34 years old and have never had a credit card

[CharityLynn]

Ok so like the title says I am 34 (Husband 35) and we have never had a credit card. We have a debit card and have been satisfied with that. We have stuck close to no credit cards because we do not want any debt over our home and car (Car should be paid off in 2 years)

Anyways- We are planning our 10 year anniversary trip to WDW. We always pay cash for our trips and this time will be no different. But this year we are doing something different and flying (we haven't flown since 2005!) and let me tell you airfare is very scary lol

I have noticed 2 different credit card offers that may interest me (Disney Visa with the $200 GC) and the Southwest with bonus 50,000 points.

I think I had the husband talked into the Disney one but I am thinking that the SW may be the better deal...

You have to spend $2000 in 3 months I think for the SW, my thought was paying the mortgage payment and maybe another bill with it then paying the credit card balance for 2 months then we'd qualify for the points.

Is this a normal way to deal with it?

We probably won't fly anywhere else for a long time so we'd only use like 25,000 of the points..is there ither things to use the leftover points for?

Honestly any advice would be appreciated as I said we are total novices and have no clue what we should be looking for and what we should stay away from.

TIA,

Charity

 

[ICF]

Ok so like the title says I am 34 (Husband 35) and we have never had a credit card. We have a debit card and have been satisfied with that. We have stuck close to no credit cards because we do not want any debt over our home and car (Car should be paid off in 2 years)

Anyways- We are planning our 10 year anniversary trip to WDW. We always pay cash for our trips and this time will be no different. But this year we are doing something different and flying (we haven't flown since 2005!) and let me tell you airfare is very scary lol

I have noticed 2 different credit card offers that may interest me (Disney Visa with the $200 GC) and the Southwest with bonus 50,000 points.

I think I had the husband talked into the Disney one but I am thinking that the SW may be the better deal...

You have to spend $2000 in 3 months I think for the SW, my thought was paying the mortgage payment and maybe another bill with it then paying the credit card balance for 2 months then we'd qualify for the points.

Is this a normal way to deal with it?

We probably won't fly anywhere else for a long time so we'd only use like 25,000 of the points..is there ither things to use the leftover points for?

Honestly any advice would be appreciated as I said we are total novices and have no clue what we should be looking for and what we should stay away from.

TIA,

Charity

First off CC does not equal "debt" --- just pay it off each month and enjoy the rewards that are free to you.

Secondly, you probably want to check with your mortgage company as I don't think most let you pay it via a CC.

The SW card is a very good deal and one we've done a couple of times.

 

[Iowajes]

First off CC does not equal "debt"

Yep! I have never paid a cent of interest on a credit card.

We do take advantage of special offers- we have opened two cards this year to get points, and will cancel them next year because we do not want to pay our fee. You need to figure out how this will effect you though- as opening and closing accounts is not great for your credit. My husband and I have near impeccable credit (and a large number of credit cards) and do not to take out another mortgage anytime soon (and we've never had a car loan) so opening and closing accounts for airline points won't matter to us. That might not be true for everybody.

But if your debit card does not give you some sort of rewards- I highly recommend a credit card that does. Just don't use it to extend your credit: treat it the same as a credit card, and then get that cashback or airline points or whatever.

 

[wiigirl]

First off CC does not equal "debt" --- just pay it off each month and enjoy the rewards that are free to you.

Secondly, you probably want to check with your mortgage company as I don't think most let you pay it via a CC.

The SW card is a very good deal and one we've done a couple of times.

I know a few people that pay their mortgage with a credit card, but I don't know any real details about it.

 

[platamama]

Another card to consider would be the Chase Sapphire Preferred - the sign up bonus is 40,000 points. You could transfer 25,000 into your Southwest Rapid Rewards account for your tickets, and get cash out for the remaining 15,000 points (= $150). Usually the $95 annual fee gets waived the first year, depending on which link you use to apply. I think it's $3000 minimum spend in the first 3 months to qualify for the 40,000 points.

I agree with another poster - mortgage companies rarely accept cc payments, at least not without charging you the 3% convenience fee.

Definitely pay off the card each month, don't let a balance carry over onto your next statement.

 

[Crystal824]

In this day, you really need at least one cc. It isn't really safe to use your debit card for online purchases. If someone gets your cc number and makes fraudulent charges, you aren't responsible after $250. With you debit card, someone could wipe out your checking account. That is difficult to reverse and leaves you without cash while you are trying to take care of it.

With that being said, I just signed up for the Southwest card too. We also have a Disney Card, but I also think the Southwest card is better value points wise and a better initial offer. Plus there are all kinds of ways to earn extra points, which the Disney card rarely offers. When it does, it has large stipulations (spend $2,000 in one month and then get double points on groceries; often the charges aren't classified the way you think they would be). I think it will be a great card. I don't think you can pay your mortgage with the credit card. I keep hoping for the day I can pay daycare with a cc. I could earn some major points that way. We just plan to put all our groceries, gas, etc. on the Southwest card for a few months. If you break the $2,000 into three months that is only $667.00 mo. We plan to sit down once a week and just pay the charges we incurred that week so there will be no debt. Generally, we would have used the debit card for these charges.

 

[Sunnywho]

I thought 25,000 points would get you one ticket so you'd need to use the full 50,000 to get two round-trip tickets? There wouldn't be any leftover. If you did have any leftover, you could ask family or friends if you could get a ticket for them. I bet you'd have someone take you up on that.

