 |
| California Forest Photography by Anne |
Another lesson learned and to be passed along. As many of you know, I did a six-card application in mid-February with terrific results (five of six approvals). I then got greedy and tried the American Airlines 75K frequent flier miles offer on the last day of the promotion, 2/28/11, and was denied as a previous card holder. They had pulled a credit score (at least that is what the denial said).
Well, I went in again, and got a flat out denial on the Capital One card for the 100K frequent flier mile match. I don’t have the reason yet, but too many inquiries will be the answer. It is not my credit score or history.
So what is the lesson here? Even experienced applicants can get caught up in the excitement of the moment. There was no way I should have applied for that card.
We are in a very tempting time. The sign-up bonuses are so huge and profitable they are very hard to ignore. I got five nice offers approved in February and have taken seven hits to my credit report. I expect my scores will have dropped 15-35 points. We are fortunate that our home is paid for and we have sufficient cash reserves that we don’t need any loans.
I’m going to have to review my methodology. The bunching I use in my applications (multiple applications all on the same day) may need to changed. I may have to start just taking the monster offers when they happen one at a time. There are just so many. If I take that approach, I’m sure that there will be denials in my future for too many inquires in recent months. Time to back off and regroup.
So I’m out of the game for a few months at least. If a biggie offer comes along, I’ll have to pass until some more inquiries fall off my report at the two-year mark. I’m guessing I may not apply for credit cards again until late summer. Excess denials just don’t make sense. I am at that point now. I’m glad I have plenty of miles in the bank. But its time to take my own advice again:
Your credit is one of your most important assets.
