I love credit cards so much! v7.0 - 2025 (see first page for add'l details)

[calypso726]

Has anyone done a Greece / Turkey trip?

What airline do people recommend to fly to IST from the east coast?

If I were flying to IST, I would probably use Citi TYP transfers to Turkish Miles & Smiles to book an award ticket. We did a cruise from Greece and flew to Athens out of EWR on Emirates fifth freedom flight last year. Not sure how feasible those are anymore. I understand the taxes have gone way up on their flights.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

If you have a JB card check your offers, DH and I had get 10 tiles after spending $1,000 between 9/1 and 11/15…My daughter had earn 20 tiles after spending $1,200 in the same timeframe

 

[VGCgroupie]

Not as good as the current offer with spend requirement. But if you are looking for the no spend offer I got this on my flight last week.

 

[DCLMP]

Has anyone done a Greece / Turkey trip?

What airline do people recommend to fly to IST from the east coast?

If I was doing this and I might be next year I would fly to LHR spend the night and then fly to Istanbul. You can fly LHR to Istanbul for 12.5k AA points on BA. Hotels around LHR are cheap. My thought is if you can get to LHR than anywhere from LHR is relatively cheap or low miles.

I'm flying to Rome next year on Condor using Alaska miles. That's if I don't change my mind and go to Istanbul. Everything with Condor goes through Frankfurt. Frankfurt seems to be another European hub that you can get about anywhere from.

I've never flown on any of the middle eastern airlines so I'm no help there.

 

[Minnie368]

How many seats do you need? No experience stalking ANA since they tend to only release 1 J and 1 F at calendar open. It sounds very competitive from what I've read.

Lots of experience stalking and booking JAL from SFO. Usually fairly easy with Cathay at calendar open (2 J and 1 F is typical). Probably with Finnair (Avios) too since they also open at 360 days. Haven't tried though since they only recently came on my radar. The number of miles, taxes, and redeposit/change fees are different, so would need to weigh the pros and cons. Booking with AA or Alaska is cheaper, but takes a lot of luck because their calendar open is 331/330. I used to like booking with BA since it's a little less miles from SFO and better redeposit fee compared to Cathay. But they open at 355 and it's too competitive now to wait.

We would need two. I'll have to read about Cathay because I'm not familiar with them.

 

[lsutigers03]

Just closed DW's CIP on September 5. I have homeowners insurance renewing on October 3. I want to try and get another CIP one to pay the insurance and two before Chase stops the support points for existing business accounts. Anyone have a recent DP of applying for the same Ink within 30 days of closing one?

 

[wanderlust7]

Just closed DW's CIP on September 5. I have homeowners insurance renewing on October 3. I want to try and get another CIP one to pay the insurance and two before Chase stops the support points for existing business accounts. Anyone have a recent DP of applying for the same Ink within 30 days of closing one?

Yes, I've done that within the last year and it was fine. I think it's not a concern because there's no rule against having multiple.

 

[Best Aunt]

I just wanted to say thanks for the advice I received on this thread. I applied for my first business card. It arrived in the mail today. You guys are great!

 

[mmmears]

Looking for advice on first/biz class from east coast (preferably) to Tokyo. I'm getting caught up on this thread, so if it's been talked about in the past 20 or so pages I apologize. I know there are options like amex MR to Virgin to book ANA, and AA to book Japan Airlines, but which of these is more realistic? We're looking to go in May of 2027, so we have some time to accumulate some more points. Currently we have about 350K in MR and tons of UR, but I don't know how helpful UR are. We also have some Delta and AA. I just know I need to focus now so that I have some time to earn what I need. Any suggestions? We should be able to plan far enough in advance to book when seats are first released and should have a little flexibility. Flying from Pittsburgh but will need to reposition. I'm open to just using SW or sprit or whoever to get us to the best airport as a starting point. I've read a lot of blogs/articles on how to do this, but I know it's not as easy as it sounds and want to make sure I'm increasing my chances by focusing on the right type of points. Thanks in advance!

