1. there isnt anything specific to wait, but personally I try to keep to a rough 3 month schedule, and space each round of apps at least 91 days (13 weeks) apart

2. order only matters if one of the cards needs a clean 90 days prior to app. I think in Canada, only C1 requires this? Chase may be a bit more strict than others based on what I've heard/read, so I'd probably do that first if i was paranoid

3. I never tried RFD myself, but I never had any issues with applications from GCR vs direct. The only denial I got was recently due to a TD system glitch. I called in after and was approved over the phone (new card # showing in my TD account). I assume that can happen whether GCR or direct.

4. no, i would not resubmit from different sites. I prefer to call in directly to inquire about the denial. Sometimes its just a glitch. Sometimes its a soft denial, and you just need to move some credit around. If it is actually a real denial, then that tells me i screwed up somewhere, either applying too much or too close together. Never got one of these before.

We do 1, sometimes 2, applications every 3 months usually. Over the last year, courtesy of the HD credit security fiasco, we've been monitoring our Equifax constantly. I request scores for both of us every 7-10 days. We've noticed that 1-2 per 3 month keeps the score pretty steady without any issues. We'll get a small dip after the app, then a larger dip when that new trade starts reporting, then by 3 months, the score is fully recovered.