I love credit cards so much! v4.0 - 2021 (see first page for add'l details)

[amcc]

THANK YOU @Lain!

I have to laugh at all the CFA talk. We got the first one close to my house back in June and It's still an hour+ long line (10 min away). Then in Jan the one 5 min away opened up. My daughter said her friends waited 3 hours in line. Not sure if that is true, but we have one 25 min away they could order online and pick up faster! They could also drive to Ohio where there are NO waits really faster. We're also getting a Portillos. It'll be about 45 min away. The BF is SUPER excited for that. It opens 3/16 (the day before my DD's bday). He's said we'll go ahead and wait a week before we attempt to go there, LOL. And yes, our CFA workers are standing out in the cold.

Prior to getting exposed to better southern fast food chains, I thought CFA was the end all be all. Now Zaxby's holds the #1 in my heart. I love Bojangles too. And if there's a Cookout, you best believe I'm getting som hush puppies! I am going to gain 27lbs when I move south! LOL

Hahaha, so I also thought CFA was the best too, prior to moving to SC. I had only lived in the north most my life... Ohio, PA, and NY. We now have the three you mentioned. Bojangles beats any fried chicken joint hands down. Cookout is the best value around and the hush puppies... omg everyone things I’m crazy when I order them but they’re amazing! And often times I will choose Zaxbys over CFA now because they are that good! I admit I didn’t know what I was missing til I moved south either, and even then I was skeptical til I tried, haha.

I find it so funny to read about the south when Miami is as far south almost as possible and we are so not "south"! We have like 3 CFA in the entire county, no Zaxbys, no Portillos, no Cookout (haven't even heard of them)! Miami is a completely different world.

 

[Killer Fish]

We burned a couple of IHG 40k capped FN certs from our legacy $49 AF IHG card at Candlewood Suites in Lake Buena Vista for a weekend WDW trip. It’s a newer property and I must say we are quite impressed. The suite is spacious, has a full size refrigerator, dishwasher, microwave and even a small two burner stove top, plus all the kitchen items you’d need. Parking fee is a modest $15 per night. It’s not the Willard in DC but with unrestricted FN certs a thing of the past, it’s not a bad redemption for the AF on the card. We will definitely use this as our go to for the FN certs each year.

Have you ever tried this spot? https://holidayinnclub.com/explore-resorts/orange-lake-resort

I have used the free night a couple of times there for a 2 Bedroom Villa.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

I’m going to take another stab at asking for advice. I spent yesterday reading all of the newbie information on the Reddit churning group. Its a great beginners guide!

I have a very specific goal right now: two first class tickets from Orlando to Honolulu on Hawaiian Airlines, next February. If I can’t get enough points to pay for the tickets outright, I’m ok with purchasing an economy ticket and upgrading with points. This means I need a minimum of 200K points either with Amex or HA.

I’ve very interested in the Chase cards long term, but I think it makes the most sense to focus on Amex right now since they transfer to HA and to Delta, which operate out of the two hubs closest to me. Thank you to those on this thread for pointing this out to me! I have zero experience with Amex but Chase feels very comfortable and intuitive to me, so making the leap to Amex feels weird.

I am at:

09/19 Comenity Lucky Brand Card (oops)
03/19 JPMorgan Marriott Bonvoy Boundless
04/20 Citibank Home Depot (oops)
03/21 Amex Gold (will get 75K MR)

No business cards, I am willing to get those now.

I have a P2, but there are limits to what he is comfortable opening. One card a year, maybe two. He has 1/24 right now.

I generally don’t have any trouble meeting MS. I put everything on CC, and can put taxes on CC if it makes sense. DH is a small business owner so we pay a boatload of taxes.

So what is my best strategy to get those MR for tickets to Hawaii?? I need 125K more to meet my goal. I hope getting the Gold Amex instead of the Platinum was not a big mistake!!!

One other thing, ideally I’d like to pool points, and I believe MR can not be transferred between spouses. But HA miles can be transferred. Does anyone know if I transfer DH’s MR to HA, can I then transfer those HA to my own account and book the tickets that way?

I hope I got this right, and TIA!

*Edited to add, based on the above post, do car/mortgage hard inquiries count against 5/24?

I understand other posters concerns about 5/24 and why they are suggesting business cards. You don’t mention your husband’s 5/24 status, but perhaps a personal card is a good option for him. I DO really like the personal Amex plat though and you may be able to pull up the 125k offer via cardmatch tool. It’s 125k MR + 10x pts on gas and groceries in the first 6 months for $5,000 minimum spend. If you spend $5,000 on gas and groceries, that’s 50,000 points right there. In my experience, the points post very quickly after you hit the MSR. Amex has been offering great offers and incentives which really helps with the high annual fee.

