I love credit cards so much!

[SouthFayetteFan]

Here are my thoughts, for what they're worth.

I value Amex MR much more than UR (refresher-somewhat of a DL hostage where I live). That said, I don't value UR or my relationship with Chase as much as Amex. So...I don't shy away from Chase, worried they will shut me down. I am definitely LOL/24 and in November got both a R-C and Disney Premium (R-C for the travel perks obviously) and Disney Premium for the $200 credit. If they shut me down, then wow, okay, I don't have to pay any upcoming AF or downgrade/cancel my cards! If not, I'm going along my merry way.

I do think concern is warranted, even if statistically it's a 1/10000 change, if it's you it's 100%. So I absolutely don't play fast and loose with Barclaycard or Amex, don't worry at all about Chase or Citi. As with most things, I think it's how you value your relationship with that entity (Chase is a lot like my in laws, Citi like my brother's in laws whereas Amex is like my DD and Barclaycard is like my dogs).


As for AUs, my DD (17) is an AU on 2 Amex and 2 Chase cards. She uses the EDP primarily and the Chase IHG overseas and it has worked out well for us. If I decided to keep my CSP I might add her as an AU since I don't value IHG points very much. Thanks for that reminder

Interesting topics and I appreciate the discussion.

Thanks for the insightful response! And also great DP that you got a couple of non-5/24 with a lot of recent accounts and inquiries with no adverse action to date. I think my struggle on this is - I haven't put a "non minimum spend" dollar on a card in so long I don't even know which cards I'd use for everyday spend anymore LOL! Probably the one thing I'd miss is the Freedom 5% categories (if I was a non-churner just putting spend on cards I already had) - but is a fear of shutdown worth avoiding a Hyatt offer that I'd get $500+ in value out of...

 

[GlamMistress]

My mom got me a credit card in my name when I was 15. She paid it off in full every month to help me build my credit, but I was never using it for anything crazy or putting a ton of charges on it. Just my gas and when I would go to the movies or get dinner with my friends or something. I'm certainly glad she did it as my credit score is great now!

This is amazing to me when I hear stories like this... my parents didn't do this for me and never would have considered it ever. My parents have 1 credit card between them. Very frugal and don't like "hassles." My mom thinks all my accounts = insanity.

 

[DisneyMandC]

This is amazing to me when I hear stories like this... my parents didn't do this for me and never would have considered it ever. My parents have 1 credit card between them. Very frugal and don't like "hassles." My mom thinks all my accounts = insanity.

I'm so thankful that she wanted to make sure I got off on the right foot, especially my since my job requires a credit check! While my mom is not at the level of any of the people on this board, she is very credit-savvy and knows the advantages that can come from using a credit card that can you give you cashback and the importance of a good credit score.

It's actually really funny- my mom does not make a lot of money at all but has always paid all credit cards in full, never had any late payments, and has always qualified for great rates on cars or anything requiring a loan. Meanwhile, her boyfriend is a literal multi-millionaire but is pretty eccentric and just point blank fails to pay attention to his checking account or payment dates on things. They went together to make a rather large purchase at Lowe's one time and she decided to take advantage of getting a store credit card for the discount. He couldn't qualify for the card but she did!

 

[nelle]

Yes, both you and DH can get the Ink business card. DH and I each have our own.

ORD is a hub for United and American
MSP is a hub for Delta

I would do some mock bookings to see how many miles you might need for award tickets and also check to get an idea of what the OOP cost might be if there are not enough award tickets available for 9 or none at all. Mileage costs can vary as can OOP pricing. An award flight RT to Paris for one person on United in economy might be 60,000 miles on a saver award or 140,000 miles on a standard award. The OOP range for the same dates can be from $1600 - over $6,000 in economy. Depending on your destination, you might not be flying United. So, the first piece of advice is to have a goal and focus on the airline that is your most likely bet to your destination. If there isn't a specific goal, then you can't go wrong by getting your Chase cards in order since UR points are variable.

