If you read credit card blogs and forums, you may encounter the terms Player One and Player Two.
Below we will define the terms and provide an example scenario.
Player One is you, the reader.
Player Two is friend, family member, or domestic partner with whom you may decide to coordinate optimizing credit applications and credit card rewards.
Disclaimer: Below is an arbitrary example intended only to illustrate a concept. Be skeptical of any third-party site, whether this site or any other, that states or even implies that it can predict with certainty any approval or denial.
A couple is planning both an anniversary trip and some home improvements.
In this example both members of the couple have excellent credit scores but the husband has recently opened several new credit cards.
Between their work bonuses and their tax refunds, they will have the ability to pay for the purchases without carrying additional ongoing debt.
However, as educated consumers they know that the prudent use of credit card products can actually lessen their total cost.
The couple has decided that collectively they want an airline cobranded credit card issued by one of the country's major banks and a Synchrony issued Lowes credit card.
Lowes is a home improvement chain widely available in the continental United States.
Which cobranded airline credit card or cards might make sense for a given household will be specific to that household, so I will leave that part generic.
The cobranded airline credit card may allow the couple's baggage fees to be waived and the Synchrony issued Lowes card may get the couple a 5% discount on the purchase of materials.
The husband is concerned that he may be rejected by some issuers of cobranded airline credit cards that are sensitive to an applicant having either too many recent hard credit pulls or too many new credit accounts.
As a result, the couple decides that the husband's excellent credit score will likely get an approval for the Lowes card so he will apply for that card and that the wife will apply for the cobranded airline credit card.
Regardless of how important credit is in today's world, I am not saying that you should choose your romantic partner solely upon his or her credit score or Chase 5/24 status.
However, I'm not saying you shouldn't either.