I love credit cards so much!

[gottalovepluto]

Well it is something we will have to figure out for the next 4 years. Do we drive up and get her on breaks? Do we let her fly? Not sure. This 2nd trip wasn't planned, but we were offered free football tickets so DH didn't want to pass it up. He has a work trip the week before and is flying through Chicago on Thursday, we would be driving up probably the next day or early Saturday. He has threatened to just stay in Chicago and meet me at the game. lol We shall see who wins this one.

Free tickets can be the most expensive type!

 

[striker1064]

Man, I am staying way way way away from the referral drama on /r/churning. No chance. I'm of the opinion that they made the subreddit tremendously more toxic than it otherwise would be, and I guess we'll find out for sure now. Whatever is happening now with rankt, I hope it makes everyone happy.

I found myself frequently pointing people toward the What Card Wednesday thread, then never going in it because it became such a spambot for referrals. It's nice that this community doesn't have the toxicity.

 

[StephPlum]

wasnt planning on venturing out of the city but one of my family members is requesting it, How many days would u recommend Mount Rainier. Its more of just driving around and looking. probably no 1 full day hikes.
perhaps, drive there, then stay a night, then come back to Seattle?

I see @afan answered with a more expert answer than I will have. I haven't actually been there put planning for possibility in 2019. Planning to stay in Paradise, in the park, but have heard that staying on west side just outside the park is fine as well. There are several short hikes (1-2 miles) in the Paradise area with views of the meadow and glaciers. Have fun if you decide to go.

 

[miztressuz]

Thank you! It is definitely a green corporate Amex card with my company name on it (not through my supervisor as a personal or anything). I had to provide my SSN through the Amex portal which concerned me it would count against me, but now I feel better

Pulling my own report should not affect my chances of opening cards either, right? I have been monitoring it through the free Citi and Chase feature when I login to my card website.

Nope, I go through the free annual report site. As long as you go through the bureaus it doesn't affect anything. I think most other places are all soft pulls now anyway and that doesn't affect your credit (I do recall in the beginning of all the credit monitoring services there was a problem with them screwing up peoples credit but I don't think even that happens anymore)

 

[StephPlum]

Well, I went for the Barclay AA Biz.

What was the offer that just ended? I am pulling up 50K with a $95 AF for just one purchase right now. Trying to see if I should just go for this or wait for something better.

 

[Lain]

Hello, everyone. I'm back from a 14 day trip to San Diego/DLR/LA. After hemorrhaging $$$, but having a great time AND saving thousands of dollars by using my SPG / Jetblue / United points (even flew home first class which was such an INCREDIBLE experience I never want to go to the back of the plane again!) It's time to ask for advice on my next credit card move.

Goals: Since they are not set in stone, I'm not sure what my next move should be. I have 30k miles in my Delta account and I'm looking into booking a first class flight to Europe next year for the four of us. I love SPG since those points are so versatile.

What should my next move be? Thanks so much!

Within 24 Months Me:

1 - Chase Marriott Premier Plus upgrade May 2018

Hilton Amex Business (5k min spend) May 2018

2 - Chase Marriott Dec-17

3 - Chase Unlimited Dec-17

SPG Amex Business Nov-17

4 - Barclay Jetblue Nov-17

5 - Chase United MPE Nov-17

6 - Chase Sapphire Preferred Jul-16

7- Bank of America MC Dec-16


Beyond 24 mos Me:

Amex travel card opened more than 24 mos ago

Chase Disney opened more than 24 mos ago


Within 24 Months husband:

Chase Sapphire Preferred Jan-18

Chase Sapphire Reserve Jan-18

Barclay Jetblue Dec-17

SPG Amex Business Mar 18

Chase Marriott Premier May 18 (5k min spend)


Amex ED Pref opened more than 24 dos ago

@mefordis – I’ve been giving a lot of thought to what to reply.

It looks like you’re 5/24 right now (BofA, MPE, JetBlue, CFU, Marriott). The CSP should have dropped off after last month, the SPG Biz and Hilton Biz don’t count, and the Marriott upgrade bonus does not count as a new card account.

It looks like you could drop back down to 4/24 by January 2019, as long as you don’t get any more personal cards. This means sticking to business cards that don’t report to your credit reports. Your next card doesn’t age past 24 months until November 2019.

