@NRB525 wrote:A person with a well aged, thick file isn't really in the market for a spree. A spree is considered by folks new to credit, who want to add several accounts at once to start them aging all together.
Any rewards card that is really interesting ( for someone with a thick file ) comes with a huge SUB spend to earn the SUB. Stacking ~5 of those at once requires some intense spend for 90 days, which is why many of us wait 6 months or more for cards. As well, the limits now placed by many banks with attractive SUB makes it very important to NOT spree. The chances are good that the well-aged file already has landed on some quality earning cards, further reducing the incentive to dilute. Periodic SUB harvesting is realistic, but see "SUB Spend requirement" above.
On the other hand, building credit with cards that have no significant SUB, to just add to the file, there's not much opportunity cost if not all those cards get significant use.
I definitely agree with you.
Even if a thick filed seasoned fico'er is, say, switching from a cash back based profile to a travel-based UR profile, they are still usually going to spread it, especially if it means not stacking all your SUB's in the same 90 days.
But if no SUB's, which a seasoned fico'er would probably AVOID, than I can see it. But I see those examples as outliers and silly. As someone once put it.
@Anonymous wrote:I am curious to hear how often everybody applies for a new credit card. Do you have a strategy when applying to new cards? Do you garden? If so, what time period. I am trying to learn as much as possible and would love to hear everybody's strategies. This could include your experience, what cards you got and what you did to prepare for the apps.
I apply when I'm not getting the best reward for that catagory. Cards evolve so it's necessary to make adjustments to maximize rewards. I never apply for a card just because it's "pretty".
@Anonymous wrote:I am curious to hear how often everybody applies for a new credit card. Do you have a strategy when applying to new cards? Do you garden? If so, what time period. I am trying to learn as much as possible and would love to hear everybody's strategies. This could include your experience, what cards you got and what you did to prepare for the apps.
My strategy is to not apply for any new cards. I deviate from it now and then, like every month or two.
@NRB525 wrote:
Do you want the 2015 version of me, or the 2019 version?
I was thinking the same thing lol
I used to apply when the Big MyFico Flavor of the Month hit and I thought I may need that card. 
Now I rarely ever apply for a card. Don't really need them. Need to let what I have age.
I may only apply for a card to possibly replace one in my list or if I really need one and can't get one of my current cards to fit the bill.
I started off with almost no credit history. Throughout most of my 20s I only paid in cash or debit and the only loans I had were student loans which I paid on time. I thought I was on my parent's credit card building credit quietly but that was not the case! At 27 I realized I was very behind in building credit. I applied for my first credit card, Chase Freedom, in November 2016. I had no reputation with chase prior to that card. They approved me for a CL $1000. My Credit score was around 670s. In August 2017 I applied for a Chase Sapphire after paying early or ontime for that 9 month period and was approved for a CL of $12,000. My credit score moved up to the 750s paying the two Chase cards early or ontime in full for that time period. I let those be my only cards for 2 years until last month. I started spending more in preperation for a big expense and Chase increased the CL of both cards. Even with the CL increase I applied for 3 different cards to prepare for big expenses this summer. All three cards were approved (One for $30,000, one for $2700, and one for $5,000). So my timeline was...
1 Application 11/2016 Approved
1 Application 8/2017 Approved
3 Applications 7/2019 Approved
I think being very patient with the first two cards really paid off for applying to new cards recently. It was hard to resist applying for new cards but it helped my score stay reasonably high despite lots of inquiries by new apartment rentals as I moved often. We will see how my credit score is affected by the 3 applications at once as I'm sure it will decrease. But my CL has tripled and that was a goal of mine. I don't plan on getting more cards until my credit score bounces back or I have a large expense (usually travel) coming and could benefit from sign up bonus.
