I love credit cards so much! v4.0 - 2021 (see first page for add'l details)

[Judique]

This is sort of a credit card dilemna.

I have the Amex Rose Gold with the 10$ credit for grubhub and a couple of places. Haven't used this months' $10. Just received my Landry's $25 birthday reward.

Have no dinner plans for tonight. The fridge is full of food, but it's New Years Eve!

So, was thinking either pickup from McCormick & Schmicks or something from one of the other Landry options but I think I want M & S.

Can't figure out how to use both credits. Any ideas?

(Still have to let daughter know I want her to go pick this up!)

I've considered doing two separate orders - one called in with the Landry credit, and the other grubhub pickup.

 

[Judique]

Happy New Year's Eve all!

No way (or least I can't figure it out) to quote from prior thread. On DH's Green Biz - chatted and was offered 5K MR for $3K spend in 3 months. Said nope to that. Still have CIU MSR to finish (1.2K) and the Hyatt I was just approved for and see in my informed delivery today. Don't think I could do it with the other spends and not that excited for the offer. I actually would have taken the $75 credit with no spend others were offered.

Mattress runs update
Marriott. I only needed 5 nights for Platinum. I found a close Fairfield Inn for $50/night (AAA hot deal) and $75 credit on my Amex Marriott Biz. On the drive over, I mentioned to my son how I was looking forward to traveling in 2021 and I felt that staying in a hotel wasn't the biggest risk. More afraid of public transport and in door crowds. Since we usually have outdoor trips, I thought 2021 was looking good. Checked in to the hotel on-line (really liked this as it sped things up at the desk) and room was ready at 10am. I still needed to stop at the desk for keys. The reception area was manned by a nose peeker! I still haven't gotten the nerve to say anything to someone who isn't wearing a mask correctly so I just kept stepping back from the desk! That was my first freak out. Next, as the room as on the 4th floor, I used the elevator. I didn't share with anyone but did see multiple groups jumping on when I came back down. There wasn't any sign so maybe that was the appropriate use, just left me feeling less excited about hotel stays.

Hyatt. I booked my first run at the days needed for Globalist. Again we have a close Hyatt for 5K points/night here. (Close for both of my mattress runs is 20 mins from my house). I had better luck here. Proper mask wearing at reception (again I checked in on-line and just needed keys). I was checked in and he acknowledged my (lowly) Discoverist status and offered me a water bottle. I did ride the elevator here and there was a sign limiting the elevator to 4 people. I liked that. I didn't see anyone else a the hotel so not sure if folks were observing this or not. This one bolstered me a bit on hotel stays.

When I was in the Hyatt in summer they had the max 4 sign, but it was inside the elevator and by the time people crowded in you couldn't read it. That's where I took to walking up and down the 6 flights. Otherwise I felt safe enough at the time.

I got my Platinum this year also. Now I'm itching to use it! There's a promo where after the 3rd cash stay you can earn 22500 points, good until sometime in February. I'm thinking of doing 3 separate nights in January, but haven't booked yet. The rooms are about $60 to $70 and I have my Brilliant $300 credit and some gift card remnants - maybe a couple hundred so 'free' (but not really free). Gotta get motivated. I want my vaccine!!!!!!!

 

[Judique]

Hi! I'm interested in getting advice on what credit card would be a good one to apply for. The last card I applied for was back in 2/19: SavorOne. I tend to avoid applying for cards with an annual fee.

My other info:
What amount of spend would you put on a card monthly?
I usually charge anything I can to my CCs (that doesn't require a fee) and avoid using cash to earn cash back. Things that I charge range from groceries, gas, restaurants, retail shopping, buying discounted GCs, streaming services, etc.

Do you currently payoff your CCs in full every month or do you carry any balances/pay any interest?
Yes, I pay off the balance every month for all of my cards.

What airport(s) do you typically fly out of? PVD

Do you have a preference of Frequent Flyer program? Southwest

Does SOUTHWEST Airline service your airport? Yes

Do you have a Hotel Rewards program preference? No

Do you currently have travel points or miles in any program?
Yes, southwest with 2,333 points.

What are your specific goals for churning credit cards?
Trying to minimize having to pay for flights and earning cash back just as another source of savings.

When do you plan to take these trips?
Probably for any trip starting 2022 since I have travel funds covering our flights for 2021.

Who does your travel party consist of?
My typical travel party consists of myself, my husband, and our 1 year old son.