But since you’re looking at new cards now, you need to decide a long-term strategy of whether you want to try to get back under 5/24 and get more Chase cards, or forget Chase and Ultimate Rewards points and just hit all the other issuers.

The issue I see is you have only two Chase UR-earning cards, the CSP and CFU. The CSP earns 2x UR on dining and travel; the CFU earns 1.5x UR on everything. But neither are big UR points generators from natural everyday spend. And, as long as you are over 5/24, you’re disqualified from being approved for any of Chase’s other UR cards, many of which have big signup bonuses. Here’s the “BIG” IF – if you were under 5/24, you’d be eligible for, and could build a strategy around getting the following:

CIP [80k UR bonus] – business card, for which you have to be under 5/24 to get, but won’t add to your 5/24 count, and earns you 3x UR on bills that don’t otherwise accept credit cards by using Plastiq, e-gift cards to hundreds of retailers and restaurants through apps like Gyft and Swych, your cable, internet, and cell phone bills, and phone insurance, Venmo payments.

CIC [50k UR bonus] — business card, for which you have to be under 5/24 to get, but won’t add to your 5/24 count, and earns you 5x UR at office supply stores, which sell all kinds of gift cards, including retailers, restaurants, gas, Amazon, Disney; e-gift cards through apps like Gyft and Swych; cable, internet, and cell phone bills.

CIU [50k UR bonus] – business card, for which you have to be under 5/24 to get, but won’t add to your 5/24 count, and earns you 1.5x UR everywhere.

CSP [50k UR bonus] – you could product change your current CSP to the no fee Chase Freedom (you should do this anyway to take advantage of the 5x UR quarterly bonus categories), which would allow you to sign up for the CSP and get the bonus again 24 months after you received your last CSP bonus.

CSR [50k UR bonus] – which you could double dip with the CSP when you’re eligible. 3x UR earning on dining and travel. UR points pooled on and redeemed from this card get a 50% bonus in value towards travel booked through the Chase UR portal and Chase’s travel agency.

With a mix of these UR cards in your wallet, your spending would be worth a lot more because instead of the 1.5-2x UR that you’re earning on the CSP and CFU now, you could be earning 3x-5x UR on pretty much everything, and thus generate a lot of UR points from organic spend even while you are trying to cool down with Chase or locked out of more signup bonuses. I have the CSR, CIP, CIC, and CF in my wallet, and I posted a list a few weeks back that showed which card I use for almost every category of our spending.

And since the Chase business cards don’t add to your 5/24 count (but you have to be under 5/24 to get them), interspersing Chase business cards with applications for other cards can really stretch out your strategy to pick up more than just “5” cards with Chase.

The issue is you blew straight through 5/24 around November and December last year, and you didn’t pick up the Chase UR cards for their bonuses or long-term earning potential.

It looks like DH is 4/24, and could get approved for the above cards, but with only one slot left it’s best he maximizes the use of that slot with Chase business cards. But I understand he’s a little hesistant to apply for business cards.

One reason why it’s a good idea to build a stash of UR points and have a card like the CSR that can redeem the points at 1.5x value is your DeltaOne example. Now, I’m not a Delta flyer, but I understand they call Delta miles SkyPesos because it can take a lot of them to redeem for an award flight. Your 1 million SkyPesos award ticket has to have a cash value. Instead of trying to sign up for however many cards (I doubt you could sign up for enough cards that even gets you close to 1 million SkyPesos), you could use UR points to book that ticket as a cash fare through the UR portal for a more reasonable amount of points, and having a CSR makes your UR points worth 50% more (or, check my math, 66% off if you value 1 UR at just 1 cent.)

I’ll quote @calypso726 ’s example about buying a Delta first-class ticket with 181k UR points rather than shelling out 700k SkyPesos:

So starting with the flights which is MIA - KEF. DH wanted lie flat seats so my only option was Delta. Delta wanted 700,000 Sky Pesos and the OOP cost was about $2900 pp. We already had a lot of UR points and had also recently each got the CSR when it was at 100k. So we purchased the flights through the UR portal and that was a little over 181,000 UR points pp. prior to this I have only transferred UR points to airlines and booked award flights.

