That's terrible news for folks — the majority of whom are legitimately
applying for new cards with great current bonuses that they might not have had for years at this point.
If you like carrying a higher level gold / infinite type of card that normally comes with an annual fee, you can reduce your annual fees
by applying for new cards every year.
Although I typically do not recommend
applying for new cards while carrying debt, this card is a great option to get your finances back on track.
Then they pay their balances responsibly and rack up rewards points for a few months until their credit scores recover and they can
apply for new cards again.
Even if you always pay your bills in full, too many cards can impact your ability to
apply for new cards at certain banks.
Instead
of applying for new cards, you should concentrate more on paying down any outstanding debts since lenders don't like it when your debt - to - income ratio is too high.
You can still collect miles as a Canadian resident as well
if applying for new cards and doing a few little tricks, but I would say that over the course of a year you would probably only be able to get 1 / 10th the miles a US resident can.
Because of this to Chase and Wells Fargo I looked like I hadn't
applied for a new card in 6 months, but to Barclay's I looked like I applied for 2 cards in one day.
You shouldn't
apply for a new card just to get your credit report, but you could use your existing card as a gauge of where you stand, especially if your existing credit card offers a free monthly credit score or a complimentary copy of your credit report.
Apply for new cards only if you don't have too many (more than a few) already and if you can not improve your credit utilization ratio any other way.
As
for applying for a new card, I would wait a month or two until after you've been added as an AU on 1 or 2 cards and then apply for a very basic no annual fee card like B of A 1,2,3 or Chase Freedom card.
You can
also apply for a new card that has no foreign transaction fee, which usually requires a credit score of 690 or higher.
If that fails,
then apply for a new card from the issuer that has an attractive bonus, transfer your credit line from the old card over to the newly approved card, then cancel the old card.
It is true that signing up for new cards and canceling old cards cause a small, temporary downgrade to your credit score:
Applying for a new card suggests that you may need new credit, which is a tiny red flag.
If you're a heavy credit card user, or thinking
about applying for a new card, it's important to make sure you aren't putting yourself at risk for credit problems down the road.
«A (USAA) member does not have to close a current account to
apply for a new card type,» said USAA spokeswoman Gloria Manzano.
When
applying for a new card Fico looks at it as if you're trying to borrow more money from the banks, even though it could be that you're only doing it to gain some great credit card bonus.