I love credit cards so much!

[Judique]

I’m just starting out too. It’s fun trying new avenues. I was trying to use a VCG at Giant to get cashback, but that doesn’t work even though it has a pin. I also tried to buy a 711 card that had free cash withdrawals at 711 ATMs but those couldn’t be purchased with a credit card. It’s a lot of trial and error. I’m sure this information is all online already, but I like trying to think of things to try.

Can you buy 7-11 money orders with a credit card?

 

[speedyfishy]

Can you buy 7-11 money orders with a credit card?

I tried one and it was cash only.

 

[calypso726]

Please help me decide which credit card to get to earn the best points. I read through many post and I'm confused. I don't know what CSR, CIP, MSR...... means. I just started thinking about using credit cards for points. What about Southwest? How about Discover? I want to use points for traveling. Thanks.

My travel party are three children 16, 15, and 8 and myself
We want to travel to London, Jamaica but mostly Florida
No spouse signing up for cards
I have not applied for any cards within the last 24 months.
How does getting a card and canceling it affect your credit? My credit is very good to excellent.
Several airlines fly out of our airport.
Thanks

You will want to start with the Chase cards since Chase has heir 5/24 rule. They have a number of cards that you cannot get if you have had more than 5 new credit card accounts from any issuer in the past 24 months.

If you are able to make use of SW flights then there is simply no better travel deal out there than earning a SW companion pass. This is coming from someone who has been playing this game for several years but doesn't fly SW ever. We are in it for first class international flights with lie flats seats. Fortunately, we have a number of experienced people who know all about the how and when to earn your SW companion pass to make the most of it.

Discover is a cash back card. In my experience I get far less value on a cash back card than I do with one that earns points and miles. 100,000 points on a cash back card will get me a $1,000 statement credit. It can't buy me the $7,000 flight to Paris in first class. I have been able to get that $7,000 flight with 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points transferred to United and booked a saver award flight. Don't get me wrong, I firmly believe in diversifying the miles and points portfolio but not at the expense of a 5/24 slot or any other slot that will get me a return that is greater than .01 cents per point. I only play around with cash back cards when I have plenty of variable points and miles to cover upcoming plans and find a specific need for one and the timing works out. I picked up the Bank of America travel premier card last September to get myself a $500 discount at Victoria & Albert's. I just picked up a Wells Fargo Propel card to fund some bank bonuses so I can do some extra shopping at Tokyo Disney Sea this June. Before that, the last time I picked up any cash back cards was in 2015 to get $3,000 in Disney cruise excursions for free.

Cash back cards are few and far in between for us. We also don't stay under 5/24 and therefore don't churn any of the Chase cards. There are many on this board who do work to get under 5/24 to churn Chase cards. We blow through too many points and miles each year to make that feasible so our Chase cards are keeper cards. That said, we do apply for and cancel 5 - 8 cards every year. When I started this hobby in 2012 my score ranged from 690 - low 700's. It is now consistently over 800. Your score takes a small hit with a new application but the new credit line lowers your overall utilization ratio which increases your score. Cancelling newer cards won't affect your score much, cancelling an old card will.

Start with a plan of where you want to go. Plan two years out at least. Do a mock booking of where you want to go so you can see how many airline and hotel miles it will take and on which airline. Then take at least a year to get those miles and points in place so that they are where they need to be about a year before you travel. Hope that helps @karmomof3

 

[calypso726]

Did you create this??? - it's awesome!

It is awesome but I didn't create it. I took the info off Dan's Deals blog and made it into a PDF.

 

[calypso726]

Next weekend is really shaping up to be a complete travel hacked weekend for us. Some of you may remember we are going to DC next weekend to see the cherry blossoms. We are using our free anniversary nights from IHG to stay at the Willard Intercontinental. The rooms are $253 per night that weekend. I'd say that's a good return on a $49 per year card. We have direct flights in first class and paid with Amex MR points earned from the Amex business Platinum card which also gave us the added benefit of getting 50% of the points back when we booked. Some friends of ours from Virginia wanted to meet up with us for an Easter brunch before we fly back home on Sunday. They tried to get reservations for a party of 6, 10 am at Old Ebbitt Grill but there was nothing available until after 3 pm and we need to be at the airport by 1:30. So, they were going to look at other restaurants to see if they could find brunch availability. I asked our friends to give me a few minutes and I'd call up Amex Concierge to see if they could pull any strings. I've only used Amex concierge twice and both times were for getting Hamilton tickets at face value. The Amex Concierge rep said he'd see what they could do and would call me back in 10 minutes. Sure enough, we have 10 am reservations for a party of 6. Thank you Amex concierge service! I swear, before this hobby it would have never occurred to me to use a credit card benefit to get dining reservations.

