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

[SouthFayetteFan]

That makes perfect sense. Thanks for being so clear. My husband actually did start a consulting business last year. He is in online marketing so he doesn’t really spend anything on it. I’m not sure he would hit the SUB with his spend. I’m a SAHM who is paid in sticky doorknobs and dirty socks so I’m out for that.

We have an AMEX Blue Cash Everyday. The grocery and gas points are good on that but I can’t use it at Costco where I do a lot of my shopping. I believe I could use a Chase Sapphire there because it’s Visa?

We would easily charge 1000-1500$/mo just in groceries, gas, dining, etc. Some months we’d spend significantly more. We’re planning a WDW trip for April so that will be 5000ish more we would spend that month.

After a little more research last night I’m thinking maybe we sign up for a Chase Sapphire Preferred (mostly for the SUB and possibly downgrade after a year depending on how much we use it). And also sign one of us up for SW RR card for the 80k points (over 9 months). Maybe stagger those cards by a couple months to make sure we hit the spend for each SUB.

Does that sound like a reasonable plan?

I remembered we also have a Disney CC, which I believe is Chase. Does that make a difference to any of this?

This really is the nicest corner of the DIS. Thanks for your help!

So something of note, you can put anything you want on a biz card practically. They won't come "audit" you to make sure you used it for business purpose only. And there aren't any tax consequences or anything if that worried you (a common misconception).

CSP is a great card, but you'll also want to check out DISchurners to consider if a MDD (an advanced strategy with the Sapphire cards) is right for you with your levels of spend. I think you're on the right path here!

Oh and the Disney CC is something you'll hold on to for now, but won't have any impact on these new cards for the most part.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Nice! I need to do this. Why did I suggest lunch in the wrong direction!

Haven't you learned by now, always plan your lunches by a Staples!

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I opened an AmEx Gold in 2010 and closed in 2015. AmEx lifetime language is 7 years for the bonus, correct? If yes, do I have to wait until 2022 to apply again?

 

[Hoosier John]

That makes perfect sense. Thanks for being so clear. My husband actually did start a consulting business last year. He is in online marketing so he doesn’t really spend anything on it. I’m not sure he would hit the SUB with his spend. I’m a SAHM who is paid in sticky doorknobs and dirty socks so I’m out for that.

We have an AMEX Blue Cash Everyday. The grocery and gas points are good on that but I can’t use it at Costco where I do a lot of my shopping. I believe I could use a Chase Sapphire there because it’s Visa?

We would easily charge 1000-1500$/mo just in groceries, gas, dining, etc. Some months we’d spend significantly more. We’re planning a WDW trip for April so that will be 5000ish more we would spend that month.

After a little more research last night I’m thinking maybe we sign up for a Chase Sapphire Preferred (mostly for the SUB and possibly downgrade after a year depending on how much we use it). And also sign one of us up for SW RR card for the 80k points (over 9 months). Maybe stagger those cards by a couple months to make sure we hit the spend for each SUB.

Does that sound like a reasonable plan?

I remembered we also have a Disney CC, which I believe is Chase. Does that make a difference to any of this?

This really is the nicest corner of the DIS. Thanks for your help!

Yep, I like the Chase Sapphire Preferred (CSP) too. I just got my first Sapphire about 6 months ago. Here are my short-hand notes on the CSP:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred 60k URs/$4k spend (2x Dine, Travel, Groc./Apr, $60 Peloton. 1.25x Portal $95)
• You can spend your Ultimate Rewards (URs) to pay for grocery and restaurant purchased through April at 1.25x rate (so a $100 grocery bill would be completely paid with 8k URs). You then have until July to Pay Yourself Back (PYB) by deducting qualified restaurant and grocery purchases. This is a temporary thing because of COVID, but will almost be over by the time you earn your SUB (unless they should extend the deal). URs are worth at minimum 100 URs = $1 (or 1 cent per point) for just cash and more through the Chase (travel) Portal.
• My wife plans to use the Peloton App credit for the exercise class (we don't have the bike), but hasn't yet to say how she likes it.

I'm sure the details of the Chase Biz cards say something about business expenses for meeting the SUB, but I just spend on whatever I want and have never had a problem. We had a discussion a while back about how any purchase could legitimately be claimed for business use.

