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

[speedyfishy]

Such a great afternoon! Go Blazers!

I agree with this lol. You are so lucky to have enes Kanter. Idk why he didn’t start for the Knicks lol.

 

[Mopedmom1]

I agree with this lol. You are so lucky to have enes Kanter. Idk why he didn’t start for the Knicks lol.

And he's playing with a separated shoulder. Beast! So glad we have him after losing Jusuf Nurkic earlier this year.

 

[PolyRob]

Ebates is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Lots of 15% cash back places including eBags.

 

[smallsy]

Just called to check on my citi biz app status from earlier today since I got the system error message and the recording said they were unable to approve my application at this time and will be sending a letter. I’m guessing that’s a denial and not a review? Booo. Wonder why? Feel like I wasted a hard pull for nothing. I’m frustrated since my score has dropped 20 points in 3 months from all the inquiries.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Just called to check on my citi biz app status from earlier today since I got the system error message and the recording said they were unable to approve my application at this time and will be sending a letter. I’m guessing that’s a denial and not a review? Booo. Wonder why?

Citi is baffling at times! I don't even know how to help people when they get caught up in Citi's IT/fraud/etc. issues...

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Okay hoping to provide enough information for some good advice:

About us - credit:

Husband and I both have excellent credit scores. No bad marks ect. Only hold student debt and mortgage currently. We put as much as we can on a CC every month and pay it off in full each month.

We have two CCs that we have held jointly for five years, and each of us has had one of them for longer (close to ten years).

First CC- BOA cash rewards card. Currently set up for 3% back on dining as we do eat out a good bit. 5k limit. Don’t think we’ve asked to raise it in years as we have never needed to. Use this mostly for discretionary spending and two small bills because work reimburses them through this acct.

Second CC- Credit Union CC with NO rewards. Feels like wasted money every month as almost all of our main bills go here (that are allowed on a CC). Also 5k limit, also haven’t asked for an increase in a long time.

We technically also have a home depot CC w/ limit of 5k we haven’t used in years.

Travel- We love cruising. We are lucky to be located where we can drive to most places we have in mind for the next few years in terms of departure ports or land adventures plus with car seats we like having our vehicle. Air travel rewards isn’t a huge factor for us for the immediate future.

Want to switch out the Credit Union CC for a rewards CC but which one? Ideally looking for something that gives us cash or points we can use toward cruising ir hotels or rental cars over heavy air mile rewards. We are also Hilton honors members with I think 70kish points hanging out right now so we build those up occasionally too. Usually travel about 2x year plus maybe a family visit or out of town wedding. Also should we go ahead and close that home depot one if opening a new one? Kind of have been just leaving it in case a new home project came up (last opened and used to get 10% off appliances and we paid it off right away).

WELCOME!! Is there a reason I can't send you a PM here on the DIS? You have enough messages, but when I go to "start a conversation" it's not there for you. I wanted to invite you to our DISchurners group.

Do you have some sort of side hustle or secondary income (teaching piano, selling cookies, consulting, selling on eBay, mowing lawns, babysitting, anything really) that you could use to qualify for a small business credit card?

How much do you typically put on a credit card each month?

I think you could easily jump into this game and supercharge your returns towards travel. With a little more info I can provide some custom advice. Also let me know on the "conversations" thing as I'd like to send you an invite to our reddit group.

 

[smallsy]

Citi is baffling at times! I don't even know how to help people when they get caught up in Citi's IT/fraud/etc. issues...

Is the inquiry going to hurt my chances with Chase? Credit Karma shows I’m red now due to all the inquiries.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Is the inquiry going to hurt my chances with Chase? Credit Karma shows I’m red now due to all the inquiries.

Eh, I don't pay any attention to inquiries any more. With all the issuers focused on new accounts, inquiries have taken a backseat largely. Chase may not even pull the same report so they wouldn't know about that inquiry. I wouldn't sweat it - plus you haven't even got the letter yet. Maybe you can work through it and still get approved.

 

[afan]

@afan I saw you got you answer from chat, but room only regardless of any discount has to be paid over phone. Any type of package (even 'basic' which is essentially room only) can be paid online. There are times when MDE is worse than usual and the payment link disappears.

When you do call, you can do it by yourself through the automated system about 90% of the time. It will ask you how much you want to pay or the remaining balance and you can use credit cards or gift cards. Pretty simple. Sometimes you are unfortunate and it says you have to speak with a CM. AP rates do not guarantee this. IDK why the chat person told you this. I have paid off tons of AP discounted rooms over the automated system without ever speaking with an actual CM.

