Originally Posted by
d3vi0uz
Background: FICO 685 (TU 715), 4 accounts opened in last 2 years, 5% or less Utilization, income $150,000+, current cards: AMEX Blue Cash, Discover It card, Visa through my local credit union.
Options: I'm pre-approved for Delta AMEX (50,000 bonus) and thinking about applying for the AA Aviator Red (40,000 bonus for 1st purchase and paying annual fee of $95).
I've been grooming my profile for the CSR but not sure if it's worth the wait. I mainly fly AA and Delta. But weighing the options because I don't want to lock myself out of CSR due to 5/24 if I get other cards.
Should I go for the other cards now or hold off til my credit improves and apply for the CSR?
Welcome to FlyerTalk,
d3vi0uz.
Be aware that business cards from most banks (Capital One being the best known exception) don't show up on your credit report, and thus business cards (at least other than Chase) don't affect your 5/24 status (because 5/24 is determined by Chase counting the number of cards on your credit report that show an "opened on" date in the past 24 months).
So if you switch to applying for only business cards for a while, you can get signup bonuses and still stay (or get to) below 5/24.
And you don't have to have a real business to apply for a business card. Just say the business name is your name, the business address is your address, the business phone number is your phone number, it's a sole proprietorship, 0 years in business, no business income to date, minimum employees (typically 0 is not allowed so 1, I guess meaning yourself).
To that end, you might find these two threads helpful:
Btw, there are indications there will likely be a Barclay AA Aviator business card sometime this year, but we don't know more specifically when: