Multiple credit cards from same company

[frugalnacho]

I will be spending close to $20k in the next few months (in addition to my normal spending) so I am trying to take advantage of as many credit card sign up bonuses as I can.  I applied and was approved instantly for the chase sapphire reserve card. I will put the $4k required on it and get the 100,000 sign up bonus which I plan to redeem for $1,500 worth of travel this winter. The next card I was going to sign up for was the IHG rewards card, and I didn't realize it was also through chase. I completed the application process but was told they need to review my application and I should hear from them by regular mail in 7-10 days.  I am over qualified for the card, but think that signing up for the chase sapphire reserve with a $21k limit less than an hour before may have given them pause.

UPDATE: I just received an email that I was approved and my IHG card is on the way

I've been waiting to apply for the cards because nearly all the spending is going to on a single large purchase, so I will need to walk in with enough credit cards to split the $17k purchase, and I needed to wait so that I am still within the 3 month period that it required.

I was hoping to sign up for another 3 or 4 cards to maximize my bonus potential.  Is it going to be a problem getting approved for that many more cards in such a short time frame (the next week or so)?  Is it only a problem if they are offered by the same company (ie maybe chase won't want to approve me for several more, but I could go with capital one, etc.)?

I hope they don't deny me the IHG rewards card.  I only have to put $1k on the card to receive 80,000 points, and the fee is waived the first year (it's $49/yr after that and I receive a free hotel night each year which is fair considering the $49 annual fee).

Secondary question regarding the chase sapphire reserve: The annual fee is $450, but they give $300 credit towards travel in addition to the 100,000 sign up bonus.  My plan is to sign up for a different chase card in the next year, transfer any remaining points on my account, and canceling the sapphire reserve before my 1 year anniversary to avoid paying the $450/yr fee after year 1.  I anticipate using most of the $300 travel credit and 100,000 points before next spring, but if there are any points left on the account I don't want to lose them.  Is this a feasible plan?

[ooeei]

I will be spending close to $20k in the next few months (in addition to my normal spending) so I am trying to take advantage of as many credit card sign up bonuses as I can.  I applied and was approved instantly for the chase sapphire reserve card. I will put the $4k required on it and get the 100,000 sign up bonus which I plan to redeem for $1,500 worth of travel this winter. The next card I was going to sign up for was the IHG rewards card, and I didn't realize it was also through chase. I completed the application process but was told they need to review my application and I should hear from them by regular mail in 7-10 days.  I am over qualified for the card, but think that signing up for the chase sapphire reserve with a $21k limit less than an hour before may have given them pause.

I've been waiting to apply for the cards because nearly all the spending is going to on a single large purchase, so I will need to walk in with enough credit cards to split the $17k purchase, and I needed to wait so that I am still within the 3 month period that it required.

I was hoping to sign up for another 3 or 4 cards to maximize my bonus potential.  Is it going to be a problem getting approved for that many more cards in such a short time frame (the next week or so)?  Is it only a problem if they are offered by the same company (ie maybe chase won't want to approve me for several more, but I could go with capital one, etc.)?

I hope they don't deny me the IHG rewards card.  I only have to put $1k on the card to receive 80,000 points, and the fee is waived the first year (it's $49/yr after that and I receive a free hotel night each year which is fair considering the $49 annual fee).

Secondary question regarding the chase sapphire reserve: The annual fee is $450, but they give $300 credit towards travel in addition to the 100,000 sign up bonus.  My plan is to sign up for a different chase card in the next year, transfer any remaining points on my account, and canceling the sapphire reserve before my 1 year anniversary to avoid paying the $450/yr fee after year 1.  I anticipate using most of the $300 travel credit and 100,000 points before next spring, but if there are any points left on the account I don't want to lose them.  Is this a feasible plan?

Transferring the points before cancelling shouldn't be an issue, but keep in mind you won't get the 1.5x redemption rate for travel.  Chase also now has a clause in their agreement somewhere that basically says they can take back points and close accounts if they suspect churning.  I don't remember the exact phrasing, but I haven't heard of anyone having issues yet.  That's something you may want to keep an eye on.

