The Saga: Approved, Denied, & Approved Again! Two More Cards I’m Adding To My Wallet

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A week ago, I wrote about my latest credit card strategy and a list of cards that I am most interested in applying for.

Yesterday, I also wrote an updated post about my experience applying for the IHG Premier card and being approved for it. I was so excited that I decided to apply for additional cards. If you missed my original post, these are the cards that I am interested in:

• Card #1: IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card (Chase)
• Card #2: AAdvantage Aviator Business Mastercard (Barclays)
• Card #3: Gold Card (American Express) [READ MORE]
• Card #4: Alaska Airlines Business Card (Bank of America)
• Card #5: World of Hyatt Credit Card (Chase)

LETS GO FOR THEM ALL!!

Applying for five (5) credit cards on the same day will be disastrous for your credit score as you will be “dinged” for a hard inquiry for every single card. And I would imagine attempting to meet the spend for the welcome bonus on five (5) cards would be a bit stressful also. So I had no intention to apply for all five. I tend to only apply for two at a time.

Fortunately (or unfortunately), I got a little too excited (…more on that below).

MY FIRST CARD

First, I applied for Card #3: Gold Card (American Express) [READ MORE]. Personally, I highly value Amex Membership Reward points. Understanding that a large majority of my household income is spent at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets, both 4x bonus categories, this card is an obvious choice for me. And the good news is…I was instantly approved.

As I said in my previous post, Amex Membership Rewards has many valuable transfer partners, including Aeroplan, British Airways, Delta, Singapore, etc. And right now, referral links are showing up to 30,000 Membership Reward points for each approved referral (although still capped at 55,000 MR per calendar year).

MY SECOND CARD

I was so excited that I had been approved for the Amex Gold that I then decided (against my better judgement) to apply for Card #4: Alaska Airlines Business Card (Bank of America). Unfortunately, I was instantly denied.

To be honest, I know WHY I applied for the card (Alaska miles are super valuable) but I don’t know why I applied for the card right now. Hindsight is always 20/20.

I’ve now applied for this card three times and been denied. I’ve read articles and spoken to other miles enthusiasts about this card. The general recommendation is to establish a banking relationship with them (which I don’t have) prior to applying for their card. Apparently, it improves the chances of approval. And without the banking relationship, I still did it?? WHHYYYY??? Well, life goes on.

MY THIRD CARD

Finally, feeling a bit defeated from my second application, I felt the only way to end on a positive note was to be approved…AGAIN! 🤣 It’s worth noting that no one knows if they’re going to be approved for a card (including me) so I applied for Card #2: AAdvantage Aviator Business Mastercard (Barclays).

INSTANTLY APPROVED…BOOM!!

The welcome bonus for this card is tiered – 65,000 miles after spending $1,000 in the first 90 days and 10,000 miles when a purchase is made on an employee card – for a total of 75,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles. That’s enough for a business class ticket to anywhere in Africa. I dreaming of Qsuites already!

FINAL STAMP

Generally, I apply for cards when I have bigger expenses on the horizon. For example, if I want to obtain a welcome bonus for spending $2000 (over three months), I think to myself “am I going to spend ~$700 per month over the next 3 months?” If the answer is yes, why not be rewarded for doing something that I was going to day anyway!?

If you think about life expenses…rent/mortgage, car note, hotel room, plane ticket, going out to eat (or delivery because there is a pandemic), daycare, groceries, student loan payment, cell phone bill, wedding, gas for your car, electricity bill, water bill, taxes, new shoes, new computer because the old one died, doctor/dentist visit, etc…you’ll often wish you only spent $700/month.

Surprisingly, I forgot about the IHG approval from yesterday so now I have 3 new cards. Yikes! The next 3-6 months should be interesting as I have several bonuses to meet.

Wait…did I just say 6 months? Yes, I called both Barclay and American Express and inquired if I could have an extension to meet the spend for the welcome bonus. I remember several months ago, various card issuers extended the time you had to complete any spending to unlock the welcome bonus (including Citi and Amex) so I took the gamble.

The representative that I spoke with at Barclay put the call on hold and had to obtain the supervisors approval. However, the representative that I spoke with at Amex said “yes” without hesitation. I didn’t think it would work but I also had nothing to lose either.

Are you planning to apply for any new cards? What card is at the top of your list?