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

[alryan]

Mine was a 7 day cruise. $2500 for 4 days seems high. I think with cruises earlier booking are better but I’m truly no expert. You might get a good deal for Feb around Memorial Day.

Yes that does seem high given your price. It’s nice to have a reference point to know what is a good deal. Thanks

 

[CyndiLouWho]

My son is currently loving the 8 book how to train your dragon series. He reports they’re very funny, a little scary, but if you’ve seen the movies you know everyone lives.

He’s 6 admittedly but these are 4-6th grade level book depending on the book. He’s also very sensitive to scary which makes sense with his age.

DS is 4th grade and probably won’t read those. He is prone to nightmares. Last weekend he had a Fortnight nightmare just from seeing all the commercials. He’s never even seen the game.
I always give him spoilers for books/movies by telling him that a character lives to make another book/movie. He really wanted to see all the Star Wars movies but only made it through 2.

 

[Haley R]

DS is 4th grade and probably won’t read those. He is prone to nightmares. Last weekend he had a Fortnight nightmare just from seeing all the commercials. He’s never even seen the game.
I always give him spoilers for books/movies by telling him that a character lives to make another book/movie. He really wanted to see all the Star Wars movies but only made it through 2.

Has anyone mentioned I survived books? Those might be too scary though.

 

[mamathompson]

Amex Gold cardmembers, check your account/email to see if you’re targeted for an AU bonus:

• Add new additional card members to your account through this e-mail and earn 5,000 Membership Rewards points after they spend $500 in eligible purchases on their card in the first 3 months of card membership (limit of 20,000 points). Offer ends April 14th, 2019.

See: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/new-...bonuses-hilton-everything-you-need-to-know-2/

Note, Amex requires you to provide SSN information for the AU(s) within 60 days after the card is issued. AUs have to be 13+ years old. In the past, people have added AU cards, hit the $500 spend quickly, then the bonus will post. However, Amex will close AU cards that are not registered with DOB and SSN after 60 days. Unclear how Amex will treat bonuses obtained on AU cards without providing SSN and ultimately closed going forward.

Thanks! I'm going to have him check his email.

 

[Artygal90]

Okay, is this recon-able? Or should I accept the hard pull and move on with my life? Here's Citi's reasons why they can't approve my biz application (all info pulled from Equifax):

- "Your consumer credit report shows that you have low credit limits" <-WTH, I'm at almost 50% of income just in personal cards across all issuers?
- "Your commercial credit report shows insufficient credit history for one of more of your accounts" <- okay fine, my oldest biz card is only about 7-8 months old
- "Your consumer credit report shows too many recent inquiries" <- I see 2 inquiries from the 1st week of February and one each in Nov., Oct., and Jun. of last year, all from Chase.
- "Your consumer credit report shows that the date of the last inquiry was too recent" <- see above

Soooo confused. I thought Citi wasn't inquiry-sensitive like this? I applied for the CitiBusiness/AAdvantage Platinum Select World Mastercard and was insta-denied last Wednesday, I think.

 

[amalone1013]

I had a nightmare last night that I was being chased by a Trex. That's how often DH watches Jurassic Park (plus the sequels plus the World ones).

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

.

 

[amalone1013]

What do I do when I have to work late? Plot my next Disney trip

We could go the first weekend of April, Fri PM-Mon PM, for 19k RRs RT + CP and blow the rest of our current Hilton points... best I can figure the Hilton Palace would be ~$260 cash combined with our 106k points (though $105 is the resort fee - ).

Wait.. there's no fee on a reward booking. So obviously I just book 2 nights together with points (50k/night) and a separate booking for the last night with our remaining points and ~$190 cash... Hmm...

If I asked DH he would just be like, do we have to wait until April? Good thing he's on a flight and we can't enable each other... yet.

 

[Artygal90]

So they will list numerous reasons but there’s usually one or 2 driving the decision. In your instance I think it’s potentially the inquiries with 2 this month already. I would definitely try to recon but be prepared to be told no. Citi recon was not fun to me (albeit that was 3-4 years ago when I did it).

Yeah, that makes sense. I don't know why I thought it wouldn't be a problem - probably just got carried away by the train since it wasn't Chase and Amex didn't care before.

Time to pre-game that call per the r/churning recon chart

 

[lyshia04]

Once you learn of this world it is crazy! If I earn less than 10% back on a purchase now I’ll start to twitch lol!

