Am I done accumulating cards for now?

[sageybadegey]

I never had a credit card except for this year when I started reading forums like this that my mind starts opening up to the idea. Since last month (January 2018) I started opening up these cards in this order:
1. Coles No Annual Fee Card
2. Woolworths Money Everyday Platinum
3. AMEX Velocity Platinum
4. ANZ Rewards Black
5. Virgin Money High Flyer Card

I probably will be closing Coles and Woolies once I get the $100 voucher from them. I've spent the minimum spent on AMEX Velocity and ANZ Rewards, so I'm just waiting to get the bonus points of 100k velocity from AMEX and 75k rewards points from ANZ. I only got approved for my Virgin Money High Flyer, so I'm just waiting for the card to arrive for me to start spending to get the 120k velocity sign-up bonus points.

My primary purpose for churning these cards is to take my wife and 2-year-old daughter on a lovely holiday sometime next year.

I know churning will have a significant ding on my credit but I'm not looking to buy any property soon, so this is not a big deal for me.

My central question is, am I done for this year accumulating all these credit cards? How many open credit card is the maximum per year? Is there some rule of thumb regarding the number of credit card applications in a year?

Also, what card should I plan to get next? NAB? St. George? Westpac?

Thank in advance!

P.S. I don't have any balance on any of those cards, so I think I use them responsibly and pay them off on time. The only downside for me temporarily is that I'm not able to invest in shares which I usually do every month and that's stopping at the moment because of the minimum spent on these cards.

 

[bcworld]

I know churning will have a significant ding on my credit but I'm not looking to buy any property soon, so this is not a big deal for me.

Maybe not, but it could a reason you can't get approved for any more cards. My credit rating has remained pretty stable despite fairly regular churning...however I applied for the AMEX Velocity Plat in Jan, was approved and next thing my credit rating has plunged into the below average range, bypassing 'OK' on the way! (according to Credit Savvy). Other than credit card applications by credit file shows 100% on time repayment history. To open 5 cards in 2 months seems extreme to me.

 

[sageybadegey]

Maybe not, but it could a reason you can't get approved for any more cards. My credit rating has remained pretty stable despite fairly regular churning...however I applied for the AMEX Velocity Plat in Jan, was approved and next thing my credit rating has plunged into the below average range, bypassing 'OK' on the way! (according to Credit Savvy). Other than credit card applications by credit file shows 100% on time repayment history. To open 5 cards in 2 months seems extreme to me.

I got too excited I guess. I still got $3k worth of un-used woollies e-card. Once the Virgin High Flyer arrives, the spending will continue. I probably need to pre-pay our health insurance, car insurance and most probably buy some more of those ecards. I agree it's a little too extreme.

 

[n7of9]

I agree it's a little too extreme.

On the other hand, good job and well done

 

[Newtothegame]

It’s not just you who had their credit score plummet. I went from very good to below average too. Guess it must have something to do with the comprehensive credit reporting change. Haven’t applied for any new cards recently so don’t know if it’ll be an issue with churning.

Maybe not, but it could a reason you can't get approved for any more cards. My credit rating has remained pretty stable despite fairly regular churning...however I applied for the AMEX Velocity Plat in Jan, was approved and next thing my credit rating has plunged into the below average range, bypassing 'OK' on the way! (according to Credit Savvy). Other than credit card applications by credit file shows 100% on time repayment history. To open 5 cards in 2 months seems extreme to me.

It’s note

 

[potm]

You probably already learned this but credit card applications should be used on the bigger bonus offers rathee than the smaller ones you started out with.

Don’t be afraid to pay an annual fee if the net benefit is greater than a free fee one.

5 in 2 months is a lot, I would stop for a while, you don’t want to get a rejection.

 

[mviy]

I've applied for two in the same month before, but five in two months? That's something else...

Definitely hold off on changing cards for a while, maybe about six months.

 

[sageybadegey]

I've applied for two in the same month before, but five in two months? That's something else...

Definitely hold off on changing cards for a while, maybe about six months.

