My App o Rama - Part 2
After preparing for my app o rama for over a month I finally got down to business. My goal was to get sign up bonuses and as much 0% balance transfer money as possible.
| Card Name | Signup Bonus | CardOffers | Balance Transfer | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advanta Platinum Business Card | n/a | $50 | 0% for 16 mos | 5% back on a bunch of stuff |
| American Express Gold Business Rewards | $100 | $75 | n/a | up to 100k in bonus points, no fee first year |
| Citibusiness w/Thank You Network | ~$100 in points | $10 | 0% for 12 mos | 3% back on office supplies and professional services |
| Citibusiness Premier Pass | ~$150 in points | $10 | 0% for 12 mos | 0 fee first year, $75 thereafter |
| Gold Delta Skymiles Business | 15k skymiles | $75 | n/a | no fee first year, $85 thereafter |
| BofA Based Loaded Card | n/a | n/a | 0% for 12 mos | free jersey and ipod after 2k in purchases or balance transfers |
| Discover Miles Card | 12k bonus miles | $40 | 0% for 12 months(purchases too) | signup bonus is 1k points each month you make a purchase, |
| HSBC Direct Rewards Platinum MC | n/a | n/a | 0% for 12 mos | 5% back on gas, groceries, pharmacies |
| RBS Platinum | n/a | n/a | 0% for 10 mos | n/a |
| Sony Chase | $100 | n/a | 0% for 12 mos(purchases too) | more cash back for sony purchases |
| USAA American Express Cash Rewards | n/a | n/a | n/a | 5% cash back on gas, groceries, and dining for 6 mos, only 1% foreign transaction fee |
| Washington Mutual | n/a | n/a | 0% for 6 mos | Free monthly transunion FICO score |
Whew. A few notes…the advanta is a business card that has 5% cash back on gas, office supplies, utilities, computer equipment, cell phones, and internet services with the usual 1% back on all else. Sounds awesome. The only catch is that the cash back is capped at $25 max per month and $300 per year.
I went for the USAA American Express because I have heard USAA is generous with limits and it has a 1% foreign transaction fee. This gives me a card to use on trips overseas. It will also help me to keep my utilization lower since it’s going to be pretty stressed due to the balance transfers.
The Washington Mutual’s bt offer is only 6 months but the real reason I am getting it is for the free FICO score. I am sure that will eventually come in handy.
The American Express Gold Business has a lot of potential bonus points if you spend a lot on it. I doubt I will get to those levels but the immediate bonuses from amex and cardoffers make it well worth it.
Adding up the totals…if I am approved for all cards I will get…$710 in cash from signup bonuses, 12k discover miles, and 15k skymiles. I am hoping, with my current citi offers, to acquire 50k in balance transfer cash at about 35 to 45% utilization.
October 16th, 2006 at 12:24 pm
Wow, thanks for this chart. $710 is a lot in bonuses. I haven’t jumped into the balance transfer game yet, but this post makes it more tempting. Have you figured out how much time you’ve spent on this?
October 16th, 2006 at 2:35 pm
Hey, good luck with all of that. I tried an app-o-ramma a while back and was happy with the results. It is well worth the time IMHO.
October 16th, 2006 at 3:05 pm
Hmm hard to say how much time. The applications themselves probably didn’t take more than an hour or so.
Most of the planning was done while reading blogs and message boards that I already read. I simply had an excel file and every so often I would come across a card that I wanted to include. I would just put the info and link in there. Out of the cards I planned I think the mbna jets card (free nano) was the only deal I missed due to it expiring.