you are planning to garden for a bit. 

[Anonymous]

Different lenders view the amount of new accounts on your report different ways.  If you are set on those cards, it may be better to just app for the rest of them now rather than wait, as the "new accounts" likely haven't shown up yet.  When doing additional apps with the other lenders, they'll see your inquiries of course, but not the accounts.  Seeing only inquiries isn't as "bad" as seeing inquiries and new accounts.  Also the inquiries likely are spread across bureaus, where the new accounts will be seen regardless of which one of your reports is pulled.

Also, what specific cards are you looking to take on?  You mentioned things like Amex, Chase, Citi, etc. but didn't mention the actual CC product you were interested in.  To me, that sounds like you aren't necessarily going after cards, but moreso lenders, possibly trying to get "in" with them.  You don't want cards that "you'll use" as you put it... you want cards that you'll use frequently because they provide you with worthwhile benefits based on what you spend.  If you're getting a card that you may only use once a month, chances are you aren't getting it for the right reason.  Just something to think about and consider here, as I of course do not know what your overall intentions are.

[K-in-Boston]

Agree completely with @Adkins and @Anonymous.  As long as you don't follow up all of the new accounts with lots of new balances as well, and cool your heels on the apps for a while you should be okay.

[FinStar]

In addition to what's been mentioned above, there's a few topics floating around that can provide some context on this OP:

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/My-summer-app-spree-How-many-new-accounts-is-too-many/...

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards-is-too-many/m-p/4874127#M1422425

[Anonymous]

My initial intent was to get in with the big lenders and build a relationship I'm not interested in store cards. I am only interested in cashback cards I do not travel and I'm not interested in MR so just the cash back will do with revolving categories and such. Each offers cash back in different circumstances and that is where they become useful to me. I have a savings with Penfed so naturally it made sense to to get the CC when they HP me for the savings account but will make use of their card as well.

[Anonymous]

Which PenFed card do you have? Since you said you're only interested in cashback I'm going to assume it's the PCR, which means you have 3 cards catering to general spending, CapOne QS, Citi DC and PenFed PCR, 2 of them will probably end up in the sock drawer.

[Anonymous]

Yes I have the PCR which will make it way into the SD once it has matured. My penfed card wasnt on my list but I decided to open a savings account through them and after I found out they HP I went for the card same day. QS is 1.5% but it was upgraded from a platium so not much life left before there are no more CLI. My Citi DC has a SL of $500 so it will be awhile before I could use it as a daily driver. My CFU has been my go to for standard cashback rewards until I grow my Citi DC.

[Blackswizz750]

Its OK to have cashback cards but analyse your spend for the year and use the card thet will get you the most back then. Having 10 Cashback cards will dilute your cash back(unless) you can spend $1000's  on each card or at least hit the max with discover in its rotating categories and your BCE with the number to get a nice amount of cash back each year rom groceries. 

[Anonymous]

Everything I spend is run through CC then PIF at the end of the month. I have categorized my spending habits and per month and estimated what I spend yearly. I have only had CapOne cards with no categories or cash back until this past month (platinum upgraded to QS) now I am able to utilize the categories and get cashback on the new cards instead of just using my non rewards CC. I understand the dilution of cashback by having many Cashback cards but if it's the only feature that is useful to me then it is the only style of card I am interested in. These cards serve two purposes

1. They utilize the only feature I'm interested in currently (needs may change some day).
2. They get my foot in the door with the big lenders and allows me to build a relationship and grow the credit lines on their cards.

I'm am by no means interested in maintaining a bunch of cards I will never use so I took time when I made my list decided what I wanted to get out of the cards and applied for what I assumed my credit score/history would approve me so I wouldn't be wasting HP.