I signed up for the Sapphire Preferred, then found out about the Reserve a month later.  I got the "waiting to review" message on them both, and ended up calling in to speed up the process for the Reserve (I just waited it out on the Preferred).  Turned out they had some weird address or something show up, and needed to confirm my identity.  Approved immediately when I called in.

edit:  I also have a Chase Freedom and Chase Amazon card, both are from awhile back though.

[frugalnacho]

I will be spending close to $20k in the next few months (in addition to my normal spending) so I am trying to take advantage of as many credit card sign up bonuses as I can.  I applied and was approved instantly for the chase sapphire reserve card. I will put the $4k required on it and get the 100,000 sign up bonus which I plan to redeem for $1,500 worth of travel this winter. The next card I was going to sign up for was the IHG rewards card, and I didn't realize it was also through chase. I completed the application process but was told they need to review my application and I should hear from them by regular mail in 7-10 days.  I am over qualified for the card, but think that signing up for the chase sapphire reserve with a $21k limit less than an hour before may have given them pause.

I've been waiting to apply for the cards because nearly all the spending is going to on a single large purchase, so I will need to walk in with enough credit cards to split the $17k purchase, and I needed to wait so that I am still within the 3 month period that it required.

I was hoping to sign up for another 3 or 4 cards to maximize my bonus potential.  Is it going to be a problem getting approved for that many more cards in such a short time frame (the next week or so)?  Is it only a problem if they are offered by the same company (ie maybe chase won't want to approve me for several more, but I could go with capital one, etc.)?

I hope they don't deny me the IHG rewards card.  I only have to put $1k on the card to receive 80,000 points, and the fee is waived the first year (it's $49/yr after that and I receive a free hotel night each year which is fair considering the $49 annual fee).

Secondary question regarding the chase sapphire reserve: The annual fee is $450, but they give $300 credit towards travel in addition to the 100,000 sign up bonus.  My plan is to sign up for a different chase card in the next year, transfer any remaining points on my account, and canceling the sapphire reserve before my 1 year anniversary to avoid paying the $450/yr fee after year 1.  I anticipate using most of the $300 travel credit and 100,000 points before next spring, but if there are any points left on the account I don't want to lose them.  Is this a feasible plan?

Transferring the points before cancelling shouldn't be an issue, but keep in mind you won't get the 1.5x redemption rate for travel.  Chase also now has a clause in their agreement somewhere that basically says they can take back points and close accounts if they suspect churning.  I don't remember the exact phrasing, but I haven't heard of anyone having issues yet.  That's something you may want to keep an eye on.

I signed up for the Sapphire Preferred, then found out about the Reserve a month later.  I got the "waiting to review" message on them both, and ended up calling in to speed up the process for the Reserve (I just waited it out on the Preferred).  Turned out they had some weird address or something show up, and needed to confirm my identity.  Approved immediately when I called in.

edit:  I also have a Chase Freedom and Chase Amazon card, both are from awhile back though.

I'm not really churning, just putting legitimate expenses onto brand new cards to take advantage of sign up bonus.  Even after the 2 new cards I mentioned I'll have close to $15k (plus my normal cc spending over the next 3 months) to meet even more sign up bonus.  I would be pissed if they tried to renege after I met all their requirements legitimately.  There are several more cards that offer smaller, but still substantial bonuses.  Like $150 back after spending $500, with no annual fee.  Why would I not also sign up for as many of those as possible?  I'm spending this money anyway, so it's like leaving free money on the table IMO.  My credit score is around 840, and I don't care if it gets lowered by opening tons of new CC.  I won't be applying for a new mortgage or loan anytime soon (other than new cc), and I won't be carrying a balance on any CC ever.

I will try to redeem the points within the next year to get the 1.5x redemption bonus.  If I have any left over I'll crunch the numbers to see if it makes sense to pay the high annual fee for the card to retain the 1.5x redemption bonus.

Should I be putting them all in my name, or should I get a bunch in my wife's name as well so it seems less suspicious?

What's the maximum allowed credit cards I will be allowed to open before they deny me?

