An App-o-Rama (AOR for short) is a term that was coined by the Wall Street Journal on June 23rd, 2007. The idea behind an AOR is to complete several credit card applications in a single day. The theory being that by doing so consumers reduce the chances of the credit card issuers knowing about the other applications made that day.
Applying for new credit negatively affects a persons credit score (“recent searches for new credit” makes up 10% of the FICO score – more for consumers with a thin credit file). This negative impact is usually only a few points but the loss grows exponentially with each additional search for new credit. These credit score drops are only temporary and usually recover within 3-6 months.
Individuals participating in App-o-rama’s try to avoid this point drop by applying for credit cards in large batches, completing the minimum spends require to “unlock” the bonus rewards offered and then holding another app-o-rama once their credit score has gone back up.
They are becoming less useful as creditors and credit bureaus upgrade their reporting systems to be real time. In the future as soon as an application is lodged it’ll be reported to the credit bureaus and used in calculating their credit score for their next application, making these AOR’s useless.