How many credit cards to apply for in a year?

[Saurs82]

Hi just wondering how many credit card applications you can safely go through in a year without it doing you credit score much damage? I applied for 1 in July, 1 in September and 1 December last year. Can i safely apply for another now (or next month or so) or too soon?

 

[risaka]

I think two would be the ideal number. One card every 6 months.

 

[mark4217]

I think from memory banks consider you if you have not applied for credit/credit card in 3 months. I.e. They have said to me, come back in 3 months to be re-considered for x card. That's my observation

 

[Dr Ralph]

One every 6 weeks on average for me last year. No problems at all including refinancing a substantial mortgage.

 

[cove]

My last one for the year was a struggle and I had to speak to a supervisor to get to YES. I would say everyone's circumstances vary a lot so there is no one answer. I am doing great with QCUcc despite the 150 pages of info they requested. ANZ Blacks will be less useful after 26/02/2016.
The game to get sign on bonuses is running now.

 

[exceladdict]

Hi just wondering how many credit card applications you can safely go through in a year without it doing you credit score much damage? I applied for 1 in July, 1 in September and 1 December last year. Can i safely apply for another now (or next month or so) or too soon?

How do you define "damage"?

It's a lot more complicated than just a number. Consider your circumstances (are you buying a house any time soon), what your personal credit history is, etc etc.

There's plenty of threads you can troll about credit cards and their impacts to various scores, etc (and a variety of opinions on whether credit scores matter).

 

[Doctore1003]

I got four new cards in 2015 - higher than the 2 applications I used to submit each year. I've recently signed up to get my Veda score monthly so I can track how it's affected by cc applications - might be worthwhile considering.

 

[teaHSRn]

How it impacts your credit score depends on a lot of other factors about your financial situation.

You can get both your veda and experian credit scores free online.

Veda from 'get credit score' and experian from 'credit savy'. I check every time before I do a credit card application.

 

[dodgeyhack]

How it impacts your credit score depends on a lot of other factors about your financial situation.

You can get both your veda and experian credit scores free online.

Veda from 'get credit score' and experian from 'credit savy'. I check every time before I do a credit card application.

I'm undecided if I want to give my personal details to a third party to access my report.
Do you get much spam from these guys?

 

[andye]

I'm undecided if I want to give my personal details to a third party to access my report.
Do you get much spam from these guys?

No spam in my experience.

My feeling is that knowing one's score helps maximise successful applications

 

[awkwardpaws]

Think i signed up to one every 6 months. signed up to CBA Platinum at the second half of the year, and just signed up to NAB velocity and Amex Essentials (on the same day) last week.

My general rule of thumb is about every 3 months

 

[Warks]

How does everyone keep track of all these cards and when/how to ditch them? I hang on to mine for way too long. Amex should be dumped every year and then a six month wait before getting another one to claim all those Velocity points?

 

[awkwardpaws]

How does everyone keep track of all these cards and when/how to ditch them? I hang on to mine for way too long. Amex should be dumped every year and then a six month wait before getting another one to claim all those Velocity points?

I'm sure someone has a more sophisticated way, but the majority of my CCs are fee fre 1st yeare, so i put a calendar reminder for myself to cancel the card 11 months in. I'm one of those with a churn CC mentality, chasing after the sign up bonuses with fee free 1st year, which means i need to make sure i dont sign up to CCs too close to each other.

I also keep a copy of the initial CC letter of offer in the cloud, which means that if i forget, I can go back to check when i've signed up to most of my CCs.

 

[exceladdict]

How does everyone keep track of all these cards and when/how to ditch them? I hang on to mine for way too long. Amex should be dumped every year and then a six month wait before getting another one to claim all those Velocity points?

Credit report for when I applied, PDF scans of my farewell letter for when I left.

Last Amex Mrs Excel applied for (cough: I encouraged her to apply for) was a 12 month exclusion, but that was a QF card.

I've had a run of cards that I wanted to keep due to their benefits lately though, so I'm going through an application dry spell at the moment.

 

[awkwardpaws]

I've had a run of cards that I wanted to keep due to their benefits lately though, so I'm going through an application dry spell at the moment.

Until a great offer comes up, I hope!

 

[get me outta here]

Don't forget to allow time for any points that are still to sweep over to get into your VA/QF account. Sometimes that means stopping spending 2 months or so before the due date. Also, worth noting to ask when annual fee actually will be charged so that maybe they'll offer next year free and even a few more points to stay on. If not, go ahead and cancel once all the points swept in.

I'm sure someone has a more sophisticated way, but the majority of my CCs are fee fre 1st yeare, so i put a calendar reminder for myself to cancel the card 11 months in. I'm one of those with a churn CC mentality, chasing after the sign up bonuses with fee free 1st year, which means i need to make sure i dont sign up to CCs too close to each other.

I also keep a copy of the initial CC letter of offer in the cloud, which means that if i forget, I can go back to check when i've signed up to most of my CCs.

 

[teaHSRn]

I'm undecided if I want to give my personal details to a third party to access my report.
Do you get much spam from these guys?

Yeah - I get - 'loan offers for you' type stuff from I think 'get credit score', but it's relatively benign when it comes to 'loan offers for you' spam emails.

I agree with the above - it's worth it for the points.

 

[exceladdict]

Until a great offer comes up, I hope!

Of course - until an offer I'm eligible for, that is (currently biding my time on a number of 12 month periods)

 

[Coops1]

I stuffed my NAB cancellation up over Xmas........lost 3500pts

Don't forget to allow time for any points that are still to sweep over to get into your VA/QF account. Sometimes that means stopping spending 2 months or so before the due date. Also, worth noting to ask when annual fee actually will be charged so that maybe they'll offer next year free and even a few more points to stay on. If not, go ahead and cancel once all the points swept in.

 

[mark4217]

I have an armada of cards, all the black range. With all the changes and all the complaints abound, I am waiting on each card to play their hand. Velocity High Flyer left my stable today to the distaste of the Velocity client retention team. I made it clear that the 1:1 to 10k and .5 thereafter is completely incompatible with my needs. I'm not prepared to stop spending at a certain time of the month and revert to another card. Now I'm watching the other cards as they all will play their cards in the coming month. Citi Prestige coped a bit of late as they were the first to show their hand, but before cancelling I think we need to see what the big 4 do. Citi at 1:1 may just end up being King. ANZ black visa is currently at 1:1 less the 700 fee. For me it wait and see, but it certain I will have less cards in 16.