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If I were you, I would wait a year and let some of those inquiries fall off your report before applying again. Meanwhile, stop applying for new credit.
I have noticed duration between new accounts is more important then inquiries. 4 months would be the bare minimum. At 6 months you should be golden (a couple of inquires for clis and other checks seem to ok within 6 months at least in my experience). With Alliant or Barclay I would not have any new accounts or new inquires in the last 6 months before applying, but other banks are far more lentient with inquiries.
New accounts are, IMO, more meaningful than inquiries but at the end of the day, fewer inquiries are always better. Don't fixate too much on score numbers. It is unlikely that a difference in the mid 700's would mean anything in terms of approval or denial. If they denied for too many inquiries, relax on the credit seeking behavior for awhile and then apply later (I'd say give it six months to a year). Creditors, especially recently, aren't taking well to excessive credit seeking.
With Barclay (or Capital One, since they seem to have tight underwriting these days as well) you'll want no new accounts in probably 6 months or a year to stand a better chance of approval. Preferably no more inquiries in that timeframe either. 17 credit applications in 2 years are a lot by most standards compared to the average consumer.
@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the replies, I’ll refrain from applying for credit for a while. I’ve been approved for other cards, but I just really need a dining card. I’m going to settle on a PC from my city DC to Costco for 3% on dining and travel in the meanwhile.
If you aren't otherwise a Costco member, remember the card technically costs $60 a year for a 1% increase over your DC in dining rewards. Just make sure it really makes sense. An extra 1% means you need to spend $6000 on dining before it actually eclipses your DC card. If you are a Costco member anyway, it's more of a no brainer.