UR points transfer 1:1 to United. They also transfer 1:1 for BA which partners with American. However taxes and fees on BA flights are obscene and not worth it unless you are traveling in first. 2018 is days away and ideally you would want to have all of your points in place to book award travel about a year in advance. Airline booking windows open up 330 ish days in advance depending on the airline. Getting 9 seats all on award tickets will be challenging to say the least. You will need variable points in addition to direct transfers for mileage award tickets should that work out more favorably or be the only option.

Chase cards first is the new rule. Each of you should get the CIP. That will get you 170,000 UR points after spend. Your DH should get his own CSR card after removing himself as an AU on yours too. That would be another 54,000 UR points. Then each apply for the United card if you think that is the airline you will be flying. Download the Mileage X App and start buying gift cards for store purchases through there to earn extra UA miles. Card holders get a 25% bonus. Join United dining network and earn points that way and begin shopping through both the UR and UA shopping portals to rack up more points and miles.

Since you do not yet have all of your Chase cards and are under 5/24, I would hold off on the Amex offer. It will come around again. Wait until you are past 5/24. If it is the business card, then it shouldn't affect 5/24.

Hope this helps.

So you are both at 1/24 and your "1 card" will actually come off in Jan 2018. I haven't personally done this but have seen reports that you could get to 8/24 if you play your cards right (pun intended, haha!). For sake of this discussion I'm going to assume it takes you 12 months to work through these cards so your "CSR" will even fall off by then...

You could probably EACH get the following:
1: CIP - doesn't count so still 1/24
2: SW Biz - doesn't count so still 1/24
3: SW Plus - 2/24
4: SW Premier - 3/24
5: Marriott - 4/24
6: Other Chase Personal Card - 5/24
2018 comes and CSR falls off - (make sure it's been 24 months since you earned the bonus)
now you are back to 4/24 and can double dip 2 more cards:
7: CSR - 5/24
8: CSP - 6/24 (but you double dipped so you're fine)
(Keep in mind that based on current rules you have to double dip CSP and CSR At the same time or you can't get both...also these rules and enforcement could change in 15 months).

That's like $40k+ in minimum spends if both of you get those cards, and could keep you busy for the next 15-18 months. You can alternate the applications which will keep you kosher with Chase. You'd end up with close to 400,000 SW points and 400,000 URs...or $12,000+ in total travel value. Others may have different advice and I wouldn't do exactly what I said either - make your own plan...but you are in a great spot at 1/24 with 2 players (and that 1 dropping off in about 12 months).

Thank you both so much for the advice.
We applied and got approved for the ink biz cards.

We tend to fly low cost airlines like Norwegian, so I need to do some more research on which airline card to get.
Thanks again!

 

[calypso726]

Chase Shutdown Discussion
@Albort made an interesting (and very warranted) response to my Chase recommendation yesterday where I was saying one could potentially get 8 Chase cards under 5/24. He brought up the recent shutdowns (see this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/7jb8mp/shutdown_reports_megathread/ for more details on reddit) and that perhaps hitting Chase hard wasn't a good idea anymore.

So I think we have a great community here of experienced churners - wondering about folks opinions on some of these questions:
- Would you steer clear of the non 5/24 cards (Hyatt, IHG, Disney, etc.) out of fear that you could get shutdown? If you haven't been following, this seems to be a potential trigger for shutdowns when somebody has a ton of new accounts/inquiries even with other banks and then applies for a Chase non-5/24 card
- For those in 2 player mode, are you still trying to get one person under 5/24 and then hit Chase "hard"? I'm defining hard as going for 5-8 cards in the course of 12-15 months.
- Do you feel Chase shutdown risk is worth steering clear of potential bonuses? Or would you not care if Chase shut you down - i.e. there's plenty of fish in the sea, right?
- Do you think the whole concern over shutdowns is warranted? There have been minimal reports of shutdowns vs. what likely is thousands of people hammering Chase for new cards

If anybody wants to take the time to give some thoughts on those questions or anything else on the Chase Shutdown topic I'd love to hear what you have to say. Selfishly this is really important to me right now because of 2 reasons: a) I'm considering getting a Hyatt card and I'm over 5/24 with lots of new accounts and inquiries AND b) my wife is going under 5/24 in April and my plan was to hammer away at Chase for over a year (considering some combo of CIP, 2-3 SW, CSP, CSR, Marriott, Freedom, FU). BUT unselfishly I think it warrants some discussion for the benefit of all.

