October 13, 2023 • 19 mins
What if I told you that I started off with a credit score of zero and eventually managed to climb my way up to 700, all thanks to an app? Yes, you heard it right. My journey with the Self Credit Repair app proved to be a game-changer, and it all culminated in me bagging the Chase Freedom Flex Card with its enticing welcome bonus of 20,000 points and a generous cashback offer on diverse product categories. To top it off, I even clinched an 1800 credit limit with a credit score of 690, something that seemed impossible earlier.
But that's not the end of the story. As I navigated the uncharted waters of loan denial and maxing out my card, I found a beacon in the form of the Chase Student Checking Account and the Chase Freedom Limited Card. This strategy not only helped me boost my credit score to 709 but also enabled me to dispute and remove two hard inquiries from my credit report. And the cherry on the cake? Being approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card with a credit limit of $5,000. So join me, as I lay bare my journey to achieving the 'Chase Trifecta' and how it helped me accumulate over 150,000 points. Don't miss out as we walk the path to wealth together. Join me at walktowealth.com.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I still remember opening out the envelope I felt
the weight of the card and thatstarted tapping on the table.
What?
When I tell you that that thatnoise man I was like damn, I
made it, I don't care whatanyone says, I made it in life.
I got a metal card.
So I have my girl.
She knew she had some bigexpenses that she was going to
pay for.
(00:20):
So I was like I want you to usemy card, pay for whatever you
got to pay for, then send me themoney so I can pay it off, and
so all the things that she wasalready going to pay I pretty
much had to use my card for andsend me the money plan Big
expenses around the time thatyou're gonna have your welcome
bonus.
That way you can put it on yourcard and then just pay it off
(00:40):
because you were gonna pay themanyways.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
The journey to wealth is a long walk and some may
walk quicker than others, butwhat good is sprinting to the
finish line if you pass out whenyou cross it?
On walk to wealth, we enlightenand empower young adults to
build wealthy, abundant lives.
They say the journey of athousand miles begins with a
single step and your first stepstarts right now.
This is walk to wealth withyour host, john Mendez.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Hey everyone, welcome back to the walk to our podcast
.
If you're tuning in on YouTubeor any of the podcast
directories, make sure to doyourself one teeny, tiny little
favor and make sure to give us afollow, because I don't want
you to miss out on any of theamazing episodes I'm bringing on
this year.
Without further ado, let's getright into this one.
So if you've been tuned intothe series, you would know how I
(01:35):
got to a 700 credit score.
Just a quick recap.
Essentially all I did was Iopened up the self credit order
app and started using that.
That same month I opened up myfirst customized cash rewards
card with Bank of America at apool and then from there I
started making monthly on-timepayments, pretty much every
single month, paying in full,and then I started learning
(01:56):
about personal finance.
So that's what I did to take mefrom like absolutely zero
credit score at all to 700.
Now I had checked my creditscore was on experience, credit
karma and Equifax and I'll tellyou a little bit about that and
I think, part for the series Iforget either part three or part
four, I'm not sure.
Sure, but I'm gonna go into thecredit card.
The credit scores I'll have alittle bit later.
(02:17):
Anyways, to pick up where Ileft off, now we're in December
of 2020.
I told you guys started watchinga whole bunch of personal
finance videos.
I started reading this bookcard I will teach you be rich
and in the book it talked aboutthe chase sapphire preferred
card.
Now I knew I couldn't get thatcard, so I was like, alright,
what's the lowest chase cardthat they have, like the most
beginner entry level chase cardthat they have?
Because chase, they lose stuffwhen it comes to accepting new
(02:40):
applicants.
I used this one.
I'm told.
For me it was not that hard,but a mix actually gave me a lot
harder of a time to getapproved for their cards.
Then chase did but that'sanother story for the match talk
about a mix cards.
So after I read the chase,after I preferred, I said
looking to chase freedom flexand I was looking at this card.
I'm psyched.
(03:00):
And then this is a pretty goodcard.
So let me tell you why Ipersonally wanted it.
Now this car has a lot morebenefits, but the reason that I
wanted it, that drew, that drewme in.
So they had a 20,000 pointwelcome bonus on $500 spend,
which was virtually nothing andI think you had three months to
get that, get that accomplished.
So you had three months tospend $500, which is, if you do
(03:22):
the math, then like to the Like166 or something like that, if
I'm not mistaken.
I don't even know, but onpretty much I was like, alright,
that's really doable.
Then from there also had 5%cashback or points back on up to
1.5 K spend on Differentcategories every quarter.
(03:43):
So some quarters may be likeTarget, walmart, whatever Costco
like, it changes every singlequarter gas.
It was like 5% back.
I'm like, okay.
Then on top of that it had 5%back on all lift rides.
