When to apply for new cards?

anewstoozer

Hi all.

I currently have 4 cards, comprising of:

Egg Money - which I use for all purchases, paying off in full every month,
Halifax, Barclays & MBNA - all of which I have use for 0% BTs.

The latter 3 cards' 0% fee free period all end around end of May 2009, so obviously I need to apply for 3 or more new cards to transfer these balances on to.

My question is: would it be better to apply for 3 or 4 new cards now, at the rate of about 1 per month, or apply for 3 or 4 new cards all on the same day, for instance in early May?

Any help would be much appreciated

IggyB

Its a bit early to be transferring balances from card to card if you still have four months at 0% left. I would have thought it would mean your profit was severely dented? Hence you have to delay to max this out. BTW bad timing to have all finishing at once!!

Which means you either do multiple new appls nearer the time or, if they're offering good repeats, pay off balance just before your offer finishes, wait a week or so then ring asking for a repeat. That way no new credit search. See the boards here or stoozing.com for hints on best way of asking/negotiating.

There is no hard and fast rule. In the past people have done both multiple apps and one at a time, with successful results both ways. Mainly depends on whether you favour the "blitz and sit back for a year" or "constantly dabbling" approach.:D

Have you read the credit scoring guide on "stoozing.com". Might help you to make your mind up which way to go.

Ultimately it really does depend on your personal financial situation with respect to existing balances, current limits, numbers of recent searches, status of other cards etc etc as these will all affect your credit rating and ability to get good new credit limits. No two cases are identical.

Bear in mind it can be up to a couple of months before a cleared balance shows on your credit reference file. Similarly if you have a new card the new balance may not appear for a few weeks. However if the dates don't work out your file may show both balances as being active at the same time. Depends on exactly when the companies update your credit file. A multiple application can partially overcome this so long as you're not already judged to be too much in hock!

Assuming stoozing is still worth it for you in current interest rate climate, after considering fees etc, then the best thing might be to apply for a new card now to get ball rolling and so your balance due dates can be staggered for next year. Transfer it to EM for now or onto elsewhere if you have instant access to a better rate. Gives you a bit more in the pot to play with?

Had a thought though, if you didn't think you could apply for any cards since last year when you did these three then why not? Not a lot will have changed and if you've only been doing minimum payments on these three cards your credit file could still be looking maxed out?

Hey ho its all a bit of a game and only you can decide really. If you think you're in a dodgy credit position then prob best to pay off current cards, try for a repeat on each (see boards for examples of existing offers), and if refused then try getting another card once your credit file shows that card as settled. However also bear in mind that companies are sharing more and more data so continuing to get favourable offers may become more difficult.

HTH!