Later in 2021 you should go for some Southwest cards which do have annual fees and try to get a companion pass. You would want to achieve this in early 2022, and that would give you almost 2 years. There's lots of info out there on how to do this.

The best bonuses usually have annual fees and that's a cost of doing business. Usually pay the fee once, get the bonus and close that card. Or product change it to a no fee card.

As you start 'talking' people will be able to continue to encourage and guide you. There is no one size fits all here, so whatever you do is great. The idea is to get a little or maybe a lot from money you are going to spend anyway, by putting the charges on credit cards and paying the charges off before they charge you interest, meanwhile getting rewards.

Chase cards that give ultimate rewards are usually the go to card. And you fit the Chase Southwest card profile very nicely. Chase does have some no fee cash back cards with smaller bonuses and less spend required to get them, so while you are waiting for your shot at a SW companion pass, you might consider a couple of them such as Flex or Unlimited. If you get brave and decide to pay an annual fee, there are Chase Sapphire products with higher bonuses. Chase also has a 5/24 rule which you should pay attention to as its very important in maximizing the Chase cards you get approved for.

Others will chime in and help with more info.

 

[alryan]

For those who got the no AF Biz Plat, how were you able to tell from the email? I see an email offer in DH’s.

You can't tell from the email, so it's a bit of a risk. But I don't think I've seen a dp where someone had an annual fee when signing up from the email.

 

[becauseimnew]

It will probably count towards your 2020 “limit” but will be on your 2021 1099 form. That’s been my experience.

Yay and boo... I reach the 75K CSP referral limit - yay! I reached the 75K referral limit that will show up on my 1099 - boo.

Hi! I'm interested in getting advice on what credit card would be a good one to apply for. The last card I applied for was back in 2/19: SavorOne. I tend to avoid applying for cards with an annual fee.

My other info:
What amount of spend would you put on a card monthly?
I usually charge anything I can to my CCs (that doesn't require a fee) and avoid using cash to earn cash back. Things that I charge range from groceries, gas, restaurants, retail shopping, buying discounted GCs, streaming services, etc.

Do you currently payoff your CCs in full every month or do you carry any balances/pay any interest?
Yes, I pay off the balance every month for all of my cards.

What airport(s) do you typically fly out of? PVD

Do you have a preference of Frequent Flyer program? Southwest

Does SOUTHWEST Airline service your airport? Yes

Do you have a Hotel Rewards program preference? No

Do you currently have travel points or miles in any program?
Yes, southwest with 2,333 points.

What are your specific goals for churning credit cards?
Trying to minimize having to pay for flights and earning cash back just as another source of savings.

When do you plan to take these trips?
Probably for any trip starting 2022 since I have travel funds covering our flights for 2021.

Who does your travel party consist of?
My typical travel party consists of myself, my husband, and our 1 year old son.

Hi and welcome! It appears that the Chase Southwest credit card is your card. They have several to chose from, fees as low as $69 and as high as $149 for the personal cards.
Limited-time offer: Earn up to 80,000 points
Plus, earn 5 points per $1 spent on Southwest purchases
between 12/1/2020 and 3/31/2021 on up to $2,000 per month; enjoy 2 points per $1 spent on all other Southwest purchases.same page link to offer details*
Our biggest point offer ever - Up to 80,000 points!
Earn 50,000 points after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening. Plus, earn an additional 30,000 points after you spend $10,000 on purchases in the first 9 months of account opening


They all have the same SUB, just depends on which fee you want to pay. For us, we prefer SW Priority card AF $149. The fee is basically $0 after the benefits.

• 7,500 anniversary points each year.same page link to offer details***
• $75 Southwest annual travel credit.same page link to offer details***
• 4 Upgraded Boardings per year when available.same page link to offer details***

Don't forget the DISChurners Reddit group for some support links.

 

[EACarlson]

I didn’t. It is true. I am

320,000 points divided by $1600 = 200
320,000 points multiplied by .005 cents = $1600

View attachment 547165

My words failed me. I will try one more time and then slink away if I can't make my point clearly. 0.005 cpp would be 200 points per cent or 20,000 points per dollar.
320,000 points at 0.005 cents would be $16.
What you got was $0.005 per point or 0.5 cpp. Still a very good price for HH points and especially with they ways you find to use them. I wish I could use my points as effectively as you do.

 

[CookieandOatmeal]

@Judique and @becauseimnew Thanks for the info! I have often looked at the Southwest cards but always get turned off by the annual fee lol. Perhaps with my little one now, it might be time to buckle down and crunch some numbers. I feel that I already earn as much as I can on my current cards and wanted to see if there is any way I can up my game. As for the Flex and Unlimited, I already have the original Chase Freedom card. It's pretty much the same thing right?