DH and I have been LOL/24 for years now with no intention of ever being under 5/24.

If I were starting out again, I'd steer clear of anything that could lead to a shut down by Chase. I have never MS'd my own Chase cards. DH did MS a BA card for the travel together ticket but I don't think we'd risk something like that again. That said, I picked up the CSR via becoming CPC a month or so after it came out. I already had the CSP, which I then PCd to a CFU and the Ink+, Freedom, United, Marriott, Amazon and Disney cards but have had those for a few years and never churned them. 6 months after getting the CSR I picked up the IHG card and will keep it. A year later, I picked up the BA card for the second time and may or may not keep that one. The jury is still out. While I am tempted to pick up the Hyatt card, I don't think I will pull the trigger. I have 10 Chase cards, which is unusual in and of itself and I prefer not to risk my relationship with Chase. For me, the bonus is not worth the risk.

 

[Ava]

I feel the same way as @calypso726. I’m fairly new to this hobby, but I’ve had some of my Chase cards (Amazon, Disney, Freedom) for many years and wouldn’t want to lose them as they are some of the oldest accounts in my portfolio. I think my only card older than those is my AmEx Blue Cash, so if I lost those 3 Chase cards my average age of accounts would take a nose dive.

I’m also a more cautious person when it comes to anything to do with finances. In the past 2 years I’ve only opened an IHG (keeping), CSP (will PC to FreedomU when the AF comes due again but will have had for 2 years), a BofA Amtrak card which I plan to cancel before AF hits again, CSR (keeping), and CIP (will PC to Ink Cash after 1 year). I also don’t MS at all. I know a lot of people do it without issue, but I don’t feel comfortable with the risk. My travel goals are pretty modest anyway, at least for now while my kids are young and we’re limited by school schedules as to when we can travel, so I don’t need a ton of new cards to accumulate a huge stash of points quickly. Hopefully Chase agrees that I’m a good customer and am not just churning bonuses.

 

[jhoannam]

We've been long-time Chase customers, I started with a WaMu account, I really don't think we would get shut down since we have a history with them.

 

[jhoannam]

Well, it was an upgrade offer on their website based on my current card. It was under AMEX offers where they listed various stores and current offers and exp dates. It's not an upgrade I plan to take, was just a thought.

Cut and Paste:

Step Up Your Travel Game
Annual Fee
$450¤

APR

Other rates and fees will remain the same.


Earn 15,000 Bonus Miles

After you upgrade to the Delta Reserve® Credit Card and spend $2,000 in eligible purchases within the first 3 months.†

there is a better offer out, saw it on Reddit
Both biz and personal cards 75k + 50$ + AF waived first year.

See image here: https://imgur.com/a/0rF2P

See if you're targeted here: https://www.deltaamexcard.com/offer...tm_content=A01B+FA+EM&utm_campaign=A01B+FA+EM

EDIT: As @dcchurner pointed out, if the link doesn't show you are targeted, try logging into delta and see if the offer shows on your homepage.
there.https://www.deltaamexcard.com/offer...tm_content=A01B+FA+EM&utm_campaign=A01B+FA+EM

 

[jhoannam]

Now that WDW is offering 60FP+ to some of the Disney Spring good neighbor hotels, who's switching their CC strategy? Which credit cards are you going to pursue? This is the list: B Resort & Spa; Best Western Lake Buena Vista Resort; DoubleTree Guest Suites by Hilton Orlando; Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista; Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace; Holiday Inn Orlando; Wyndham Lake Buena Vista; and Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista

I really wish they would include Hyatt Hotels.