Now, if you focus on only non-reporting business cards for the next 4-5 months, you’ll be at 4/24 by January. In the meantime, you could pick up the Marriott Biz now, since that’s not subject to the 5/24 rule yet, and it won’t add to your 5/24 count. You could pick up the CIP in January 2019. Then, wait 3 months – don’t apply for any new cards, or only non-reporting business cards from other issuers, then pick up the CIC in about April 2019. Note that the upper limit of how many business cards Chase will approve you for under only your SSN seems to be about 3. Each business card application gets tougher as Chase extends you more credit with each one. Come August 2019, when your Marriott Biz hits one year, you can cancel it, and try for the CIU. By November or December, most of your other cards will age past 24 months, and you should have a lot of options open with Chase again.

I’m going to end it here for now, and let you think about this and respond. Do you want to try to get back under 5/24 and get more Chase cards, or forget Chase and Ultimate Rewards points and just hit all the other issuers?

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Big thanks to @Lain @SouthFayetteFan and @Albort for all their work on Reddit. In addition, they are some of the most helpful here. Thanks guys!

 

[gottalovepluto]

What was the offer that just ended? I am pulling up 50K with a $95 AF for just one purchase right now. Trying to see if I should just go for this or wait for something better.

Yes. It was rumored to be going away a few days ago but is still live. 50k is the highest the biz has been seen, but they did just bump the personal to 60k fwiw.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Man, I am staying way way way away from the referral drama on /r/churning. No chance. I'm of the opinion that they made the subreddit tremendously more toxic than it otherwise would be, and I guess we'll find out for sure now. Whatever is happening now with rankt, I hope it makes everyone happy.

I found myself frequently pointing people toward the What Card Wednesday thread, then never going in it because it became such a spambot for referrals. It's nice that this community doesn't have the toxicity.

@striker1064 be all

 

[PolyRob]

Nope, I go through the free annual report site. As long as you go through the bureaus it doesn't affect anything. I think most other places are all soft pulls now anyway and that doesn't affect your credit (I do recall in the beginning of all the credit monitoring services there was a problem with them screwing up peoples credit but I don't think even that happens anymore)

Thank you!

 

[striker1064]

@striker1064 be all

It's what I've been doing on that sub for a while now. They can't live without drama!

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

It's time for new credit cards! With our SPGs now sockdrawered, I'm looking for a better non-category earner, and thought I'd see what you guys thought.

Me:
8/30/16 CSR
1/15/17 Amex Platinum Business
1/21/17 American Aadvantage (citicards)
2/1/17 Chase Southwest Business Premier (closed)
2/16/17: Chase Southwest Personal (closed)
3/7/18: CIP
3/27?/18: Amex SPG

I also have: Chase Disney (old/sockdrawered), Barclay Arrival Plus, Chase Freedom x2 (AU on one), Chase United Explorer, & Chase Ink Plus

DH:
8/30/16 CSR
3/7/18 SPG
5/8/18 CIP

He also has: Chase Disney (old/sockdrawered), Barclay Arrival AU, Chase Freedom x2 (AU on one)

So I'm 3/24 with one about to fall off and DH is 1/24 with that about to fall off.

We've been very slow with DH because he's planning to go for the Southwest CP (mine expires at the end of the year) next month so we want 2 Chase slots and not a lot of action.

Also, even though I'm 3/24 soon to be 2/24, I have a lot of Chase cards (7) and that CIP in March was actually my 4th Chase business card in three years. They put me through the ringer even with an LLC/legit business. I really don't want to risk any kind of shutdown with Chase as we are earning a lot of URs with our existing cards.

So right now I'm thinking:

Me:
--Amex Everyday Preferred (if I can ever pull that 30k offer!): we can easily hit 30 charges a month to get the extra 50%, and the grocery category would be huge for us (4.5x points with the bonus) as that is the one big category we are missing. This would also give us 1.5x on MR with the bonus.
--Alaska (Bank of America): We fly to Hawaii 3-4 times a year so added miles and companion ticket would be great.
--We have two freedom cards so I was thinking about product changing one of them to the Chase Freedom Unlimited to have a 1.5x UR earner.

DH:
--early October: Chase Southwest Business card
--double dip or wait? Chase Southwest Personal card.
--I'd also like him to do the Alaska card, but I'm thinking that to make the Chase CP process as smooth as possible he should wait until after he gets both those cards.

