I love credit cards so much!

[Albort]

Q2 - Grocery stores and drug stores this year.

https://creditcards.chase.com/freedom/calendar

oops, might be a good thing, hopefully Q4 is something better than last year... although a lot of ppl used Q4 to MS.

 

[GPC0321]

I sat down tonight and organized my credit cards (what a life I lead). Starting Saturday (Quarter 2! Woo Hoo!) I will be using the following cards for the following reasons:

1. Chase Freedom - groceries (5%/5X)
2. Discover It - Tractor Supply, Lowe's, Sam's Club (5%/5X plus all cash back earned this year gets matched!)
3. Sam's Club Mastercard - gasoline (5%) and restaurants (3%)
4. Barclaycard CashForward - utilities, veterinary expenses, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and all other non-category spending (to hit $1,000 spend in 90 days and get $200 targeted sign-up bonus)

That leaves CSP, Freedom Unlimited, and Disney Visa in the drawer for now. Once the Barclaycard spend is met, it will get replaced by the Freedom Unlimited once again for all non-category spending. I would use the Discover for this, since it's essentially 2% back on non-category with the match, but I need to accumulate as many UR points as possible before the December Disney trip to make sure airfare and our hotel the night before we fly out are covered (pretty sure airfare is already...trying to save up for hotel now).

Here's my conundrum though. My Sam's Club Mastercard earns 3% on travel and dining instead of CSP's 2%. I'm just not finding any reason to use my CSP card, except as a place to park UR points earned on the other two Chase cards for the eventual hotel (via IHG) and flight (via Southwest) bookings. But I feel like I need to use it for SOMETHING if I'm going to justify keeping it and paying $95 a year for it.

What to do?

 

[Albort]

What to do?

CSR! CSR! CSR! CSR!

 

[GPC0321]

CSR! CSR! CSR! CSR!

It's very possible that after this December trip, I may not set food on an airplane or go on any sort of decent vacation again for a few years. There's no way I'm going to get a travel card with a $450 annual fee (and I know the $300 travel credits make it more like $150, but I won't USE the travel credits, and I wouldn't pay $150 a year for a travel care anyway).

I'm more of a cash back girl, LOL. I've already committed the cardinal sin of using my CSP's 50k sign-up bonus to get $500 cash back (*waits for the thread to recover from shock* LOL).

So of the two, the CSP makes more sense IF I'm going to keep a premier travel card with a fee open for the occasional/potential/possible chance that I might take a trip somewhere in the next few years.

But honestly, if I know I'm not going to travel for a few years, wouldn't it make sense to close the CSP, wait until I'm under 5/24 again in a few years, and then start hunting good sign-up bonuses once again?

 

[Albort]

It's very possible that after this December trip, I may not set food on an airplane or go on any sort of decent vacation again for a few years. There's no way I'm going to get a travel card with a $450 annual fee (and I know the $300 travel credits make it more like $150, but I won't USE the travel credits, and I wouldn't pay $150 a year for a travel care anyway).

I'm more of a cash back girl, LOL. I've already committed the cardinal sin of using my CSP's 50k sign-up bonus to get $500 cash back (*waits for the thread to recover from shock* LOL).

So of the two, the CSP makes more sense IF I'm going to keep a premier travel card with a fee open for the occasional/potential/possible chance that I might take a trip somewhere in the next few years.

But honestly, if I know I'm not going to travel for a few years, wouldn't it make sense to close the CSP, wait until I'm under 5/24 again in a few years, and then start hunting good sign-up bonuses once again?

If you dont really care about travelling, i think u should go for those credit card that give u straight cash. like spend $500, get $100 back. there are a ton out there. My dad has been doing that instead of the Chase UR route.
Id still probably carry the Freedom and Freedom Unlimited though. If travel is in the mix years down the road, save up all those points with Freedom/FUnlimited, when its about a 8 month before your trip, sign up for a CSR/CSP. hit the minimum for the 50k(maybe), transfer all your Freedom points to it and redeem.
Maybe another travel card to hold onto while u wait for the 2 years for CSP to reset? like the BOA Travel card... no annual fee, no FTF.

the $300 travel credit does however, qualify under a whole bunch of stuff though.

 

[calypso726]

but I need to accumulate as many UR points as possible before the December Disney trip to make sure airfare and our hotel the night before we fly out are covered (pretty sure airfare is already...trying to save up for hotel now).