I figured it was the AP thing, they didn't tell me that just that I needed to call so they could tell me something. So she should have said all room only rez have to be paid by phone. Which is silly automated system or not.

 

[smallsy]

Literally all the inquiries in the last 6mo have been on the same one, equifax. Meanwhile TransUnion shows 0 inquiries

Well, hopefully I can still get something later this month.

 

[orangecuse]

@SouthFayetteFan no clue- I’ll poke around on my settings and see!

No side hustles! We put about $1,700 on one CC per month and $2,000 to $2,500 on the other depending on if we have any random expenses come up (like ugh we need professional poisonous snake removal this month- how fun!). All budgeted for and paid off in full each month! Since we throw all of our vacation ect. on CCs to pay off this will occasionally spike as we make a big payment on something but its always pre-calculated.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

@SouthFayetteFan no clue- I’ll poke around on my settings and see!

No side hustles! We put about $1,700 on one CC per month and $2,000 to $2,500 on the other depending on if we have any random expenses come up (like ugh we need professional poisonous snake removal this month- how fun!). All budgeted for and paid off in full each month! Since we throw all of our vacation ect. on CCs to pay off this will occasionally spike as we make a big payment on something but its always pre-calculated.

So you can definitely play this game WITHOUT business cards - but I want to warn you that the most lucrative offers out there and the ones we are very much abuzz about on the thread are all biz cards right now.

Why do we like them so much? Biz cards don't report to your personal credit report so you can get more of them (and faster) than if you're working solely on personal cards. I'm not telling you that you have to get biz cards, but I'd evaluate your position on them and decide if you will pursue them or definitely not go after them. This will drastically affect our recommendations.

One of the cards we like the most right now is the Chase Ink Preferred card (business card) which has a signup bonus worth somewhere between $755 - $1,180 for spending $5k. You could also support another DISer when you signup for that.

If biz cards aren't for you - we'd perhaps look to the Chase Sapphire cards which have decent bonuses as well.

Thoughts?

EDIT: check your PM for an invite to DISchurners I see you figured out whatever setting there haha!

 

[kmc8826]

Ugh Pretty sure I put the wrong DOB for my husband when applying with Chase on Friday for him. (His is July 24th my mom's is the 22nd ,pretty sure I used moms) So he is pending further review for approval. Is this an easy call and fix? Should I just wait for the letter and try again? Calling the hotline it just says a decision will be made in 30 days.

I did something similar when I applied for DH for one of the Chase Biz cards. As soon as I pushed send (after agonizing over whether or not I had put all the correct categories for the business) I realized I had put my social instead of his. We called right away and they cancelled it out. I called he was there on speaker while I followed him around. You could try that; just explain.

I have to caution @wed100105 about the Hilton Biz and Amex in general. Gone are the days of picking up an Amex card, meeting MSR for the SUB, and sockdrawering it until it’s time to close it in a year. That will land you on Amex’s naughty list fast, and you’ll be stuck in bonus denial pop up purgatory until you put some serious spend on your existing Amex cards. Amex will gladly approve you for cards, but they want to see you putting regular, consistent, and ideally high levels of spend on their cards if you want Amex to keep approving you for new cards with SUBs. Otherwise, they’ll figure you’re in it only for the SUBs and flag you as a “gamer.”

So before you apply for the Hilton Biz, you need to think is it worth diverting some of your spend for the next year that could be going towards new cards to the Hilton Biz and any other open Amex cards you may have just to keep Amex happy, and how do these cards and their bonus categories fit your spending patterns and overall strategy.

Something else I would add in regards to Amex these days is think long and hard if you even want the card long term. This is especially true with the credit cards since you will be maxed out when you have 5. Especially if it is an AF card make sure there is some value for you. If you cancel after the year you might also trigger a pop up (you definitely will if you cancel before the year). At the time the points were nice but now I have some regret getting the SPG Biz last summer; either it or having the upgraded Brilliant. I really don’t need both now but am afraid to cancel and get on the bad list.

 

[Haley R]

Having lived under a flight line in several duty stations both on and off base, I can take it but I prefer to leave it and enjoy it at an airshow or a visit to an airport. I lived on Bolling AFB for awhile and the flights to Reagan flew right over us so low you could see the people in the windows, and watch your dishes rattling while your tv or conversation was drowned out.

