Multiple American Express Credit Card Applications
Here’s some potentially useful information for folks like me that like trying out new credit cards and using the promotional bonuses to boost their income (or reduce spending, however you like to look at it).
As there is a limited-time promo and I want the American Express extended warranty for some upcoming appliance purchases (don’t buy Frigidaire washers/dryers!), I just applied and got instantly approved for three different American Express cards on the same day:
- The Business Gold Rewards Card® from American Express OPEN – my review post
- American Express® Premier Rewards Gold Card – my review post
- Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express – my review post
You can see the date and approved status on this screenshot from the American Express application status page:
Now, this isn’t for everyone, and I’m not saying that because it worked for me that it will work for you. If you apply for multiple American Express cards in the same timeframe, the goal is that you’ll only get one credit check “hard pull” on your credit report. (Usually, only one of the three major bureaus, that’s what happened last time.) This makes the temporary ding on your credit score even less than doing them separately, giving you both more cards now and leaving you the opportunity to apply for future offers later. Your chances of getting approved for multiple cards also improves as compared to doing them spaced out, as you don’t have other existing cards in your history.
It’s always good to start each card application with a fresh web browser and cleared cookies as that makes everything standardized. I just open them in a new Chrome Incognito window each time, as it automatically cleans everything up. I apply for each card during a weekday during business hours, although that’s probably just a superstition of mine. I just sit down and apply one-by-one in an orderly fashion, although some people like to hit “submit” simultaneously as they think it helps (again, possibly just superstition).
In any case, I am going for a total of 100,000 American Express Membership Rewards points on a personal and a business Gold card, as well as the Blue Cash Preferred that has a $150 cash bonus plus gives me 6% back on supermarkets all year long (up to $6,000 per year). As always, read the terms and save a PDF copy of each application page; the Gold cards have annual fees with first-year waived, and the Blue Cash Preferred has a $75 annual fee. Please use any credit responsibly, I never carry a balance and never pay interest as it is hazardous to my financial health.
“Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the issuer. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the issuer. This site may be compensated through the issuer’s Affiliate Program.”
By Jonathan Ping | Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 1/23/13, 6:09pm
January 23rd, 2013 at 6:18 pm
How many Amex cards did you have before the applications?
January 23rd, 2013 at 6:55 pm
In order to get all the bonuses you desire from these three cards, how much will you have to spend in total (across all three cards) and in what time frame? (E.g., “$10,000 in the next six months.”)
The reason I ask is that it seems like the amount will be very large, given the types of cards these are and the fact that there are three of them (with initial periods all occurring at the same time).
You’ve written before about how to reach spending requirements, but this seems like a special case (if the requirement is much, much larger than usual). Any plan on how to reach the requirement?
January 23rd, 2013 at 7:38 pm
@pilot – In the past, lots. But open right now, one personal and two business.
@Andrew – Biz Gold is the biggest bonus and biggest hurdle, 10k in 4 month, Premier Gold is 2k in 3 months, and Blue Cash is 1k in 3 months. So that’s basically 13k, which can be broken down to 3 months @3k + last month @ 4k.
Blue Cash will get my usual grocery spending + Amazon spending (gift cards at grocery store). I have recurring biz expenses, auto insurance is due, gas, utilities, and Amazon Payments allows 1k per month per person. Need a new washer dryer soon as mentioned, boo. Most of my methods are already at the bottom of the Biz Gold post, and if needed I can also do my Kiva loan funding using credit cards via PayPal, and then the money gets paid back later as cash (not guaranteed, but I’ve had over 99% payback rate and the average loss rate is 0.95% and I’m doing it to help out others too, would be doing it anyway). That’s the plan
http://www.mymoneyblog.com/ame.....eview.html
January 24th, 2013 at 2:14 am
That’s really useful. I haven’t applied for multiple Amex cards in over 5 years. I don’t see enough offers with a manageable minimum spend. When’s the last time you applied for a bunch of credit cards? I tend to apply every 3-4 months, and sometimes the issuers get testy with the number of inquiries on my credit report.
January 24th, 2013 at 7:35 am
Does this only work when applying for cards from company. So if I applied for AmEx and chase same time it would still count as 2 hard pulls?
January 24th, 2013 at 7:36 am
cards from same* comapany
January 24th, 2013 at 10:41 am
Jonathan- How did you get around the fine print that says “You are eligible for the bonus reward points only if you have not had a gold or platinum card within the last 12 months”. You applied for two new Gold Reward Cards at the same time which would make you ineligible to get bonus reward points. How did you get around this?
January 24th, 2013 at 10:55 am
@Kay – I usually space mine around every 3-4 months as well.
@Kevin – Yes, in general that’s how it works.
@Wilson – One consumer and one business. They are considered different. I haven’t had a consumer card in the last 12 months, and I haven’t had a business card in the last 12 months.
January 24th, 2013 at 10:57 am
Very, very good technique (one consumer and one business). Thank you!
