How I Got Approved for 3 Credit Cards in One day?

If you are a credit card churner, you know the itch to apply for a new card every couple of months for a juicy signup bonus is real. I am very close to meeting my Capital One Venture X spending requirements and ready for new credit cards.

I am not trying to brag with this post, but I wanted to share some data points/information that might be valuable if you are a beginner in the credit churning community. This post will discuss which new credit card I applied for and why I did.

And before you try this, I highly recommend learning as much as you can about credit card churning. I have been following this lifestyle for a couple of years and still feel like there is new information every day. The r/churning subreddit is an excellent place to start.

Why wouldn’t you want to do this?

If you are someone new to the credit card game and don’t understand how hard pull and denial affect your credit score and overall finances, don’t try this. You have to be comfortable getting a hard inquiry on your credit file. Whenever you apply for a new credit card, your score will take a couple of points hit due to hard inquiries, but it will recover in 3-4 months.

Lastly, if you apply for multiple cards for a signup bonus, you need to make sure you can meet spending requirements. Don’t ever spend extra money to get a credit card bonus, and you can not pay the balance in full. That is not how you become frugal and travel for free!

I am so paranoid about my credit card payments that I usually pay my balance every 2 to 3 days.

Why would you want to do this?

There are a couple of benefits of applying multiple credit applications in one day.

• It will limit your chances of getting turned down for a card due to multiple applications.
• If you have big bills coming up, such as tax bills, you can meet the spending requirement quickly and get the points + signup bonus simultaneously.
• Many new credit cards come with 0% APR if needed some time to pay. You can plan out and split which cards you will use to pay these hefty bills. However, to reiterate, don’t rely on credit cards alone.
• Hard inquiries have a low impact on your credit file. My credit score went up after my last app-o-rama and stayed flat after that.
  
• After each approval, the adrenaline rush you get is an incredible feeling🥳, just kidding. Don’t apply for just this reason.

Why did I apply for 3 credit cards at the same time?

I applied for five cards, to be honest. Let me explain why. I have a tax bill coming up, needed to pay for my car insurance and wanted to rack up some points to travel this summer. Going in, I was okay with getting a couple of hard inquiries and could quickly meet the spending requirements. Also, I am not applying for a home loan or any other loan anytime soon.

Therefore, I took this opportunity to add some cards to my arsenal. Always consider the three scenarios I mentioned above before applying for multiple cards in one day. Below are the five cards I applied for:

Amex Everyday Preferred (Upgrade offer): The first credit card I got was not a new application, but an upgrade for Amex Everyday Preferred.  For the last couple of months, I have seen this special upgrade offer in my account: 40,000 MR points after spending $2,000. If you see this offer in your account, I highly recommend applying for it. The highest signup offer right now is between 15,00-30,000 via referral. Therefore, I would be a fool to pass up this upgrade offer.

Issued by: Amex
Credit score required: Good credit score, 680+ and existing relationship preferred.

Key features I am excited for:

• MR points to transfer to partners for flights and hotels.
• You get 50% Extra points for using my card 30 or more times. I can easily meet this requirement.
• Return protection: Amex has the best customer service for claims. I will use this card or Capital One Venture X for any big purchases such as electronics or appliance

Status: Approved, $12,900 credit limit

Bank of America Premium Rewards:The $500 signup bonus after spending $3,000 is too good to pass up, and with $200 in travel statement credits, this card would have been essentially free to own. Nevertheless, I was not approved. I tried calling the reconsideration line, and it’s not easy to get a rep on the phone. The automated line just kept getting rerouted. When I did get someone on the phone, they did not understand what I was saying. I asked to lower the cash rewards cards limit to approve the Premium rewards card. I gave up.