 

[AmyAnne]

The only thing I value with Chase currently is referrals. I'm struggling to decide whether it's worth risking shutdown (and losing potential referrals) for a Hyatt card.

Luckily with the wife she will have an absolutely clean credit report and can hammer Chase hard. If she gets shutdown...oh well (as long as I still have my cards).

Decisions...decisions...I probably don't go for the Hyatt card to preserve my relationship but won't hesitate for a moment to have wife go for 7-8 Chase cards in the next 15 -18 months.

As others have said, I personally wouldn't risk getting shut down by Chase, but that's an individual assessment about the value of Chase. However, I did want to mention that if your wife gets shut down, your account might also get shut down. I am not at all an expert on this but I have been reading about credit card churning for about a year now, and I have seen multiple references to spouses' accounts getting shut down too. Here is one example (in the comments): http://milesperday.com/2017/08/another-reader-story-chase-shutdown/

 

[wendow]

As others have said, I personally wouldn't risk getting shut down by Chase, but that's an individual assessment about the value of Chase. However, I did want to mention that if your wife gets shut down, your account might also get shut down. I am not at all an expert on this but I have been reading about credit card churning for about a year now, and I have seen multiple references to spouses' accounts getting shut down too. Here is one example (in the comments): http://milesperday.com/2017/08/another-reader-story-chase-shutdown/

Reading through this blog. Yikes! I have been really busy lately so I've not seen all these Chase shutdown stories that many of you have. WHen the blogger mentions that he thinks the BP's may have triggered this particular guy's Chase shutdown, what kind of BP's would Chase have a problem with? Does he mean things like Plastiq? I've been wanting to pay more of my bills with plastiq but I certainly don't want to increase my risk of being shutdown.

 

[GlamMistress]

DH and I have been LOL/24 for years now with no intention of ever being under 5/24.

If I were starting out again, I'd steer clear of anything that could lead to a shut down by Chase. I have never MS'd my own Chase cards. DH did MS a BA card for the travel together ticket but I don't think we'd risk something like that again. That said, I picked up the CSR via becoming CPC a month or so after it came out. I already had the CSP, which I then PCd to a CFU and the Ink+, Freedom, United, Marriott, Amazon and Disney cards but have had those for a few years and never churned them. 6 months after getting the CSR I picked up the IHG card and will keep it. A year later, I picked up the BA card for the second time and may or may not keep that one. The jury is still out. While I am tempted to pick up the Hyatt card, I don't think I will pull the trigger. I have 10 Chase cards, which is unusual in and of itself and I prefer not to risk my relationship with Chase. For me, the bonus is not worth the risk.

I really love Hyatt and still feel their program is superior to all others, even after the deval. That said I don't have a Hyatt card anymore. I canceled mine months ago and canceled DHs this morning to reset the churn clock. I would recommend it if you can get it someday but only when you know you're ready to stay in an overpriced Hyatt. Like Paris or Australia.

Also, I don't MS on any cards at this point. Amex and Chase are just too militant now.

 

[afan]

I really love Hyatt and still feel their program is superior to all others, even after the deval. That said I don't have a Hyatt card anymore. I canceled mine months ago and canceled DHs this morning to reset the churn clock. I would recommend it if you can get it someday but only when you know you're ready to stay in an overpriced Hyatt. Like Paris or Australia.

Also, I don't MS on any cards at this point. Amex and Chase are just too militant now.

I agree with this. I got in when it was still 2 nights free that we're using at the vendome in Paris in may. I'll get an anniversary night before the trip but want the card through the stay. No idea what I'll do with the 1 night.

