Thank you for the response!
Welcome!Hi allmy name is Kirstyn and I would love some advice on getting a new card / whether it’s worth it. My two main goals right now would be to find a card that would allow me a ~$3.5k purchase of a couch but I figure that’s a long shot or a card that could help us pay off our plane tickets for next year (see below for more info).
Any advice would be appreciated
Please let me know if you have any additional questions!
Cards in the last 24 months:
8/22: Synchrony Bank (Care Credit)
Monthly amount of spend:
Our joint credit card is anywhere between $1.8k-$4k/month. We would rather it be on the lower side but I think that’s a dream that inflation has thrown a wrench into
My personal card I try to keep between $600-$1k/month
Do we pay off every month?
With the exception of a chase plan here or there to handle unexpected expenses yes. The care Credit we do not as we opened it specially to pay for a very large unexpected vet bill but it doesn’t gain interest if we pay within 12 months and we plan to have it paid off by then
Airports:
-Usually fly Delta
-Open and interested in frequent flyer programs but would probably like to stick with Delta
-Not interested in flying southwest
-Don’t have hotel rewards and not really interested as we barely ever stay at hotels aside from onsite Disney.
-Currently have travel miles on Delta but only about 2k
-I’m not sure what churning means sorry. But if it just means what we’re interested in gaining by opening a new credit card it would be:
A. To help pay off Disney vacations
B. To help pay for flights to Disney
C. To save money so we can afford some of our loftier goals (Joybird couch, DVC)
-Our next Disney trip is Nov. 2023, but after that we probably won’t go for 2+ years.
-On our upcoming trip our travel party includes extended family (mom&dad, brother, grandparents(2), aunt, myself, DH) but typically it would just be myself & DH
Cards we currently use:
We both have chase freedom cards as our personal credit cards, we have a joint credit card that is the Disney visa rewards card, and we have another joint card that is a target Mastercard (aside from the one listed above).
) your spouse from your cards, earn a bonus from that action and then your spouse can obtain their new card, meet the Minimum Spend Requirement (MSR) and earn their own sign up bonus (SUB).
Thank you so much for the info!Welcome!
It sounds like you have a two- fold goal-cash for Disney/couch and miles for Delta. The most important rule of churning cards (getting new cards for the welcome bonuses) is to avoid carrying a balance so if you can do this then please read on! Also, avoid JOINT accounts because if you and your spouse EACH get a card then you've doubled your bonuses...being an "authorized user" often confers NO benefits and can cost both money and an opportunity for a new card.
The benefit of having a spouse also getting cards is you canprefer (the board mods don't like the "r" word
I'm fairly experienced with Delta so I'll start there.
First, make sure you have Skymiles membership-Delta's frequent flyer club. Second, fiddle with their website to get an idea of how much tickets to Orlando from your home airport will cost in either money or skymiles. Delta values their miles at $0.01 so you can easily convert BUT they don't have a redemption chart so prices will fluctuate. Still, you can get a "rough" estimate for goal setting.
American Express issues the Delta co-branded cards and they'll have peak SUBs two or three times a year. They also have 4 personal cards and 3 business cards (*almost anyone has a "business" if they've sold on craigslist, had a garage sale or other side hustles) and you can acquire up to 5 different credit cards. For example, when my DD was starting out with Amex, she obtained the lowest Delta Amex card-the blue, which has no Annual Fee (AF). Later, she obtained the Delta gold amex ($99 AF). As the benefits of Amex Delta cards increase (from nothing to free checked bag to a companion ticket [not pass as with Southwest] to companion ticket+skyclub access) so do the annual fees. If you want to keep them low then my recommendation would be for both you and your spouse to consider the American Express Delta Gold (personal or if you have a "business" then "business" since that will stay off of your 5/24 record which is important for Chase). The AF is waived for the first year so for $0 if you spend $2000 in the first six months, then you'll earn either 60,000 skymiles (personal) or 50,000 skymiles (business).
***Side note-there are other, more expensive cards such as the American Express Platinum (not Delta) that has an AF of $695 and several small credits and if you spend $6000 in 6 months, you'll earn 80,000--150,000 of their flexible currency (MRs) BUT it's an expensive card up front and requires some hunting to find the higher earning SUB (sign up bonus). Also, American Express passes on a fee so to transfer from MRs to Skymiles will cost you anything from $0.06-$99, and that puts off some people (not me, I transfer regularly but I also go through skymiles quickly!).
For straight up cash for Disney, one of the easiest family of cards is the Chase family. Chase bank requires you have only received/signed up for 5 personal credit cards OF ANY TYPE FROM ANY BANK in the past 24 months-the infamous 5/24 rule-which requires some strategizing (getting business cards, spacing out applications, having your "P2" aka spouse, adult children, other trusted people acquiring cards). That said, due to the 5/24 rule, most recommend looking at Chase's line up and obtaining those cards first.
