I love credit cards so much! v2.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[mamalovesdis]

Hey there! So if I recall from our conversations, you don't have a player 2. This is going to affect your pacing and your ability to rapidly gain new cards. I also recall that you were interested in a SW companion pass maybe for 2020/2021. You are already 3/24 so your next personal card is you last personal card until you go for the SW CP.

I had charted a course in our conversation that looks like this:
03/19 - CIP (APPROVED - YAY!!)
06/19 - CIC (with our new revelation, this could be another CIP instead)
08/19 - CSP (now you're 4/24 since this is a personal card)
10/19 - CIU (with our new revelation, this could be another CIP instead)
01/20 - SW BIZ
03/20 - SW Personal (now you're 5/24...but you have a card dropping off in March)

Both of the cards you're looking at there are personal cards and one of them is with Chase. You just got a card this month with Chase, so you want to wait at least until April but preferably May or June before going back to them. You also don't want to get a personal card, as it will be your last until 2020 (and if you are getting a personal card, the CSP or CSR seems to be your best bet, again both Chase cards, which you don't want to get now).

If you need a new card to distract you between now and May/June, it should be a business card, probably with AMEX or Citi or maybe Barclays. Do you have any interest in these AA miles we're all talking about?

There is an AMEX Marriott business card with this offer:
Earn 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points after you spend $5,000 in the first 3 months. Limited time offer ends 04/24/2019. It has an AF of $125 BUT if you apply before 3/28/19 there is no AF the first year.

Maybe that is your best bet for now?

One final comment: It is EASY to get drawn to what seems to be "good offers". With your 3/24 status - you want to be SUPER careful not to use a 5/24 slot on something that isn't worth it or doesn't align with your goals.

I am interested in the CP through SW for sure. When is the soonest I could achieve the CP? Can I only get it through a SW card?

I can wait to apply for something, I just thought with having a big expense coming up it would make it easier to meet an MSR. I could do a business card. I've never in my life applied for AMEX or Barclays. Is the AMEX Marriott business card the best option for business at this point?

 

[kittykorat]

@kittykorat
I would have different recs. If you’re willing to pay an AF, Chase Sapphire Preferred is a good everyday card, earns URs (Ultimate Rewards) $95 AF, transfer partners with SW and others. Current bonus 50k points (at least $500) with AF waived first year.
If no AF desired, maybe Chase Freedom which has rotating 5% bonus categories, which can often be used to get Disney GCs (which you can use for DVC dues). CF earns cash essentially back but can be paired with or upgraded to UR cards allowing redemption for travel etc. Current bonus $150

Right now we pay our dues Disney GC's bought with my target debit card- which gives us 5% off. We currently own 130pts DVC resale- wanting to add 75 pts direct. A big draw to the disney visa is the 6 months interest free on Disney vacation purchases- which i have heard you can use for a DVC down payment- giving us a little extra time to pay it off. We have a family of 6- so the DVC annual pass discount is a big benefit. We have a 1/2 cash 1/2 DVC trip booked this summer- so will be paying for that first, and socking away whatever is left for DVC.

Chase Freedom has 15 month interest free introductory offer- which would also work for DVC down payment. Hmmm.. only $150 bunus.. Disney is $250. - but no annual fee.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I am interested in the CP through SW for sure. When is the soonest I could achieve the CP? Can I only get it through a SW card?

I can wait to apply for something, I just thought with having a big expense coming up it would make it easier to meet an MSR. I could do a business card. I've never in my life applied for AMEX or Barclays. Is the AMEX Marriott business card the best option for business at this point?

A big expense is definitely a good reason to get a new card. AMEX will hand out business cards just like Chase so you'd probably have no issue getting approved. One thing to keep in mind with AMEX is they like to see continued spending on their cards (or they may not approve you in the future). So if you got the Marriott Biz (and that is a great offer for 100k points), you'll want to keep putting some amount of regular spend on that card. It earns 4X Marriott points at restaurants, gas stations, and wireless so maybe you could just put some of that stuff on the card regularly moving forward.

You could achieve the SW CP in 3-4 months if you want, BUT it would only be good for the remainder of this year and all of next year. IF you can earn it in early 2020 (say maybe Feb/Mar) then it would be good for the rest of 2020 and ALL of 2021. It would be better to make that a strategy for very late this year or early next year. BUT to get a SW CP you have to have a 5/24 slot available which means you can ONLY get 1 personal card the remainder of this year (so choose wisely ).

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I am interested in the CP through SW for sure. When is the soonest I could achieve the CP? Can I only get it through a SW card?

