FlightNurse

90 to 120 days,

JohnnyGraz

Very interesting.

JWEMTX

If I got the PC Visa and Freedom in May, do you think I'll have a problem getting the Southwest personal and business cards in December/January (assuming they do the 50K bonus each again)?

mnscout

No, although it depends on many factors including your score and income. If you run into a problem with Chase, you can always try to re-arrange your existing credit lines with them. They are normally good about it.

pinguy

Anybody know of anything? I read in one of the earlier posts about creating a spreadsheet. I'm looking for an iPad/iPhone app.

If there isn't an app, maybe I'll create one. I have little experience in that world. Would anybody be interested if I did that?

Hope this post doesn't violate the Terms of Service of FT.



EDIT: Never mind. I found this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manuf...red-spend.html.

drextremeops007

I am trying to get into doing a mini AoR. I have never done this AoR thingy. I usually apply for cards when I like the rewards that it provide and rarely closes the account unless it is necessary.
Would like to get some feedbacks and advise. Thanks in advance.

Little Background

Age: 32
CK: 759
Vantage Score: 829
Current credit utilization : 4% , Average between 6 to 10%
So-Cal based
self-employed
Only 1 delinquent payment in the last 3 years
~~ no current loans ~~
My biggest spending would be in entertainment, electronics, f&b and travel.

My current cards (ordered from oldest to youngest)
- Citi Visa (student card 1st card)
- BoFa MC (from the old MBNA days)
- Amex Blue (the one with lite version of Membership Rewards)
- Amex Costco
- Discover
- Macys card
- Chase United Visa
- Chase BA Visa
- BoFa Rewards MC (Opened in June of this year)
My longest account is over 13 years and the average is around 9 years.

List of cards that I am considering
- Barclays Arrival (not sure if I would go for the no annual fee or annual fee version)
- Bank of America Alaska Airlines Card / Citibank AA card (since I already have a card for both Star Alliance and OneWorld - I am leaning more towards the Alaska card since they partner with a variety of airlines)
- Upgrade one of the Amex cards to one that gives better rewards (currently my spending on the Amex costco cards earns me an average of around $300 per year)
- Thinking of churning one of Chase United or BA Visa to get more bonus miles (On average, my spending alone on these 2 cards are worth around 20-25k miles annually)
- Any other cards recommended that suits my spending style and would earn me good rewards????

Though I am aged 30+, I am very newbie in my knowledge of credit and such. I know the very basic and try to not indulge in activities that would impact my credit history negatively as I am planning on buying a house in the next 5 years or so). So a few questions

1. My oldest 2 cards (the citibank and Bank of America) - I stopped using them close from 5 years ago. Should I closed them so that it would improve my chances of getting other cards from the 2 issuers? But I am quite reluctant as the age of those 2 accounts would probably help me in my credit profile.

2. Both Chase cards are due for the annual fees in the next 3 months - What strategy should I use so that I can minimize annual fees? (meaning should I close the 2 cards before the annual fee are due and then re-apply to get the bonus miles but do it in a way that there won't be any red flags raised where Chase would deny my future apps)

3. Any estimation on the chances/odds in getting approved for the cards that I am considering?

Once again, Thanks.

*poof*

dukerau

You should apply for Chase Sapphire Preferred (40K sign up offer, no AF first year, UR transferable to United, Hyatt, Southwest, BA, among others, 2x on dining and travel). Barclays Arrival is good, but they are stingy with approvals. Go for the AF version - it has higher bonus and you can always downgrade before the AF hits.

1. Don't close them.
2. Chase is tough to churn. The rule of thumb is that the card has to be closed for 2 years before you can get the bonus for that card again. Read the individual card threads in this forum for more info on specific cards and any exceptions. I would try to downgrade one of your two Chase cards to Freedom. Not sure if they will do that for you. But Freedom's 5x are often good, and if you get the Chase Sapphire Preferred, you can transfer the points you earn on Freedom to airline/hotel programs as well. If they don't offer a good retention bonus or let you product change to Freedom, I would close the BA and United cards. There is a free United card they may offer to downgrade you to. It essentially offers no benefits and 1mile per $2 spent .
3. Barclays is always the toughest. Apply for that one first. Since they pull TU, no big deal if you get declined (most banks don't pull TU). The rest I think you'll get since your credit profile is good. I'm not sure what you meant about "upgrading" your Amex, but I want to mention that you should always apply for a new card if a solid bonus is offered rather than product changing. You will never (in my experience) get any bonus for changing from an existing card to another, but you can get a bonus for signing up for a new card. Dumb, but that's the way it is. You could do Amex PRG for 25K, or if you're comfortable applying for a biz card, Amex BGR for 50K. Those bonuses sometimes go higher, so you might want to hold off (PRG was 50K in Feb, BGR was 75K in May - both were very short term offers that you had to jump on quickly).

FlightNurse

FIrst off CK and vantage scores mean nothing, if you want to know what your real Fico scores are, go to Myfico.com....

Before more forward have a goal on what you want to do. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Once you have a goal then study the cards and look at the ones that will help you with your goal.... If you are not reading the bloggers, do so, they have a wealth of info on the cards and what they do right and how to spend the points. THe biggest issue new people have is they rush out and get a lot of cards, but do know how to use those points.

Regarding your delinquent payment don't sweet it, the older it becomes the less of an issue it is.

JWEMTX

Thanks for the input. My credit score is 750+ and my income is stable (annual raise next week!) so I've suspected that I'll have to rearrange CLs (I really don't mind losing some from the PC Visa)

mnscout

If you can handle the spend requirements, I could think of at least five different cards that I would apply for, before touching Alaska. It's a great card and a program, but the sign up bonus is relatively small (used to be 35 and even 40K) and they have an annual fee for the first year. You should go for another Citi AA, for as many premium UR Chase cards as you can handle (not in the same AOR, of course, but make the plan), for both personal and business Amex SPG (30K offer will end soon), for Amex Biz Gold, and that's even without hotel cards. As to annual-fee cards, don't keep them if you're not going to benefit. I do have a few cards I'm gladly paying the AF for, but only because keeping them is worth the expense.

Wildcatz1

I had heard about PRG members getting SM messages about upgrades to Plat cards, does that happen or is this a misconception ?

Thanks

WC

ladoo420

Thanks all!

Here's the status of my sister's first churn. Decided to do only 4 cards to minimize required spend since she has a wedding coming up in Nov; plus it's her first AoR so best to thread lightly #breakingbadreference

CSP 40k - Pending
United 50k (+5+10) - Instant Approval
Citi AA Visa 50k - Instant Approval
Barclays US Airways 35k - Instant Approval

CSP we called recon once, they said to choose between the United or CSP. We will try again . Either way a haul of 135-150k and potentially 190k not too shabby !

ladoo420

Quick question - is it best to pay off all your balances (for the month of course) on your current cards prior to doing an AoR? Or to just keep utilization under 20% or so?

Flyfromscratch

Barclays instant approval.. now that's something I hadn't heard in a long time #luckyyou

Flyfromscratch

I did my first AoR sometime back and got my wife add on cards with all of them, so that all her spends go to my purpose.. now all of then are showing on my CK account.. I don't remember giving her SSN when I applied for add on cards, but I might be mistaken..

Now I am wondering should I close those add on cards, before I do her AoR or should I let them stay.. will it effect her chance of getting the same credit card, if it's already showing on her account..