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

[palhockeymomof2]

Joining in after lurking for a while. Sorry in advance, but this will be long. Looking for advice from those of you who have been playing the game longer than I've even known about it! If I leave out information that you need - please let me know. I am pretty sure we are each authorized users on each other's cards - except the Chase Sapphire Reserve. We do not carry a balance on any card, but pay in full when we receive the statement. We use the Sapphire and my Blue Sky as our daily cards, but do make a point to use each card for a small purchase every 6 months. We typically spend between $2500-3500/month.

We aren't opposed to closing any cards - I am embarrassed to say we aren't utilizing the rewards fully - except that many of them have been open for a long time and that gives us "age of credit" points, right? And they don't have annual fees, so they aren't hurting us, right? My concern if we *don't* cancel anything is if we'll be given more credit. We have an ungodly amount of available (130k), yet unused, credit right now. Will they just keep giving us more?

2 players - me and DH. We are also lurking on the FIRE thread - we own a duplex (well, we mortgage a duplex) and both sides are rented out as short term rentals on AirBnB/VRBO. We can certainly use this for "business" card purposes. We currently have a Chase bank account for that business and just use the debit card. I don't know when, but we will be looking to buy more units in the future, so we need to keep that in mind. We are preparing to make some large purchases this month, so we can meet minimum spends easily.

I also sell on Etsy. Also using a Chase debit card to fund these needs. Figure this also qualifies us for business cards.

Dumb Question #1 - can we use the business cards for non-business purchases in order to meet minimum spend requirements? Is that frowned upon?

These are the cards we currently have:

P1 (DH)
1) Citi AA Platinum Select World Elite - AF $95 since 2005
2) Chase Sapphire Reserve - AF $450 (obviously with travel credit) - since October 2016
3) BOA MLB MC - no AF since 2001
4) Capital One Platinum MC - no AF since 2007
5) Disney Rewards Visa - no AF can't find exact date - prior to 2012
6) Macy's store card - spring 2018

p2 (Me)
1) Citi AA Gold World Elite - AF $50 since 2009
2) American Express Blue Sky - no AF - since 2007
3) BOA Cash Rewards World MC - no AF - (can't find date - since before 2009)
4) Capital One Sony Card - no AF (can't find exact date - prior to 2010
5) Capital One Quicksilver - no AF since 2010
6) Disney Rewards Visa - no AF since 2000

We also each applied for the Delta AMEX in spring 2016 - we used the points for an anniversary trip and then cancelled the cards in 2017 before the AF.


To add to the fun, my husband works for Hilton hotels, so we can stay on employee rates, depending on availability of course. This means that without travel rewards, we can stay at Hiltons/Doubletrees/Embassy Suites for $45/night, Hilton Garden Inn/Hampton Inns for $35/night. I'm not sure if hotel points/cards are "worth" us earning on since we have this benefit.

We live in Lubbock, TX, so our airline choices are limited to AA, SW, and United. We are 5 hours from Dallas, so we could technically drive, but it would have to be REALLY worth it to make that drive appealing. We have 4 kids (only 3 currently need seats as the baby is 2 months old). We have family in the Spokane WA (GEG airport) and Memphis, TN areas. So that is where we would travel most when not going on vacation for fun.

We have no current major travel planned, but want to be earning points wisely. I am so sad and embarrassed that we didn't realize how many benefits we've been missing out on. Please give us advice on what *you* would apply for in our situation.

Based on my lurking, I'm thinking the Chase Ink for business? Meet the minimum spend, then refer the other player? We can combine those points into one account since we are married, right? They'll link to my husband's Chase Sapphire Reserve? Should I have a Chase Sapphire? And maybe do the double dip travel credits between us?

If you've read this long, I thank you!!! I don't know if I can keep up with how fast you all move, but I appreciate all the advice and help.