I also realize I didn't answer this question:

The way to earn a SW CP is to earn 110,000 SW points in one calendar year. You can earn it by flying but you'd have to be flying basically weekly for business or something. The way we earn it here is through 2 credit cards (a personal and a business card). The signup bonuses count towards the 110k making it very easy to get there! It really all comes down to timing which I mentioned in my previous comment - you want to earn the CP at the optimal time (typically early in the year).

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Right now we pay our dues Disney GC's bought with my target debit card- which gives us 5% off. We currently own 130pts DVC resale- wanting to add 75 pts direct. A big draw to the disney visa is the 6 months interest free on Disney vacation purchases- which i have heard you can use for a DVC down payment- giving us a little extra time to pay it off. We have a family of 6- so the DVC annual pass discount is a big benefit. We have a 1/2 cash 1/2 DVC trip booked this summer- so will be paying for that first, and socking away whatever is left for DVC.

Chase Freedom has 15 month interest free introductory offer- which would also work for DVC down payment. Hmmm.. only $150 bunus.. Disney is $250. - but no annual fee.

The best answer is get all of the cards - I kid, I understand that not everybody wants to get 5+ cards a year

I did PM you an invite to our DISchurners group so check that out if you are interested in joining and seeing the info we have over there. It just has a lot of good info and guides from our discussions here.

 

[mamalovesdis]

A big expense is definitely a good reason to get a new card. AMEX will hand out business cards just like Chase so you'd probably have no issue getting approved. One thing to keep in mind with AMEX is they like to see continued spending on their cards (or they may not approve you in the future). So if you got the Marriott Biz (and that is a great offer for 100k points), you'll want to keep putting some amount of regular spend on that card. It earns 4X Marriott points at restaurants, gas stations, and wireless so maybe you could just put some of that stuff on the card regularly moving forward.

You could achieve the SW CP in 3-4 months if you want, BUT it would only be good for the remainder of this year and all of next year. IF you can earn it in early 2020 (say maybe Feb/Mar) then it would be good for the rest of 2020 and ALL of 2021. It would be better to make that a strategy for very late this year or early next year. BUT to get a SW CP you have to have a 5/24 slot available which means you can ONLY get 1 personal card the remainder of this year (so choose wisely ).

I also realize I didn't answer this question:

The way to earn a SW CP is to earn 110,000 SW points in one calendar year. You can earn it by flying but you'd have to be flying basically weekly for business or something. The way we earn it here is through 2 credit cards (a personal and a business card). The signup bonuses count towards the 110k making it very easy to get there! It really all comes down to timing which I mentioned in my previous comment - you want to earn the CP at the optimal time (typically early in the year).

Good to know about AMEX and regular spending. This would be my first AMEX. I know nothing about them.

Okay, so I will definitely want to wait to earn the CP in early 2020!

 

[Lain]

My fellow Bay Area neighbors might get a kick out of this segment from Michael Finney, who for those outside of the area, is our local ABC news station's consumer watchdog.

Is it time to apply for a new credit card? If you can't remember, it may be time.

I thought this segment would be about telling folks who haven't applied for a new credit card in some time to sign up for credit cards now because the bonuses have gotten really good. But it was almost entirely about using your credit card for everything, using the right card, and never carrying a balance to earn rewards on ongoing spend. He interviews a local "super user," who has a whopping THREE credit cards and talks about getting 1-2% back on everything; and Ted Rossman of creditcards .com, who prefers travel rewards and says you can get 3, 4, 5 cents per point or more if you know the loopholes, do your research, and "really play your cards right." They make no recommendations for cards, but Rossman notes cash back is the most popular form of rewards. The only mention of signup bonuses is a throwaway line at the very end to check the fine print because you'll usually need to spend several thousand dollars to earn those bonuses.

This segment gave me a little chuckle, but it's the world that 99% of consumers are operating in.

 

[kittykorat]

What are the chase freedom quarterly 6% back offers like? If it is on stuff we wouldn't spend $$ on it would no be of use to us.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

So, I'm not so patiently waiting for 4/1 to apply for my second CIP, hopefully with self referral. In anticipation I'm working on lowering my Chase credit limits, I have two business cards the SW and CIP, any advice on how low to reduce these limits one is 5,000 and the other is 9,000.

I reduced my SW business card to $1,000, and CIP to $2,000

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

What are the chase freedom quarterly 6% back offers like? If it is on stuff we wouldn't spend $$ on it would no be of use to us.

It’s 5% actually.

One is usually groceries (next quarter this year). One is gasoline. Sometimes they throw in drug stores and warehouse clubs. Usually 4th quarter is Amazon or dept stores or something related to holiday shopping. They aren’t announced far in advance though and could change at any time.

