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I’ve slowed down on the credit card applications a bit since last Spring, but my fiance is now back in the game! With a wedding to pay for, we have lots of big payments coming up over the next year which is perfect for earning credit card sign-up bonuses. Here are our credit card application results for Summer 2017.

My Applications

American Express Blue Business Plus Credit Card
American Express Blue Business Plus
I recommend this card for everyday spend even without the sign-up bonus!

For a limited time this summer, the new Amex Blue Business Plus card was offering 20,000 Amex Membership Rewards points after spending $3,000. I decided to jump on this before the offer disappeared. This was a good decision because there is currently no sign-up bonus for this card. It’s also a good card for everyday spend since you get 2x points per dollar spent, which is great for a no annual fee card. I wrote about this previously, but Amex never pulls my credit when I apply for new cards. They haven’t since November 2016!

Result: Pending, but then approved

Bonus: 20,000 Membership Reward points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months. If you conservatively value these points at 1 cent apiece, this bonus is worth $200. I will likely convert them to airline miles, so it will be worth more.

Barclaycard JetBlue Plus

This JetBlue card has an increased sign-up bonus so I decided to go for it. I fly JetBlue a decent amount since they have a large presence in Boston, so I’m sure I will use the points eventually.

Result: Instant approval (haven’t seen one of those in a while!)

Bonus: 40,000 points after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months. After subtracting the $99 annual fee, this is worth about $460 if you value the points at 1.4 cents each.

Barclaycard Wyndham Rewards Visa Signature
Wyndham Pending
If you have no interest in the card, don’t bother applying. I’ve learned my lesson…

I applied for this card the same day so I could combine hard pulls. I didn’t have a use for it and truthfully didn’t really want these points. This was a moment where I decided I should probably take a break and reevaluate…

Result: Pending then denied (not surprised and a bit relieved)

Bonus: 30,000 Wyndham points after first purchase and an additional 15,000 after spending $2,000 in the first 90 days.

Alaska Airlines Visa Signature

This was the same day as the JetBlue and Wyndham applications. I was bored and I tend to care less about strategy and/or good decisions when I’m bored. I already had too many Bank of America cards to get approved so this was really just dumb on my part.

Result: Pending then denied

Bonus: 30,000 miles after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months. After subtracting the $75 annual fee, the value is at least $425 (probably more) depending on how they’re redeemed.

My Fiance’s Applications

Chase Ink Business Preferred
Chase Ink Preferred
Our first Chase business card!

My fiance has spent the past year or so waiting to get back under 5/24. We decided to apply for Chase Ink Preferred first since you have to be under 5/24 to get approved, but having this card doesn’t count toward your 5/24 status. His application went pending as expected and it took about two weeks to get it approved. First, we received a letter asking to send in proof of address. After sending in proof, he called recon to follow-up because he has a semi-legit business that he could openly discuss with the credit analyst. FYI, popular wisdom says to avoid calling if you don’t think your “business” counts as a business. Luckily we had some wedding payments that helped us hit this spend very quickly.

Result: Pending then approved after two weeks

Bonus: 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months. Since I have Chase Sapphire Reserve, this is worth $1,200 on Chase’s travel portal or $1,105 after subtracting the $95 annual fee.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

I had him apply for Chase Sapphire Preferred next so he could use my referral link. We chose this over Chase Sapphire Reserve since I currently have the card. Unfortunately, the day after he applied, the Chase implemented a new rule which screwed up our plan to have him get CSR next for another 50,000 points.

Result: Pending then approved

Bonus: 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months and an additional 5,000 points for adding an authorized user. Since I have Chase Sapphire Reserve, this is worth $825 on Chase’s travel portal.

Final Thoughts

It’s exciting that my fiance is now under 5/24 since we can get bonuses on Chase cards again. I’m kind of running out of stuff to apply for so I need to be pickier with my applications over the next few months. With this round of applications, we got over $2,500 worth of points and miles. Stay tuned to see what cards we open as we continue to pay for wedding stuff. It’s a lot of money, but paying for the wedding is definitely helping the honeymoon pay for itself!

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