EDIT:  For the record I have an unused MC cc, an AMEX cc that I recently stopped using, and 2 other cc that I use regularly (the costco visa and the citi MC double cash back) - so 4 cc in my name before I started signing up for the bonuses

[Heroes821]

I'm not sure about the specifics of those rewards programs, but personally I like the cash back cards rather than managing points for things I might never use. (that being said I had a british airways card that made it very difficult to spend my hundreds of thousands of points even on their supposedly partnered airlines and crappy web interface).  Citi has a 2% cash back card and I use a USAA and Chase 1.5% cash back cards. Eh 2% isn't a ton of money essentially off your purchase price, but it works on all purchases so you can use it on all of your monthly bills and end up with a nice pile of cash back.

[ooeei]

Should I be putting them all in my name, or should I get a bunch in my wife's name as well so it seems less suspicious?

What's the maximum allowed credit cards I will be allowed to open before they deny me?

I doubt the churning thing will be an issue, but just wanted to point out the addition to their terms.  Personally I wouldn't open 5 chase cards, then instantly close 4 of them after the bonus and transfer all of the points to one card and wait to spend them.  If you close them AFTER you spend the points, there's not much they can do about it. 

Assuming you can pay for the purchase with cards under multiple names, I'd be signing up for the highest reward ones in both names separately (probably the Reserve).  The max allowed likely changes depending on the issuer.  I know for the Reserve Chase has the 5/24 rule, if you've opened more than 5 new CC in the last 24 months, you're denied.  Other cards probably aren't as strict.

As for the cashback argument above, you can do cashback on the Chase cards, you just lose out on the 1.5x redemption rate.  You can choose $1000 cashback, or spend $1500 on travel.  Their booking portal is pretty comparable with other travel sites, although occasionally may be a bit cheaper/more expensive for specific things (especially hotels and rental cars).  I believe there are a few articles comparing the prices in/out of the portal, but for me it's been mostly within a few dollars on flights.

[frugalnacho]

I'm not sure about the specifics of those rewards programs, but personally I like the cash back cards rather than managing points for things I might never use. (that being said I had a british airways card that made it very difficult to spend my hundreds of thousands of points even on their supposedly partnered airlines and crappy web interface).  Citi has a 2% cash back card and I use a USAA and Chase 1.5% cash back cards. Eh 2% isn't a ton of money essentially off your purchase price, but it works on all purchases so you can use it on all of your monthly bills and end up with a nice pile of cash back.

Honestly I hate the idea of churning and dealing with the stress of it all so I just go with my main cards that give me the best cash back.  My costco visa gives 4% on gas, 3% on restaurants, and 2% at costco.  My citi MC gives me 2% back on everything else.  But these sign up bonuses are just too tempting to pass up.  $1,500 worth of travel expenses for spending $4k that I am going to spend anyway (and I am planning to travel somewhere this winter anyway)?  Certainly that is going to be worth my time to investigate and deal with, and sounds much better than simply getting just $80 cash back for using my MC.  Same idea with all the other sign up bonuses. 

[geekette]

Chase has the best rewards, but they're also quite strict about recent cards - look up the 5/24 rule (basically if you've gotten 5 new cards in the last 24 months, including authorized user accounts), they will not open a new account for you).

If your wife can get a CSR and/or CSP, you can combine points on those cards via the freedom, if the two of you share an account.

With the CSR, you get a $300 travel bonus each calendar year, so do whatever you can to use the full amount before your December statement, then you can also get $300 next year.

[frugalnacho]

Should I be putting them all in my name, or should I get a bunch in my wife's name as well so it seems less suspicious?

What's the maximum allowed credit cards I will be allowed to open before they deny me?

I doubt the churning thing will be an issue, but just wanted to point out the addition to their terms.  Personally I wouldn't open 5 chase cards, then instantly close 4 of them after the bonus and transfer all of the points to one card and wait to spend them.  If you close them AFTER you spend the points, there's not much they can do about it. 

Assuming you can pay for the purchase with cards under multiple names, I'd be signing up for the highest reward ones in both names separately (probably the Reserve).  The max allowed likely changes depending on the issuer.  I know for the Reserve Chase has the 5/24 rule, if you've opened more than 5 new CC in the last 24 months, you're denied.  Other cards probably aren't as strict.