If you have the Disney CC with an AF, note that you can downgrade it to a Disney card with no AF, if you like.

 

[punkin]

Haven't you learned by now, always plan your lunches by a Staples!

I just literally went out to lunch near staples to buy gift cards but i forgot my CIC. ;(

 

[Alexle2007]

Haven't you learned by now, always plan your lunches by a Staples!

I know. Total rookie mistake! Thank goodness my Staples allows $2k to be purchased

 

[wisconsinmom]

Well it seems like I'll be meeting the MSR on my new Platinum card quicker than anticipated. We bought a new washer and dryer, car insurance is due, and I paid my son's fraternity dues. Those three things pretty much wiped out the MSR!

DD had to have a MRI on her knee last week so we'll have some medical bills coming soon since it is a new year/new deductible. I'd like to get a new card for DH so that we can get another bonus with that spend. I'm thinking a Business card would be best since he's at 3/24. These are his most recent cards-

SW Personal	1/2020
Sapphire	7/5/20
IHG Personal	10/20

I'd like something that earns hotel or travel points. I'm thinking about the Hilton Honors for the 130K bonus. I'm avoiding the Chase CIC and CIU because I'm not sure I want to tackle the 7,500 spend. Am I overlooking any other cards we should consider? He had the SPG AM EX business card 4/18 so I think he might be locked out of Marriott bonuses.

 

[Jmazzuca243]

Well it seems like I'll be meeting the MSR on my new Platinum card quicker than anticipated. We bought a new washer and dryer, car insurance is due, and I paid my son's fraternity dues. Those three things pretty much wiped out the MSR!

DD had to have a MRI on her knee last week so we'll have some medical bills coming soon since it is a new year/new deductible. I'd like to get a new card for DH so that we can get another bonus with that spend. I'm thinking a Business card would be best since he's at 3/24. These are his most recent cards-

SW Personal	1/2020
Sapphire	7/5/20
IHG Personal	10/20

I'd like something that earns hotel or travel points. I'm thinking about the Hilton Honors for the 130K bonus. I'm avoiding the Chase CIC and CIU because I'm not sure I want to tackle the 7,500 spend. Am I overlooking any other cards we should consider? He had the SPG AM EX business card 4/18 so I think he might be locked out of Marriott bonuses.

Any of the Hilton Cards would be great for the SUB. But I would look at the aspire. Even though it has a $450 annual fee, you get $250 resort credit (roughly ~50% of Hilton’s are resorts) which can be used for room credit, $250 for AMEX flight travel credit, and you get 1 free night per year. If you can only use 2 of the 3, you break even. If you use all 3, you make 300 per year. Plus it comes with 150k SUB.

I might be crazy, but I have 3 aspires and use all the rewards every year. Which is a nice perk every year.

 

[wanderlust7]

I’m such a novice at all this. How do I check my personal credit report? I don’t have any other Capital One cards - the Spark was my first. I’ll hold onto it and ask if they’ll waive the annual fee. Just last week the United Explorer was offering 60,000 miles. I’ll definitely wait until the offer is better.
Another question, I’m low on SW RR points. I moved some UR points to SW but i’m not sure this was the best move. I only have a SW biz card which I will cancel in May when it renews after my anniversary points post. I haven’t purchased SWA tickets in a long time since I always had a surplus of points in the past from the biz credit card.

I use Credit Karma too. That covers Transunion and Equifax. I also have a free account for Experian. I like to monitor all 3 for hard pulls. But to check account history, you can just check one.

For SW, I'll defer to the experts. Take a look at this excellent info from @SouthFayetteFan

Ok - proper news credit has been given on the DISchurners NEWS thread... but I want to make sure we highlight these facts today:

SOUTHWEST COMPANION PASS NEWS:

1) For our current Companion Pass Members who received an extension of their earned Companion Pass benefits through June 30, 2021, we are extending your benefits another six months.* You can now enjoy Companion Pass through December 31, 2021!