 

[becauseimnew]

@Judique and @becauseimnew Thanks for the info! I have often looked at the Southwest cards but always get turned off by the annual fee lol. Perhaps with my little one now, it might be time to buckle down and crunch some numbers. I feel that I already earn as much as I can on my current cards and wanted to see if there is any way I can up my game. As for the Flex and Unlimited, I already have the original Chase Freedom card. It's pretty much the same thing right?

I include the CC annual fees in our travel budget, because instead of paying $750 for 4 airline tickets I paid $149 for the SW AF + $33.10 ticket fee.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Yay and boo... I reach the 75K CSP limit - yay! I reached the 75K limit that will show up on my 1099 - boo.

Hi and welcome! It appears that the Chase Southwest credit card is your card. They have several to chose from, fees as low as $69 and as high as $149 for the personal cards.
Limited-time offer: Earn up to 80,000 points
Plus, earn 5 points per $1 spent on Southwest purchases
between 12/1/2020 and 3/31/2021 on up to $2,000 per month; enjoy 2 points per $1 spent on all other Southwest purchases.same page link to offer details*
Our biggest point offer ever - Up to 80,000 points!
Earn 50,000 points after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening. Plus, earn an additional 30,000 points after you spend $10,000 on purchases in the first 9 months of account opening


They all have the same SUB, just depends on which fee you want to pay. For us, we prefer SW Priority card AF $149. The fee is basically $0 after the benefits.

• 7,500 anniversary points each year.same page link to offer details***
• $75 Southwest annual travel credit.same page link to offer details***
• 4 Upgraded Boardings per year when available.same page link to offer details***

Don't forget the DISChurners Reddit group for some support links.

I think you misunderstood, the value of this click will likely show up on your 2021 1099-MISC which you will receive in early 2022. Support links used near the end of a year can often cause this disconnect.

 

[tink1970]

Ok, a little off the beaten path but I'm looking for ideas from veterans. My number 1 financial goal for 2021 is to up my giving to 10%. I'm at 3.5% now so it'll be a huge shift in focus for me this year.

How can credit cards be of benefit in that? I don't want to overlook any creative ways to use credit cards in achieving this goal. I know when you donate by credit card, the charities do not get the full amount, but it's just most convenient so I'm hoping that 98-ish% is better than nothing. Are there any cards or strategies that reward more giving?

I am always trying to increase my giving and the two ways that have been helpful are-

1) knowing I'm going to fund a charity, saving up and then using it for all or part of an MSR

and

2) finally signing up for PayPal and funding through that when Discover and Chase Freedoms are at 5%. I have 2 Discovers and maxed those out and 3 Chase Freedoms (I'm embarrassed to say I didn't max out my third this time). Discover was Q3 and Chase 4 so 6 months of giving was covered that way. Paypal does charge nonprofits a little so I tried to "math" it out and add in a bit extra to cover the fee.

HTH!

 

[tink1970]

DP for the Amex Green-I called and received 12.5K MRs for keeping the card-not a great value but worth it to keep Amex happy. I also went through all of my charge cards and 6 (!) had Pay Over Time so I eliminated that since there's been concern POT looks like a credit card to Amex.

 

[WVMomof3]

Page 4! I feel like I am late to the party. Here is hoping 2021 is a better travel year for everyone. Yesterday was our 26th anniversary. We "celebrated" by doing absolutely nothing. lol But I can't really blame 2020, we are pretty boring people. lol My DD flew out to visit her boyfriend and she had a stinking early flight. We are 1.5 hours to airport so we spent the night at a Marriott. I have the promo of stay up to 2 nights get a 35,000 cert for each stay so I now have another one in my account. I have 2 and I think DH has 4, so we need to find somewhere to use them before August. The new cert is only 6 months, so that one expires 7/1. Her return flight is a red eye and gets in super early so we will spend the night again before picking her up. Might stay at the Hyatt this time to get some Hyatt nights in. The next day her best friend is flying in for a visit and since flying to BWI was cheaper, that is where we need to pick her up. Three hour drive for that one and 5 days later the return trip. I will drive with DD to pick her up and I really hope the weather is good. So even though I am not going anywhere I have several airport runs in the future. Yay for me. lol The things I do for my kids.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Hi! I'm interested in getting advice on what credit card would be a good one to apply for. The last card I applied for was back in 2/19: SavorOne. I tend to avoid applying for cards with an annual fee.

