Wow, I'm totally shocked that I got an instant Approval on Alaska Airlines Visa and Starwood Preferred Guest. I wanted the bonus offeres for both. Before I applied, I had 17 inquires on my Experian report. A week ago, I was approved for Delta Skymiles, Citi AAdavantage Perferred, and Barclays World Arrival. In addition, I turned in a current lease on a Toyota for a new lease on a Toyota. Therefore, I had a number of new accounts and inquires on my report when I applied today.
Experian was pulled for both credit apps; my Experian fico score is 679. The credit line for the Alaska Airline card is $2000 and the credit line for the Starwood is $1000. With the Starwood, I got the bonus offer to receive 35k points if I spend 3k in within 90days. I'm not concerned about the credit limit now, I will quickly spend a 1k, pay 1k, spend 1k, pay 1k, etc until I reach the 3k which I will do in 1 month. I will request an increase after 90days. The bonus offer for the Alaska Visa is 25k points upon activation! It has a $75 annual fee that is not waved, but the points and the fact that you get a $99 companion ticket on any flight every year is more than worth it. Most importantly, the points are redeemable on partner airlines Delta, American Airlines, etc. You can't transfer miles, but they are equally the same value.
Some things to note: the Starwoods card is my 6th Amex card. I've read where some people stated that Amex places a limit on how many Amex cards a customer can have. I have Amex Everyday, Amex Blue Cash, Amex Premier Rewards Gold, Delta Skymiles, and Starwood. Make it 7 if you want to include my Amex First National Bank of Omaha.
Other things to note: concerning CItibank, some have stated that Citi don't like inquires. I applied for Citi AAadvantage with 15 inquires on my report and was approved. However, I have a Citi Diamond and have been an excellent customer. Maybe they took that into consideration.
All in all, I am officially done and I promise I will go back into the garden!