If you are inexperienced with credit cards, it would be easier to just get the Disney Visa rather than jump through hoops trying to get enough purchases on the SW card to qualify.

 

[CharityLynn]

Well we bit the bullet and applied and we were accepted.



Sunnywho- I did a mock up on the site and it will cost us 29,692 for the 2 of us.

 

[ICF]

I thought 25,000 points would get you one ticket so you'd need to use the full 50,000 to get two round-trip tickets?

Some people might get 3 or 4 flights out of 50K pts and other might not even get two (although that unlikely).

It's not as if 25K pts = 1 RT ticket. The pts needed will entirely depend on the price of the flight someone wants to take.

 

[elgerber]

I thought 25,000 points would get you one ticket so you'd need to use the full 50,000 to get two round-trip tickets? There wouldn't be any leftover. If you did have any leftover, you could ask family or friends if you could get a ticket for them. I bet you'd have someone take you up on that.

If you are inexperienced with credit cards, it would be easier to just get the Disney Visa rather than jump through hoops trying to get enough purchases on the SW card to qualify.

I just got 4 RT tix on SW for under 38000 points.

 

[madelyn]

I was considering this card as a way to make a low-cost WDW trip this summer but when I checked the flights available (from Austin), the low points flights were really early in the morning on mid-week days. They require a nominal fee to book with points and I don't think there were enough of the "cheap in points" seats for our family of 5. So that would mean paying a transaction fee to book those tickets I could book with points and buying around 2 flights, plus paying the annual fee of the card. There were too many restrictions for me. I was also wondering how quickly those points are deposited in my account and by the time I had those points, all the cheaper in points flights would be gone. So that would mean using points to buy 2 tickets and buying 3 tickets? Not cheap enough for me, especially since SW is not our preferred airline.

 

[ICF]

They require a nominal fee to book with points and I don't think there were enough of the "cheap in points" seats for our family of 5..

There is no cost to book with points on SW and pretty much any seat can be purchased with points.

 

[madelyn]

There is no cost to book with points on SW and pretty much any seat can be purchased with points.

Good to know that there is no cost to book. Thought there was a $10 fee or something like that? I know that any seat can be purchased with points but not for a low point cost. If I were trying to get 4 tickets with points with the free 50K points, the flights were limited.

 

[madelyn]

Good to know that there is no cost to book. Thought there was a $10 fee or something like that? I know that any seat can be purchased with points but not for a low point cost. If I were trying to get 4 tickets with points with the free 50K points, the flights were limited.

Oh, maybe this was the fee I was talking about...."Award travel is subject to payment of the government-imposed September 11th Security Fee, up to $5 one-way, $10 roundtrip."

So if I am looking at a trip Jul 15 to 26th, I can get 4 round trip flights from Austin for 43,532 pts plus $20 in fees plus $217 for an additional round trip flight. I think the price of the credit card is $60-something or $90-something. So I can fly the family for about $300 with the credit card. Not bad. Think I may talk myself into it. Guess earlier I was searching for June and there seemed to be fewer flights available for low points.

 

[elgerber]

Good to know that there is no cost to book. Thought there was a $10 fee or something like that? I know that any seat can be purchased with points but not for a low point cost. If I were trying to get 4 tickets with points with the free 50K points, the flights were limited.

You are correct, there is a small fee, $5 each way.

I'm not sure what dates you are looking it, but I would be surprised if you could only get 2 tickets for 50000 points. I see non stop flights in the mid day from Austin to Orlando for 5302 points each on Saturday in mid July.

 

[elgerber]

Oh, maybe this was the fee I was talking about...."Award travel is subject to payment of the government-imposed September 11th Security Fee, up to $5 one-way, $10 roundtrip."

So if I am looking at a trip Jul 15 to 26th, I can get 4 round trip flights from Austin for 43,532 pts plus $20 in fees plus $217 for an additional round trip flight. I think the price of the credit card is $60-something or $90-something. So I can fly the family for about $300 with the credit card. Not bad. Think I may talk myself into it. Guess earlier I was searching for June and there seemed to be fewer flights available for low points.

I guess we typed at the same time, yes the fees are $69 or $99, and you get the points when your statement closes after you spend the $2000 on your card in the first 3 months.
And actually if you booked as once way, you might be able to get half of the 5th ticket in points as well.

 

[madelyn]

How long are points good for once earned? I could cut costs by using non-expiring park tickets we already have, using SW points for tickets, but there is still the cost of lodging, food, etc. Might be better to delay a trip to summer 2015. We have a day left on Universal tickets that expire in December 2015 so we hope to go before then.

 

[elgerber]

How long are points good for once earned? I could cut costs by using non-expiring park tickets we already have, using SW points for tickets, but there is still the cost of lodging, food, etc. Might be better to delay a trip to summer 2015. We have a day left on Universal tickets that expire in December 2015 so we hope to go before then.

They do not expire as long as you have some type of activity in your account every 24 months. That can include shopping through vendors on the Southwest site, etc.
One thing to consider, the amount of points needed per flight is increasing in March, so you wouldn't be able to get as many free flights with the 50000 at that point.
<<Wanna Get Away® reward flight bookings made on or after March 31, 2014 will require 70 points per dollar, an increase from the 60 points per dollar that is currently required.>>