So I was like, alright, I'm notusing Uber ever again, I'm
getting a 5% back on all mypoints.
And also has 3% back on diningand drugstore.
(04:06):
So if you eat out atrestaurants, boom, that's 3%
back.
And if you go to any like CVSor Walgreens, which most of us
do boom, there's that.
Then it has 1% back on allother purchases.
And then on top of that it hasMastercard Elite Concierge
Services.
So when I book my travel,before I head anywhere, at least
(04:29):
for personal travel I alwayscall the Mastercard Concierge
Service and they can help get medifferent itinerary lists and
ideas of what to do and when todo them.
They can also help bookreservations for me and all this
different stuff.
Plus, it was just like a calmflex just to have.
And the icing on top, they haveno annual fee, 12% zero APR.
(04:51):
Now I was like, well, all thisand this is just like the
beginner level.
I gotta sign up for this card,like.
This card is gonna be the one.
So in December 2020, I ended upapplying for it and I got
instantly approved and outmistaken for 1800 credit limit,
which is as I said at that time.
I got approved for the 500bucks on the Bank of America
(05:12):
when I first applied, but theyapproved me for 1800.
And at that time my creditscore was a little I think 690
at that time.
So I went to 700 and it dippeda little bit.
By the time we applied, myscore was 690 and a little quick
ninja hack.
So at least for the Bank ofAmerica card that I have, I can
request a credit limit increase,right.
(05:35):
So what I did was I requested acredit limit increase on my
Bank of America card.
Now, make sure you check onyour card if you can do this.
Some cards like the Chase cardsthat I have, you have.
If you want a credit limitincrease, they have to do a hard
pull on your credit.
Well, with the Bank of Americacard, I don't have to do a hard
pull on my credit and I couldstill request an increase.
(05:55):
So I requested an increase andthey approved me to 1500.
So right before I applied, Idid that and I went from 500 to
1500.
So that's three X in growth.
My credit limit just jumped up.
Then I applied for that Chasecard and I got approved for 1800
.
So now, all in, I got 3300 andcredit limit that I have access
(06:16):
to.
Now this is where the storystarts to go south a little bit.
So now, in January of 2021, I'mhot, I'm feeling good, like I
got this brand new Chase creditcard and I got this new increase
on my Bank of America card andI was like all right, now is
that time.
I'm gonna wait 30 days and thenI'm gonna get the Chase
(06:38):
Sapphire preferred.
And so I ended up applying forthe Chase Sapphire preferred and
it was like an instant denial.
Now here's another Ninja trickIf you don't get approved right
away, you can call what's calledthe reconsideration line.
I'm not sure if all credit cardservers or whatever providers
have them, but I know what Chasedoes and I know Amix does.
(06:59):
So I called the ChaseReconsideration line so that
they can reconsider myapplication and automatically
approve me, at least manuallyapprove me.
And so I called them.
I still talking on the phoneand there was like oh, there's
nothing that they could do.
And pretty much the reason forwas that my Credit that I had
access to wasn't high enough.
They pretty much told me mypockets were in big enough.
(07:20):
Essentially They'll like Johnyou got the money, bro, why you
a plan for this card?
And I was a little but hurt,not gonna lie, because I was
feeling.
I was feeling like I was thenext big thing, because I got my
first chase credit card and Ithought, because I was already
in the chase ecosystem, thenthis pretty much gonna be an
automatic approval.
So I think I told you guys inthe last episode, the chase
Sapphire prefer.
We got a minimum credit limitof 5,000.
(07:42):
Now my chase, my chase freedomflex and my make America card
combined only added up to 3300.
So really I didn't have anybusiness applying for that chase
Sapphire prefer it.
But I ended up door so theydeclined me and didn't get it.
So I now I got a hard pull.
I credit score drops a littlebit.
Next I ended up maxing out mycredit card that month of
January.
I think that was literally likea dollar away from maxing it
(08:04):
out.
So I was like 17, 98 orsomething like that and some
change and that hit my creditscore and then my credit score
dropped again.
So now I just got the nightfrom my credit card and then I
maxed out my credit card.
So that's pulling, pulling backto back L's right there.
And then from there and aroundMarch I ended up helping.
(08:25):
I'll start to my dad and he hasa landscaping company and he
wanted to get some new machinesand so let him talk me into
helping him get one new machine.
The thing was in college, like12,000, so I was gonna stop and
take out a personal loan for 10bands and then help my dad pay
it and Then he was going to payme monthly.
So whatever the payments were,he was going to pay me.
(08:47):
That way I can get like a largeline of credit on my credit
score and I have the monthlypayments show me so I can start
building my score.
Well, I ended up applying forthat personal loan and he denied
me as well.
Right, so now back to back toback months.
Pretty much, january, I maxedout my card, ended up Applying
for the staff I prefer to, gotthe night, and then I got
(09:08):
applied for this personal loan.