The other card that's tempting for us is the Chase British Air because we fly back and forth to England all the time, but I'm leery of too much Chase scrutiny or a shutdown.

Would love to know what you guys think of the plans!

 

[ski_mom]

Ok, I need the experts’ help again (for a bad thing his time).

DH and I were flying from stl to Syd via Houston today. Our flight from stl was cancelled. I’m so sad because we were only going to be there for one week anyway to visit our daughter who is studying abroad this semester and this will cut our trip by a whole day...

Anyway, we booked our flights on united through the chase portal (not with points, but a “cash” booking through portal). We are rebooked for a flight tomorrow, but is there anything we can demand from them? We are having to stay overnight in st louis and we are also losing a night of our paid hotel in Sydney (also paid through the chase portal). We weee told the flight was canceled due to a crew issue if that makes a difference. I think I would be less mad if it was a weather issue or something. There’s nothing they can do about that, but this seems so preventable in my mind.

In my mind we are out actual money in addition to the even more valuable time we’re missing.

Of all the flights I’ve taken in my life this would be the one I hate the most to have this happen with, just because there aren’t lots of options and basically all flights arrive in Sydney early am their time. Therefore pretty much any change results in a whole day difference.

Anyway, I’ll stop crying now lol, but just wondered if we have any recourse?

 

[StephPlum]

Today was the start of the tax-free weekend in Ohio (free on clothing up to $75 per article and most school supplies). I normally take the day off work and stock up on office supplies and shop for clothing. Looks like more and more people have the same idea cause it was busy today. Tying this to CC, took advantage of my 10% staples offer on my Hilton Biz on my supplies and 2 GCs (savings $35). One GC was for a VISA GC to use at Costco since working on MSR on my Citi Biz so thought it would work out best to save 10% on the GC and use at Costco instead of my CIP. I couldn't find any $500 cards so that was a bummer.
to CC but on topic for budget. As I stroll through Costco I see the motion sensor trash can I bought 2 weeks ago for 39.99 on sale for another $10 off. I go to the service desk to see if they will price match but I'm told no because I already bought it on sale. Yeah but not as on sale as it is now! She actually prints me a new receipt from 2 weeks ago. So I go in and buy the trash can at the lower price and automatically return with the older receipt. $10 savings Cha Ching. I do not understand why she just could not give me the $10 savings but it only took me about 15 mins to do all that.

 

[StephPlum]

Big thanks to @Lain @SouthFayetteFan and @Albort for all their work on Reddit. In addition, they are some of the most helpful here. Thanks guys!

Agree. Thanks to @Lain, @SouthFayetteFan and @Albort . The only thing I read on Reddit is Dischurners.

 

[Lain]

It's time for new credit cards! With our SPGs now sockdrawered, I'm looking for a better non-category earner, and thought I'd see what you guys thought.

Me:
8/30/16 CSR
1/15/17 Amex Platinum Business
1/21/17 American Aadvantage (citicards)
2/1/17 Chase Southwest Business Premier (closed)
2/16/17: Chase Southwest Personal (closed)
3/7/18: CIP
3/27?/18: Amex SPG

I also have: Chase Disney (old/sockdrawered), Barclay Arrival Plus, Chase Freedom x2 (AU on one), Chase United Explorer, & Chase Ink Plus

DH:
8/30/16 CSR
3/7/18 SPG
5/8/18 CIP

He also has: Chase Disney (old/sockdrawered), Barclay Arrival AU, Chase Freedom x2 (AU on one)

So I'm 3/24 with one about to fall off and DH is 1/24 with that about to fall off.

We've been very slow with DH because he's planning to go for the Southwest CP (mine expires at the end of the year) next month so we want 2 Chase slots and not a lot of action.

Also, even though I'm 3/24 soon to be 2/24, I have a lot of Chase cards (7) and that CIP in March was actually my 4th Chase business card in three years. They put me through the ringer even with an LLC/legit business. I really don't want to risk any kind of shutdown with Chase as we are earning a lot of URs with our existing cards.

So right now I'm thinking:

Me:
--Amex Everyday Preferred (if I can ever pull that 30k offer!): we can easily hit 30 charges a month to get the extra 50%, and the grocery category would be huge for us (4.5x points with the bonus) as that is the one big category we are missing. This would also give us 1.5x on MR with the bonus.
--Alaska (Bank of America): We fly to Hawaii 3-4 times a year so added miles and companion ticket would be great.
--We have two freedom cards so I was thinking about product changing one of them to the Chase Freedom Unlimited to have a 1.5x UR earner.