Issued by: Bank of America
Annual Fee: $99

Status: Denied

JetBlue Plus World Elite Mastercard

I have been meaning to get an airline card for a while. When I flew to Mexico last summer, I took a United flight and did not have a credit card status to take advantage of additional perks. And, since I can’t get a Chase United card due 5/24, I opted in for JetBlue Plus. They have good economy class service, and they are New York-based. When I applied, I did not get the approval right away, and the status said they were reviewing. So, I called the reconsideration line, and the rep on the phone told me I have had too many credit cards in recent times. I explained to him why I wanted this card I mentioned above and If he could move some credit from my Barclays View Mastercard (previously Uber credit card). He agreed and approved me for a $5000 credit limit. I checked the Barclyays’ status site to be sure and saw the message below. Yahoo!

Issued by: Barclays
Annual fee: $99
Credit score required: Excellent to good credit score, 720+

Key features I am excited for:

• 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases and paying the annual fee, both within the first 90 days (met the requirements in 2 days, paid car insurance).
• 6X points per $1 spent on eligible JetBlue purchases.
• 5,000 bonus points every year after the account anniversary will cover $50 off my annual fee.
• Free first checked bag for up to 3 companions and me on the same reservation when you use your JetBlue Plus Card to purchase tickets.
• Hello, airline food! 50% savings on eligible inflight food and drink purchases. JetBlue does have the best free snacks around.
• $100 statement credit after purchasing a JetBlue Vacations package of $100 or more. If I can use this credit for the trip, basically, JetBlue is paying me to hold this card.
• Some of the Mastercard’s elite benefits:
  • Fandango — With every 2 movie tickets purchased, get $5 off future movie tickets or at-home purchases (through double points on Fandango VIP). Movies are expensive these days. If I don’t find any discounts through gift cards and credit card benefits, I will use the JetBlue Plus card.
  • Cell Phone Protection‎ — Comes with $1,000 in yearly coverage (up to $800 per claim, 2 claims per year) should your cell phone get stolen or need certain repairs. I will be paying my cell phone bill using this card now.  Via (Upgrade Points)

Status: Approved, $5000 credit limit.

Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card

 If you have not heard, the Southwest Credit card has a new offer – companion pass + points for signup bonus for most of their credit cards. The offer expires on 3/14/2022. This is a must-have signup because it is usually difficult to get a companion pass, and you have to fly a decent amount with Southwest to get the companion pass. I tried my luck, but got denied for “too many credit cards in recent times.” I was over 5/24 and knew I would not be approved if I applied. In my defense, there have been many reports recently that Chase has eased the 5/24 rule for the cobranded banners.

Status: Denied

US Bank Cash+

I have been looking at the US Bank Cash+ card for a while, as it offers 5% cashback for 2 selected categories. This is very useful. If you don’t have an existing relationship with US Bank, it is tough to get approved. I got denied a couple of years ago. However, during the pandemic, I got approved for US Bank Altitude Connect and established a checking account afterward by the grace of credit card gods. Some credit card issues seemed to have eased some rules during the pandemic, and that’s how I got in.

Issued by: US Bank
Credit score required: 700+ and existing relationship

Key features I am excited for:

• 5% cashback on two selected categories each quarter: home utilities, movie theaters and more. I have not seen another issuer offering a bonus on some of the categories they include. I plan to utilize this card a lot.
•  $200 in bonus after spending $1000 within 120 days.

Status: Approved, $2000 credit limit. US bank tends to be stingy with credit limit.

How did I get approved for 3 credit cards on the same day?

There isn’t any secret sauce to getting approved for multiple credit cards on the same day. If you read through Reddit and the FICO forum, you will see plenty of people doing this. There is a method to this madness. I also follow some of these rules when I apply for new credit cards:

• Be sure to space out 3-6 months or more between new credit applications. My last app-o-rama was in July 2021.
• Make all your payments on time.
• Before you apply, make sure you read up on credit card issuer rules such Chase 5/24, Amex two cards every 90 days, Capital One every six months one card and more.
• Never apply for multiple credit cards if you plan to buy a home soon.
• Open a free checking account with the issuers that are hard to get approved for such US Bank. Double dip by creating a bank account with a sign-up bonus and applying for a credit card in 1-2 months.

Featured image: @twopaddles