“App-o-Rama” is one of the phrases you see thrown around a lot in the travel hacking scene.  Simply put, it’s when someone applies for multiple credit cards in one day.  The amount someone is willing to apply for varies by person. While most people apply for 2-4 at a time, I’ve read reports of people applying for upwards of 12 credit cards in one day!

When applying for multiple credit cards, it’s good to keep a few things in mind:

1. Your credit score should be over 700: once you go over 760, however, having a higher score doesn’t really help much more.
2. Apply for all cards at once: it’s usually best to apply for all of your cards in one sitting, since doing so prevents the credit card companies from seeing the other cards you’re applying for.
3. Diversify your applications: make sure you don’t hit one credit card company too hard.  The major credit card companies are Chase, American Express, Citibank, Bank of America, and Barclays.  Each has different rules about how many cards you can get approved for at once, and how many total cards you can have. In general, if you apply for 1 personal and 1 business card (or less) per company you should be fine.
4. Apply every 91 days: every time you apply for a card, the issuer makes a hard pull on your credit.  While it takes 2 years for these to fall off your credit report, too many recent requests for credit mean you’re a risk. By applying every 91 days you reduce the chance of getting rejected for “too many requests for credit.”
5. Persistence is key: even a rejection can be overturned.  I’ve received a number of rejections, but have always managed to get the card I wanted.  As per my last post, you can read more on how to get a rejected application repealed at Million Mile Secrets.

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