Earlier this week, I got the great idea to round out my credit card applications for the year with an end of year app-o-rama, and start 2017 with a healthy points infusion. Over the course of 2016, I applied for and was (eventually) approved for:

• American Express Everyday (auto approved) – 25,000 Membership Rewards points
• American Express Starwood Preferred Guest (auto approved) – 30,000 Starpoints
• American Express Hilton HHonors Surpass (auto approved) – 100,000 Hilton HHonors points
• Barclaycard jetBlue Plus (called recon) – 30,000 jetBlue points
• American Express Green Card (auto approved) – 25,000 Membership Rewards points

I was pretty happy with my haul – 210,000 points is nothing to sneeze at (although that’s small potatoes to some people!), but in this game, you’re always wanting the next great thing. In my case, that was the Citi AAdvantage Platinum, without the the 24 month language.

(READ MORE:  Citi AA Platinum 50K Offer [Possibly WITHOUT 24 Month Language])

Then, for kicks, I figured I’d throw in another Bank of America Amtrak World and the Bank of America Alaska Airlines Visa Signature, and I had the making of my first (albeit small) app-o-rama. Let’s see how I did

Round 1:  Citi AAdvantage Platinum

I applied and immediately got the dreaded “pending” notification…

…which was then immediately followed by this e-mail:

So I called in, waited on hold for about 5 minutes, and was then connected to an agent. He made sure I had applied for the card, and then placed me on hold. After a few minutes, he returned and said I had been approved and would he like to move some of my credit lines from other cards to this one. I declined, and was given a credit limit of $7,100. He then proceeded to confirm my enrollment in the sign-up bonus of 50,000 miles after spending $3,000 in 90 days. Success number one, although Citi being Citi, I’ll wait to believe it until I see it.

Round 2:  Amtrak Guest Rewards World Mastercard

My next stop was Bank of America, to apply for the Amtrak Guest Rewards World Mastercard. I already have one of these in my arsenal, but Bank of America lets you get the sign-up bonus more than once, and I take Amtrak pretty frequently, so I thought this was a prudent move. Plus, the sign-up bonus was increased for only a few more days, so I decided to pounce.

(READ MORE:  Amtrak NYC to Boston Review)

After pressing submit, I was instantly approved. Success number two!

Round 3:  Alaska Airlines Visa Signature

Finally, I figured I’d throw in an Alaska Airlines card, given my Virgin America points were about to become Alaska miles. Bank of America allows two applications in a day, which combines the hard pull to your credit, so after being approved for the Amtrak card, it was sort of a no-brainer to apply for another Bank of America card. Finishing the application, I felt great–two for two so far, what could go wrong? Womp womp:

What makes this pending even worse is the holiday weekend–the reconsideration line won’t be open again until Tuesday!

(READ MORE:  Drama Calling Reconsideration on Alaska Airlines Card [3 Times…and Counting])

I’m hoping that I’ll be auto approved over the weekend, but I’m not getting my hopes up.

End of Year App-O-Rama Conclusion

I went in applying for three cards and 110,000 points, and walked away today with two cards and 80,000 points. I’m hoping that my Alaska application resolves itself, and I don’t have to call in, but like I said earlier, I’m not hopeful.

Who else did an end of year app-o-rama? What did you apply for and what did you get? Let us know below!

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