Also, don’t forget that with Amex, you can refer to each other to get bonus points. It doesn’t have to be the same card- the link will work for any Amex card. Just be sure it’s the best available offer out there.

I used to be a huge Chase fan, but now I love Amex. They’ve been really good to their customers to keep them loyal, IMO.

 

[stitchfan18]

I'm starting to think ahead about how we will use the 4 Hilton FNC that we'll accumulate by next January/February from our Aspire cards for a trip in 2022. Since we only have 2 of the FNC right now, can I book 2 nights with those once booking opens, then book another 2 nights on points to hold a standard room until we get our other 2 FNC? What's the best method to book a room when FNC from multiple accounts are being used? Will each night be a separate reservation, or is there a way to link them somehow?

 

[hsmamato2]

Ok..... just taking an unofficial opinion poll here..... PYB. I'm realllllly tossing this around as the end date for the special categories draws near..... Use, or save for a future date? I've seen many mentions here and there throughout this wonderful thread.... What do you plan to do? (I'm talking CSR 1.5%,but please chime in also with the 1.25 too)
I realize the actual amounts is kind of personal,just a general idea...
1- Use them all up- it's a great deal
2- Use some up,leave a stash for future use (even tho you won;t get better payback,it'll still ="free" travel in future vs. cash
3- If you choose #2, how much do you plan to leave there?
4- do you have a solid plan for building your account back up?

 

[afan]

no Cookout (haven't even heard of them)

I think cookout is just in the Carolinas if not just nc. They aren't a big chain, only outdoor seating so a lot of them have a drive thru on each side along with walk up windows. I remember being excited when they opened one hear my house since I normally only ate there for lunch since there was one near work or when I was out and about.

Now I really want some hush puppies...

 

[havaneselover]

I think cookout is just in the Carolinas if not just nc. They aren't a big chain, only outdoor seating so a lot of them have a drive thru on each side along with walk up windows. I remember being excited when they opened one hear my house since I normally only ate there for lunch since there was one near work or when I was out and about.

Now I really want some hush puppies...

We have it in Virginia. And the one by me has indoor dining.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

I know this is a credit card thread, but everyone here seems very well versed on all things financial, so I was wondering if anyone has any knowledge / information on student loan refinancing. My DD2 graduated in May 2020 and has a loan through Discover that she's working on paying down. We were talking about it today and her rate is around 6.5% and I would think it could be better. Is the best thing just to call a few places to see what the rates are currently if she'd refinance it? She has a very good job and is making pretty big payments toward it (she's still living at home until she gets it paid off), but would love to save on the interest if possible.

Just saw this offer in an email from Alaska Air:

Earn 1 mile for every $2 refinanced
https://www.sofi.com/alaska/

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Ok..... just taking an unofficial opinion poll here..... PYB. I'm realllllly tossing this around as the end date for the special categories draws near..... Use, or save for a future date? I've seen many mentions here and there throughout this wonderful thread.... What do you plan to do? (I'm talking CSR 1.5%,but please chime in also with the 1.25 too)
I realize the actual amounts is kind of personal,just a general idea...
1- Use them all up- it's a great deal
2- Use some up,leave a stash for future use (even tho you won;t get better payback,it'll still ="free" travel in future vs. cash
3- If you choose #2, how much do you plan to leave there?
4- do you have a solid plan for building your account back up?

I guess I’m 2...using PYB on my CSR in the current categories and will have URs left since I’m just redeeming against our usual organic spend

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

I find it so funny to read about the south when Miami is as far south almost as possible and we are so not "south"! We have like 3 CFA in the entire county, no Zaxbys, no Portillos, no Cookout (haven't even heard of them)! Miami is a completely different world.

That's cuz Miami is little Cuba. lol. No but seriously, I definitely consider Miami like a totally different culture/vibe than the "deep south". Not in a bad way, just totally different. You guys have Checkers which we don't have. The line was insane when we were in Miami last summer. Granted, it was like 10pm, so I should've known better. We all thought it was good in the moment. Woke up sick the next day haha. I found out we are not missing anything by not having Checkers.

I think cookout is just in the Carolinas if not just nc. They aren't a big chain, only outdoor seating so a lot of them have a drive thru on each side along with walk up windows. I remember being excited when they opened one hear my house since I normally only ate there for lunch since there was one near work or when I was out and about.

Now I really want some hush puppies...