Here's my conundrum though. My Sam's Club Mastercard earns 3% on travel and dining instead of CSP's 2%. I'm just not finding any reason to use my CSP card, except as a place to park UR points earned on the other two Chase cards for the eventual hotel (via IHG) and flight (via Southwest) bookings. But I feel like I need to use it for SOMETHING if I'm going to justify keeping it and paying $95 a year for it.

What to do?

I am assuming you are using your UR points for cash and not directly transferring them to hotels loyalty programs (IHG) or Airline flyer programs (Southwest). Generally speaking the ability to transfer your UR points to the hotels and airline are what make the card valuable. You can't do that with a Freedom or Freedom Unlimited. I gave an example a page or so ago. If I have 50,000 UR points and I use them to purchase my flight through the UR travel center then those points are worth $625 with the CSP and $750 with the CSR towards purchasing travel. However, those same 50,000 can be transferred directly to the airline in miles and depending on the award ticket, I may get more bang for my buck like I did on my flight to Paris. The ticket was over $7,000 on United and I would not have had enough UR points to purchase that ticket through the Chase UR portal by using my points as cash. United airline had the same as an award flight for 50,000 miles. So I transferred my 50,000 UR pints to United and they became 50,000 miles and I was able to get my flight with the miles.

CSP also offers great travel protection, even on award tickets. If you use it to pay the taxes and fees then you have delayed flight coverage, delayed and lost baggage coverage etc. The card comes with primary car rental insurance. So if you use the CSP to pay for a car rental and decline the rental insurance you are covered by the CSP. I have the CSR now and I had the CSP. I only use it for category bonus spending. Even if one of my other cards has a higher % back on travel and dining I will still choose to pay with the CSR/CSP. The UR points are worth more to me than whatever points the other card might have. I don't fly Southwest much so I am not sure how many Rapid Rewards it takes for a given flight but having looked at their chart and pricing it is likely that more often than not you would get more value on the UR points by transferring to SW and booking an award ticket over using them to pay for you flight.

 

[calypso726]

I've already committed the cardinal sin of using my CSP's 50k sign-up bonus to get $500 cash back (*waits for the thread to recover from shock* LOL).

So of the two, the CSP makes more sense IF I'm going to keep a premier travel card with a fee open for the occasional/potential/possible chance that I might take a trip somewhere in the next few years.

But honestly, if I know I'm not going to travel for a few years, wouldn't it make sense to close the CSP, wait until I'm under 5/24 again in a few years, and then start hunting good sign-up bonuses once again?

(*clutches pearls and stares aghast in horror*) Oh goodness for a second there I thought I was having a stroke

As much as it will likely cause me to suffer another case of the vapors, I am going to say yes, in your case that would make perfect sense to close, fall under 5/24 and re-open two years later.

This --> (*waits for the thread to recover from shock* LOL) made me Thanks, I needed a good laugh today

 

[wendow]

I've already committed the cardinal sin of using my CSP's 50k sign-up bonus to get $500 cash back (*waits for the thread to recover from shock* LOL).

While I am not sure we will ever recover from the shock, you need to do what makes sense for you. If you don't travel or dine out a tremendous amount, it doesn't make sense to keep the CSP or get the CSR. Close and re-open in 24 mos. I will probably do the same with the CSR but I think I am hanging on to the CSP. We dine out and travel *just enough* to make it worth it.

 

[gottalovepluto]

It's very possible that after this December trip, I may not set food on an airplane or go on any sort of decent vacation again for a few years. There's no way I'm going to get a travel card with a $450 annual fee (and I know the $300 travel credits make it more like $150, but I won't USE the travel credits, and I wouldn't pay $150 a year for a travel care anyway).

I'm more of a cash back girl, LOL. I've already committed the cardinal sin of using my CSP's 50k sign-up bonus to get $500 cash back (*waits for the thread to recover from shock* LOL).

So of the two, the CSP makes more sense IF I'm going to keep a premier travel card with a fee open for the occasional/potential/possible chance that I might take a trip somewhere in the next few years.

But honestly, if I know I'm not going to travel for a few years, wouldn't it make sense to close the CSP, wait until I'm under 5/24 again in a few years, and then start hunting good sign-up bonuses once again?

If cash back is your thing just embrace it! Set a goal of how much you need & keep track each month of how much you're earning. Keep an eye out for any other cash back sign up CC bonuses since you're not traveling you aren't looking for fancy credit cards for the next couple years anyway so 5/24 won't apply. Do you know how many UR points you'll need? Sounds like you already have somewhat of a goal set for your UR earnings.