 

[Albort]

Can you buy 7-11 money orders with a credit card?

I tried one and it was cash only.

its very YMMV. like what @speedyfishy does, you gotta test it and if things arent going well, play dumb. If it works out, then yay!
I used to buy a few gift cards at 7-11 until i started getting denied. I know some of them were stopped by the cashier because he told me i can only buy gift cards with cash between 3-5pm. XD

 

[jhoannam]

I need to get myself an AU card for DH's new SPG personal. Can DH request a second card in his name? I'm at 4/24 - saving that last spot for CSP/CSR double dip.

 

[DaveL]

They tried to get reservations for a party of 6, 10 am at Old Ebbitt Grill but there was nothing available until after 3 pm

Check out Founding Farmers. That was another one we really liked. Its not too far from the Foggy Bottom metro stop.

Edit: Read the rest of your post... HAHA Never mind.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I need to get myself an AU card for DH's new SPG personal. Can DH request a second card in his name? I'm at 4/24 - saving that last spot for CSP/CSR double dip.

Yea - I'd probably just say that you want a second card for your desk at work OR that the chip isn't working properly sometimes.

 

[peel]

Attaching expiration and transfer PDF. All you have to do is earn or use some points. Go online and purchase some points or use your points for something and that will extend them another year.

This is incredible! Thank you for sharing.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Attaching expiration and transfer PDF. All you have to do is earn or use some points. Go online and purchase some points or use your points for something and that will extend them another year.

This is awesome. Thanks for sharing

 

[wendow]

P.S. I like the idea someone suggested upthread. When scheduling your first payment to a new Recipient, schedule it for the earliest available delivery date on the calendar. This will force your payment to process today/same day so it may give Plastiq less time to pick it for manual review. (It being a weekend too, there might even be less eyes on payments processing.)

This was me. I did this with a test payment using Amex and it went through. That is what gave me the hope I can make the 7k spend

 

[wendow]

I need to get myself an AU card for DH's new SPG personal. Can DH request a second card in his name? I'm at 4/24 - saving that last spot for CSP/CSR double dip.

Were you able to pull up the 30K offer?!? I hope you were able to get it!

 

[jhoannam]

Were you able to pull up the 30K offer?!? I hope you were able to get it!

I did... I used the link on this website:https://www.uscreditcardguide.com/amex-starwood-preferred-guest-credit-card/, I right clicked and selected open in Incognito Tab. I had tried it on Thursday on my computer but didn't work, we left for our camping trip and I tried it again today and there it was. Now we have to spend $8K in 3 months. But I messaged Chase and they said I had until July 5th to meet the minimum spend.

 

[karmomof3]

Ok - so first off, let me warn you that a lot of the advice we will give here will be very detailed. It will entail applying for numerous cards, sometimes use acronyms you may not be familiar with, and the volume of information may be overwhelming. Just tell us to slow down and ask lots of questions if that happens We all just want to help you provide free or deeply discounted travel for your family. Some of our advice may conflict at times, we all have different perspectives, it's up to you ultimately to make an educated decision on what works best for you.

Impact on credit
A few have already answered this - but I'll reiterate that this should have very little effect on your credit score. I've been doing this over 3 years, applied for over 40 cards and have seen no negative score change (basically my score bounces between 790 and 835 - and it used to bounce around too before I did this in the same range).

Since you have no Spouse signing up for cards - what does that mean?
You'll want to ignore comments where we discuss 2 player mode. You aren't in 2 player mode, and that's ok! Many people here aren't, it may affect your strategy somewhat vs. someone who has 2 players but rest assured a single player can still get a lot of points in the game

Do you have a business...or maybe a "business"
If you sell items on eBay, teach lessons on the side, or basically have any side-job source of income you can likely qualify for a business credit card. You can really put anything you want on a business credit card. Some of the most lucrative offers are on business cards which is why we recommend exploring it. If you aren't comfortable with this then make sure you tell us that, otherwise we'll just keep recommending business cards.

So What Now?
Well - we need to help you develop a strategy. Due to a rule known as "5/24" we often recommend you start by focusing on cards issued by CHASE. Basically it's a limitation specific to Chase cards. I'll spare you all the details of the rule (you can look it up) but just know that for 99% of people starting with Chase is the right answer. You are starting at 0/24 which is the best spot of all!