We went to Japan this past May, so my booking info is a year old, but we chose to go through BA because they have access to the JAL J seats a long time before AA does. As it was, I could get the dates I wanted to for the outbound, but for the return we couldn't get a non-stop (although LAX and SEA were both open). Less than a week before our return, United had access to ANA Biz direct, so we switched to get the direct flight. I didn't mind having extra Avios because I needed them anyway for a 2026 trip. I didn't use Cathay because I didn't know what I would do with the miles if I canceled the flight, but they get to post the JAL seats first, so you'll have the best luck booking through them.

 

[DCLMP]

Looking for advice on first/biz class from east coast (preferably) to Tokyo. I'm getting caught up on this thread, so if it's been talked about in the past 20 or so pages I apologize. I know there are options like amex MR to Virgin to book ANA, and AA to book Japan Airlines, but which of these is more realistic? We're looking to go in May of 2027, so we have some time to accumulate some more points. Currently we have about 350K in MR and tons of UR, but I don't know how helpful UR are. We also have some Delta and AA. I just know I need to focus now so that I have some time to earn what I need. Any suggestions? We should be able to plan far enough in advance to book when seats are first released and should have a little flexibility. Flying from Pittsburgh but will need to reposition. I'm open to just using SW or sprit or whoever to get us to the best airport as a starting point. I've read a lot of blogs/articles on how to do this, but I know it's not as easy as it sounds and want to make sure I'm increasing my chances by focusing on the right type of points. Thanks in advance!

We went to Japan Mid February of this year and I had no trouble booking JL business class seats with AA miles at a year out. I even changed them a few times. I think I finally settled on flights around September of last year. I want to go back to Japan, but finding Biz seats is so much harder. I never see any until a few weeks out.

Check every day or twice a day. My Flight to Narita on JL in business class had a few empty seats. My flight back from Haneda was full.

 

[*pixie*]

Couple of quick questions…

If we downgrade our CSR to CSP, does that count against the 5/24 rule? Or if we transferred all our points out, would just closing the CSR hurt our credit?

Also, if we got the United Explorer at the $0 intro annual fee, and then upgraded to the United Club next year, would that hurt us at all? I assume we wouldn’t be eligible for any SUBs for the Club?

 

[GZanta77]

Couple of quick questions…

If we downgrade our CSR to CSP, does that count against the 5/24 rule? Or if we transferred all our points out, would just closing the CSR hurt our credit?

Also, if we got the United Explorer at the $0 intro annual fee, and then upgraded to the United Club next year, would that hurt us at all? I assume we wouldn’t be eligible for any SUBs for the Club?

No, product changes will not affect 5/24. Whether closing a card will hurt your credit depends on the number of open accounts, age of account closed and overall credit utilization. If you have many open accounts with low overall utilization and the card you close is not one of your oldest cards then any impact to credit should be minimal. You could also consider product changing the CSR to a Freedom if you want a No AF card.

Similarly, upgrading a United card will not impact credit and you are correct you will not qualify for a SUB on an upgrade. I think its only Amex cards that sometimes offer bonuses for upgrades.

 

[*pixie*]

No, product changes will not affect 5/24. Whether closing a card will hurt your credit depends on the number of open accounts, age of account closed and overall credit utilization. If you have many open accounts with low overall utilization and the card you close is not one of your oldest cards then any impact to credit should be minimal. You could also consider product changing the CSR to a Freedom if you want a No AF card.

Similarly, upgrading a United card will not impact credit and you are correct you will not qualify for a SUB on an upgrade. I think its only Amex cards that sometimes offer bonuses for upgrades.

Thank you!

 

[DCLMP]

I was reading on reddit about Citibank freezing accounts until people send in forms proving income. Yikes. I applied for the Citi elite with the 80k link. I was mad I didn't know about the 100k link, but it's sounds like my ignorance was a good thing. My accounts are still open.

 

[mamapenguin]

Couple of quick questions…

If we downgrade our CSR to CSP, does that count against the 5/24 rule? Or if we transferred all our points out, would just closing the CSR hurt our credit?