The most popular are the Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR) and Preferred (CSP), which earn Ultimate Rewards which can be transferred to hotel and airline partners (sadly not Delta, however). These rewards can also be transferred to cold hard cash and/or used in the Chase travel portal (I do not recommend, having been burned but others do use it and haven't so YMMV).
The CSP has a $95 AF (not waived) and after $4000 spend in 3 months, earns 60,000 UR (aka worth $600 in cold hard cash or $505 after the AF is paid). The CSR is more expensive-$550 AF but after a $4000 spend in 3 months earns 80,000 UR plus there's a $300 annual travel credit which is very easily used (pay for a ticket with the CSR and $300 is automatically subtracted from your bill). There are pros/cons to both cards and you can easily google CSR or CSP and read lots more about it.
That said, I might just get one (and thenprefer your P2 to the same card) of Chase's Freedom cards-either the Flex or Unlimited. They both have NO Annual Fee, and after $500 spend in 3 months earn $200 back . The Freedom also has 5% back on groceries up to $12000 spend the first year (so a potential of an extra $600 spend if y'all buy groceries from stores other than WalMart or Target).
Here's a good chart-
https://creditcards.chase.com/all-credit-cards?iCELL=61HT&jp_ltg=brwscate_allcards
Citi has a double cash that earns 2% back and Discover has rotating cash back categories but currently neither have SUBs. American Express also has some cash back cards but their SUBs aren't as generous as Chase's right now.
I'm sure other people can chime in on cash back options but sticking with 1 or 2 banks is probably the safest plan for now.
Before applying for anything, I'd recommend you and your spouse (P2) sit down and make a list of goals and discuss pros/cons of the cards I've mentioned (or anyone else does). Please feel free to ask questions here--usually we're a fairly chatty bunch.
Crap. I don't even have the other card to know what number to call...
Here’s the #- 800-346-5538
I don't know anything about the requirements about setting up the account, but we have an Ally savings account that's accruing 3% APR and I don't think we had much of an issue setting it up. Although we set it up years and years ago at this point
I have found Marcus by Goldman Sachs very easy to work with. If I transfer money out in the morning it is in my PNC checking account the same day. I recently set up an Ally account to take advantage of the bonus they offered and it was very easy also (no ID photo required, just your SS# but they will all ask for that). I am not a fan of Capital One personally.
Remember the CSR gives an annual $300 travel credit so it really is $250/ year. They reimburse the $100 global entry fee, give access to priority pass lounges, good travel insurance also. I love the pay yourself back benefit - right now it is for dining, charities, airbnb - at 1.5X redemption rate. So a $100 dining charge is erased with 6700 URs. There is no guarantee this will continue though, it started during covid. I use this more than the portal, mainly because if you need to change flights booked through the portal you have to go though them and it is a pain. Also if you have other UR earning cards you can transfer the points to CSR and use the 1.5X redemption factor.
My husband and I don’t travel yearly is the only reason I’m not quite sure this would be our best match. Recently we have been but that was due to extenuating circumstances (a last minute thanksgiving trip two years ago and a trip that was cancelled and re-planned smaller this year due to a family surgery that was unexpected).
I added some more stuff to my post but I think of the CSR as mostly for travelers.
Thank you this is all very helpful
We had the kids' utmas at Ally since 2017 because they're always a pretty good rate without a ton of hassle.
After the first year, you could change the CSR to the CSP ($95 AF) or another Freedom(No AF). This would allow you to continue to earn Chase points and help build your average age of credit.
booking through travel portal is like booking your flight via expedia. so there are a couple of hoops you would need to jump through depending on the situation (ie cancel flights, changing flights, etc) and it could be more expensive than directly through airlines, but its ymmv.Thank you this is all very helpful
Do you find you miss out on some points though if you aren’t scheduling through the travel
Portal? It says that it’s 5x for flights and 10x for car rentals / hotels so I’m assuming it’s not that much if you don’t go through the travel portal? Or am I misunderstanding?
Yes, and I'm fine with that. You don't get 5x or 10x rewards if booking using points, which is the only way I have ever used the Chase travel portal. I am happy enough to get the 3x rewards booking direct with airlines, hotels, or Costco for rental cars.Thank you this is all very helpful
Do you find you miss out on some points though if you aren’t scheduling through the travel
Portal? It says that it’s 5x for flights and 10x for car rentals / hotels so I’m assuming it’s not that much if you don’t go through the travel portal? Or am I misunderstanding?
Thank you! I called while my kids were calm and then of course they started jumping off the stairs onto a pillow filled landing and screaming as soon as they picked up.
).