They are all over South Carolina also. The one in our town is huge and has TONS of seating. It's actually a hang out every night of the week, well it was pre-covid. The high school kids would be there hanging out every night eating their cheap food, haha. The other big hangout spot in our town is QT. Don't tell me why, the kids love hanging out there too.

 

[georgina]

BOA customer service is now rivaling Citi for my worst list. DH applied for the Business Advantage Cash rewards card last week, then I had him call to PC his personal premium card to a personal cash rewards card. A biz card arrived in the mail today, I looked at his online account and now he has 2 Biz cash rewards cards! Plus the $95 fee for the premium is still showing. So I don't know which biz card has the $750 bonus attached. Will have to have him call again, ugh.

 

[jimitrout]

question for the most helpful board on he internet. going to South Padre..beginning of June. any recommendations for vacation rentals? My DW's most important criteria was oceanview balcony. so many condos up and down the beach. 2 adults 2 kids. Thanks.

 

[becauseimnew]

Ok..... just taking an unofficial opinion poll here..... PYB. I'm realllllly tossing this around as the end date for the special categories draws near..... Use, or save for a future date? I've seen many mentions here and there throughout this wonderful thread.... What do you plan to do? (I'm talking CSR 1.5%,but please chime in also with the 1.25 too)
I realize the actual amounts is kind of personal,just a general idea...
1- Use them all up- it's a great deal
2- Use some up,leave a stash for future use (even tho you won;t get better payback,it'll still ="free" travel in future vs. cash
3- If you choose #2, how much do you plan to leave there?
4- do you have a solid plan for building your account back up?

#2 - We have a big Disney Trip planned for late summer - We've got 243K URs I plan to buy another $2,500 in DGC at Walmart which leave us with 75K URs.
The plan is to forever keep DH & I under 5/24 to be able to grab Biz cards. If we can each grab 2 Biz cards a year that's about 390K URs (including current SUB, support links and spend). Well, until Chase shakes things ups.

 

[EM Lawrence]

I’m taking a look at Hawaiian’s MCO-HNL schedule. Flights begin on 3/11/21, bi-weekly departing Tuesdays and Saturdays. Hawaiian opens up its calendar 331 days in advance, so you can search and book as far as early February 2022 right now. As we approach the busier summer travel months, the schedule shows flights on the other days of the week but those appear to be on their codeshare partner JetBlue from MCO-SFO with a layover, then SFO-HNL on Hawaiian.

My wife has a Hawaiian credit card. Main Cabin (Economy) award fares on both Tuesdays and Saturdays are consistently 26,250 miles + $6 taxes; First Class awards are 130,000 miles + $6 taxes. I did not see any 40,000 miles saver awards available in First Class. Keep in mind HA’s awards are on a dynamic range based on inventory and demand. I saw some Economy awards costing 35,000, 43,750, 52,500, and 70,000 miles in November and December, and as much as 87,500 miles in January (although it’s likely awards are not fully loaded in yet towards the end of their schedule). Per Hawaiian’s award chart, there is no “discounted award amount” for First Class awards; it’s either the 40,000 saver or 130,000 standard. Again, I’ve never just happened across a First Class saver award, and I didn’t see any when I just scanned all the way to the end of schedule.

I’m really concerned you’re already at 4/24 and appear ready to hit 5/24 without considering any Chase cards. Chase UR doesn’t transfer to Hawaiian, but they’re flexible as “cash” if it makes more sense to book the cash fare through the Chase travel portal. A First Class ticket averages about $2,000-$2,500. If you had a Chase Sapphire Reserve that gave you a 50% bonus on redemption, where 1 UR point = 1.5 cents (per point), that’s 133,333-166,667 UR points – not really the best value, but it’s an option. An Extra Comfort ticket that @CaptainAmerica mentioned ranges from $500-$1,000; or 33,333-66,667 UR points. If you can pick a good seat up front, that’s a pretty good value. I’d just hate for you to foreclose yourself to Chase cards (especially their business cards), where you could rack up a sizable amount of UR points.

You might want to wait on opening the Hawaiian credit card until you’ve built up enough Amex MR that you’d want to transfer to HawaiianMiles, combine and you’re almost ready to book. The personal Hawaiian card’s $2,000 MSR (and the Hawaiian biz card’s $1,000 MSR) is low enough that they should be fairly easy to meet in a short amount of time to earn those points and have ready to book within a month or two of opening the card(s).

