Background Content on Credit Card Applications

Summer of 2007, the year before the 2008 financial crisis, I was in my early tours of duty post-MBA crunching, forecasting, and data mining 5-year P&Ls at a New York banking powerhouse of credit cards.  Upon reading an article in the Wall Street Journal(*) about online credit card applications cashing in on 0% APR offers, the term App-o-Rama struck a chord.

“An app-o-rama describes the practice of credit card points and miles junkies to apply for multiple credit cards in a very short period of time. By limiting the span of time between applications, an app-o-rama limits the odds that you’ll be turned down for a card due to multiple applications” Creditcards.com

 

Back then, many US credit card issuers such as Citi, Bank of America, and Chase offered 0% APRs with no balance transfer fees as well as multi-branded products. For example, Citi American Airlines Advantage at some point had three versions: Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. Moreover, you could park those borrowed funds in high-yield savings accounts, paying 5% or more. Those yields are finally coming back due to the skyrocketing inflation experienced over the past year.

Some other cards came with substantial acquisition bonuses. For example, earn 50,000 miles after meeting a spending target such as $1,000 over three months.

Alternatives to maximize rewards without hurting credit

So, how could I maximize my rewards while building a solid credit history? In other words, How can I keep my FICO score moving on an upwards trend? Through my research, I became a huge fan of Fat Wallet (sold to eBates in 2011 and put to sleep by Rakuten in 2017) as well as of Million Mile Secrets where I learned about the “two browser trick”. What’s that?

That you could apply simultaneously to the Visa credit card version on Safari, and to the American Express credit card version on Firefox or Google, and get approved instantaneously for both credit cards.

The Process

I applied simultaneously for both credit cards, got approved, met the thresholds, and earned 100,000 miles. That was good enough for 3 round-trip tickets to my homeland Peru.

The Caveat

Please note that I am not advising that everybody should try an app-o-rama.(**) In fact, little did we know that the next year, we will experience a huge financial 2008 crisis. Creditcards.com also states:

“App-o-ramas are less effective than they used to be, and require more research because credit inquiries now show up on a credit bureau’s database in close to real-time.”

Having said that, those curious enough to learn the fundamentals of grace periods and spending allocation to the appropriate card(s) would find performing an app-o-rama valuable.

Thanks for reading.

(*) Whenever possible, I will provide you with a link that does not require a subscription.

(**) Always keep in mind Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) content, which is the type of information that, if presented inaccurately, untruthfully, or deceptively, could directly impact the reader's happiness, health, safety, or financial stability.