Don't throw CSR out with the bath water. This year you'll pay $150 for 50,000 points as long as you charge $300 of your trip on the card. At minimum you'll net $350 on the deal because the bonus can be redeemed for cash back, you'll just have to remember to cancel it before the annual fee hits the next year.

ETA: as for your actual question (oops!) I'd dump the CSP before you have to pay the next annual fee. You're about the cash back and that annual fee is probably a cash drain for you.

 

[Albort]

ETA: as for your actual question (oops!) I'd dump the CSP before you have to pay the next annual fee. You're about the cash back and that annual fee is probably a cash drain for you.

well, if @GPC0321 really wants to keep the card and dont want to pay the AF, Call retention and see if they would give u a statement credit or something...
DP shows they might offer a $60 statement credit. YMMV $35 is not too bad.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Thank you calypso726! I was looking into getting a new card. It sounds like the Marriott will be my best option. Thank you so much for your help and advice.

And with the Marriott points, you can also transfer them to SPG if there is a Starwood hotel that you like and have enough points to book as well.

 

[calypso726]

And with the Marriott points, you can also transfer them to SPG if there is a Starwood hotel that you like and have enough points to book as well.

@speedyfishy - Yes, this is also a nice option as there are some lovely SPG properties like the St. Regis Rome and Westin Excelsior. Both are 20,000 SPG points per night. However, be aware that Marriott points don't transfer to SPG 1:1. It is a 3:1 transfer so you would need 60,000 Marriott points to get those 20,000 SPG points. Personally, I'd have no problem converting my Marriott points to SPG points at 3:1 for a property like the St. Regis. It's over $500 per night with taxes and fees. Whereas the Exedra can be booked for about $250 per night with advance purchase. You'd be getting a better value for you points with an aspirational stay at the St. Regis, 0.83 cents for 60k Marriott points than you would at the Exedra for 45,000 which is only 0.56 cents per point.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

@speedyfishy - Yes, this is also a nice option as there are some lovely SPG properties like the St. Regis Rome and Westin Excelsior. Both are 20,000 SPG points per night. However, be aware that Marriott points don't transfer to SPG 1:1. It is a 3:1 transfer so you would need 60,000 Marriott points to get those 20,000 SPG points. Personally, I'd have no problem converting my Marriott points to SPG points at 3:1 for a property like the St. Regis. It's over $500 per night with taxes and fees. Whereas the Exedra can be booked for about $250 per night with advance purchase. You'd be getting a better value for you points with an aspirational stay at the St. Regis, 0.83 cents for 60k Marriott points than you would at the Exedra for 45,000 which is only 0.56 cents per point.

Honestly, I really love that Marriott and SPG are now one, at least for now with the separate rewards programs. We will see what happens in 2018 when they merge. For our cruise in May, I needed 2 nights hotel in Copenhagen. There are no SPG hotels, but I was able to transfer SPG points to book at the Copenhagen Marriott hotel for 0.75 cents per Marriott point (2.25 cents per SPG point) for the first night. I got the second night at a rate of 1.18 cents per Marriott point (3.54 cents per SPG point). Definitely good value and saved me over $800 on this trip. I am happy to transfer back and forth, depending on what is most beneficial.

 

[GPC0321]

I am assuming you are using your UR points for cash and not directly transferring them to hotels loyalty programs (IHG) or Airline flyer programs (Southwest). Generally speaking the ability to transfer your UR points to the hotels and airline are what make the card valuable. You can't do that with a Freedom or Freedom Unlimited. I gave an example a page or so ago. If I have 50,000 UR points and I use them to purchase my flight through the UR travel center then those points are worth $625 with the CSP and $750 with the CSR towards purchasing travel. However, those same 50,000 can be transferred directly to the airline in miles and depending on the award ticket, I may get more bang for my buck like I did on my flight to Paris. The ticket was over $7,000 on United and I would not have had enough UR points to purchase that ticket through the Chase UR portal by using my points as cash. United airline had the same as an award flight for 50,000 miles. So I transferred my 50,000 UR pints to United and they became 50,000 miles and I was able to get my flight with the miles.

CSP also offers great travel protection, even on award tickets. If you use it to pay the taxes and fees then you have delayed flight coverage, delayed and lost baggage coverage etc. The card comes with primary car rental insurance. So if you use the CSP to pay for a car rental and decline the rental insurance you are covered by the CSP. I have the CSR now and I had the CSP. I only use it for category bonus spending. Even if one of my other cards has a higher % back on travel and dining I will still choose to pay with the CSR/CSP. The UR points are worth more to me than whatever points the other card might have. I don't fly Southwest much so I am not sure how many Rapid Rewards it takes for a given flight but having looked at their chart and pricing it is likely that more often than not you would get more value on the UR points by transferring to SW and booking an award ticket over using them to pay for you flight.