My other info:
What amount of spend would you put on a card monthly?
I usually charge anything I can to my CCs (that doesn't require a fee) and avoid using cash to earn cash back. Things that I charge range from groceries, gas, restaurants, retail shopping, buying discounted GCs, streaming services, etc.

Do you currently payoff your CCs in full every month or do you carry any balances/pay any interest?
Yes, I pay off the balance every month for all of my cards.

What airport(s) do you typically fly out of? PVD

Do you have a preference of Frequent Flyer program? Southwest

Does SOUTHWEST Airline service your airport? Yes

Do you have a Hotel Rewards program preference? No

Do you currently have travel points or miles in any program?
Yes, southwest with 2,333 points.

What are your specific goals for churning credit cards?
Trying to minimize having to pay for flights and earning cash back just as another source of savings.

When do you plan to take these trips?
Probably for any trip starting 2022 since I have travel funds covering our flights for 2021.

Who does your travel party consist of?
My typical travel party consists of myself, my husband, and our 1 year old son.

I would agree on the surface with the assessment (@Judique maybe?) that you should wait on the SW cards. Since you state that your 2021 flights are handled, earning SW points and a Companion Pass now would potentially not make sense.

However, when do you plan to fly in 2022? Do you have a plan for what trips you'll take and when? The reason I ask is because you will want to book those flights at some point later in 2021, and having the SW points could help. So it's sort of a difficult proposition here, do you earn SW points now but forego the full value of the companion pass, or do you wait but then maybe aren't able to book your flights right away upon release. If you aren't traveling in Jan-Mar 2022, I'd probably lean towards waiting.

So this probably pushes you towards the Chase Sapphire cards which are quite valuable and also offer a flexible points program (Chase Ultimate Rewards - URs). Could you meet a $4,000 MSR in 3 months comfortably without spending more than you usually do? Odd follow-up question - how about $8,000 MSR in 3 months?

Lastly, to address annual fees (AF) - you need to approach this from a holistic viewpoint. If I offered to hand you $800 but asked you to hand me $95 back in exchange for my $800... would you do that? If so, then Annual Fees are for you!! Don't let a small price stand in the way of big earnings! And know, that you're only committed to that Annual Fee for a year, it's not like you're committed to paying it for 10 years, you can product change (PC) or cancel the card a year from now to avoid paying another AF. Also of note, some cards even offer waived AFs in year 1.

 

[calypso726]

My words failed me. I will try one more time and then slink away if I can't make my point clearly. 0.005 cpp would be 200 points per cent or 20,000 points per dollar.
320,000 points at 0.005 cents would be $16.
What you got was $0.005 per point or 0.5 cpp. Still a very good price for HH points and especially with they ways you find to use them. I wish I could use my points as effectively as you do.

At the end of the day, I was trying to say that for $1600 I got 320k points. For the way I use them, it is a good value. The purchase comes out of the vacation budget so it’s fine for a future vacation. Getting 1.5 UR for the purchase and closer to the end of a $7500 MSR was icing on the cake. In any case, I am less likely to use URs for a hotel stay for a bit. The faster I can accumulate 5 million URs the sooner we can do the 10 day Galapagos trip and then the 23 night Antarctica, SouthGeorgia and Falkland Islands trips.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

At the end of the day, I was trying to say that for $1600 I got 320k points. For the way I use them, it is a good value. The purchase comes out of the vacation budget so it’s fine for a future vacation. Getting 1.5 UR for the purchase and closer to the end of a $7500 MSR was icing on the cake. In any case, I am less likely to use URs for a hotel stay for a bit. The faster I can accumulate 5 million URs the sooner we can do the 10 day Galapagos trip and then the 23 night Antarctica, SouthGeorgia and Falkland Islands trips.

Yeah - that's actually 0.5 cpp

What's probably worth pointing out here is that $0.005 and 0.5cpp are the same number. But sometimes people mix up the two and use the wrong version with the right number haha!

And I would agree that this will provide some return on your investment. The baseline minimum value I typically see on Hilton points is 0.5cpp at their low-end properties and you have a much better plan for them.

 

[Judique]

@Judique and @becauseimnew Thanks for the info! I have often looked at the Southwest cards but always get turned off by the annual fee lol. Perhaps with my little one now, it might be time to buckle down and crunch some numbers. I feel that I already earn as much as I can on my current cards and wanted to see if there is any way I can up my game. As for the Flex and Unlimited, I already have the original Chase Freedom card. It's pretty much the same thing right?