I got the night as well.
So now my credit score drop Ibelieve I'm under 700 again and
I was like, alright, I need toget back on the wagon, I need to
get back in the game and startgetting my credit score in the
right direction.
So I waited till April andpretty much I applied for a
Chase student checking account.
Now, the reason I applied wasbecause there's no monthly
(09:28):
maintenance fee.
I could start building arelationship with Chase and it
had cash deposits.
Now the cash deposit is big forme because I work at a
restaurant at the time.
So I was making a lot of cashand I needed some place so I can
put my money into.
And, of course, I need to go tobank from America, but I didn't
really want to bank with themanyways.
So Schwab, which is an onlinebank account I can't deposit any
(09:50):
cash there, cuz online.
I was like, alright, I'll openup a chase account and it's
gonna be dope.
I'm gonna rebuild myrelationship with Chase, see
that I'm really a valuedcustomer, a value member, and
then help me get my Score backup.
Boy, that's not gonna help me,but I was gonna get my score
back up at the same time so Ican continue applying for Chase
cards.
So I ended up after that, whileafter that I applied for the
(10:11):
chase freedom limited and I gotinstantly approved for a credit
limit of $500.
Now, at that time I think mycredit score was about 709 on
experience and the reason I gotthe chase freedom limited, it's
cuz it's like the sister to thisfreedom flex.
It's a beginner card and it hasanother 20k Welcome bonus
points on 500 spend in threemonths at that time.
(10:31):
On top of that, I had 5% backon lifts and 5% back at age
travel, both through the chaseportal.
I had 3% on dining anddrugstore and then one and a
half percent back on everythingelse and it had the 12 months 0%
APR, no annual fee.
So it's very similar to thechase freedom flex.
The only real different is thatit doesn't have the rotating
(10:52):
quarterly 5% back and Instead of1% everything else, it has 1.5%
everything else.
So it's really good card to use.
And that was you.
I stepped in the rightdirection.
I was like, all right, boom.
Then from there, in the summerof 2021, I disputed too hard and
crazed off my personal credit.
And now how I did this I forgetexactly.
(11:13):
The step by step is pretty much.
I think only one went throughand this helped me bring out my
score a little bit.
But I had to pretty much mailthis letter that I got off of
youtube.
I watched a bunch of youtubevideos and I found this letter
and I took the template, Ichanged it to have my name, my
information, stuff like that,and then I physically mailed it
to all the credit bureaus andthen from there One of them
(11:34):
ended up getting back to me andso that helped me bring up my
score back up Along.
That same time, in summer of2021, I applied for another bank
of america credit limitincrease.
So I went from 1.5 to 2 bands.
So now I have a 2000 creditlimit on my bank of america
account and every six months Ialways ask for a credit limit
increase on my boa card.
(11:54):
So I have 2k on the boa.
I had 1800 on the freedom flexand then they upped it to 3.6k.
I don't know why, but chase, Iguess, randomly checks your
account and see if you qualifyfor an approval or not.
So they ended up putting me upto 3.6k, doubling.
But I originally had, and thenI had another 500 on that
(12:17):
freedom unlimited.
So if we do the math, that'slike, if I'm not mistaken, 6100
in total credit limit On that Ihad access to and so I was like
all right, boom, my credit scoreis building.
I disputed one of the hardincrease hard increase off my
account.
I have a pretty goodrelationship with chase now and
I got two cards and I got thechase student change of account.
(12:38):
So in September of 2021 I endedup applying for the chase staff
.
I preferred same card.
I got denied back in Februaryor late January of that year and
I ended up getting instantlyapproved.
Now, around that time, mycredit score bumped up to 734.
I had a 734 when I applied andthey approved me for 5000 and
(13:01):
the welcome bonus on that was100k points.
But you had to spend 4k in threemonths and so I knew that going
in and one I didn't even makeenough money to be spending 4k.
Right to a whore nervousspending 4k.
It's not me.
I have to barely make it anymoney.
So here's what I did.
So I had my girl.
She knew she had some bigexpenses that she was going to
(13:24):
pay for.
So I was like, all right,here's what we're gonna do.
I want you to use my card, payfor whatever you got to pay for,
then send me the money so Icould pay it off.
And so all the things that shewas already going to pay I
pretty much had to use my cardfor and send me the money.
So, quick trick when it comes towelcome bonuses especially for
(13:46):
the cars that have largerwelcome bonuses you usually have
to spend a large amount as well.
So what you want to do is Planbig expenses around the time
that you're gonna have yourwelcome bonus.
That way, you can put it onyour card and they just pay it
off because you're gonna paythem anyways.
Right?
So that's what I did and sheended up paying for.
I think she's probably spentthe most of it.