With a family of 4 it seems that focusing on free flights and free hotels would be a good plan. I'm going to ask a bunch of questions here - the more detail you give us the more customized the advice you'll receive. It's very easy for me to tell you that you should get a Chase Ink Preferred (CIP) first but perhaps depending on how you answer these questions we may have a different recommendation.

• What amount of spend would you put on a card monthly (i.e. groceries, gas, insurance, cable, cell phone, other expenses)?
• Do you currently payoff your CCs in full every month or do you carry any balances/pay any interest?
• What airport do you fly out of?
• Do you have an airline preference?
• Does SOUTHWEST service your airport?
• Do you have a hotel chain preference?
  
• Do you currently have any travel points in any program? (if so, which programs and how much)
• When you say Florida - are you going to Disney, other locations or both?ll
• IF Disney, do you stay on property, off property, or open to both?
• When do you plan to take your next trips? Ideally if you can tell us your next 2-3 vacation destinations with approx travel dates (month and year) that is helpful...
• Would all 3 children accompany you on all of these trips?

I'm thinking of putting all my daily expenses on this credit card. Maybe around $1300 a month. That is a conservative estimate. I usually pay my insurance in full every 6 months.
I will pay off the balance every month.
Southwest service our Airport.
I usually fly out of Grand Rapids, MI. However we use Midway and Ohare quite a bit. On occasion we'll use Detroit.
I like flying Southwest but I go for the least expensive flights. I will not use Spirit.
No hotel chain preference
I do have some points with Southwest and Delta
We mostly go to Disney and Destin. Sometimes we fly into New Orleans three hours away.
We have always stayed on property when going to Disney.
I plan on taking a four day Disney trip the first week of November 2018 or third week of January 2019. We are definitely going to London July or August of 2019.
My three children will accompany me on these trips.
Edited to add: I have a $700 in medical bills that I can charge. I have the cash for this. I'm also repairing driveway for $950. I can charge this. I have the cash for that also.

 

[wendow]

I did... I used the link on this website:https://www.uscreditcardguide.com/amex-starwood-preferred-guest-credit-card/, I right clicked and selected open in Incognito Tab. I had tried it on Thursday on my computer but didn't work, we left for our camping trip and I tried it again today and there it was. Now we have to spend $8K in 3 months. But I messaged Chase and they said I had until July 5th to meet the minimum spend.

That is a great link to keep handy! I was able to pull up the 30k offer in Chrome which I could not do a couple of days ago.

 

[speedyfishy]

I'm thinking of putting all my daily expenses on this credit card. Maybe around $1300 a month. That is a conservative estimate. I usually pay my insurance in full every 6 months.
I will pay off the balance every month.
Southwest service our Airport.
I usually fly out of Grand Rapids, MI. However we use Midway and Ohare quite a bit. On occasion we'll use Detroit.
I like flying Southwest but I go for the least expensive flights. I will not use Spirit.
No hotel chain preference
I do have some points with Southwest and Delta
We mostly go to Disney and Destin. Sometimes we fly into New Orleans three hours away.
We have always stayed on property when going to Disney.
I plan on taking a four day Disney trip the first week of November 2018 or third week of January 2019. We are definitely going to London July or August of 2019.
My three children will accompany me on these trips.
Edited to add: I have a $700 in medical bills that I can charge. I have the cash for this. I'm also repairing driveway for $950. I can charge this. I have the cash for that also.

You have a lot of options. Here are some suggestions. Just confirm you can make the spend before getting the cards. I also don’t know if you will be able to get the points for your upcoming trips as they are close, but you may.

For your Disney trip. Chase URs will work best. You can look into the Chase Sapphire Reserve, the Chase Saphire Preferred or the Chase Ink Preferred if you have a business. URS can be used to book Disney vacation packages if you call Chases cruise and tours department or you can book rooms through the Chase travel portal.

For your Disney, Florida, New Orleans trips southwest points may work best if southwest flys to those locations for you. If you can get two cards and 110k points in one calendar year it’s a great value.

For London I don’t have much advice as I have never been. Marriott has some properties there so for this you can look into those hotels or there is also Hyatt’s. Marriotts credit card is giving 80k points for 3k spend in three months. Hyatt would be a bad card to get while you are under 5/24. You can transfer your UR to both of these hotels, but that maybe a bad value you can also book hotels in London on the Chase travel portal for hotels too and use URs.