2) For all Rapid Rewards® Members with a Rapid Rewards account opened by December 31, 2020...we’re giving you:
• 15,000 tier qualifying points (TQPs)**
• 25,000 Companion Pass qualifying points (CPQPs)**
• 10 qualifying flight credits toward A-List and A-List Preferred
• 25 qualifying flights toward Companion Pass

So this means that you can now earn a 2022 Companion Pass with just 100,000 SW points! AS A REMINDER: There are elevated Southwest Offers out there that expire on 2/8/2021. Here's a recap of those offers (which are available via support link on DISchurners):

1) Chase Southwest Personal Cards; 3 options - Plus, Premier, Priority: Offer details = Earn up to 80,000 SW RR points. Earn 50,000 points after spending $2,000 in the first 3 months PLUS, earn an additional 30,000 points after you spend $10,000 total in the first 9 months. This is an ALL-TIME HIGH offer on these cards.

2) Chase Southwest PERFORMANCE Business Card - Earn up to 100,000 SW RR points. Earn 70,000 points after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months PLUS, earn an additional 30,000 points after you spend $25,000 total in the first 6 months.

3) Chase Southwest PREMIER Business Card - Earn 60,000 points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months.

IF using a support link, make sure to hit APPLY on the correct card.

Also worth noting, each of these offers shows an additional kicker: PLUS earn 5 points per $1 spent on up to $2,000 per month in Southwest purchases between in Jan/Feb/Mar.

So IF you receive the 25,000 CPQPs, you could now earn a CP via a MDD of 2 personal cards WITHOUT hitting the higher tier of spend. OR you could earn a CP from just the SW Performance Biz if you have really high spend (this was actually already the case).

I'm not sure if I'll be updating the "Fireside Chat on Companion Pass" to reflect this info since it won't necessarily apply to everybody (i.e. if you didn't have a SW account at 12/31).

Basically a whole bunch of new strategies have potentially appeared on the scene here!

 

[Hoosier John]

Well it seems like I'll be meeting the MSR on my new Platinum card quicker than anticipated. We bought a new washer and dryer, car insurance is due, and I paid my son's fraternity dues. Those three things pretty much wiped out the MSR!

DD had to have a MRI on her knee last week so we'll have some medical bills coming soon since it is a new year/new deductible. I'd like to get a new card for DH so that we can get another bonus with that spend. I'm thinking a Business card would be best since he's at 3/24. These are his most recent cards-

SW Personal	1/2020
Sapphire	7/5/20
IHG Personal	10/20

I'd like something that earns hotel or travel points. I'm thinking about the Hilton Honors for the 130K bonus. I'm avoiding the Chase CIC and CIU because I'm not sure I want to tackle the 7,500 spend. Am I overlooking any other cards we should consider? He had the SPG AM EX business card 4/18 so I think he might be locked out of Marriott bonuses.

I can't help with hotel cards, but I hope your DD's knee comes out good as new!

 

[wanderlust7]

I opened an AmEx Gold in 2010 and closed in 2015. AmEx lifetime language is 7 years for the bonus, correct? If yes, do I have to wait until 2022 to apply again?

I've seen DP's of them "forgetting" earlier. You can apply and see if you get the pop-up. Not the "of death" one, but the one saying you've had the card before.

 

[wanderlust7]

Well it seems like I'll be meeting the MSR on my new Platinum card quicker than anticipated. We bought a new washer and dryer, car insurance is due, and I paid my son's fraternity dues. Those three things pretty much wiped out the MSR!

DD had to have a MRI on her knee last week so we'll have some medical bills coming soon since it is a new year/new deductible. I'd like to get a new card for DH so that we can get another bonus with that spend. I'm thinking a Business card would be best since he's at 3/24. These are his most recent cards-

SW Personal	1/2020
Sapphire	7/5/20
IHG Personal	10/20

I'd like something that earns hotel or travel points. I'm thinking about the Hilton Honors for the 130K bonus. I'm avoiding the Chase CIC and CIU because I'm not sure I want to tackle the 7,500 spend. Am I overlooking any other cards we should consider? He had the SPG AM EX business card 4/18 so I think he might be locked out of Marriott bonuses.

The Hilton biz is a good choice to not add to your 5/24 count. You can support your DH from your plat or most other Amex cards you have.

The Aspire will take up a slot. I do really like the free night certificate, especially this year it's extended to end of 2022 and can be used any night of the week. You get a FNC soon after opening the card, unlike other cards that make you wait until the first anniversary.

 

[disfanforlife]

Just hit staples for my first trip. Now converting to money orders for my 2/1 mortgage payment.