(14:06):
She's probably spent like threethousand and thirty five
hundred a bit.
I only had to spend like fivehundred dollars on my own money
Because she was gonna make allthese purchases anyways, and
then I got a hundred thousandpoints.
So, if we do the math, I gotthe 20k from the chase freedom
flex, then I got the 20k fromthem freedom unlimited, and then
I got the hundred K from thesame sapphire preferred.
So now I'm sitting at a littleover a hundred forty thousand
(14:27):
because I was still gettingpoints back from regular
everyday spend.
So I probably had a little over, if I'm not mistaken, like a
hundred fifty to a hundred sixtythousand by the time I applied
for, when I applied and got mywelcome bonus from chase
sapphire preferred.
And now that card, you get fivepercent back on lift, you get
three percent back on dining,select streaming and online
grocery stores, you get twopercent back on any travel and
(14:50):
then one percent back oneverything else.
So pretty standard.
But here's where it startsgetting a way be.
If you're using the points tobook travel in the chase travel
portal, you get a one point twofive multiplier.
So if you have a hundredthousand points now, that's
instantly a hundred twenty fivethousand.
Right.
And on top of that you get andthis is what I mainly use it for
(15:12):
a one to one points transfer Toa bunch of travel partners.
For me, the ones that I use ajet blue and Marriott, but
there's a ton more.
They have a bunch more airlinesand Some of the hotels.
As I dab IHG, I afraid they gotthe hi it.
That's the same thing.
I don't have some pretty goodhotels.
I mainly use Marriott andJetBlue, and I only have to pay
(15:34):
ninety five dollars a year tokeep it open, which is virtually
nothing.
For all the benefits and thebonuses that I'm getting just by
having that card, it's justeasily well worth it.
So now, if you notice anythingthis is my first card with an
annual fee one.
You start getting really deeperto the credit card game.
You have the credit card.
Fees can add up pretty quickly.
So you want to make sure youknow that you're getting your
(15:56):
money's worth for whatever cardyou're applying to, and so you
do your research Before you everapply so that after you get
your welcome bonus the followingyear, you can still get value
from that car.
And the last thing why I lovethe chase half and I preferred
is that it's a parsley metalcard.
I still remember opening outthe envelope.
(16:16):
I felt the weight of the cardand that started tapping on the
table.
What, when I tell you that that, that noise man.
I was like damn, I made it, Idon't care what anyone says, I
made it in life.
I got a metal card and so thatwas probably like the biggest
flex factor and the plan evermade, which is the fact that it
was a metal card.
(16:36):
And so that's how I got thechase trifecta.
Now here's a little caveat thechase trifecta different people,
they vary.
Some people get the chasesapphire reserve instead of the
chase sapphire preferred.
Some people do with a businesscard.
There's different ways, butessentially a trifecta and just
three chase cards essentially,but the oh, I guess the og chase
trifecta is like the freedomflex, the freedom limited, and
(16:59):
then one of the sapphire cards.
Right, so that was my trifecta.
Now the reason why I startedgoing on chase first before I
went to MX Was because chase hasthis rule called the 524 rule,
and what the 524 rule say statesis that if you have five credit
cards that you applied for inwithin 24 months, if you're
still over in that 24 monthperiod and you try to apply for
(17:20):
a six card with them, you'll beautomatically declined, if I'm
not mistaken.
So I was like alright, let meget in the chase ego system, get
whatever chase cars I need toget out the way and then from
there I start opening up to MXand other cards.
So that's what I did.
That's why I started off with achase trifecta and then I went
from there.
But now you may be wondering,like John, but how do you learn
(17:41):
all this stuff?
How do you know what cards havewhat multipliers and what
points back and all thesedifferent ways to use cards?
On the next episode I'm mesharing with you guys how I
learned about building my creditscore.
Like the people, I watched onYouTube, the websites,
everything that looked intoabout credit score, so that you
could start understanding yourcredit score and start building
it.
And if you would like get a setof points in my house, you so
(18:04):
make sure to tune into the nextepisode.
I talked about how tounderstand your credit score.
So essentially, just a quickrecap how I got my chase
trifecta.
So I pretty much applied for acredit limit increase of bank
from America we're from 500 to1500.
Then shortly after I applied forthe chase freedom flex.
I then, from there, ended upapplying for the staff I
(18:24):
preferred.
Got denied, applied for apersonal loan, got denied from
that and then I apply.
I opened up a chase studentcheckers account.
I applied for the chase freedomunlimited, then disputed a hard
inquiry on my credit report.
I got a credit limit increaseon my chase card and then
another credit limit increase onmy bank of America card and
then Applied for the chasesapphire preferred.