Our flights in December are mostly (if not totally) covered by the RR points that I earned on the Southwest Premier's 50k sign-up bonus. They haven't released December flights yet, so I'm basically guessing at the cost. I have 53k+ RR points, which SHOULD cover it, but I'm going to bank all of the UR I earn from now until it's time to book flights just to be sure. If I come up a little short (shouldn't be too much if at all), I'll transfer the needed UR points directly to my RR account.

I'm also trying to save up UR points to cover a one night's stay near our airport before we fly out. This isn't a big priority, it's not that expensive out of pocket, but if I have the points, I figure why not?

I've pretty much had just this December trip in mind with all of my reward and bonus chasing over the past six months. I'm not really looking past this trip, because I have no idea when I'll travel again. My goal was to pay for this quick trip for my mom's birthday, and I couldn't have done it without the seven credit cards I've signed up for and strategically used over the past six months. I've also managed to take my savings account from $25 to $3,000 during that time, AND pay extra on both a vehicle and personal loan, so I've had to really think and balance what was going to benefit me the most both in terms of affording this particular trip and my life in general (emergency fund/savings).

All that said, I'm still considering keeping the CSP. Just because I don't have any PLANS to travel in not-too-distant future, doesn't mean that I won't. I kind of look at it, in conjunction with my Freedom and FU, as a sort of vacation savings account. In 2019, my mortgage, vehicle, and personal loan will all be paid off, and it will be easy for me to beef up my emergency fund/savings and perhaps view those UR points as being travel opportunities instead of cash that I want to redeem and save. Because right now, I'm really not in any position to be turning down free money so that I can go on nice vacations.

I don't know. We'll see. I think sometimes reading other people's opinions and uses of these cards does sway me more than it should. But if these people may be in a better financial position than me, and that makes a huge difference.

 

[speedyfishy]

Wow, the Regis looks amazing. I'm leaning towards that.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Wow, the Regis looks amazing. I'm leaning towards that.

Wowza!! Indeed it does!

 

[anita46]

I have to re-plumb most of my house...the plumber of choice doesn't accept credit cards....what is the best way to handle this...I have cards with plenty of room to put this. But I also got approved for Spg and would like to spend the sign-up for the 35,000 bonus.
Any thoughts or suggestions? I don't want to burn a bridge with AMEX if they think I am churning.

 

[jujubiee4]

For anyone that has the Citi Thank you. I got email this morning about 5x on certain
categories. A couple of them are dept stores and home improvement stores.
So I went out this morning and got 500 Disney card for 2500 points. I did this because
Citi is also offering 50% bonus on transfer to jet blue miles (which is our favorite
next to virgin). I was looking to top up and transfer.

The offer is only good up to 2500 points.

 

[Kbmas0n]

Edited: did my own research and found out that NO, office supplies are no longer a multiplier on the Chase Ink Preferred.

So my options (for my husband) are:

• Ink Preferred, get 80k bonus, but forfeit the multiplier on office supplies (AKA DISNEY GIFT CARDS)
• Ink Cash, get $300 bonus, 5x mutliplier on office supplies, but no big mileage bonus. And no annual fee.
  
• Chase Sapphire Preferred, get 50k bonus and extra 5k to add an authorized user.

I want to stay in the Chase family, and i'm feeling behind the ball on point accumulation. I wish I had found this thread before, as we are planning a trip to WDW/Universal in March. I would love to have enough UR to fly and stay onsite at Universal and use UR points. Wanted to use Disney GC to fund DVA (get GC back) to use for room reservation.

I have already received my CSP, so will have 55k after meeting spend. I am really not sure what to do now. I'm lost.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I have to re-plumb most of my house...the plumber of choice doesn't accept credit cards....what is the best way to handle this...I have cards with plenty of room to put this. But I also got approved for Spg and would like to spend the sign-up for the 35,000 bonus.
Any thoughts or suggestions? I don't want to burn a bridge with AMEX if they think I am churning.

I would not risk it with Amex. Way too many reports of frozen accounts, manual reviews, and clawed back Amex points (even read one where somebody lost their current bonus because of violations Amex determined had happened on cards they had previously closed). Now, can you purchase the parts yourself? That would be a legitimate credit card expense with receipts to back it up.