As for the cashback argument above, you can do cashback on the Chase cards, you just lose out on the 1.5x redemption rate.  You can choose $1000 cashback, or spend $1500 on travel.  Their booking portal is pretty comparable with other travel sites, although occasionally may be a bit cheaper/more expensive for specific things (especially hotels and rental cars).  I believe there are a few articles comparing the prices in/out of the portal, but for me it's been mostly within a few dollars on flights.

So I can sign my wife up for the chase sapphire reserve as well?  Interesting.  I hadn't really considered double dipping into the same cards, but I guess that makes sense. I don't know that we will be able to use that much rewards points though.  I already have 90,000+ points on my IHG rewards account, and plan to sign up for that card too which will boost my balance up to 170,000 points.  That's enough for 17 nights at cheap hotels, or more realistically 6-8 nights at decent hotels in a vacation hot spot.

I don't plan to close the accounts immediately after opening.  I do plan to close the chase sapphire reserve though, because I can't justify the $450 annual fee on it.  The only reason I would ever even consider a card with that fee is the juicy sign up bonus they offer.  I won't utilize it enough on a regular basis to ever justify that fee.

[frugalnacho]

Chase has the best rewards, but they're also quite strict about recent cards - look up the 5/24 rule (basically if you've gotten 5 new cards in the last 24 months, including authorized user accounts), they will not open a new account for you).

If your wife can get a CSR and/or CSP, you can combine points on those cards via the freedom, if the two of you share an account.

With the CSR, you get a $300 travel bonus each calendar year, so do whatever you can to use the full amount before your December statement, then you can also get $300 next year.

Interesting.  I didn't realize the $300 travel bonus was per calendar year, and I was not planning to do any traveling before 2017.  Although if we are able to get $600 worth of travel bonus in 2016 in additional to $3,000 worth of redeemed points we may just have to plan an additional vacation before xmas.

[Mother Fussbudget]

Others have mentioned the 5/24 rule - do research it, but you've got the basic idea.

Steps you could take right away:
1) Call (888) 338-2586 to check your application status.
2) If denied, call reconsideration: 1-888-270-2127 for both personal and business card; or 800-527-7415 for the Ritz card
(FYI:  my go-to websites for credit card bonus info are frequentmiler.boardingarea.com and nerdwallet.com)

There have also been complaints from those applying for multiple credit cards in one day that the hard credit pulls at the credit agencies (Equifax, Experian & Transunion) are now showing as multiple pulls, where in the past only one (1x) credit 'pull' was recorded on the credit record.

Typical examples:  @EQ 1x pull; @EX 1x or 2x pulls; @TU 2x pulls.

So if you do this, always check your CreditKarma info to see what pulls have been done on your credit record.  And as always, best of luck!

[ooeei]

Interesting.  I didn't realize the $300 travel bonus was per calendar year, and I was not planning to do any traveling before 2017.  Although if we are able to get $600 worth of travel bonus in 2016 in additional to $3,000 worth of redeemed points we may just have to plan an additional vacation before xmas.

I used mine to load up our toll tag accounts.  Chase has a pretty liberal interpretation of "travel," so there may be something you can spend it on that you'd buy anyway.

So I can sign my wife up for the chase sapphire reserve as well?  Interesting.  I hadn't really considered double dipping into the same cards, but I guess that makes sense. I don't know that we will be able to use that much rewards points though.  I already have 90,000+ points on my IHG rewards account, and plan to sign up for that card too which will boost my balance up to 170,000 points.  That's enough for 17 nights at cheap hotels, or more realistically 6-8 nights at decent hotels in a vacation hot spot.

I don't plan to close the accounts immediately after opening.  I do plan to close the chase sapphire reserve though, because I can't justify the $450 annual fee on it.  The only reason I would ever even consider a card with that fee is the juicy sign up bonus they offer.  I won't utilize it enough on a regular basis to ever justify that fee.

At least with the Chase ones, you can elect to get cashback if you don't use all of the points.  Granted, at that point it's a bit less appealing.  You're still paying the $450 fee, but getting $1000 cashback instead of $1500 in travel.  In any case, if you have leftover points you don't know how to spend, just take cash.  $550/$4000 is still around 14% cashback not counting the $600 in travel credits, and it'll actually be higher due to the points you get from the spending itself.