(18:46):
So from December of 2020 toSeptember of 2021 was a time
period of when I got my chasetrifecta and At that point, by
the time I got the sci-fipreferred, my credit score had
went up to like a 730 and afterI got that welcome bonus I had a
little over probably a hundredfifty thousand points.
So I said next episode, I'mgonna see you guys how to start
learning about credit.
(19:07):
So I'll see you the next one.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
You've now finished taking the first step.
Now Let us help you take thenext one.
Subscribe to our newsletter atwalk to wealth comm.
That's walk the number towealth comm, so we can keep you
moving on your journey.
We'll see you on the nextepisode of walk to wealth with
John Mendez.
I still remember opening out the envelope I felt
the weight of the card and thatstarted tapping on the table.
What?
When I tell you that that thatnoise man I was like damn, I
made it, I don't care whatanyone says, I made it in life.
I got a metal card.
So I have my girl.
She knew she had some bigexpenses that she was going to
pay for.
(00:20):
So I was like I want you to usemy card, pay for whatever you
got to pay for, then send me themoney so I can pay it off, and
so all the things that she wasalready going to pay I pretty
much had to use my card for andsend me the money plan Big
expenses around the time thatyou're gonna have your welcome
bonus.
That way you can put it on yourcard and then just pay it off
(00:40):
because you were gonna pay themanyways.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
The journey to wealth is a long walk and some may
walk quicker than others, butwhat good is sprinting to the
finish line if you pass out whenyou cross it?
On walk to wealth, we enlightenand empower young adults to
build wealthy, abundant lives.
They say the journey of athousand miles begins with a
single step and your first stepstarts right now.
This is walk to wealth withyour host, john Mendez.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Hey everyone, welcome back to the walk to our podcast
.
If you're tuning in on YouTubeor any of the podcast
directories, make sure to doyourself one teeny, tiny little
favor and make sure to give us afollow, because I don't want
you to miss out on any of theamazing episodes I'm bringing on
this year.
Without further ado, let's getright into this one.
So if you've been tuned intothe series, you would know how I
(01:35):
got to a 700 credit score.
Just a quick recap.
Essentially all I did was Iopened up the self credit order
app and started using that.
That same month I opened up myfirst customized cash rewards
card with Bank of America at apool and then from there I
started making monthly on-timepayments, pretty much every
single month, paying in full,and then I started learning
(01:56):
about personal finance.
So that's what I did to take mefrom like absolutely zero
credit score at all to 700.
Now I had checked my creditscore was on experience, credit
karma and Equifax and I'll tellyou a little bit about that and
I think, part for the series Iforget either part three or part
four, I'm not sure.
Sure, but I'm gonna go into thecredit card.
The credit scores I'll have alittle bit later.
(02:17):
Anyways, to pick up where Ileft off, now we're in December
of 2020.
I told you guys started watchinga whole bunch of personal
finance videos.
I started reading this bookcard I will teach you be rich
and in the book it talked aboutthe chase sapphire preferred
card.
Now I knew I couldn't get thatcard, so I was like, alright,
what's the lowest chase cardthat they have, like the most
beginner entry level chase cardthat they have?
Because chase, they lose stuffwhen it comes to accepting new
(02:40):
applicants.
I used this one.
I'm told.
For me it was not that hard,but a mix actually gave me a lot
harder of a time to getapproved for their cards.
Then chase did but that'sanother story for the match talk
about a mix cards.
So after I read the chase,after I preferred, I said
looking to chase freedom flexand I was looking at this card.
I'm psyched.
(03:00):
And then this is a pretty goodcard.
So let me tell you why Ipersonally wanted it.
Now this car has a lot morebenefits, but the reason that I
wanted it, that drew, that drewme in.
So they had a 20,000 pointwelcome bonus on $500 spend,
which was virtually nothing andI think you had three months to
get that, get that accomplished.
So you had three months tospend $500, which is, if you do
(03:22):
the math, then like to the Like166 or something like that, if
I'm not mistaken.
I don't even know, but onpretty much I was like, alright,
that's really doable.
Then from there also had 5%cashback or points back on up to
1.5 K spend on Differentcategories every quarter.
(03:43):
So some quarters may be likeTarget, walmart, whatever Costco
like, it changes every singlequarter gas.
It was like 5% back.
I'm like, okay.
Then on top of that it had 5%back on all lift rides.
So I was like, alright, I'm notusing Uber ever again, I'm
getting a 5% back on all mypoints.
And also has 3% back on diningand drugstore.
(04:06):
So if you eat out atrestaurants, boom, that's 3%
back.
And if you go to any like CVSor Walgreens, which most of us
do boom, there's that.
Then it has 1% back on allother purchases.
And then on top of that it hasMastercard Elite Concierge
Services.
So when I book my travel,before I head anywhere, at least
(04:29):
for personal travel I alwayscall the Mastercard Concierge
Service and they can help get medifferent itinerary lists and
ideas of what to do and when todo them.