Another concern is you’re trying to plan a trip less than a year out. You’re starting from almost scratch, and we typically recommend giving yourself at least a year to get the points in place and another 11-12 months to start booking for the best deals. Hawaiian’s schedule is already open through early February. Those 26,250 miles Economy awards are the lowest available, and may go up the longer you wait to book. I know you’re looking at First Class, and those won’t get more expensive than 130,000 miles but there is limited availability. I see some dates where there are no First Class awards available and many others with 2-5 First Class awards available.



Amex's business charge cards (especially the Business Platinum and Business Gold) and the Blue Business Plus (BBP) seem obvious candidates that won't have any 5/24 effects (since they don't report on personal credit reports so Chase doesn't see them and count them against your 5/24 status, and once you're an Amex customer Amex rarely conducts a hard pull on new card applications). They're all high SUB cards, with annual fees that can be justified or offset with credits and other benefits (no AF on the BBP). They also tend to have high minimum spending requirements, so without knowing more about how much taxes you pay, or whether you and DH are willing to put actual business expenses on credit cards, it's hard to gauge whether this is more than you can handle. Amex also has the Business Green and Plum charge cards that don't have great SUBs, but they have no annual fee in the first year and may be worth opening and holding for a year just for the "supportal" bonus.

Another thing about opening Amex cards is there are public welcome offers, targeted welcome offers, and what's available via "supportal" - that is, you should consider how much the supportal bonus is to the "supporter" and what the "supportee" will receive as a SUB. It takes a little bit of poking around to find the links and browser/incognito/vpn combination that'll get you the highest and best offer (or combined points in 2-player mode). Do a little bit of homework (or asking around) to educate yourself what the best offer is for a particular Amex card, since Amex SUBs are generally once per lifetime and Amex doesn't match better offers that might have been available or come out later.



An Amex cardmember CAN transfer MR into a spouse's frequent flier or hotel loyalty accounts if the transferee spouse is an authorized user or hold an "employee" card on the transferor spouse's Amex card. So DH could accumulate MRs, then transfer those MRs to your HawaiianMiles account if you are an AU/employee on one of his Amex cards. You'd need to be an AU/employee on your spouse's Amex card for 90 days before he can transfer his MR to your frequent flier or hotel loyalty accounts. As I mentioned previously, it's not a good idea to get added as an AU on your spouse's personal Amex card, but you could be added as an employee on your spouse's business Amex card without the 5/24 implications (since the primary cardholder's Amex business card doesn't report to personal credit reports, neither does the "employee" card to your personal credit reports).

The other way to do this without being added as an AU/employee on your spouse's Amex card is as you mentioned, DH could transfer MR to his HA account, then transfer the HawaiianMiles from his HA account to yours without fee if/when you're holding a HawaiianMiles credit card.

Keep in mind under either scenario, you'll pay Amex's excise fee for transfers of MR to domestic airlines of 0.06 cents per point (capped at $99 for any single transfer), i.e., whether DH transfers his MR to your HA account or DH transfers his MR to his HA account, in addition to the fee on transferring your MR to your HA account.

This is a lot of extremely detailed and helpful information. Thank you. I’m going to read through it a few times to make sure I can digest it all. I’m still on a very steep learning curve.

I did want to mention, I am at 4/24, but by next month I’ll be down to 3/24. My oldest of the 4 was opened 3/2019, so will be gone soon, leaving me at 3/24.

I did go ahead and for apply for a HA Business card today, so that should not count agains my 5/24 if it is approved. I got the same kind of response that @IFlossU got, saying my application was under consideration. Hopefully they won’t dally too long, because I do feel the time crunch I’m in on getting airline tickets booked.

The next card will likely be for DH. I’ve applied for 2 this week and want to proceed with caution from here. He’s a 1/24 and he really only uses my CC. I think one of the business Amex or the Platinum Amex make sense if we can find the 125K bonus, or really the 100K with a referral bonus to me would also be good. We can easily spend 5K on groceries and gas in 6 months to get the next 50K.

Then I’ll think about Chase cards, and I should still be at 3/24.

 

[afan]

We have it in Virginia. And the one by me has indoor dining.

I never saw any on my few adventures in VA so I figures they weren't up there. Interesting about indoor, none that I went to or saw in NC had that. They were all roughly the size of a drive thru only starbucks so don't need a ton of space.

 

[wanderlust7]

Ok..... just taking an unofficial opinion poll here..... PYB. I'm realllllly tossing this around as the end date for the special categories draws near..... Use, or save for a future date? I've seen many mentions here and there throughout this wonderful thread.... What do you plan to do? (I'm talking CSR 1.5%,but please chime in also with the 1.25 too)
I realize the actual amounts is kind of personal,just a general idea...
1- Use them all up- it's a great deal
2- Use some up,leave a stash for future use (even tho you won;t get better payback,it'll still ="free" travel in future vs. cash
3- If you choose #2, how much do you plan to leave there?
4- do you have a solid plan for building your account back up?