[bacchi]

BoA combines pulls for same day applications. Are there 2 BoA cards you want? Alaska, Virgin, cash rewards?

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-O7cxABDN1EGwBn8KXIm4ZZVXA88SVfmv2w4NIIyYvg/edit#gid=1914358847

As suggested, your spouse can sign up for cards too.

For the CSR travel credit, you can buy airline and airbnb gift cards.

http://www.doctorofcredit.com/maximizing-chase-sapphire-reserve-300-travel-credit-cash/

Do a test first of, say, $25, to make sure it codes as travel.

[kpd905]

Chase has the best rewards, but they're also quite strict about recent cards - look up the 5/24 rule (basically if you've gotten 5 new cards in the last 24 months, including authorized user accounts), they will not open a new account for you).

If your wife can get a CSR and/or CSP, you can combine points on those cards via the freedom, if the two of you share an account.

With the CSR, you get a $300 travel bonus each calendar year, so do whatever you can to use the full amount before your December statement, then you can also get $300 next year.

Interesting.  I didn't realize the $300 travel bonus was per calendar year, and I was not planning to do any traveling before 2017.  Although if we are able to get $600 worth of travel bonus in 2016 in additional to $3,000 worth of redeemed points we may just have to plan an additional vacation before xmas.

You should be able to buy an airline gift card and get the $300 bonus to post.

[frugalnacho]

Chase has the best rewards, but they're also quite strict about recent cards - look up the 5/24 rule (basically if you've gotten 5 new cards in the last 24 months, including authorized user accounts), they will not open a new account for you).

If your wife can get a CSR and/or CSP, you can combine points on those cards via the freedom, if the two of you share an account.

With the CSR, you get a $300 travel bonus each calendar year, so do whatever you can to use the full amount before your December statement, then you can also get $300 next year.

Interesting.  I didn't realize the $300 travel bonus was per calendar year, and I was not planning to do any traveling before 2017.  Although if we are able to get $600 worth of travel bonus in 2016 in additional to $3,000 worth of redeemed points we may just have to plan an additional vacation before xmas.

You should be able to buy an airline gift card and get the $300 bonus to post.

That would be great.  Can anyone else confirm this as true?


Will my wife qualify for a card if she has no job?  Can she claim my annual income on her application or is that fraudulent?

[frugalnacho]

I just received an email saying I was approved and will be receiving my IHG card soon.

[Catbert]

Your wife can claim "family income".

I would suggest that she apply for the CSR and a cc from a different bank on the same day at the same time (back-to-back).  That's the easiest way to assist in getting immediate approval.  Maybe a Barclay World Mastercard (to lazy to confirm that the exact name).

[Rubic]

You should be able to buy an airline gift card and get the $300 bonus to post.

That would be great.  Can anyone else confirm this as true?

It's always worked for me in the past, even when the bonus terms specifically
excluded gift card purchases (Amex).

My preference is to buy airline cards in $100 increments for two reasons:

• I get confirmation that it's reimbursed as a travel credit.
• I can apply multiple gift cards to an airline flight purchase.

[frugalnacho]

You should be able to buy an airline gift card and get the $300 bonus to post.

That would be great.  Can anyone else confirm this as true?

It's always worked for me in the past, even when the bonus terms specifically
excluded gift card purchases (Amex).

My preference is to buy airline cards in $100 increments for two reasons:

• I get confirmation that it's reimbursed as a travel credit.
• I can apply multiple gift cards to an airline flight purchase.

So me and my wife can sign up for CSR, we pay $8k to meet minimum requirements (which we are spending anyway), and we are on the hook for $450 x 2 annual fee, and we can get:

$1,200 worth of airline gift cards ($300/ea for 2016 and 2017)
$3,000 worth of travel expenses for sign up bonus
$120 worth of travel expenses for actual spending (8,000 points for spending $8k which is $80 cash back, or $120 when redeemed for travel)

$8,900 spent and receive $4,320 worth of travel?  I suppose the $900 annual fees are not regular spending, but that still seems like an unreal return on something I am spending money on anyway.  If I just put it on my regular 2% card I would only receive $160 back.

So I am losing out on $160 cash back, and spending an additional $900, but receiving a total of $4,320 which is still a net gain of $3,260 (in the form of travel only).