They can also help bookreservations for me and all this
different stuff.
Plus, it was just like a calmflex just to have.
And the icing on top, they haveno annual fee, 12% zero APR.
(04:51):
Now I was like, well, all thisand this is just like the
beginner level.
I gotta sign up for this card,like.
This card is gonna be the one.
So in December 2020, I ended upapplying for it and I got
instantly approved and outmistaken for 1800 credit limit,
which is as I said at that time.
I got approved for the 500bucks on the Bank of America
(05:12):
when I first applied, but theyapproved me for 1800.
And at that time my creditscore was a little I think 690
at that time.
So I went to 700 and it dippeda little bit.
By the time we applied, myscore was 690 and a little quick
ninja hack.
So at least for the Bank ofAmerica card that I have, I can
request a credit limit increase,right.
(05:35):
So what I did was I requested acredit limit increase on my
Bank of America card.
Now, make sure you check onyour card if you can do this.
Some cards like the Chase cardsthat I have, you have.
If you want a credit limitincrease, they have to do a hard
pull on your credit.
Well, with the Bank of Americacard, I don't have to do a hard
pull on my credit and I couldstill request an increase.
(05:55):
So I requested an increase andthey approved me to 1500.
So right before I applied, Idid that and I went from 500 to
1500.
So that's three X in growth.
My credit limit just jumped up.
Then I applied for that Chasecard and I got approved for 1800
.
So now, all in, I got 3300 andcredit limit that I have access
(06:16):
to.
Now this is where the storystarts to go south a little bit.
So now, in January of 2021, I'mhot, I'm feeling good, like I
got this brand new Chase creditcard and I got this new increase
on my Bank of America card andI was like all right, now is
that time.
I'm gonna wait 30 days and thenI'm gonna get the Chase
(06:38):
Sapphire preferred.
And so I ended up applying forthe Chase Sapphire preferred and
it was like an instant denial.
Now here's another Ninja trickIf you don't get approved right
away, you can call what's calledthe reconsideration line.
I'm not sure if all credit cardservers or whatever providers
have them, but I know what Chasedoes and I know Amix does.
(06:59):
So I called the ChaseReconsideration line so that
they can reconsider myapplication and automatically
approve me, at least manuallyapprove me.
And so I called them.
I still talking on the phoneand there was like oh, there's
nothing that they could do.
And pretty much the reason forwas that my Credit that I had
access to wasn't high enough.
They pretty much told me mypockets were in big enough.
(07:20):
Essentially They'll like Johnyou got the money, bro, why you
a plan for this card?
And I was a little but hurt,not gonna lie, because I was
feeling.
I was feeling like I was thenext big thing, because I got my
first chase credit card and Ithought, because I was already
in the chase ecosystem, thenthis pretty much gonna be an
automatic approval.
So I think I told you guys inthe last episode, the chase
Sapphire prefer.
We got a minimum credit limitof 5,000.
(07:42):
Now my chase, my chase freedomflex and my make America card
combined only added up to 3300.
So really I didn't have anybusiness applying for that chase
Sapphire prefer it.
But I ended up door so theydeclined me and didn't get it.
So I now I got a hard pull.
I credit score drops a littlebit.
Next I ended up maxing out mycredit card that month of
January.
I think that was literally likea dollar away from maxing it
(08:04):
out.
So I was like 17, 98 orsomething like that and some
change and that hit my creditscore and then my credit score
dropped again.
So now I just got the nightfrom my credit card and then I
maxed out my credit card.
So that's pulling, pulling backto back L's right there.
And then from there and aroundMarch I ended up helping.
(08:25):
I'll start to my dad and he hasa landscaping company and he
wanted to get some new machinesand so let him talk me into
helping him get one new machine.
The thing was in college, like12,000, so I was gonna stop and
take out a personal loan for 10bands and then help my dad pay
it and Then he was going to payme monthly.
So whatever the payments were,he was going to pay me.
(08:47):
That way I can get like a largeline of credit on my credit
score and I have the monthlypayments show me so I can start
building my score.
Well, I ended up applying forthat personal loan and he denied
me as well.
Right, so now back to back toback months.
Pretty much, january, I maxedout my card, ended up Applying
for the staff I prefer to, gotthe night, and then I got
(09:08):
applied for this personal loan.
I got the night as well.
So now my credit score drop Ibelieve I'm under 700 again and
I was like, alright, I need toget back on the wagon, I need to
get back in the game and startgetting my credit score in the
right direction.
So I waited till April andpretty much I applied for a
Chase student checking account.
Now, the reason I applied wasbecause there's no monthly
(09:28):
maintenance fee.
I could start building arelationship with Chase and it
had cash deposits.
Now the cash deposit is big forme because I work at a
restaurant at the time.