I’ve been buying some the last few months. That is a great idea for money orders. Do you have to get one for each $200 or can you use more than one for a larger money order?
I had a couple left with a few dollars that I added to Amazon. Can they be used for any online purchase or is there anything I should know before trying that?

 

[magickingdomprincess]

That makes perfect sense. Thanks for being so clear. My husband actually did start a consulting business last year. He is in online marketing so he doesn’t really spend anything on it. I’m not sure he would hit the SUB with his spend. I’m a SAHM who is paid in sticky doorknobs and dirty socks so I’m out for that.

We have an AMEX Blue Cash Everyday. The grocery and gas points are good on that but I can’t use it at Costco where I do a lot of my shopping. I believe I could use a Chase Sapphire there because it’s Visa?

We would easily charge 1000-1500$/mo just in groceries, gas, dining, etc. Some months we’d spend significantly more. We’re planning a WDW trip for April so that will be 5000ish more we would spend that month.

After a little more research last night I’m thinking maybe we sign up for a Chase Sapphire Preferred (mostly for the SUB and possibly downgrade after a year depending on how much we use it). And also sign one of us up for SW RR card for the 80k points (over 9 months). Maybe stagger those cards by a couple months to make sure we hit the spend for each SUB.

Does that sound like a reasonable plan?

I remembered we also have a Disney CC, which I believe is Chase. Does that make a difference to any of this?

This really is the nicest corner of the DIS. Thanks for your help!

I just wanted to make sure you know that the SW 80k RR offer is scheduled to end 2/8 so keep that in mind

 

[havaneselover]

I’ve been buying some the last few months. That is a great idea for money orders. Do you have to get one for each $200 or can you use more than one for a larger money order?
I had a couple left with a few dollars that I added to Amazon. Can they be used for any online purchase or is there anything I should know before trying that?

I get $500 money orders (cost $0.46).

 

[ten6mom]

Been keeping a close eye on the CIC to see if any of the purchases moved from "pending" to "posted".... and now the one that would have put me over the edge is nowhere to be found after sitting in "pending" for the last four days! Ugh.

Is that weird? I've never kept such a close eye on it before so perhaps it's normal for it to disappear for a day as it moves between the two areas?

 

[Alexle2007]

Been keeping a close eye on the CIC to see if any of the purchases moved from "pending" to "posted".... and now the one that would have put me over the edge is nowhere to be found after sitting in "pending" for the last four days! Ugh.

Is that weird? I've never kept such a close eye on it before so perhaps it's normal for it to disappear for a day as it moves between the two areas?

That’s usually a good sign when they go MIA in my experience. It should be showing up on the posted side soon.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Been keeping a close eye on the CIC to see if any of the purchases moved from "pending" to "posted".... and now the one that would have put me over the edge is nowhere to be found after sitting in "pending" for the last four days! Ugh.

Is that weird? I've never kept such a close eye on it before so perhaps it's normal for it to disappear for a day as it moves between the two areas?

I’ve seen that and the charge posted the next day...hopefully yours does too

 

[chaselovesnemo]

AND if you go for two cards, you might want to get one... then get the other one a little later. Because once you have the card in hand you can generate a support link for your spouse to use and you BOTH get points then from the 2nd card.

I sent you a quick PM about our DISchurners group too FYI, you might want to join there as we have support links there and you can pay it forward to helpful DISers. There's also some great info over there you'll want to check out!

Southwest Points never expire (a fairly recent change) so having a bunch of them is always a good thing!

Awesome thank you, I will check it out!

Another newbie question.. if we use the method above for SW RR would we not want to add the other spouse as an authorized user when setting up the cards? Would that affect sending a support link to a spouse or qualifying for the SUB?

Any reason not to add a spouse on a Chase Sapphire Preferred card?

 

[Psychodisney]

Awesome thank you, I will check it out!

Another newbie question.. if we use the method above for SW RR would we not want to add the other spouse as an authorized user when setting up the cards? Would that affect sending a support link to a spouse or qualifying for the SUB?

Any reason not to add a spouse on a Chase Sapphire Preferred card?

We would recommend NOT adding your spouse as an authorized user on any personal card. This will show up on their credit report and count towards their */24. It's always best to refer to your spouse if they are a willing P2 (player 2). Many of us manage our spouses cards!