Hi and Welcome.....you’re definitely super organized and have done a lot of research
You are correct the Chase Ink Business is the right card for one of you to apply for first....make sure to use your first name and last name as the business name and SS number as the EIN....
.then you can refer your DH once you have the card ....look at your Chase credit limits prior to applying to make sure they are under 50% of household income...if they are close you can either call or message Chase asking them for a lower CL

You can transfer URs between cards and household members...I transfer .all of DH and my URs monthly to my CSR

This thread does move fast...we have a private reddit group that highlights important posts and also support each other.....if you’d like to join pm @SouthFayetteFan, @Lain or @Albort to join....

 

[wanderlust7]

Joining in after lurking for a while. Sorry in advance, but this will be long. Looking for advice from those of you who have been playing the game longer than I've even known about it! If I leave out information that you need - please let me know. I am pretty sure we are each authorized users on each other's cards - except the Chase Sapphire Reserve. We do not carry a balance on any card, but pay in full when we receive the statement. We use the Sapphire and my Blue Sky as our daily cards, but do make a point to use each card for a small purchase every 6 months. We typically spend between $2500-3500/month.

We aren't opposed to closing any cards - I am embarrassed to say we aren't utilizing the rewards fully - except that many of them have been open for a long time and that gives us "age of credit" points, right? And they don't have annual fees, so they aren't hurting us, right? My concern if we *don't* cancel anything is if we'll be given more credit. We have an ungodly amount of available (130k), yet unused, credit right now. Will they just keep giving us more?

2 players - me and DH. We are also lurking on the FIRE thread - we own a duplex (well, we mortgage a duplex) and both sides are rented out as short term rentals on AirBnB/VRBO. We can certainly use this for "business" card purposes. We currently have a Chase bank account for that business and just use the debit card. I don't know when, but we will be looking to buy more units in the future, so we need to keep that in mind. We are preparing to make some large purchases this month, so we can meet minimum spends easily.

I also sell on Etsy. Also using a Chase debit card to fund these needs. Figure this also qualifies us for business cards.

Dumb Question #1 - can we use the business cards for non-business purchases in order to meet minimum spend requirements? Is that frowned upon?

These are the cards we currently have:

P1 (DH)
1) Citi AA Platinum Select World Elite - AF $95 since 2005
2) Chase Sapphire Reserve - AF $450 (obviously with travel credit) - since October 2016
3) BOA MLB MC - no AF since 2001
4) Capital One Platinum MC - no AF since 2007
5) Disney Rewards Visa - no AF can't find exact date - prior to 2012
6) Macy's store card - spring 2018

p2 (Me)
1) Citi AA Gold World Elite - AF $50 since 2009
2) American Express Blue Sky - no AF - since 2007
3) BOA Cash Rewards World MC - no AF - (can't find date - since before 2009)
4) Capital One Sony Card - no AF (can't find exact date - prior to 2010
5) Capital One Quicksilver - no AF since 2010
6) Disney Rewards Visa - no AF since 2000

We also each applied for the Delta AMEX in spring 2016 - we used the points for an anniversary trip and then cancelled the cards in 2017 before the AF.


To add to the fun, my husband works for Hilton hotels, so we can stay on employee rates, depending on availability of course. This means that without travel rewards, we can stay at Hiltons/Doubletrees/Embassy Suites for $45/night, Hilton Garden Inn/Hampton Inns for $35/night. I'm not sure if hotel points/cards are "worth" us earning on since we have this benefit.

We live in Lubbock, TX, so our airline choices are limited to AA, SW, and United. We are 5 hours from Dallas, so we could technically drive, but it would have to be REALLY worth it to make that drive appealing. We have 4 kids (only 3 currently need seats as the baby is 2 months old). We have family in the Spokane WA (GEG airport) and Memphis, TN areas. So that is where we would travel most when not going on vacation for fun.

We have no current major travel planned, but want to be earning points wisely. I am so sad and embarrassed that we didn't realize how many benefits we've been missing out on. Please give us advice on what *you* would apply for in our situation.

Based on my lurking, I'm thinking the Chase Ink for business? Meet the minimum spend, then refer the other player? We can combine those points into one account since we are married, right? They'll link to my husband's Chase Sapphire Reserve? Should I have a Chase Sapphire? And maybe do the double dip travel credits between us?