So I was making a lot of cashand I needed some place so I can
put my money into.
And, of course, I need to go tobank from America, but I didn't
really want to bank with themanyways.
So Schwab, which is an onlinebank account I can't deposit any
(09:50):
cash there, cuz online.
I was like, alright, I'll openup a chase account and it's
gonna be dope.
I'm gonna rebuild myrelationship with Chase, see
that I'm really a valuedcustomer, a value member, and
then help me get my Score backup.
Boy, that's not gonna help me,but I was gonna get my score
back up at the same time so Ican continue applying for Chase
cards.
So I ended up after that, whileafter that I applied for the
(10:11):
chase freedom limited and I gotinstantly approved for a credit
limit of $500.
Now, at that time I think mycredit score was about 709 on
experience and the reason I gotthe chase freedom limited, it's
cuz it's like the sister to thisfreedom flex.
It's a beginner card and it hasanother 20k Welcome bonus
points on 500 spend in threemonths at that time.
(10:31):
On top of that, I had 5% backon lifts and 5% back at age
travel, both through the chaseportal.
I had 3% on dining anddrugstore and then one and a
half percent back on everythingelse and it had the 12 months 0%
APR, no annual fee.
So it's very similar to thechase freedom flex.
The only real different is thatit doesn't have the rotating
(10:52):
quarterly 5% back and Instead of1% everything else, it has 1.5%
everything else.
So it's really good card to use.
And that was you.
I stepped in the rightdirection.
I was like, all right, boom.
Then from there, in the summerof 2021, I disputed too hard and
crazed off my personal credit.
And now how I did this I forgetexactly.
(11:13):
The step by step is pretty much.
I think only one went throughand this helped me bring out my
score a little bit.
But I had to pretty much mailthis letter that I got off of
youtube.
I watched a bunch of youtubevideos and I found this letter
and I took the template, Ichanged it to have my name, my
information, stuff like that,and then I physically mailed it
to all the credit bureaus andthen from there One of them
(11:34):
ended up getting back to me andso that helped me bring up my
score back up Along.
That same time, in summer of2021, I applied for another bank
of america credit limitincrease.
So I went from 1.5 to 2 bands.
So now I have a 2000 creditlimit on my bank of america
account and every six months Ialways ask for a credit limit
increase on my boa card.
(11:54):
So I have 2k on the boa.
I had 1800 on the freedom flexand then they upped it to 3.6k.
I don't know why, but chase, Iguess, randomly checks your
account and see if you qualifyfor an approval or not.
So they ended up putting me upto 3.6k, doubling.
But I originally had, and thenI had another 500 on that
(12:17):
freedom unlimited.
So if we do the math, that'slike, if I'm not mistaken, 6100
in total credit limit On that Ihad access to and so I was like
all right, boom, my credit scoreis building.
I disputed one of the hardincrease hard increase off my
account.
I have a pretty goodrelationship with chase now and
I got two cards and I got thechase student change of account.
(12:38):
So in September of 2021 I endedup applying for the chase staff
.
I preferred same card.
I got denied back in Februaryor late January of that year and
I ended up getting instantlyapproved.
Now, around that time, mycredit score bumped up to 734.
I had a 734 when I applied andthey approved me for 5000 and
(13:01):
the welcome bonus on that was100k points.
But you had to spend 4k in threemonths and so I knew that going
in and one I didn't even makeenough money to be spending 4k.
Right to a whore nervousspending 4k.
It's not me.
I have to barely make it anymoney.
So here's what I did.
So I had my girl.
She knew she had some bigexpenses that she was going to
(13:24):
pay for.
So I was like, all right,here's what we're gonna do.
I want you to use my card, payfor whatever you got to pay for,
then send me the money so Icould pay it off.
And so all the things that shewas already going to pay I
pretty much had to use my cardfor and send me the money.
So, quick trick when it comes towelcome bonuses especially for
(13:46):
the cars that have largerwelcome bonuses you usually have
to spend a large amount as well.
So what you want to do is Planbig expenses around the time
that you're gonna have yourwelcome bonus.
That way, you can put it onyour card and they just pay it
off because you're gonna paythem anyways.
Right?
So that's what I did and sheended up paying for.
I think she's probably spentthe most of it.
(14:06):
She's probably spent like threethousand and thirty five
hundred a bit.
I only had to spend like fivehundred dollars on my own money
Because she was gonna make allthese purchases anyways, and
then I got a hundred thousandpoints.
So, if we do the math, I gotthe 20k from the chase freedom
flex, then I got the 20k fromthem freedom unlimited, and then
I got the hundred K from thesame sapphire preferred.
So now I'm sitting at a littleover a hundred forty thousand
(14:27):
because I was still gettingpoints back from regular
everyday spend.
