How do you determine which card(s) to apply for next?
 

Hello all,

I've been churning for about a year, and today got an "application pending" message when applying for the Barclaycard Arrival Card World Elite.

Here's info about my credit history:

Score: 767 (dropped from 800s since beginning to churn a year ago)
Total accounts: 14
Utilization: 0-1%
AVERAGE AGE OF CREDIT
5 yrs 3 mos
OLDEST ACCOUNT
10 yrs 7 mos
NEWEST ACCOUNT
7 mos

I'm unclear about the best strategy going forward when choosing which cards to apply to. So far I use only my organic spending to meet min spending. How do I figure out which card to apply for next, and should I perhaps apply for several in one day rather than one at a time? If I applied for several I might have to buy GCs and then use the GCs for my organic spend, because I only spend enough to cover getting a new card every 2 months or so.

Also, would closing some of my newest accounts boost my score? Since starting to churn I've gotten the Sapphire Preferred, Venture Capital One, Citi TY Premier, B of A cashback, Amex Starwood Preferred, Amex Premier Rewards.

I got denied (or perhaps pending? But IIRC it was outright denied) for the Chase Freedom card; must be because of the 5/24 rule.

Anyway, can experienced churners please advice as to what my strategy should be going forward? How do I choose which cards to apply to, etc?

The recent Chase denial and "pending" message from Barclay is making me wonder if I need to re-think my strategy. I was deciding between the Barclay card and the B of A travel rewards card as my next card to meet min spend on and I simply chose the most appealing one; was there anything I could've done differently?

Thank you!! This forum has been a wealth of useful info.
--
Decided to apply for B of A travel rewards to have something to meet min spend on, because I'm close to meeting min spend on my current card. Got approved with I think the highest credit line of all my cards. This will decrease my utilization even further -- no idea if this is something I should attempt to control by closing cards or not. Any advice would be appreciated!

Get what you need, not what you can.

Always a major issue for those who pretend to know the game but screwed up.

Barclay is notorious for being wary about churners and new accounts. I got a "pending" message for the Hawaiian Air card a few weeks ago, never been denied a CC in my life, and was worried too. It was approved about 5 business days later. I'd hold out and wait.

I got approved for Barclays Arrival Plus! Got an email today about it. Not sure what caused the delay.

Still, would like to hear about strategies going forward.

Happy to have some nice min spend to work on. ;)

So here are my options:
Amex Gold Rewards Targetted offer: 50K Membership Rewards for $2K spend in 3 months, first year fee waived

Chase Sapphire Reserve: 100K points (+ all the card benefits, $450 annual fee, $4K spend in 3 months).

I should be able to get $2K spend in 3 months comfortably, maybe $3K with an effort so for the Chase getting an extra $1K will be an effort. But teh priority pass will come helpful for an international trip later this year,

Suggestions?

The again - what do you need (the most)?