Yeah this is one area where my savings suck. Saving money on food and house old items? Check. Saving money on eating out and shopping? Check. Even saving money on Disney I can get 10-15% now. This is a whole new ball game. I’m excited to go down this rabbit hole.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Has he tried non-fiction books? One of my sons disliked fiction but read a ton of non-fiction, especially biographies. He also liked almanacs, and he once found an old set of encyclopedias at my parents and read a good bit of those volumes. Interestingly, he is an especially strong writer now I think maybe because of his non-fiction reading as a kid.

He does read non-fiction though mostly at school. Every sports books imaginable. His second grade teacher practically banned them. Lol

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Are CITI shutdowns a thing?
Apparently...but of course they have to do it in Citi fashion...

Yesterday’s shutdown:
https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/auk2mm/discussion_thread_february_25_2019/ehacc9k/

Todays update (reinstated):
https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/auy8dj/discussion_thread_february_26_2019/ehc382e/

In summary: How do you overcome a Citi shutdown? Well you point out that they just approved you for a card last week!

Citi gonna citi...am I right??

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I will weigh in here - a number of folks have recommended the CSR card. One of the reasons I think you went for the CSP card was the be able to refer your husband though so I would totally recommend a CSP for him over a CSR. Instead of getting 54,000 URs, you'll get 64,000 URs (add 10k for the referral). Now, one caveat there:

• if you were planning to use your URs in the next 12 months using the UR portal then I would consider a CSR card.
• Why do I say 12 months...well you could always upgrade your CSP to a CSR card in 12 or more months.
• So this is ONLY an issue if you were planning on using URs through the travel portal in the next 12 months.
• If you are planning to use your URs for cashback or transfer to partners like Southwest, Marriott, Hyatt, etc. then not a problem

If you aren't sure what you're going to do with your URs then maybe wait on the CSR/CSP for now. Instead you could have your husband look to one of the Chase business cards that only requires a $3,000 MSR (that would be CIU and CIC). Then you could make a decision on CSR/CSP in 6 or 9 months when you h have a better idea of how you'd use your URs.

Now, I don't want to be an enabler, but if you're able to hit a $4,000 MSR for the CSP...the $5,000 MSR on the CIP really isn't that much more. If you're worried about stretching to meet the spend, there are some strategies for that.

• First off, I'm assuming you have the excess cash to payoff the card, if not - don't do these things
• As you near the end of your 90 days, You could prepay utilities, cable, cell phone bills (and then you don't have a payment for the next few months)
• Again near the end of the 90 days, You could purchase gift cards to grocery stores and gas stations where you know you'll spend them on necessity items
• Near the end of 90 days, You could purchase Visa Gift cards from numerous locations and use them for your regular expenses after your MSR period is up

These strategies cost you nothing (or very little in the Visa GC example) and can help you hit that higher MSR without buying stuff you don't need. CIP and its 80,000 point bonus really can't be beat! AND once you have one, you can refer the other spouse for 100,000 URs!

I know you might be distracted by the talk of AA miles but keep in mind, most of us looking at those have already gotten CIP, CSR, CSP, CIU, CIC or some combination thereof. I'm looking to AA cards because I've gotten 69 cards - I'm just out of options!!

I hope this info is helpful

@lyshia04 - in addition to what I said here, I’ll also add that if you find yourself wanting AA miles, a Citi or Barclays BIZ card that is fine too. Since those biz cards won’t add to your 5/24 count with Chase. I’d just really resist the temptation to hit any personal cards besides Chase right now.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

It seems like males and females have a big gap as far as getting applications approved. My SO (F) got approved within a couple days whereas my (M) took more than 30 days.

I initially read this as you having both a F SO and M SO and I was like woah...then I figured out you meant you...that would take churning to a whole new level that I’m not sure we are all ready for.

 

[WVMomof3]

I always try to break in my cards initially with some innocent smaller charges. Do I need to do that - probably not. I just like giving the issuer a sense that all is normal before I jump out of the gate with a $1,000+ charge. If you can't wait though...I would absolutely do it. Don't let spend like that go to waste on a non MSR!

For one of my cards, don't remember which one, my first charge was a couple thousand over the phone to an out of state dentist 1000 miles from me. My MIL was getting work done and we have access to some of her money so that was easiest way to do it. After I hung up with dentist, I was like crap, that could go very bad, they are going to deny it for fraud. It went through fine. I wasn't sure if I was happy or not about that. lol I was like, how do they know it was actually me?

 

[CyndiLouWho]

D’oh! Don’t do this:


Saved for posterity in case this gem gets deleted.

