The Points, Miles & Martinis team gets a lot of emails from readers. And we try to respond to all of them. The one below reminded me of what happens when people start collecting points and miles through generous credit card signup offers to quickly without a strategy or goal in mind.

The reader sent me a note about how the husband and wife had accumulated over a hundred thousand points and miles through ~11 cards, but started to get declined for new credit card offers. Worst of all, they didn’t see a path to get them to Hawaii about 7-8 months out. Needless to say they needed a little help and advice. So I’ve connected them up with a good friend who works award booking magic and suggested to them a few strategies to get focus with their award balances. Here’s the background on what happened:

Reader Wants To Visit Hawaii With Husband But Didn’t Know How

Below is a story from a reader showing what happens when you sign up for too many credit cards.

Weekly Flyer,

So I’ve made a few decent mistakes in this process, but also have some good stuff.  I’m reaching out for help because I can’t see a way to make these points work for me to get me to Hawaii. The mistakes I made make it a hard workaround and a lot of playing with points and numbers, because we applied for too many cards too fast, so we’ve been denied some cards.

Cards we have and points:

Husband Approved

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card:  40,000 points
• Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card Offer:  93,000 points
• United miles (without a card):  5,385 points
• Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express -25,000 points
• Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express – 25,000 points
• US Airways Premeir World MasterCard:  83,148
• PNC Bank card: 2% cash back

Husband Denied / Pending

• Ink Plus® Business Card (too many new accounts)
• Miles and More Barclay: Pending/Reconsideration 
• Barclaycard Arrival World MasterCard

Wife Approved

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card:  40,000 points
• United MileagePlus Explorer Business Card Offer – 35,858 points
• Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express -25,000 points
• Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express – 25,000 points
• US Air Barclay card: 30,000 points
• Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®:  40,000 points
• PNC Bank card: 2% cash back

Wife Denied / Pending

• Miles and More Barclay (too many new accounts, not enough history)
• Ink Plus® Business Card (not enough credit history, and not enough expenditures on my business to qualify, too many new accounts).

How can we get to Hawaii and make this trip a reality with only the points and cash back that we have?  And which of the two cards pending for Him should he get? 

Should we apply for any from Citi? 

Are we too late for a trip for May?

Bottom Line

If you sign up for too many offers too fast, you might end up with a lot of miles and points in different programs that you may or may not know how or be able to use. Plus, after so many applications, you may not have additional credit available to you and could begin receiving denials for new credit card applications.

My advice to you. If you are new to this game, go slow with your first few credit card applications. First, evaluate where you want to go using miles and points. Second, evaluate what programs can get you there in the style you are looking for. Not everyone wants to go to the Maldives in a premium cabin, but I’ll admit, a lot of people do. Just make sure you set a realistic goal to accumulate points and miles in a program that will allow you to achieve your travel goal.

Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions along the way or leave a comment in any article with more general questions.

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