If you've read this long, I thank you!!! I don't know if I can keep up with how fast you all move, but I appreciate all the advice and help.

Agree on starting with Chase Ink Preferred. Your other questions - don't close any cards without AF. Chase only cares about total credit on their own cards, so as @palhockeymomof2 mentioned just lower those if needed. No worries about using business cards for personal expenses. The banks don't ask or check, and anything can be a business expense. You may get a blurb on the paperwork that the card is only meant for business expenses, but that's because consumer cards have more protections.

Chase cares about the speed you get their cards. So after the CIP, wait 3 months is safest, you can get a Sapphire Preferred (CSP) or the Sapphire Reserve (CSR) if you're going to double dip the travel credit. Since you fly Southwest, you may want to consider the Chase Southwest cards to get a companion pass.

 

[Alexle2007]

@Lain, @SouthFayetteFan, @Albort - I had to create a new reddit account since I couldn’t figure out a way to reset my password that I couldn’t remember. Can you please add alexle2007a to our reddit group? Thanks.

 

[mmmears]

You're missing so much by skipping stuff in the episodes. It's not just about Rory's relationships, the show is about relationships, with the town, with the towns people, with Luke, Loreli and Rory's relationship, their relationship with Richard and Emily etc. Even now I don't skip parts of episodes if I don't like them because it's still good/important. I will skip entire episodes but I know what happens since I've probably already seen it at least 3 times so it's not a big deal.

I totally agree. So much of the real story isn't the primary storyline in the episode. "The town" is a major character, but you have to soak in all the little things to see it.

He didn't bother calling a second time; he was too annoyed. So now I have to wait, apply myself for him (correctly) in the future and then oh, look what came in the mail, I guess they changed their mind.

Oh I'm LOLing at that idea! I hope it works this time!

I don’t only watch Rory and her relationships but I do skip through some of the other stuff. Usually I’ll start to watch some of it and if it’s boring I skip through like 30 seconds of it. I just get bored and would rather be reading during some parts so instead of watching I skip through. I don’t feel like I’ve missed anything big in the show and always know what’s going on

I totally get that, but there is so much going on long term in the background that isn't part of the "plot line A" story and IMHO that's what makes the show amazing. I kind of find the main characters annoying. Of course, you should watch it however you want to, but this is one of those shows (Buffy is another one) where much of the real story is being told in those little scenes that don't seem to matter at the time. Glad you're enjoying it!

 

[wendow]

When we were there in March...Arrived at the Character Warehouse before they opened before heading home .....you could tell the eBay or wherever resellers...they ran to that rack and scooped up what I’m assuming are the popular dresses leaving the others....I was not looking for dresses so no big deal but if the one you want is popular...unless they put more out during the day...it looks like you need to be there before it opens

I got there at opening on Thursday and an hour after on Friday. The Ebayers were buying up all the socks. Like one lady bought about 80 pairs. Everyone in line was commenting on it. I’m all for people making money but she bought up every single kind of a couple styles leaving not a single pair for others. I think they should restrict that kind of thing.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I got there at opening on Thursday and an hour after on Friday. The Ebayers were buying up all the socks. Like one lady bought about 80 pairs. Everyone in line was commenting on it. I’m all for people making money but she bought up every single kind of a couple styles leaving not a single pair for others. I think they should restrict that kind of thing.

Agree...they don’t look at sizes just scoop up all in a particular style...the employees know and were chatting with them at the register

 

[wendow]

Agree...they don’t look at sizes just scoop up all in a particular style...the employees know and were chatting with them at the register

Yep they seemed to know this one lady. They restrict other items to three per guest. Feel like they should do that with all items.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

@Lain, @SouthFayetteFan, @Albort - I had to create a new reddit account since I couldn’t figure out a way to reset my password that I couldn’t remember. Can you please add alexle2007a to our reddit group? Thanks.

You're all set!

And I'll use this comment to just post a reminder: DISchurners is open to ALL on this thread. If you're lurking and think it's hard to keep up, join DISchurners and at least you'll be able to see some of our best tips and use our News Thread to keep up with our fast pace here If you want to join drop me a PM.