Amex absolutely will come and claw back your SUB if you cancel their cards in less than a year, and you’ll end up on their sh*tlist and get pop ups to infinity and beyond. They’ll take your lunch money while they’re at it too.

 

[happ]

What do I do when I have to work late? Plot my next Disney trip

We could go the first weekend of April, Fri PM-Mon PM, for 19k RRs RT + CP and blow the rest of our current Hilton points... best I can figure the Hilton Palace would be ~$260 cash combined with our 106k points (though $105 is the resort fee - ).

Wait.. there's no fee on a reward booking. So obviously I just book 2 nights together with points (50k/night) and a separate booking for the last night with our remaining points and ~$190 cash... Hmm...

If I asked DH he would just be like, do we have to wait until April? Good thing he's on a flight and we can't enable each other... yet.

The first weekend of this April is runDisney Star Wars. You may be looking at higher crowds if that matters.

 

[amalone1013]

The first weekend of this April is runDisney Star Wars. You may be looking at higher crowds if that matters.

Ha that would explain the on property availability. Back to the drawing board...

 

[lyshia04]

I will weigh in here - a number of folks have recommended the CSR card. One of the reasons I think you went for the CSP card was the be able to refer your husband though so I would totally recommend a CSP for him over a CSR. Instead of getting 54,000 URs, you'll get 64,000 URs (add 10k for the referral). Now, one caveat there:

• if you were planning to use your URs in the next 12 months using the UR portal then I would consider a CSR card.
• Why do I say 12 months...well you could always upgrade your CSP to a CSR card in 12 or more months.
• So this is ONLY an issue if you were planning on using URs through the travel portal in the next 12 months.
• If you are planning to use your URs for cashback or transfer to partners like Southwest, Marriott, Hyatt, etc. then not a problem

If you aren't sure what you're going to do with your URs then maybe wait on the CSR/CSP for now. Instead you could have your husband look to one of the Chase business cards that only requires a $3,000 MSR (that would be CIU and CIC). Then you could make a decision on CSR/CSP in 6 or 9 months when you h have a better idea of how you'd use your URs.

Now, I don't want to be an enabler, but if you're able to hit a $4,000 MSR for the CSP...the $5,000 MSR on the CIP really isn't that much more. If you're worried about stretching to meet the spend, there are some strategies for that.

• First off, I'm assuming you have the excess cash to payoff the card, if not - don't do these things
• As you near the end of your 90 days, You could prepay utilities, cable, cell phone bills (and then you don't have a payment for the next few months)
• Again near the end of the 90 days, You could purchase gift cards to grocery stores and gas stations where you know you'll spend them on necessity items
• Near the end of 90 days, You could purchase Visa Gift cards from numerous locations and use them for your regular expenses after your MSR period is up

These strategies cost you nothing (or very little in the Visa GC example) and can help you hit that higher MSR without buying stuff you don't need. CIP and its 80,000 point bonus really can't be beat! AND once you have one, you can refer the other spouse for 100,000 URs!

I know you might be distracted by the talk of AA miles but keep in mind, most of us looking at those have already gotten CIP, CSR, CSP, CIU, CIC or some combination thereof. I'm looking to AA cards because I've gotten 69 cards - I'm just out of options!!

I hope this info is helpful

It’s very very helpful. The 4,000 spend is a stretch for us. We bought furniture so that’s what helping currently. Our regular monthly budget is $650 aside from mortgage and utilities.

We always always pay off our cards. We are savers so we always have the money. I usually pay cash for large purchases and I see here is where I have been making my “mistakes”.

Thank you for the info I will take it into consideration. I’m sure I will have more questions. This is a crazy new way of life. Bonus DH loves the new credit card. He likes the perks.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

There was a recent convo on here about Global Entry interviews, so thought I'd share my recent experience. DS11 and I did ours on Sunday afternoon. We had to pick up DH at SFO anyway, so we did a walk-in. We only waited about 30min until we got called in. They took both of us in together and never asked about previously getting fingerprinted. The agent asked DS11 simple questions like what school he goes to and what grade he's in. It was so easy and now we're set for the next 5 years! Yay! However, we are still waiting for DH's application to be approved. He's a permanent resident so I think that, along with the recent shutdown, might be why his is taking longer. Ours only took 4 days for the preliminary approval.

Thanks for this! Ours is this Friday. I have prepped DS, asking him his birthdate, place of birth, address, etc. I did forewarn him that they are like police and may have guns. He doesn’t seem overly worried yet although the mention of guns brought