Flights to London I have no idea. Look at your airport and see who goes to London and then determine what points you would need.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I'm thinking of putting all my daily expenses on this credit card. Maybe around $1300 a month. That is a conservative estimate. I usually pay my insurance in full every 6 months.
I will pay off the balance every month.
Southwest service our Airport.
I usually fly out of Grand Rapids, MI. However we use Midway and Ohare quite a bit. On occasion we'll use Detroit.
I like flying Southwest but I go for the least expensive flights. I will not use Spirit.
No hotel chain preference
I do have some points with Southwest and Delta
We mostly go to Disney and Destin. Sometimes we fly into New Orleans three hours away.
We have always stayed on property when going to Disney.
I plan on taking a four day Disney trip the first week of November 2018 or third week of January 2019. We are definitely going to London July or August of 2019.
My three children will accompany me on these trips.
Edited to add: I have a $700 in medical bills that I can charge. I have the cash for this. I'm also repairing driveway for $950. I can charge this. I have the cash for that also.

You're starting in a great spot! With $1,300 monthly plus some additional one-off bills you'll have no problem meeting a minimum spend and won't need to stretch yourself. Based on the Chase 5/24 rule we're going to recommend you start with Chase cards - and I'm sure others will add some feedback here too.

One thing I'll mention now is that we have a Reddit Group for DISchurners (people on this thread who are playing the points game). If you want to join just PM me your reddit name (or register for reddit if you don't already have an account). One thing that's nice there is when you apply for cards you can use a link of a fellow DISer to show some support We'd love to have you join and I can provide you all the details in a PM if you're interested.

You probably should focus on earning Ultimate Rewards and Southwest Points - here's a list of cards I think warrant consideration:

• Chase Ink Preferred (business card) - earns 80,000 URs for $5,000 spend in 3 months
• Chase Sapphire Reserve - earns 50,000 URs for $4,000 spend in 3 months
• Chase Sapphire Preferred - earns 60,000 URs for $4,000 spend in 3 months (FYI there is a rule that you can only get a Reserve OR Preferred but not both - UNLESS you take advantage of a loophole and get them at the same time...this is an important consideration)
• Chase Ink Cash (business card) earns 50,000 URs for $3,000 spend in 3 months
• Chase Southwest Premier Business (business card) - earns 60,000 SW Rapid Rewards points for $2,000 spend in 3 months
• Chase Southwest Premier Personal - earns 50,000 SW Rapid Rewards points for $2,000 spend in 3 months
• Chase Southwest Plus Personal - earns 50,000 SW Rapid Rewards points for $2,000 spend in 3 months
• Chase Freedom and/or Chase Freedom Unlimited - both earn 15,000 URs for $500 spend in 3 months (these are likely lesser recommended cards but make sense for some folks)

You could actually get every card I just listed while under the Chase 5/24 rule...you'd want to space them out over 2 years though - you can't get cards too fast or you risk banks either 1) denying you or 2) shutting you down and closing your accounts. If you got all these cards, you'd have over $4,000 worth of URs towards travel and $2,500 worth of southwest flights (NOTE: I'm not directly suggesting you get every one of these cards in this exact order - just showing your primary options).

You can use Ultimate Rewards to pay for Disney hotels and vacation packages as well as use them on flights and hotels elsewhere.

I think somebody already mentioned the Southwest companion pass - but keep in mind that if you earn 110,000 SW points in one calendar year you earn a companion pass where somebody can fly with you for free anytime you fly for the rest of that year and all of the next year.

So this gives you some initial ideas - I'm sure others will share thoughts too. Let us know what you're thinking or what questions you may have.

 

[calypso726]

Check out Founding Farmers. That was another one we really liked. Its not too far from the Foggy Bottom metro stop.

Since Amex Concierge got us the reservation for Sunday we will check out Founding Farmers on Saturday. Thank you for the suggestion!

 

[Albort]

For London I don’t have much advice as I have never been. Marriott has some properties there so for this you can look into those hotels or there is also Hyatt’s. Marriotts credit card is giving 80k points for 3k spend in three months. Hyatt would be a bad card to get while you are under 5/24. You can transfer your UR to both of these hotels, but that maybe a bad value you can also book hotels in London on the Chase travel portal for hotels too and use URs.

Flights to London I have no idea. Look at your airport and see who goes to London and then determine what points you would need.

@karmomof3
London hotels search ~ awardmapper.com
Flights search ~ awardhacker.com