Also, if we got the United Explorer at the $0 intro annual fee, and then upgraded to the United Club next year, would that hurt us at all? I assume we wouldn’t be eligible for any SUBs for the Club?

You can still get the SUB on the Club card even if you have the United Explorer. I did, I still have the Explorer and closed the Club card after a year.

 

[*pixie*]

You can still get the SUB on the Club card even if you have the United Explorer. I did, I still have the Explorer and closed the Club card after a year.

Thank you!

 

[Judique]

Received the letter from American Express regarding my application for the no fee Hilton Honors card.
I had closed the Hilton Honors Surpass card on 7/28/25 and applied for the no fee HH on 8/29/2025.

I was not approved for the no fee card so I called Amex and as stated as a possibility by @wanderlust7, my Surpass had not cleared my account. The CSR I spoke to confirmed this but did not proceed to help clear the card, (I did ask) rather suggested I reapply in the future.

The Amex cards I hold are 1 business Bonvoy about 7 years old, 1 personal MR earning credit card from the 90ties, and two personal Bonvoy cards, one I've had 7 years and one I've had 25 years. The total is now 4 credit cards. I expect the Surpass to finally disappear sooner or later but meanwhile I app'ed and was approved for a Chase SW card. That msr is gone this week.

The letter I received stated that 'According to our records, you currently have the maximum number and type of American Express card accounts that we allow.'

So, American Express also counts the Amex branded business cards you have. Since I'm in it for the long haul, I'll app for another honors card when we get into October. I want to add to my small stock of HH points and I might as well grab them where I can. I'll push Aspire out further, now possibly end of 2026, keep it a year or so and then go back to the basic card, or tempt fate and try for something else. It's a slow game for me but I don't burn points very quickly. Just like to have them when I want to use a few.

 

[Judique]

With amex is it better to close your 5th cc and then wait to apply or try applying and then recon to close the card?

How long to wait after closing to apply?

I'd close a biz cc to get a personal cc.

I had 31 days between closing and applying and it wasn't enough. Recon didn't help. In the past I've had success calling Amex and have held more than 5 cards, but they seem to have drawn a line. My letter only stated the number of cards I held. I thought about HUCA but didn't. I just went for a chase card. I'm probably going to wait at least another month.

 

[catsinawindow]

I'm stuck on what to get for my next card. I'm currently at 5/24, will drop to 4/24 in December. In PUJ for seemingly all Amex Business Cards (or at least the ones I could reasonably meet the spend on). Would like to try and acrue some Hilton Honors points for our trip next summer, but am in PUJ for the Amex Hilton Business card and would be interested in trying for one of the personal Hilton cards, but that'll lock me out of Chase until next July based on my 5/24 status. P2 is nervous and reluctant about this game, although I can usually rely on him to agree to open an Ink every six months or so.

Any other cards (especially business cards) I could be considering for Hilton points that I'm not aware of?

 

[Judique]

I'm stuck on what to get for my next card. I'm currently at 5/24, will drop to 4/24 in December. In PUJ for seemingly all Amex Business Cards (or at least the ones I could reasonably meet the spend on). Would like to try and acrue some Hilton Honors points for our trip next summer, but am in PUJ for the Amex Hilton Business card and would be interested in trying for one of the personal Hilton cards, but that'll lock me out of Chase until next July based on my 5/24 status. P2 is nervous and reluctant about this game, although I can usually rely on him to agree to open an Ink every six months or so.

Any other cards (especially business cards) I could be considering for Hilton points that I'm not aware of?

The only cards I can think of would be MR earning Amex cards. You could transfer to Hilton Honors. But - the big but is that the Hilton points are worth so little even with a transfer bonus I wouldn't be interested.

Another possible option is to use DOC's links (when he has them) to possibly get approved for the HH Biz card. He says 'do so at your own risk' which is kinda scary. On checking the website, the Hilton Biz is not one of his offerings.
I also saw a transfer bonus for MR to Hilton but Doc says it's still not worth it as MR's are more valuable (usually for flights).