January 24th, 2013 at 11:01 am
How many credit cards do you have???
January 24th, 2013 at 11:56 am
72
January 25th, 2013 at 2:11 am
Jonathan – I’ve been thinking of using Amazon payments for earning more miles on my existing cards, but I’m afraid of it being considered as cash advance. When was the last time you used it and what type of card was it – visa/master/amex?
One other suggestion for meeting spending requirements. Buy American express gift cards using bigcrumbs for cash back. Currently they are offering 1.4% cashback. I bought 15K worth gift cards (15 cards of 1K each) during holidays when bigcrumbs cashback was 2.35% to earn 50K British airways bonus miles. Make sure to not use any promo codes that waive $3.95 purchase charge per card. You won’t get bigcrumbs cashback otherwise. This cashback will easily pay for the purchase charge and will earn you some money on top.
Example : You buy 10 cards of $1K each.
Total purchase cost = 10K + $39.5 purchase charge + $8.95 shipping = $10048.45. So overhead of $48.45
Bigcrumbs cashback earned = $140.
Amex gift cards allow you to view transaction history like your credit card and personal finance tools like mint.com can pull them too.
January 25th, 2013 at 7:16 am
@ Nik – I’ve been using AP to meet minimum spend on a Delta Amex. No problems with cash advance as long as I check the goods/service radio button. I haven’t tried other cards yet, but I just read on milevalue.com that you can use AP with Citi AA cards as well. That was a surprise. I’m convinced I’ve been warned that Citi will charge you a cash advance fee for using AP.
January 25th, 2013 at 1:00 pm
Right now, I dunno, less than 20 credit cards open. But let’s just say whenever I get a printed copy of my credit reports, they are quite thick. I usually just save to PDF whenever possible!
@Nik – Yes, AmEx gift cards are a good option, you just have to be a bit patient to get the cashback from BigCrumbs, at least for me. Did you get your cash back promptly?
Follow-up:
- AmEx next-day-aired my Premier Gold card, but not the others. Got it on 24th, was surprised!
- Confirmed that I only got a single inquiry from Experian. Yeah!
- If you don’t get instantly approved, or even initially denied, here’s the AmEx reconsideration line for new accounts:
877-399-3083 8am-midnight EST M-F, 10am-6:30pm Saturday
January 25th, 2013 at 1:15 pm
@ Nik – I’ve used AP with Amex cards without incurring cash advance fees.
January 26th, 2013 at 10:22 am
@Wilson – When Jon applied for his three new cards, he was applying; the applications were still subject to approval/disapproval. That says, he was not having a business AMEX at the moment. Thus, he was OK to apply for such.
Oh, my iPad did not work for me to type more. Will come back soon.
January 27th, 2013 at 3:05 pm
I would like to add my 2 cents
1. time of the application doesn’t matter. I applied on Sunday 5pm
2. status check link is great — one out of 3 cards I applied for said “thank you for applying , pending verification,” yet link says approved
January 28th, 2013 at 5:40 pm
@Jonathan – For gift cards purchased in December, I’m expecting cashback to be paid on Feb 15. I contacted their customer service and confirmed it. Bigcrumbs pays around 15th of every month. But they let a month pass from the purchase date (for returns etc.) and pay during the next payment cycle.
@Travel Bug – thanks for the reply. Unfortunately I don’t have any AMEX cards that use actively. If Citi AA allows Amazon Payments without cash advance, that would be sweet. I will try it starting with a small amount.
February 5th, 2013 at 8:17 pm
Hi there. Love your blog, mostly.
I wonder if you’d be willing to disclose how much you get paid for these advertisement posts.
I’d definitely make me feel better about filtering your blog for real content (you’re at, what, about 40% now?), knowing you’re doing very well — honestly, I want you to make money! I have actually signed up for an offer, by following one of your links. But failing to disclose your cut for click-through and sign-ups seems contrary to your purpose.
Cheers.
February 6th, 2013 at 12:08 am
@Charlie – Thanks for the underhanded compliment, mostly, ha. This blog has been pretty much the same for the last 5 years, I haven’t even changed the WordPress theme and my writing style is pretty much set. As always, I put up what deals and offers I find useful, and if there is a referral link available, then I use it. If not, then I don’t. I really apply for these cards and have made thousands of dollars a year with these loss-leader deals since 2004. I work hard to write here every day. All the content is free and you are free to read or not read as you like if you don’t find it of value.
February 12th, 2013 at 9:07 am
I’d love to switch from my Blue Cash to Blue Cash Preferred, and it would be totally worth it for the $150 bonus (worth while even without, I think, but closer call). However, the offer says I can’t have had “any other Consumer Blue Cash® Card account within the last 90 days.” Any idea on how strictly that’s enforced?
March 7th, 2013 at 7:33 am
@Jonathan – update on your question. Bigcrumbs paid me on Feb 15 (timeline explained above) as they promised.