Luck does not have a lot to do with it. What were the stated reasons for the denials?
For the TY Preferred, I believe it could have been because I currently held a Preferred card (even though it wasn't originally a Preferred card)
For the AA biz, they didn't give me a reason and I didn't pursue it.
Every year, I'm just looking to get around 2-3 cc approvals total from all issuers, so I just go for other options when I don't get approved. Chase is my fav.. have had applied for 11 cards within 15 years and no denials yet (touch wood).