My Latest Application Results – $2400 In Value
Over the last few weeks my wife and myself have applied for a few cards. I wanted to share my results with you from my last few applications.
Applications
Here is the list of cards that I have applied for and my results:
Capital One Savor Card
The Capital One Savor card was recently refreshed and it is a very compelling card now. It comes with a healthy $500 cash welcome offer and earns 4% on dining and entertainment purchases. Since neither of us has a Chase Sapphire Reserve I am always looking for a good card for restaurant purchases.
As you probably know Capital One is a tricky approval. We have both been shot down for the Venture card numerous times. I decided the offer was good enough to take the risk. We of course were both denied :(. Some day I will get my foot back in the Capital One door, I hope at least.
Results – 2 Denials
Citi ThankYou Premier
Next on my list was the Citi ThankYou Premier card. It currently has an increased 60,000 point welcome offer which is the best the card has ever had. DoC is reporting that this increased offer may be ending tomorrow. My wife signed up for this card several months ago but my 24 month Citi clock was not up until last month. This card has a rewarding earning structure: 3x points on travel purchases including gas and 2x on dining and entertainment. The points can be used on the Citi ThankYou portal at 1.25 cents a piece. Citi’s ThankYou portal even still works with Disney, unlike Chase. I planned on using my ThankYou points for non chain hotel stays or cheap domestic flights. I was instantly approved.
Results – Instant Approval
Business Advantage Cash Rewards
I received a targeted offer for this card for a $200 statement credit after spending $500 (which is the current public offer as well). I have had this card a few times now and every time I close it I get a targeted offer a few months later. The card has a decent earning structure for a no annual fee card. Most notably it earns 3% at gas stations and office supply stores. It is no secret that BOA has been a tough approval lately but for some reason I am instantly approved for this card every time. Personal cards are another story but I hope recently closing a few will help me out in the future. I was once again instantly approved.
Results – Instantly Approved
American Express Aspire Card
You guys know I have a strong love for the Aspire card, which is hands down the best premium card on the market. This one wasn’t really an application since my wife was targeted for the 150,000 point upgrade offer. She took American Express up on the offer and was instantly approved.
Results – Instantly Approved
American Airlines Gold Card
This was another targeted offer my wife received that came without the 24 month language. She still had time left on her 24 month clock so we decided to take advantage of the offer. She was instantly approved.
Results – Instantly Approved
Conclusion
I would call this round of applications a success. In total we netted $200, $750 in travel, 150,000 Hilton Honors points, and 50-60,000 American Airlines miles. I would have loved to throw an American Express Gold charge card into the mix but we both had the card many years ago. Capital One continues to be an elusive mistress which is sad since they have really upped their game lately.
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For the TY Premier, had you closed or downgraded it 24 months ago or do you have 2 of them?
I had downgraded my Citi Prestige 24 months ago
Hi Mark. I follow your posts on a weekly basis and sometimes take out the cc’s you’ve mentioned. Big thanks! I have exhausted my gold Amex $100 airline credit. I need upgraded seats on JetBlue and also Frontier coming up. Any suggestions? I have sapphire pref points, United miles, some Amex points, thank you points, and savor right now.
Lance – thanks for reading 🙂
I think you have to just pay the fee to upgrade for both. You can not use JetBlue points to upgrade so transferring to them wouldn’t do you any good. I would put the charge on the Sapphire Preferred and you could maybe cash in some of your Savor cashback to cover the cost?
I currently have two Cap One Spark biz cards and a Quicksilver card. I’d love to apply for the Savor. What is Cap One’s limit on how many of their cards one can own at a time?
I am not sure if they have one but applications need to be 6 months apart.
Thanks, Mark. I’d heard about the six month rule, which shouldn’t affect me, since it’s been a year since I got one of their cards.
Good luck – let me know how it goes!
In the last 3 weeks I’ve picked up the Starwood Luxury card, Amtrak MasterCard, Citi Premier and Chase Hyatt card. Well over 5/24. It was good timing with Citi as I had just passed the 24 month mark with Citi Prestige, which I subsequently cancelled.
That is a nice group of cards. I got the Hyatt card the day it launched and it is now one of my favorite cards.
Why is it one of your favorite cards?
Because I can never get enough Hyatt points and the first 15K in spend nets you 3.6% in return on non bonused spend.
Re Capital One: Way back in March 2011, CapOne had an intriguing offer for their (at the time) new VENTURE VISA card: they would MATCH the miles from another airline up to 100,000 miles. I submitted proof that I had 100,000+ miles with American Airlines and CapOne did indeed give me 100,000 miles. The card came with NO annual fee the first year and $59 per beginning with year two. When the annual fee came due in March 2012, I called asking that the fee be waived. CapOne obliged. They also waived the annual fee in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. In November 2017 CapOne inexplicably decreased my credit line by 33%. I protested to no avail but of course kept the account open. In March 2018 I called to again have the annual fee waived but this time multiple reps refused to waive the fee. They also refused to downgrade the account to the no annual fee VENTURE ONE VISA. VERY STRANGE! I decided to close the account right then and there. Approx two months later in early May 2018 knowing that I would soon be going on a one-week vacation where I would spend considerable dollars, I decided to apply for the SAVOR MASTERCARD which at that time had a $200 bonus after $500 spend within the first three months AND no annual fee. This result was equally strange but in a good way. I was INSTANTLY approved with a credit line THREE TIMES that of the now closed VENTURE VISA!! I easily met the spend threshold and received the $200 bonus. CapOne has since changed the “offer” which now includes 4% rewards on both dining and entertainment AND a whopping $95 annual fee. However, I was “grandfathered” in and will not ever (so they now say) be charged an annual fee on this product. Capital One’s business decisions are definitely wacky!!!