Do you guys cancel as soon as you get the sign-up bonus points? Im not seeing the reason why i need to keep these cards but maybe I'm wrong since im new to this. I was thinking of canceling all but the Virgin High flyer now so i can re-apply the same cards 12 months (18mos in AMEX case) later to get the same sign up bonus points.

 

[mviy]

Yes some do cancel as soon as they get the sign-up bonus on their activity statement for the rewards program their earning for. Once the points are showing on e.g. your Virgin statement they're yours to keep. The exclusion period starts once you've cancelled the card.

Others like myself will keep cards if we can still get value out of them till ready to apply for new ones. If I'm not ready to apply for a new card for say 3 months I don't want to be without a points earning card for that long.

 

[sageybadegey]

Yes some do cancel as soon as they get the sign-up bonus on their activity statement for the rewards program their earning for. Once the points are showing on e.g. your Virgin statement they're yours to keep. The exclusion period starts once you've cancelled the card.

Others like myself will keep cards if we can still get value out of them till ready to apply for new ones. If I'm not ready to apply for a new card for say 3 months I don't want to be without a points earning card for that long.

I log in to the velocityfrequentflyer.com website and notice that I earned the 100k + additional 3,308 velocity bonus points as of today 02-Mar-2018. I'm stoked! #virginchurner

 

[jveevers]

Where / how do you get your credit score?

 

[sageybadegey]

Where / how do you get your credit score?

Check this link about how to get it Credit scores | ASIC's MoneySmart

 

[benjy]

Where / how do you get your credit score?

LMGTFY

 

[andye]

Where / how do you get your credit score?

There are 3 main credit rating agencies
In Australia
Equifax www.getcreditscore.com.au
Experian www.creditsavvy.com.au
Dunn & Bradstreet www.creditsimple.com.au

Each credit card issuer may use one or more of these for an application
You will likely find each score is different as a result
I'm not convinced that the issuers take that much notice of the score and are more interested in issues such as defaults on the credit report(in addition to the information the issuer collects about your income and assets which is not on the credit report)

 

[psi999]

Kind of on the topic of churning i'm pretty much done for the moment. 2015-17 was fantastic, decent offers everywhere with no or much reduced annual fees, low qualifying spends and less exclusion period cards. Of late its all just been very beige or really a return norm. I haven't applied for a new card in 6-9 months - from churning every few months 15-17.

Even our good friends over at AMEX have realised they don't really need to complete to gain or keep customers - just offer slightly better point offerings (which they do well), reasonable card benefits (ie, travel credit) and decent wack of points for new customers exiting big-4 companion cards. For an existing customer gone, for me at least are the usual yearly retention points for non airline based cards (around annual fee being due) which I've been able to obtain year after year with a simple call and now 18-month disqualification for bonus points to make you thing twice about leaving. There are no alternatives and they know it

Love it or hate it that's my observation of a post RBA interchange 2018 so far. I've still got skin in the game (explorer linked to edge + ANZ rewards black which are all earning very well) - But if the last 3-6 months are anything to go by i think the best bonus signup days are behind us.

I'm not really sure what the point of this post was but without applying for so many cards my credit score is looking better than ever

 

[Dr Ralph]

The cards you have chosen to open are not the ones I would have chosen for myself. But 5 card applications in 2 months is a lot. I'd be taking a rest for a while. And I'm sure that you've considered that you'll probably need to spend many thousands of dollars to meet the minimum spend criteria for each of these cards in a short period.

 

[sageybadegey]

The cards you have chosen to open are not the ones I would have chosen for myself. But 5 card applications in 2 months is a lot. I'd be taking a rest for a while. And I'm sure that you've considered that you'll probably need to spend many thousands of dollars to meet the minimum spend criteria for each of these cards in a short period.

which cards would you choose and in what order?

 

[mviy]

Well it depends on the offers available at the time, how big the sign up bonus is, what the required spend is, what the annual fee is (if not waived for the first year), how concerned the bank generally is with recent previous applications with other providers etc.

40,000 points with no annual fee in the first year may be a lot better deal than 100,000 points with a $400 annual fee that isn't waived in the first year.