So I probably had a little over, if I'm not mistaken, like a
hundred fifty to a hundred sixtythousand by the time I applied
for, when I applied and got mywelcome bonus from chase
sapphire preferred.
And now that card, you get fivepercent back on lift, you get
three percent back on dining,select streaming and online
grocery stores, you get twopercent back on any travel and
(14:50):
then one percent back oneverything else.
So pretty standard.
But here's where it startsgetting a way be.
If you're using the points tobook travel in the chase travel
portal, you get a one point twofive multiplier.
So if you have a hundredthousand points now, that's
instantly a hundred twenty fivethousand.
Right.
And on top of that you get andthis is what I mainly use it for
(15:12):
a one to one points transfer Toa bunch of travel partners.
For me, the ones that I use ajet blue and Marriott, but
there's a ton more.
They have a bunch more airlinesand Some of the hotels.
As I dab IHG, I afraid they gotthe hi it.
That's the same thing.
I don't have some pretty goodhotels.
I mainly use Marriott andJetBlue, and I only have to pay
(15:34):
ninety five dollars a year tokeep it open, which is virtually
nothing.
For all the benefits and thebonuses that I'm getting just by
having that card, it's justeasily well worth it.
So now, if you notice anythingthis is my first card with an
annual fee one.
You start getting really deeperto the credit card game.
You have the credit card.
Fees can add up pretty quickly.
So you want to make sure youknow that you're getting your
(15:56):
money's worth for whatever cardyou're applying to, and so you
do your research Before you everapply so that after you get
your welcome bonus the followingyear, you can still get value
from that car.
And the last thing why I lovethe chase half and I preferred
is that it's a parsley metalcard.
I still remember opening outthe envelope.
(16:16):
I felt the weight of the cardand that started tapping on the
table.
What, when I tell you that that, that noise man.
I was like damn, I made it, Idon't care what anyone says, I
made it in life.
I got a metal card and so thatwas probably like the biggest
flex factor and the plan evermade, which is the fact that it
was a metal card.
(16:36):
And so that's how I got thechase trifecta.
Now here's a little caveat thechase trifecta different people,
they vary.
Some people get the chasesapphire reserve instead of the
chase sapphire preferred.
Some people do with a businesscard.
There's different ways, butessentially a trifecta and just
three chase cards essentially,but the oh, I guess the og chase
trifecta is like the freedomflex, the freedom limited, and
(16:59):
then one of the sapphire cards.
Right, so that was my trifecta.
Now the reason why I startedgoing on chase first before I
went to MX Was because chase hasthis rule called the 524 rule,
and what the 524 rule say statesis that if you have five credit
cards that you applied for inwithin 24 months, if you're
still over in that 24 monthperiod and you try to apply for
(17:20):
a six card with them, you'll beautomatically declined, if I'm
not mistaken.
So I was like alright, let meget in the chase ego system, get
whatever chase cars I need toget out the way and then from
there I start opening up to MXand other cards.
So that's what I did.
That's why I started off with achase trifecta and then I went
from there.
But now you may be wondering,like John, but how do you learn
(17:41):
all this stuff?
How do you know what cards havewhat multipliers and what
points back and all thesedifferent ways to use cards?
On the next episode I'm mesharing with you guys how I
learned about building my creditscore.
Like the people, I watched onYouTube, the websites,
everything that looked intoabout credit score, so that you
could start understanding yourcredit score and start building
it.
And if you would like get a setof points in my house, you so
(18:04):
make sure to tune into the nextepisode.
I talked about how tounderstand your credit score.
So essentially, just a quickrecap how I got my chase
trifecta.
So I pretty much applied for acredit limit increase of bank
from America we're from 500 to1500.
Then shortly after I applied forthe chase freedom flex.
I then, from there, ended upapplying for the staff I
(18:24):
preferred.
Got denied, applied for apersonal loan, got denied from
that and then I apply.
I opened up a chase studentcheckers account.
I applied for the chase freedomunlimited, then disputed a hard
inquiry on my credit report.
I got a credit limit increaseon my chase card and then
another credit limit increase onmy bank of America card and
then Applied for the chasesapphire preferred.
(18:46):
So from December of 2020 toSeptember of 2021 was a time
period of when I got my chasetrifecta and At that point, by
the time I got the sci-fipreferred, my credit score had
went up to like a 730 and afterI got that welcome bonus I had a
little over probably a hundredfifty thousand points.
So I said next episode, I'mgonna see you guys how to start
learning about credit.
(19:07):
So I'll see you the next one.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
You've now finished taking the first step.
Now Let us help you take thenext one.
Subscribe to our newsletter atwalk to wealth comm.
That's walk the number towealth comm, so we can keep you
moving on your journey.
We'll see you on the nextepisode of walk to wealth with
John Mendez.
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