So-So, Same-Same
My last couple of credit card app-o-rama’s haven’t been overwhelmingly successful and this round was similar. Here’s a quick breakdown of this past week’s application run:
Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard – 60k AA miles sign-up offer. Approved instantly. This is my third edition of this card since I started in the points and miles hobby 5 years ago. My only regret is that I didn’t get more of them. Starting with a denial would be a major downer, so at least things started positively.
Citibank Thank You Premier – 60k Thank You points sign-up offer. Denied due to “too many recent inquiries”. I called the Citi reconsideration line to discuss the decline, but haven’t found any powerful arguments or logical pathways around “too many recent inquiries”. If you know some, I’d be happy to hear about them! I thought that my last round of applications from roughly 90 days ago would be an obstacle for at least one, if not some, of my new card applications. Unfortunately I guessed correctly.
Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard – 60k AA miles sign-up offer. Denied due to too many Citi applications within the past 90 days. I actually had two promotional codes sent to me in the mail and tried one after applying for the Thank You Premier card. I had hoped that using a code would possibly bypass Citi’s application rules, but obviously it didn’t. Fortunately my credit was not pulled again but automatically rejected instead. I called to apply for this card over the phone and when the agent looked up my code, she asked why the name that I was applying with didn’t match the one that was mailed to my address. Later when I called reconsideration I learned that she didn’t plug in the mailed offer code that I gave her into the application, which was disappointing to say the least. So I applied for the card again, this time online a couple of days later, and with one of the mailed offer codes. Unfortunately I got the same response: Pending and later Denied.
Amex Hilton Honors – 75k Hilton Honors points sign-up offer plus $100. Hilton you say? Yep. Hilton points aren’t yet Venezuelan Bolivars (hyperinflation) yet, but they are deflated/devalued and have nearly ridiculously highly priced high end hotel redemption rates. However, I’m a Hilton Diamond elite now and I figured having some Hilton points isn’t the worst (points) play in the world. It’s near the worst, but not the worst haha. Down the line, I’m hoping for a few nice stays (for myself or family) at some tropical high end Hilton destinations, and at 95,000 points or so for a night’s stay, I’ll need a lot of them! Most of my hotel stays in Europe are still at Radisson Blu’s, which I find to still offer nice value, but I’ve started acquiring Hilton points recently too. I have the business Amex Hilton now, but the no annual fee version could be the one that get’s closed to make room for another card (persons are allowed 5 Amex cards, excluding charge cards, at one time) down the line. The introducing of the new American Express Gold card is intriguing, and that card could end up replacing this Hilton option in my wallet. I figured I’d get the sign-up bonus (and cash) now and decide what to do with the card at a later time.
Nordstrom Visa Signature – I do shop at Nordstroms occasionally, but my aim for getting this card was experimentation. There are some things that I’d like to try with the card that may have positive results. I may end up getting shutdown before long, but it will be kind of fun to see what’s possible here.
Target Redcard – in the past I’ve achieved 5x Ultimate Rewards by purchasing Target gift cards at Staples via the Chase Ink Plus. However those physical gift cards became kind of annoying as they can’t be loaded into a Target account. So I figured getting the store’s credit card would be easier. It’s possible that I could find some other opportunities with this credit card too, such as with stacking or even MS, but haven’t really thought about it much yet. Plus my credit limit is less than my niece’s weekly allowances, so that’s kind of annoying. On the bright side, at least 5% off every Target purchase is a win.
Beginning of the Middle of the End
I applied for 6 new credit cards over 5 days. It was kind of an unusual, drawn out process for me. I tried using a Citibank code several days after initially applying for one of the bank’s cards that didn’t work out in my favor. That wait stretched out my normal quick/same day app-o-rama schedule. In the end, I did get most of the cards that I wanted, but it felt like a bit of a failure. I also feel very limited for new rewards card opportunities in the immediate future. I have the vast majority of credit cards that I want or need, and the ones I don’t have, I can’t get for various reasons.
Over the past 6 months, I’ve been thinking of tapping out of new credit card applications and might just do that to try and get under the Chase 5/24 rule. Taking a break from new applications would be kind of refreshing too, as stepping away from that part of travel hacking would give more time for other things like earning points or keeping up with the latest points and travel news…or my website!