“App Parties” are the days in which you apply for several credit cards in order to take advantage of the fact that each bank pulling your credit report for your application won’t see the inquiries for all of the other applications you make that day.
I’ll share my successes and failures as I navigate the credit process.
Before An App Party
As you consider doing your own App Parties, you should perform a few steps to increase your chances of success:
- Check your credit report for inaccuracies and items in need of attention. You can receive a copy of your credit report from each credit bureau once per year. You can receive all 3 bureaus at once (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion), or you can space them out at your discretion. Don’t sign up for any imitation sites… the Federally mandated site is AnnualCreditReport.com
- If there are any inaccurate items, get them fixed first BEFORE starting your app party.
- Check with CreditKarma and CreditSesame for an approximation of your credit score. These sites are affiliated with Transunion and Experian, and give an estimate of your credit score. In my experience, these estimations are not that accurate, but they track your score over time, so you’ll at least have an indication of the trending of your score.
- Determine what your goals are. Do you have a trip in mind? Are you trying to increase your balances? Taking advantage of a special promotion? Answers to these questions, and more, will help you narrow down which cards are most appropriate for you.
- Determine your ability to hit minimum spend requirements. It doesn’t make sense to apply for a bunch of credit cards if you aren’t going to be able to hit the minimum spend to receive the bonus points. Understand what your financial situation is and only pursue cards that you know you’ll be able to hit the minimum spend. What I do is a mixture of minimum spends (generally $1,000 to $5,000 per card) and cards that require only 1st purchase (as little as a $1 purchase).
My App Parties
- August 2016 – Approved for American Express Platinum, Barclay Arrival Plus, Citibank AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard, and US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa for a total of 154,800 miles and points. Declined for Chase Sapphire Reserve and Sun Country Airlines Visa Signature (4 for 6)
- March 2016 – American Express Delta Skymiles business, Barclaycard JetBlue, Chase Hyatt, Chase Southwest Premier business, and Citibank AAdvantage Platinum Select business (5 for 5)
- September 2015 – American Express EveryDay Preferred, American Express Business Gold, Chase British Airways, Chase Ink Plus business, Citibank Hilton HHonors Reserve, and Discover it Miles (5 for 6 – Discover declined me)
- April 2015 – American Express Business Gold, Barclaycard Hawaiian Airlines business, Bank of America Alaska Airlines, Chase IHG, Citibank Prestige, and Citibank AAdvantage business (4 for 6 – Barclaycard and BofA declined me)
- August 2014 – American Express Hilton HHonors Surpass, Bank of America Alaska Airlines, Barclays Hawaiian Airlines, Chase Marriott Business, Chase Ritz Carlton, and Citibank Thank You Premier (6 for 6)
- April 2014 – American Express Business Platinum, Bank of America Virgin Atlantic, Barclaycard Arrival, Discover it, Chase Amtrak, Citibank American Express Executive Platinum (6 for 6)
- December 2013 – US Bank FlexPerks, Amex JetBlue, Bank of America Alaska Airlines business card, Barclay’s US Airways, Citibank American Airlines Visa Signature Platinum, and US Bank Club Carlson business card (6 for 6)
- May 2013 – Chase United, Chase Business United, Amex Business Gold, Amex Delta Platinum, Bank of America Alaska, and Barclay Lufthansa (6 for 6)
- December 2012 – Amex Business Starwood, Amex Hilton, Chase Ink Plus, Chase AirTran, Citi Hilton (2 cards), and US Bank Club Carlson (7 for 7)
- August 2012 – Chase British Airways, Bank of America Hawaiian, Bank of Hawaii Hawaiian, Amex Gold, Citibank Business AAdvantage, Chase Ink Bold (6 for 6)
- March 2012 – Amex Delta, Chase Sapphire, Barclay’s US Air, Citi Hilton, and Capital One Venture (3 for 5)
- January 2012 – 2 Citibank AAdvantage (2 for 2)