I bet I would get sick of it if I actually had to deal with it daily.

 

[EACarlson]

Two new converts to packing cubes. I spent every weekend in April away from home and packing cubes made it much easier to stay organized. Was very nice to just be able to grab a cube that had that days clothes in it. Wife insisted that we order more for the kids to use for Disney. Have also ordered a pack it flat toiletry kit for the wife and ordering a smaller hanging kit for me. Thank you to AMEX for the eBags offer. Bonus 2,000 points.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Okay hoping to provide enough information for some good advice:

About us - credit:

Husband and I both have excellent credit scores. No bad marks ect. Only hold student debt and mortgage currently. We put as much as we can on a CC every month and pay it off in full each month.

We have two CCs that we have held jointly for five years, and each of us has had one of them for longer (close to ten years).

First CC- BOA cash rewards card. Currently set up for 3% back on dining as we do eat out a good bit. 5k limit. Don’t think we’ve asked to raise it in years as we have never needed to. Use this mostly for discretionary spending and two small bills because work reimburses them through this acct.

Second CC- Credit Union CC with NO rewards. Feels like wasted money every month as almost all of our main bills go here (that are allowed on a CC). Also 5k limit, also haven’t asked for an increase in a long time.

We technically also have a home depot CC w/ limit of 5k we haven’t used in years.

Travel- We love cruising. We are lucky to be located where we can drive to most places we have in mind for the next few years in terms of departure ports or land adventures plus with car seats we like having our vehicle. Air travel rewards isn’t a huge factor for us for the immediate future.

Want to switch out the Credit Union CC for a rewards CC but which one? Ideally looking for something that gives us cash or points we can use toward cruising ir hotels or rental cars over heavy air mile rewards. We are also Hilton honors members with I think 70kish points hanging out right now so we build those up occasionally too. Usually travel about 2x year plus maybe a family visit or out of town wedding. Also should we go ahead and close that home depot one if opening a new one? Kind of have been just leaving it in case a new home project came up (last opened and used to get 10% off appliances and we paid it off right away).

Hi and Welcome.....most of us here start with Chase cards due to their 5/24 rule meaning they will not approve you for a card if you have opened over 5 personal cards ..in 24 months...their UR earning cards can be used to book hotels, car rentals airfare etc
If you have any sort of business...selling on eBay, coaching, tutoring etc...the chase ink preferred is a great business card with the highest sign up bonus 80k URs after a 5k spend the first 3 months

If you want to stick to personal cards the chase sapphire preferred has a 60k UR bonus after a 4K Spend the first 3 months

One of you would sign up for a card..work on the bonus..then refer the other for a second bonus...

Since the cards you have are 5 years old no need to cancel

 

[Haley R]

It's the sound of freedom!

My nephews have shirts that say “home of the jet noise” with their state on it. They’re really cute

 

[usakiwi]

Ebates is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Lots of 15% cash back places including eBags.

I see Walgreens is listed at 20% cash back. Do you have any idea if that works in store on gift cards? I’ve never used their cash back offers. Thanks!

 

[Haley R]

We ended up canceling dh’s CIP. We haven’t decided yet but we think I’ll be trying for CIP #2 after we finish dh’s MSR

 

[momincolorado]

Just applied for CIP #2 and got the we need more time message. Was hoping for an instant approval (my last three were) so now I'll be checking the status line constantly! I got noticed from Credit Karma (pulled Transunion) and Experian that they pulled my credit report so it seems like they pulled both - is that normal?

A couple of other churning notes - I received my SPG biz free night cert also. My card renewed in Feb, so they really must award them in batches. Also, I SM'd Chase for a match on DH's SW Premier card to request a match to the 60k RR offer. They didn't really answer the question, they just said he hadn't met the requirements yet (he was about $300 away from the min spend at the time). So, I'll try again in a few days once he's met it. I'd probably read that before that with Chase you have to meet the requirements before requesting a match but had forgotten that.

When I applied for the SW Biz, Chase pulled TU and EX but when I applied for SW Plus they only pulled TU. I was approved for the Plus on 4/4 (50k inflight offer) and met the MSR last week so I messaged them for a match this morning. Just heard back, said I met the requirements and they will post the extra 10k on the next statement so definitely try again after his MSR is met, looks like it's pretty easy to get the match for this one.