You're telling me a lot of what not to do, what would you (or anyone else who wants to comment for that matter) do if you were in my shoes? Thanks all for your feedback.
Well, fortunately or unfortunately, I do not have 8 active Chase cards, but if I
were in your position, this is what I'd do:
I would not apply for a Chase card, or any other card for that matter, while having 8 active Chase cards in light of the current environment. There is no doubt IMO that Chase has become more aggressive in the last several weeks regarding A/A.
Now, Dan has mentioned he has 10 active Chase cards, and AFAIK he hasn't had any problems, but I think that's the exception rather than the rule. Perhaps it's my (somewhat) risk-averse personality, but I would, at the very least, reduce the
number of Chase accounts while not necessarily reducing the total amount of credit extended. Yes, some might say that is six of one, half a dozen of the other (as for credit purposes, their exposure is still the same), but I personally believe having an excess number of active accounts will certainly catch some attention during a soft- or hard-review (most of it unwanted).
After closing some accounts to get to a more inconspicuous number, I'd still wait a couple of months before applying as some have reported that even those accounts which were closed were being reported as
open by Chase when they received their A/A correspondence. Therefore, I'd give those closed accounts a chance to "fall off" their system (if, in fact, they ever will).
You can do the above, or simply wait in the hopes that the innernets can shed some light on Chase's A/A methodology. I'd consider either.
...or if you love risk, just pull the trigger and see what happens, though if I were you, I wouldn't.
In any case, good luck.
/.02