Almost time for my next app-o-rama

This month I will be attempting my most ambitious app-o-rama since I have begun this "game."

In my last mini app-o-rama in January, I applied and was approved for two new credit cards. This time I hope to get four new cards. Note: if you plan to attempt this, I recommend a credit score at or above 750 and you should always pay off your credit card bills in full on time every month.

Here's a chart I made with what cards I have previously applied for (the red row means the card is closed) and what I plan to apply for this month:

Chase Hyatt
I will be applying using a link from a targeted email I got with the first year fee waived. For those interested in this card, but don't have such an email--I have read that if you go through the Hyatt website as though you're making a reservation, you should see an offer on bottom of the page where you enter guest information for the credit card with a $50 statement credit after your first purchase. You don't actually have to complete the reservation booking. This brings the net fee down to $25.
I paid the fee for the Chase Southwest card last year and it is now up for renewal. I will not be keeping this card, however, I wanted to wait and apply for the Hyatt card first. This is in case I am denied for the Hyatt initially I would call the reconsideration line and ask to close the Southwest card and transfer the credit line. If I am instantly approved, I will still call in and close my Southwest card. I do expect to be approved for the Hyatt card either way.

Barclays US Air
I will be applying with a link from Flyertalk. Barclays is notoriously finicky about approvals especially for people who frequently open new accounts. However, this is the first Barclays card I have ever had, so I hope to be instantly approved. I don't fly on US Airways too often, but since they have purchased American Airlines, these may be AA miles in the near future and this card will no longer be available.

Citi AA Business
I will be applying with a link from Flyertalk. I don't think I should have trouble getting this card. However, I am a bit sad to have missed out on the 50,000 miles that was available up until very recently.

Club Carlson Business (US Bank)
Like Barclays, US Bank is finicky about approvals. They have also been known to approve applicants for a lesser card than they applied for. That's why I am applying for the business instead of the personal version because there is no lesser business version. I will be applying through the public link on Club Carlson's website. Unfortunately, the fee is not waived, but I am willing to pay because 85,000 miles is pretty good and the card has a number of good benefits such as 5 points per dollar on all purchases and if you redeem two or more award nights, the last night is free. I doubt I will be instantly approved as I may have to call in and provide some information on my business.

In conclusion, if I am approved for all four cards, the spending requirement would be $6,500 in three months. I could never do this just from my day-to-day purchases, but thanks to some manufactured spend, I should I have no problem. I will report back with my results as well as how I hope to use these miles and points.

Free money tally—my March snowflake report

March was a great month for my snowflake gathering!

Here’s the rundown

• $125 –opened a Chase savings account using a code from a targeted mailer
• $58.76 –Amazon sales
• $25 –gift card promotion for test driving a Kia
• $20 –bonus gift card rebate for buying McAfee software

Total $228.76

My best month yet (thanks mostly to more free money from Chase Bank).

Here’s a refresher if you’re not familiar with what “snowflakes” are and why I’m tracking them.

Chase adds Virgin Atlantic as new transfer partner

Yikes! It's been a full month since my last post. I'm totally slacking...anyways, this is semi-old news as I received an email from Chase last week and it's been mentioned across the blogosphere, but Chase has added Virgin Atlantic as its newest transfer partner in its Ultimate Rewards program.

That means if you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred card or an Ink Bold/Plus card, you can now transfer your points to Virgin Atlantic at a 1:1 ratio.

This essentially provides a way to transfer Chase UR to Hilton points as Virgin Atlantic miles transfer to Hilton at a 2:1 ratio. Of course, Hilton has recently undergone a huge devaluation, so their points aren't as valuable as they used to be, but it's always great to have new options.

As far as flying on Virgin Atlantic itself with miles, I'm no expert but everything I've read says it not the best redemption due to high taxes and fees. For example, flying New York to London round trip in economy will cost 35,000 miles and up to 400 GBP which is about $600 USD.

However, Virgin Atlantic does have a number of airline transfer partners, including Virgin America, which has some decent redemptions on short-haul flights. Examples would include 10,000 miles from Los Angeles to San Francisco and 12,500 miles from San Francisco to Vegas.

I'd say it's definitely worth looking into to see if there are any transfer partners that help you get more bang for your buck (or miles, in this case).