The big difference coming out the gate is you haven't earned the bonus on the two new cards yet. Keep your Freedom card. It's still good for the quarterly 5% categories and can be upgraded if you ever need that option. Otherwise, they have discontinued new applications for this card. I'm going to repeat, keep the card. It will come in handy.

The bonus alone is on the flex or unlimited is more points than you are likely to earn with regular spend. Take for example spending 1K per month on groceries on the freedom 1% card: lets say you get to put 1500 on as a quarterly spend for groceries. That's $75. Your remaining $10,500 is $105. So you've earned $180 in a year.

Meanwhile, you can earn a $200 bonus for spending $500 on the Flex. (forgive me if this has changed as I've not verified my number, just trying to point out how to more than double the reward with a small spending requirement or MSR =minimum spending requirement.)

Plus, some of these cards have extra spending categories to increase the amount you earn.

I'm not saying run out and apply for every card advertised. But, a few strategic app's will nicely increase your rewards. But, read along and do some math with your spending and what a card will give you plus what it costs to have the card.

 

[Judique]

At the end of the day, I was trying to say that for $1600 I got 320k points. For the way I use them, it is a good value. The purchase comes out of the vacation budget so it’s fine for a future vacation. Getting 1.5 UR for the purchase and closer to the end of a $7500 MSR was icing on the cake. In any case, I am less likely to use URs for a hotel stay for a bit. The faster I can accumulate 5 million URs the sooner we can do the 10 day Galapagos trip and then the 23 night Antarctica, SouthGeorgia and Falkland Islands trips.

You paid 1/2 cent per point. For a $1300 room at 95K points, using your points the room will effectively cost $475 giving you a great deal!

Plus you got UR's on $1600 at 1.5UR, you earned 2400 UR or $24.00.

For someone looking to stay in a $1300 room which is aspirational for almost all of us, this is a huge discount and well worth working for.

 

[Judique]

Yeah - that's actually 0.5 cpp

What's probably worth pointing out here is that $0.005 and 0.5cpp are the same number. But sometimes people mix up the two and use the wrong version with the right number haha!

And I would agree that this will provide some return on your investment. The baseline minimum value I typically see on Hilton points is 0.5cpp at their low-end properties and you have a much better plan for them.

Thanks for pointing that out! People confuse the $'s with the decimals or fractions.

 

[calypso726]

Hi! I'm interested in getting advice on what credit card would be a good one to apply for. The last card I applied for was back in 2/19: SavorOne. I tend to avoid applying for cards with an annual fee.

My other info:
What amount of spend would you put on a card monthly?
I usually charge anything I can to my CCs (that doesn't require a fee) and avoid using cash to earn cash back. Things that I charge range from groceries, gas, restaurants, retail shopping, buying discounted GCs, streaming services, etc.

Do you currently payoff your CCs in full every month or do you carry any balances/pay any interest?
Yes, I pay off the balance every month for all of my cards.

What airport(s) do you typically fly out of? PVD

Do you have a preference of Frequent Flyer program? Southwest

Does SOUTHWEST Airline service your airport? Yes

Do you have a Hotel Rewards program preference? No

Do you currently have travel points or miles in any program?
Yes, southwest with 2,333 points.

What are your specific goals for churning credit cards?
Trying to minimize having to pay for flights and earning cash back just as another source of savings.

When do you plan to take these trips?
Probably for any trip starting 2022 since I have travel funds covering our flights for 2021.

Who does your travel party consist of?
My typical travel party consists of myself, my husband, and our 1 year old son.

I’m going to chime in in the subject of annual fees. Annual fees are one of my areas of expertise as I have many cards with many annual fees. Therefore, I feel more than qualified to discuss that topic

They are almost always worth paying at least once for the bonus you will be receiving. You can cancel or product change after a year. Do keep in mind that in many cases keeping a card or cards with annual fees can be beneficial. If the card offers a value that is worth more than its annual fee to you, then you should consider holding on to that card.

The majority of the trips I take would not be possible if I didn’t leverage the annual fee cards that I hold. I tend to book aspirational vacations that cost way more money than I would ever spend to experience. A cash back no fee card would never get me the points I need to do the things I want. The same is true for most vacations that fall on the modest end of the spectrum of vacation plans. Just keep that in mind when it comes to annual fee cards.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Annual fees are one of my areas of expertise...

What are: Things that 20 year old you never thought you'd say...