 

[amalone1013]

This is a big moment... Dh actually stopped at Timberline alone lol

It looks like I can fly United for 30,000 points one way with $5.90 in fees. I just looked between Washington DC and Belgium. I believe I can get 5 economy flights all with points with no problem. Does that sound right? Because if I can't get all 5 on points then that will be a problem as 1 way prices are astronomical. When I looked at AA I was seeing 30,000 points plus like $250 in fees. Is this right? Am I doing something wrong? Because if that is the case it will be silly to try to get AA points for "free" tickets.

ETA if you are going to help me please don't use "metal" in your explanation. lol Because when I see someone (usually @Albort) talk about flying on such and such metal on such and such points my eyes just glaze over and I don't know what in the $#%$& you are talking about. Thanks!

I think the AA fees have something to do with connecting through London or partnering with British Airways...

 

[Etonduf]

.

 

[amalone1013]

I got DH to call about downgrading his Arrival Plus... rep was like, NO. NO OTHER CARDS WITH A LOWER FEE. if you want the Just Arrival you'll just have to apply for it through the website. I was like dude, you are not helping me with DH with this plan! DH was like, "it's all my fault, I said the wrong thing" after he hung up. Lol. No honey, that guy doesnt know what hes talking about. DH tried to explain he had heard about the regular Arrival and when the guy was like Arrival what? He said its just a regular Arrival not the Arrival Plus. Apparently we helped create a new Barclays card

 

[Alexle2007]

You're all set!

Thanks!

 

[Disneyonmymind]

Our experience has been that it depends on which Hilton brand hotel. For Embassy Suites and Hampton Inns, everyone gets breakfast but those hotels typically have free breakfast for everyone. For Hilton Garden Inns, it has varied. Some places will give us 4 breakfast certificates for everyone on the reservation and some places only give us 2. The price of the breakfasts isn't too bad in most HGI, so will just pay for the extras. When we stay in a Hilton, we usually only get 2 certificates per day. On those occasions, we only go every other day since breakfast can run $25 per person. Here is a link with the benefits. Just click on Gold at the bottom and it shows the benefits by brand. https://hiltonhonors3.hilton.com/en/explore/benefits/index.html

Thank you for your response! I knew somebody here would know. The detail specifies two free breakfasts so I guess that's all we can bank on. That's a good idea - to use them every other day.

 

[wanderlust7]

Before I hop on the GrAAvy train for flights can someone help me. It looks like I can fly United for 30,000 points one way with $5.90 in fees. I just looked between Washington DC and Belgium. I believe I can get 5 economy flights all with points with no problem. Does that sound right? Because if I can't get all 5 on points then that will be a problem as 1 way prices are astronomical. When I looked at AA I was seeing 30,000 points plus like $250 in fees. Is this right? Am I doing something wrong? Because if that is the case it will be silly to try to get AA points for "free" tickets.

ETA if you are going to help me please don't use "metal" in your explanation. lol Because when I see someone (usually @Albort) talk about flying on such and such metal on such and such points my eyes just glaze over and I don't know what in the $#%$& you are talking about. Thanks!

The AA flights you're seeing are probably British Airways flights that have high surcharges. If it connects through London (LHR is especially expensive), it's a double whammy. If you can find actual AA flights that don't connect through London, the fees should be similar to United. The problem is the connections may be bad.

I got a bunch of AA miles a couple years ago thinking I'd use them for Europe. Looked at availability and it looked great. Well, being a newbie I didn't click through and see the taxes/fees. When I went to use the miles, realized that the low fee flights (actual AA flights) had multiple connections, more than I was willing to do. So sucked it up and paid the fees.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I'm just not winning with my SW AF this year guys...I can't get Chase to concede to waive or give a stmt credit for my $99 AF on my Southwest Premier card.

It's my 4th oldest card and has been in my family for 3 years (which is an eternity for me)... I think I'm going to cancel though. Support Links have been bad on the personal cards lately so that avenue dried up. I still have a Plus card with the lower AF that I'll keep for now (which gives me the ability to cash out SW points via gift cards at 1cpp).

