Originally Posted by
flyer4512
As the post above mentioned you want to get the cards in late 2018 but MAKE SURE the bonus posts in 2019.
There were 60K personal offers out this time last year and I got my wife the Southwest Plus card September 29, 2017 so that is about the earliest you want to apply and have the points post the following year for CP.
Of course, that's fine and dandy in most cases, but I'm actually looking to use CP before the end of the year and am moving my spend completely off AA, so I'll hit CP every year anyway at this rate.
Certainly, the timing of when the bonus posts is important, but that has to take account of your particular situation. Getting CP before the end of the year isn't a disaster if you would hit CP anyway.
As always, caveat emptor!