 

[Lain]

What are the chase freedom quarterly 6% back offers like? If it is on stuff we wouldn't spend $$ on it would no be of use to us.

5% cash back, earned as 5x Ultimate Rewards points.

The current quarter (Q1 Jan-March) is gas and drug stores, next quarter (Q2 April-June) is grocery stores and home improvement stores. Q3 (July-Sept) has usually been restaurants and entertainment. Other past quarterly bonus categories have included specific stores like Target, Walmart, Walgreens; mobile wallets like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Chase Pay; warehouse clubs like Costco, BJ's, and Sam's Club; department stores; ride hailing services like Uber or Lyft.

The great thing about drug stores, grocery stores, home improvement stores, and mobile wallets when they're the bonus category is you can use them to buy third-party gift cards to hundreds of other retailers. Take a look at the gift card rack at your local Walgreens, CVS, supermarket, Lowe's or Home Depot, or places that accepts mobile payments like Best Buy and Target. You can use your Chase Freedom at these stores, buy a gift card to another merchant (Amazon, Disney, gas, restaurants, retailers, Netflix, etc.), earn 5x UR on that purchase, and spend the gift card elsewhere. So this method can really expand the Chase Freedom's bonus categories to hundreds of other merchants.

 

[Judique]

Yeah its not right in Omaha but everything along the Platte River has flooded. It reached its max height last night and is starting to drop as of this morning but there was also another levee breach this morning. Now the focus has shifted this morning to the Missouri River that is expected to hit 34' tomorrow evening so a whole new set of flood warnings/evacuations went out this morning for East of Omaha. Bridges are washing out and really the only way to get West is by helicopter.

This caught my interest because my FIL was from North Platte, Nebraska and years ago we traveled there. We (my children) no longer have any relatives there that I know of. Glad to hear you are safe and prayers for all the flooding victims. A quick google says the North Platte area is okay.

 

[WVMomof3]

We have fair to good credit- not excellent. We do not have a business. We got into trouble with credit cards in our 20's - we were young and stupid, and have not had anything other than store cards in many years. We are rebuilding our credit, and do not want a ton of cards.. too much room for error. We also need to replace our 10 year old van soon, so...

We really only want one more card for now. We may reconsider down the line.
We also are pretty frugal- so we do not want to spend on anything that is not in the normal budget, so the best return on groceries would be good. We want to be able to redeem for airfare- with SW or directly to Disney- We own DVC- so paying our dues would be great.
ETA - we do most of our grocery shopping at Aldi or Walmart, if that matters- I know some CC may be picky about what they consider "grocery" or "supermarket" purchases.

I agree with the others that have said probably the Chase Sapphire Preferred (CSP) paired with a Freedom can be good cards for you. I would have which ever of you might have better credit apply for the CSP. I am not sure how sensitive that one is, I don't think you could get the CSR with only fair credit. Right now the $95 AF is waived the first year, after a year you can PC it to a Freedom or Freedom unlimited if you are not interested in the AF. Also, you could refer your spouse to it before you PC it and have it in your family for another fee free year.

 

[jujubiee4]

I have not but I chat frequently with the creator of r/churningmarketplace and I know he runs a tight ship. I haven’t seen or heard any complaints of “purchases gone wrong”.

I would be more trustful of people here lol.

I also realize I didn't answer this question:

The way to earn a SW CP is to earn 110,000 SW points in one calendar year. You can earn it by flying but you'd have to be flying basically weekly for business or something. The way we earn it here is through 2 credit cards (a personal and a business card). The signup bonuses count towards the 110k making it very easy to get there! It really all comes down to timing which I mentioned in my previous comment - you want to earn the CP at the optimal time (typically early in the year).

What is your advice on cleaning up credit profile? I have been laying low since opening 6 cards in 2017. 3 will be falling off in June
and the other 3 in Nov/DeC. So by end of year i want to be 0/24. I logged into Credit Karma this morning after months and see
i have 8 or 9 cards that don't get used. Should i close them? Is it true you should lower your credit limit before closing? I did that
with my Alaska one yesterday because I want to close it after June Alaska trip.

Really I want to try to get Chase Ink P end of the year/2020 maybe Bonvoy or Hilton and/or MAYBE the Alaska card again.
The Chase one is the main target so I want to clean things up before applying. Thank you

Current Fico 840

 

[georgina]

This thread is such a bad influence on me! I have always said I did not want to go for business cards, but after seeing all the CIP recommendations I broke down and got one. I will have no problem meeting the MSR, so now I am wondering if there is an amount of time I should wait before referring DH for one? We will have a large amount of medical expenses coming up so would like to get him a new card for them!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Good to know about AMEX and regular spending. This would be my first AMEX. I know nothing about them.