I'm just bummed...HUCA is not winning this time. This was probably my 4th attempt.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I'm just not winning with my SW AF this year guys...I can't get Chase to concede to waive or give a stmt credit for my $99 AF on my Southwest Premier card.

It's my 4th oldest card and has been in my family for 3 years (which is an eternity for me)... I think I'm going to cancel though. Support Links have been bad on the personal cards lately so that avenue dried up. I still have a Plus card with the lower AF that I'll keep for now (which gives me the ability to cash out SW points via gift cards at 1cpp).

I'm just bummed...HUCA is not winning this time. This was probably my 4th attempt.

Ugh that stinks...have you been able to get the statement credit in past years ?
Not sure if you want to PC up but last August...the AF hit my SW personal card and RR points posted I called and PC’d to the Priority card...Chase refunded the fee and I haven’t been charged the AF on the Priority so far...

 

[WVMomof3]

I think the AA fees have something to do with connecting through London or partnering with British Airways...

The AA flights you're seeing are probably British Airways flights that have high surcharges. If it connects through London (LHR is especially expensive), it's a double whammy. If you can find actual AA flights that don't connect through London, the fees should be similar to United. The problem is the connections may be bad.

I got a bunch of AA miles a couple years ago thinking I'd use them for Europe. Looked at availability and it looked great. Well, being a newbie I didn't click through and see the taxes/fees. When I went to use the miles, realized that the low fee flights (actual AA flights) had multiple connections, more than I was willing to do. So sucked it up and paid the fees.

Yes, it looked like all the flights DC to Belgium stopped in London. I couldn't find any that did not. My DD flew United and stopped in London and her fees were only $44.50. I thought that was the expensive stop people were talking about. But yikes to $250 that most of these seem to be. I did the opposite way and I am seeing fees of about $115 still stopping in London. So really confused on what constitutes the fees. Also tried from a different city, Frankfurt and those do not stop in London but still over $100 in fees. The Frankfurt ones were American and the Belgium ones were British Airways. So AA fees are still way higher than United even without London or BA.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Ugh that stinks...have you been able to get the statement credit in past years ?
Not sure if you want to PC up but last August...the AF hit my SW personal card and RR points posted I called and PC’d to the Priority card...Chase refunded the fee and I haven’t been charged the AF on the Priority so far...

I might do that with my Plus card. I really have no need for both. The only reason I had kept both of them open was because they waived my AFs last year and support clicks used to be the way to get the 50k offer (and I used to get a lot of clicks from r/churning before everything changed there)

For now, I'm cancelling this card after one more attempt this week. And then I'll determine what to do with the Plus card (but I'm not cancelling it as I need to have at least one SW card open for my backup plan).

 

[AmyAnne]

Disclaimer that I’ve never played with Hilton upgrade offers, but I do pick up the chatter on Reddit.

I think the conventional wisdom on r/churning is that it takes at least a year after opening a new card to get offers to upgrade it, and you won’t get an offer to upgrade to the Aspire if you already have the Aspire, so @calypso726 may need to downgrade her Aspire to something else in about a year if she’s hoping for an upgrade offer on the no fee card, then once that’s upgraded she can upgrade her original Aspire back if she wants to have 2 Aspires.

See: https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/b62lzq/question_thread_march_27_2019/ejhwd5m

And check out this guy who takes the Hilton upgrade offers for the points, then downgrades his card back to the no fee card after a few months and waits for another upgrade offer to come along like clockwork:

https://www.removeddit.com/r/churning/comments/b599t0/discussion_thread_march_25_2019/ejccp6d/

For general information: https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/b1d282/question_thread_march_15_2019/eimlt1r/

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/azeaxx/question_thread_march_10_2019/ei81ls4/

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/ayb0qe/question_thread_march_07_2019/ei1npfv/

Thanks for this. I opened my no-fee card in the summer of 2017. Opened the Aspire December 2018. No upgrade offers, although there was only 5-6 months after I had the no-fee for a year before I got the Aspire. That's so weird that some people get multiple upgrade offers.