 

[Ava]

Now that WDW is offering 60FP+ to some of the Disney Spring good neighbor hotels, who's switching their CC strategy? Which credit cards are you going to pursue? This is the list: B Resort & Spa; Best Western Lake Buena Vista Resort; DoubleTree Guest Suites by Hilton Orlando; Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista; Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace; Holiday Inn Orlando; Wyndham Lake Buena Vista; and Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista

I really wish they would include Hyatt Hotels.

The way I read the announcement on this is that only guests who book a package through Disney at these hotels will be eligible for the 60-day FP+ booking. All guests will be eligible for EMH, but I read the FP+ part as a Disney package is required to get the benefit. Anyone else read/interpret it differently? Or has anyone contacted Disney to clarify? It would be great if you could book at one of these hotels on points and still get 60-day FP+ but that’s not what it sounded like to me.

 

[kmc8826]

I agree with this. I got in when it was still 2 nights free that we're using at the vendome in Paris in may. I'll get an anniversary night before the trip but want the card through the stay. No idea what I'll do with the 1 night.

If you don’t have any other plans for a super expensive property plan a trip to WDW with a late flight or early morning and stay at the Hyatt MCO. I am using my 2 nights for signing up at the Maui Hyatt Regency. But I figure future use at the Hyatt Regency MCO makes it worth the $75 annual fee to me. Plus I am scared to death of cards shut down etc. I am having a hard enough time right now with DH getting his bonus on the AMEX Platinum Delta. We have met all the terms. I don’t know what the deal is but all they will say is they have “referred it to our investigation team.”

 

[speedyfishy]

I’m slowing down with Chase after the recent shut down reports. I have 6 Chase Cards 5 have been since April. I think my next few cards will be some Amex Business Cards. I don’t know when I should go back to Chase, but I still want the CIC, CSP, and CSR. The Hyatt and Disney Cards would be nice, but I don’t know if it would be worth the shutdown risk.

 

[Ava]

Don't be surprised to have the CSR by Friday. I was auto approved and didn't ask to have it expedited and had it a couple days later. This was last month.

You were right! She got the CSR today. Said it came via UPS overnight. I’m really glad because that means I can schedule our Jan rent to pay with it through Plastiq. Our landlord isn’t set up for electronic payments, so when I use Plastiq it sends them a check & Plastiq won’t guarantee it to get there any sooner than 9 business days out. We can also take it with us when we travel for the holidays & start using it for regular spend too.

 

[afan]

If you don’t have any other plans for a super expensive property plan a trip to WDW with a late flight or early morning and stay at the Hyatt MCO. I am using my 2 nights for signing up at the Maui Hyatt Regency. But I figure future use at the Hyatt Regency MCO makes it worth the $75 annual fee to me. Plus I am scared to death of cards shut down etc. I am having a hard enough time right now with DH getting his bonus on the AMEX Platinum Delta. We have met all the terms. I don’t know what the deal is but all they will say is they have “referred it to our investigation team.”

I fly from Seattle so I use a redeye and an evening dept to maximize my park time. I already have my fl8ghts for my next trip and it's the only one I'll make to wdw for the year.

I had intended to use it at dlr so I could run the half over labor day but they but the races on hold so that's out. I may use it up in Vancouver if I can come up with something I want to do up there besides eat I can go up and back in one day so if I just want to eat I'll do that instead.

 

[Ngwira]

I agree with this. I got in when it was still 2 nights free that we're using at the vendome in Paris in may. I'll get an anniversary night before the trip but want the card through the stay. No idea what I'll do with the 1 night.

Also got in on the two free nights. Using it at Delano Las Vegas.

 

[Ngwira]

The way I read the announcement on this is that only guests who book a package through Disney at these hotels will be eligible for the 60-day FP+ booking. All guests will be eligible for EMH, but I read the FP+ part as a Disney package is required to get the benefit. Anyone else read/interpret it differently? Or has anyone contacted Disney to clarify? It would be great if you could book at one of these hotels on points and still get 60-day FP+ but that’s not what it sounded like to me.

I agree with your interpretation.