I was feeling flush with URs at the beginning of the pandemic. So I PYB'd about 200k. Then I started planning future trips and transferred a bunch to Hyatt. Now I feel UR poor. Until my most recent card, we haven't gotten any Chase business cards for over a year. Now that I'm feeling more confident about it, I think I'm going to focus on that for a while and build up the balance.

Logically, PYB is a great deal. Portal schmortal, you're no longer constrained. Cash is king! But psychologically, it's different for me. I know I can earmark that cash for travel, but in reality it just goes into savings. It still feels like I'm spending cash. I booked the Andaz Tokyo for 30k/night. Could have PYB'd for $450. I think I would have a hard time paying that amount in cash. But 30k UR? No problem! I'm getting 3 cpp! I know it's not logical, but I can't help it!

 

[Judique]

I find it so funny to read about the south when Miami is as far south almost as possible and we are so not "south"! We have like 3 CFA in the entire county, no Zaxbys, no Portillos, no Cookout (haven't even heard of them)! Miami is a completely different world.

Pop over to West Palm Beach. There is one on Okeechobee Blvd. (I know that's a little far, but apparently Florida is filling up with them).

You won't see me there but my DD's like it.

 

[IFlossU]

Logically, PYB is a great deal. Portal schmortal, you're no longer constrained. Cash is king! But psychologically, it's different for me. I know I can earmark that cash for travel, but in reality it just goes into savings. It still feels like I'm spending cash. I booked the Andaz Tokyo for 30k/night. Could have PYB'd for $450. I think I would have a hard time paying that amount in cash. But 30k UR? No problem! I'm getting 3 cpp! I know it's not logical, but I can't help it!

This is me 100%. All the cash from PYB has gone into our savings account. Logically I know it’s bonus money that should be set aside for travel, but when it’s time to book something it’s always hard to see the cash price. I agree 100% always easier to redeem points instead.

 

[IFlossU]

This is a lot of extremely detailed and helpful information. Thank you. I’m going to read through it a few times to make sure I can digest it all. I’m still on a very steep learning curve.

I did want to mention, I am at 4/24, but by next month I’ll be down to 3/24. My oldest of the 4 was opened 3/2019, so will be gone soon, leaving me at 3/24.

I did go ahead and for apply for a HA Business card today, so that should not count agains my 5/24 if it is approved. I got the same kind of response that @IFlossU got, saying my application was under consideration. Hopefully they won’t dally too long, because I do feel the time crunch I’m in on getting airline tickets booked.

The next card will likely be for DH. I’ve applied for 2 this week and want to proceed with caution from here. He’s a 1/24 and he really only uses my CC. I think one of the business Amex or the Platinum Amex make sense if we can find the 125K bonus, or really the 100K with a referral bonus to me would also be good. We can easily spend 5K on groceries and gas in 6 months to get the next 50K.

Then I’ll think about Chase cards, and I should still be at 3/24.

Awesome! Sounds like you’re on the right path. If you haven’t already, use your Gold support link to see what kind of offers you can pull up for your DH. I usually do it Incognito or in a different browser like Chrome. That should give you an idea of offers available to him through your support link. You can also browse business cards there as well. Sometimes the best offers are not through support. I can easily find the 100k Platinum offer for my DH, but never with my support link. I would play around with it, and see where you find the best offers for him. If he’s never had an AMEX he might qualify for the 125k Platinum. I would check Card Match or AMEX prequalified offers. I found AMEX prequalified offers page by doing a quick Google search for it.

 

[wanderlust7]

I'm starting to think ahead about how we will use the 4 Hilton FNC that we'll accumulate by next January/February from our Aspire cards for a trip in 2022. Since we only have 2 of the FNC right now, can I book 2 nights with those once booking opens, then book another 2 nights on points to hold a standard room until we get our other 2 FNC? What's the best method to book a room when FNC from multiple accounts are being used? Will each night be a separate reservation, or is there a way to link them somehow?

You have to call to use the FNC, so they can link the reservations when you do that. I used DH's FNCs in the same call I did mine. They sent an e-mail with a verification code you have to read back to the rep, so make sure you can access the e-mails of the other accounts.

I wish you could just swap a points reservation to a FNC. But if there are no standard rooms left, I don't think you can. They can't just change it in the system and I'm not sure if you canceled the points room if it would go back in inventory. I don't recall seeing any positive DPs.