Opening a card typically entails a credit check, also known as a hard pull, which can lower your score by a couple points. To mitigate the effects of opening a card for a signup bonus, apply for cards via the “2bm/3bm method”. This means using 2 or 3 web browsers -like IE, Chrome, and Firefox- to apply for 2 or 3 different cards from the same bank, as close to each other as possible. Fill out the application form on all 3 browsers and then hit submit on all of them within a few seconds. This way you can get 2 or 3 cards with just 1 credit pull. There’s no guarantee you’ll get accepted to all 3, but this increases the odds of getting multiple cards. Applying for 2/3/4 cards in the same day will also usually cause only 1 pull, though the likelihood of getting instant approval for all cards is lowered.
An “AOR” or
app-o-rama is the process of using multiple 2/3bms from multiple banks as quickly as possible, in order to get approved for more cards from more banks while reducing the likelihood that each bank sees the other pulls, which can negatively impact approval chances.
Dan's posts on 2/3/4BM can be seen
here, and
here.
FAQ:
Q: If I apply for business and consumer cards in the same 3bm will it still only cause one pull? What about mixing credit and charge cards?
A: If you're doing a 3bm with Chase, mixing business and consumer cards will usually cause 2 pulls, but there have been recent reports of only getting one. Though with AMEX, one can mix them together with no worry. In regards to mixing credit and charge cards, it does NOT make a difference, and your credit will only be pulled once.
Q: CV:Is it still possible to get approved for 3 Chase cards within 30 days?
A: Yes, it is still possible, even if your experience says otherwise.