Okay, so I will definitely want to wait to earn the CP in early 2020!

So you can look to earn the CP via 2 SW cards - you'll want to signup for those cards somewhere between November 2019 and January 2020. Your goal is to meet both MSRs in Jan 2020 and you can have a CP in your hands by late Jan or early Feb!

Also, since that is part of your plan, you know you'll have a CP for 2020-2021 so you could earn lots of points now on your other purchases via signup bonuses and then go wild with trips in 2020 and 2021! URs will transfer to SW so with a large family that can be helpful. The CP will get you 1 flight free, but a large SW stash could make numerous trips free for ALL of you

You're in a great spot and I love that you're thinking out a year+ vs. just thinking about 1 card at a time. It's amazing how with a good strategy your everyday spend can earn you enough points for multiple trips - but it can become a reality!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

This thread is such a bad influence on me! I have always said I did not want to go for business cards, but after seeing all the CIP recommendations I broke down and got one. I will have no problem meeting the MSR, so now I am wondering if there is an amount of time I should wait before referring DH for one? We will have a large amount of medical expenses coming up so would like to get him a new card for them!

You should wait at least 1 hour before swimming in the CIP spouse waters after getting your CIP...

As soon as you can generate a referral link for your spouse, I say GO for it! The sooner you get a card, the sooner you can get ANOTHER Card

 

[Haley R]

Dosh responded and credited us the $20 for our sam’s Club membership! I haven’t gotten the cashback from the Amex offer so we’ll see how that goes.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I would be more trustful of people here lol.



What is your advice on cleaning up credit profile? I have been laying low since opening 6 cards in 2017. 3 will be falling off in June
and the other 3 in Nov/DeC. So by end of year i want to be 0/24. I logged into Credit Karma this morning after months and see
i have 8 or 9 cards that don't get used. Should i close them? Is it true you should lower your credit limit before closing? I did that
with my Alaska one yesterday because I want to close it after June Alaska trip.

Really I want to try to get Chase Ink P end of the year/2020 maybe Bonvoy or Hilton and/or MAYBE the Alaska card again.
The Chase one is the main target so I want to clean things up before applying. Thank you

Current Fico 840

I went through some large "clean-ups" for me and my wife awhile back. The general advice is don't close cards with no AF, but I got concerned when I started to have 3x my annual income in combined credit limits. I closed a bunch of cards I had no use for:

• I closed both my Barclays cards which ended up being a good thing as they seem to deny people with open cards who aren't using them. They approved me since I currently had no cards with them, lol
• I closed all my BoA cards because BoA is the devil...(at least IMO)
• I closed my Wells Fargo card because the website was garbage and I was tired of having connection issues in Mint
• I closed my TD Bank card because it seemed easier than trying to reduce the CL (and it was a super high limit that I wanted gone)
• I closed my AARP Chase cards that I didn't need, but I left open things like Disney (for support clicks), IHG (to keep pts active), etc. and just reduced the CLs WAY down
• I obviously close a lot of cards that have AFs and no fee-free downgrade option

The "reduce CL" with BoA trick is apparently something DoC recently posted on that you should do because they have a wonky system and closed CLs stay on your account record for a year. I haven't heard of that problem with any other card issuers.

Really it comes down to what makes you comfortable. I wanted to make my "open" credit profile look slightly more like a normal person. So I cancelled a ton of cards and reduced a bunch of limits. It made me feel better, and my wife has had no issue with approvals since getting under 5/24

 

[Judique]

I would be more trustful of people here lol.



What is your advice on cleaning up credit profile? I have been laying low since opening 6 cards in 2017. 3 will be falling off in June
and the other 3 in Nov/DeC. So by end of year i want to be 0/24. I logged into Credit Karma this morning after months and see
i have 8 or 9 cards that don't get used. Should i close them? Is it true you should lower your credit limit before closing? I did that
with my Alaska one yesterday because I want to close it after June Alaska trip.

Really I want to try to get Chase Ink P end of the year/2020 maybe Bonvoy or Hilton and/or MAYBE the Alaska card again.
The Chase one is the main target so I want to clean things up before applying. Thank you

Current Fico 840

Your profile is similar to mine other than that I applied for my last few cards in 2018. But I easily have 14 plus accounts most of which I don't use. I did close my Southwest card which has an annual fee this past fall.

However I'm not about to close any card that either has no annual fee or that has an annual fee but gives a yearly credit, other than the Southwest. Age of accounts is taken into account when applying. The cards I don't use regularly will be closed if as in the case of Amex, I want to open something else that will give me more value - as Amex has a limit to the number of credit cards allowed. On here that is quoted as five. I would not close the cards that are over 20 plus years old.