How many months between credit card applications?

[oupsmince]

Because I have only 4 credit cards, I am planning to apply to credit cards that would respect Chase, Bofa, U.S. Bank and Barclays rules regarding card applications without being denied. I plan to apply for the Chase card in September, and then each of the 3 other cards separated by 2 months. Is 2 months a good interval or can it be 1 month or should it be 3 months?

[firefox100]

This is just my opinion try to increase your credit limits first put good amount of spend on your Discover card then request an increase do this for any card that has limit less then 10k. If do apply you may get approved for cards with low limits. Good luck.

[JoeRockhead]

---

@oupsmince wrote:
Because I have only 4 credit cards, I am planning to apply to credit cards that would respect Chase, Bofa, U.S. Bank and Barclays rules regarding card applications without being denied. I plan to apply for the Chase card in September, and then each of the 3 other cards separated by 2 months. Is 2 months a good interval or can it be 1 month or should it be 3 months?

---

You'll probably get many differing opinions on the pace of applications so here's mine.  USB is very inquiry and new account sensitive so if they're on your wish list you might consider them first.  Chase has their 5/24 rule to consider but no matter the SL, they can be generous with CLIs when you show them good spend and usage.  BoA can be mixed, some say they like a banking relationship, some say they don't. I have no banking relationship with them and they've been OK for me.  Not a fan of Barclays so they'd be last on my list.

Every three months would be my recommendation. 

1. USB
2. Chase
3. BoA
4. Barclays

[Patient957]

---

@oupsmince wrote:
Because I have only 4 credit cards, I am planning to apply to credit cards that would respect Chase, Bofa, U.S. Bank and Barclays rules regarding card applications without being denied. I plan to apply for the Chase card in September, and then each of the 3 other cards separated by 2 months. Is 2 months a good interval or can it be 1 month or should it be 3 months?

---

As @JoeRockhead mentioned, there's no single correct answer to this question, only opinions.

There is also merit to doing mini app sprees, i.e., applying for all 4 on the same day or week.  In addition to your overall credit profile, lenders will consider both recent inquiries and recently opened accounts.  By doing apps in sprees, you're applying for your subsequent apps before the new accounts report, so the only evidence of your previous application is the inquiry.  If a subsequent lender pulls a different bureau, then they won't even see the inquiry.

There is of course some risk to this strategy, because you never know  with certainty which bureau each lender will pull.  There is also a risk of adverse action from a lender when the multiple new accounts finally report.

In addition, opening several new accounts at once can make it harder or impossible to hit spending requirements for SUBs, so one needs to take that into consideration also.

I'm not necessarily recommending a mini app spree for you, just laying the possibility along with some pros and cons for your consideration.

[coldfusion]

---

@JoeRockhead wrote:

---

Every three months would be my recommendation. 

1. USB
2. Chase
3. BoA
4. Barclays

---

I'd go along with this as well, in part because there wouldn't be any potential issue with either the Chase 5/24 or the BoA 3/12 rule.

Chase and BoA are not fans of being participants in app sprees and while the overall risk isn't hign of AA being later taken (especially with BoA) neither bank has qualms about circling back and closing a new account 6-8 weeks post-approval.

[oupsmince]

I applied for the Chase Southwest Priority on 5/1. I saw the Chase rule that one needs to wait 4 months before applying, so if I apply for a Chase on 9/2, would that be good? Because of the Bofa 3/12 rule, Bofa needs to be second, so I would apply 3 months later. 3 months later, I would apply for the no fee U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card. 3 months later, I would apply for the Barclays. Would that work? I know the rules for Chase, Bofa and Barclays but I never had a U.S. Bank credit card before.

[JoeRockhead]

---

@oupsmince wrote:
I applied for the Chase Southwest Priority on 5/1. I saw the Chase rule that one needs to wait 4 months before applying, so if I apply for a Chase on 9/2, would that be good? Because of the Bofa 3/12 rule, Bofa needs to be second, so I would apply 3 months later. 3 months later, I would apply for the no fee U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card. 3 months later, I would apply for the Barclays. Would that work? I know the rules for Chase, Bofa and Barclays but I never had a U.S. Bank credit card before.

---

if you apply in that order, you'll likely be denied on the USB card.  As I said in my previous response, they are very inquiry and new account sensitive so when applying with them you're going to want to be 0/12 new accounts and 0/6 inquiries for the best chances. 

[FICOdawg]

What is your end goal?      

Don't forget that new accounts ding your score for 12 months so once you get new cards that's a 20-25 point score hit for 12 months.      Do have have high utlization now or just want to add accounts?         Personally I'd start with getting limits increased as high as you can on cards you plan to keep long-term before I'd add a bunch of cards.       This of course is if the goal is to get FICO score up as opposed to taking advantage of sign-up offers.

[oupsmince]

The goal is to take advantage of sign-up offers. I didn't know that US Bank rules were so strict! I will not apply for a US Bank card then.

[FicoMike0]

Im a little sub crazy too. Last year, I went for a $500 sub on a usb checking, followed by a $500 sub on their connect card, $2000 cl. At that point I was 1/6, 3/12 new accounts. Two months later I went for $300 sub on usb shoppers visa, $7000 cl. Since then, I have been repeatedly turned down for clis on both cards, due to a low turd score. My turd is 574, while my tu fico8 is 810. Usb seems to use very different score models for applications vs clis.