In a previous post I outlined how Travel Hacking and applying for credit cards affect your credit score but I neglected to show you proof. If you remember, I recommended two services that will provide you your credit score for free, Borrowell and Mogo. Well, just the other day, I got an email from Borrowell telling me that I had an updated credit score.
In June of 2016, my credit score was a respectable 698 and since that time I have applied for and been approved for the following cards:
- RBC Visa Infinite Avion
- RBC British Airways Avios
- American Express SPG Business
- American Express SPG Personal
- MBNA Alaska Airlines World Elite Mastercard
Each one of these applications would have resulted in a hard credit pull so my score would have declined by 4-8 points for each application but because I am further establishing a good payment history and a very good credit utilization (both topics covered in the previous post), my score actually went up … 27 points to be exact.
One of the most common worries about people entering the Travel Hacking game is how all these credit card application will affect your credit score. I always tell people that if you pay your bills on time and don’t carry a balance, your score will go up but that’s sometime hard to believe.
Here is empirical proof that Travel Hacking actually increases your credit score. I will keep track of all my credit card applications and update you with my new credit scores so you can see that this isn’t an anomaly