DH:
--early October: Chase Southwest Business card
--double dip or wait? Chase Southwest Personal card.
--I'd also like him to do the Alaska card, but I'm thinking that to make the Chase CP process as smooth as possible he should wait until after he gets both those cards.

The other card that's tempting for us is the Chase British Air because we fly back and forth to England all the time, but I'm leery of too much Chase scrutiny or a shutdown.

Would love to know what you guys think of the plans!

Where do you shop for groceries? You can buy Whole Foods gift cards at office supply stores and Gyft through PayPal checkout with your Ink+ and earn 5x UR. You can also buy Amazon gift cards at office supply stores with your Ink+ for 5x UR, then use that to buy Whole Foods or Safeway gift cards on Amazon, effectively passing over that 5x UR to your groceries.

For an everything else card, have you considered the Amex Blue Business Plus? 2x MR on every purchase up to $50k/year. The targeted offer is 20k MR after $5k/3 months MSR. The public and referral offer is 10k MR after $3k/3 months. $0 AF. And because it’s a business card, it won’t count against Chase’s 5/24 rule.

 

[GlamMistress]

Today was the start of the tax-free weekend in Ohio (free on clothing up to $75 per article and most school supplies). I normally take the day off work and stock up on office supplies and shop for clothing. Looks like more and more people have the same idea cause it was busy today.

Yeah... just went to Target. A new Disney princess shirt just fell into my cart, not sure how it happened tho.

The store was a madhouse.

 

[StephPlum]

Are there any Barclay's rules I should know about? Thinking of going for the Biz and Personal. Is the Biz hard to get for a "business"? How long to wait between applications?

 

[Lain]

Ok, I need the experts’ help again (for a bad thing his time).

DH and I were flying from stl to Syd via Houston today. Our flight from stl was cancelled. I’m so sad because we were only going to be there for one week anyway to visit our daughter who is studying abroad this semester and this will cut our trip by a whole day...

Anyway, we booked our flights on united through the chase portal (not with points, but a “cash” booking through portal). We are rebooked for a flight tomorrow, but is there anything we can demand from them? We are having to stay overnight in st louis and we are also losing a night of our paid hotel in Sydney (also paid through the chase portal). We weee told the flight was canceled due to a crew issue if that makes a difference. I think I would be less mad if it was a weather issue or something. There’s nothing they can do about that, but this seems so preventable in my mind.

In my mind we are out actual money in addition to the even more valuable time we’re missing.

Of all the flights I’ve taken in my life this would be the one I hate the most to have this happen with, just because there aren’t lots of options and basically all flights arrive in Sydney early am their time. Therefore pretty much any change results in a whole day difference.

Anyway, I’ll stop crying now lol, but just wondered if we have any recourse?

What card did you pay with?

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Where do you shop for groceries? You can buy Whole Foods gift cards at office supply stores and Gyft through PayPal checkout with your Ink+ and earn 5x UR. You can also buy Amazon gift cards at office supply stores with your Ink+ for 5x UR, then use that to buy Whole Foods or Safeway gift cards on Amazon, effectively passing over that 5x UR to your groceries.

For an everything else card, have you considered the Amex Blue Business Plus? 2x MR on every purchase up to $50k/year. The targeted offer is 20k MR after $5k/3 months MSR. The public and referral offer is 10k MR after $3k/3 months. $0 AF. And because it’s a business card, it won’t count against Chase’s 5/24 rule.

We mostly shop at Safeway, but also at a couple small local markets and foodland in Hawaii. We have so much on GC spend right now on our cards I really don't want to add more (we are trying to stockpile for our Japan ABD trip which is in the $40k range) so I'm trying to prioritize GC spend. DH does the grocery shopping and he doesn't like using gift cards so I figured if I could make life easier on him, it would be good.

That Amex Blue card sounds great! That might be a good one for him to do, too, as it's a business card and presumably it won't interfere with his Southwest CP. I know it isn't supposed to be an issue, but I do worry about putting obvious personal spend on a business card. Amex seems to scrutinize things more, but I can probably get over it Thank you!