I love credit cards so much!

[miztressuz]

Good news! I’ve been approved for the CIP I received last Thursday!!

Yeah I think Chase has got the notification schedule a bit goofed up I got both of my "your card is on the way" emails like days after I actually received the card.. and activated it. I still get emails for that weeks later too (and after they've been used successfully)
It's now not surprising me that they're looking for a tester for the digital products teams

 

[disneymagicgirl]

For those who are still missing Starpoints on their SPG cards from early April: https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/8idqz4/daily_discussion_thread_may_10_2018/dyqyvs2/

I guess keep calling to complain and Amex might give you 2k Starpoints for your troubles?

Do you have to go through and click on each transaction to verify points post? There must be an easier way!

I plan to get a southwest card at the end of the year, so points hit in 2019. Should I go ahead and enroll in southwest rapids reward program now?
Also could some explain what they mean by “double dipping”?

Just starting out and finding this board to be very helpful. Thanks!

Yes, go ahead and set up a SWRR account. You can use their shopping portal and dining program to start earning points.
Double dipping is app-ing for 2 cards on the same day to bypass the 1/per rules that are in place. This may allow you to get 2 SW personal cards, which is otherwise newly unallowed. cry.

There are good reasons for a business to hold both CIP and CIC. CIP offers 3x on shipping and travel (don't mention 3x on Plastiq to Chase). CIC offers 5x on cable/internet/phone, and office supply stores (heh, don't mention gift cards either).

So in other words, the reasons we all hold these cards. lol

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Can we do another poll? What are everyone's favorite amex Biz cards? I am ready for another MSR!

 

[disneybirds]

I've been following this thread for a little over four months now and as much as I've learned, I'm still finding this all a little overwhelming. It's like sitting in on a calculus class when all I've had is basic arithmetic. But I have faith that I'll get there!

Right now I have a very basic question. I jumped right in when I first got started with this and got three new cards in three months. My husband was "on board" to an extent, but he doesn't understand how this all works (not that i really do either) and just doesn't have the time or the inclination to figure it all out. While he trusts me, this is making him a little nervous. So I'm putting my plans for going into two-player mode on hold just for the summer. It's been hard to go from meeting minimum spends to just "spending!"

So my question is, now that I went from only a couple cards to (what seems to me) like a wallet full, how do I decide which one to use for which purchases? I need to figure out what cards get the best returns in various spending categories. I understand from this board that this also changes from time to time?

Right now when I get to a register I feel like I'm looking into my wallet and going "pick a card, any card" and I just grab one. There must be a strategy more worthy of the excellent tutelage I've received on this thread!

Here was an article that I thought was interesting which showed their monthly expenses and the card used in the blue box. There were many comments that didn't agree with their amounts in the monthly expenses, but it just an idea of what you could do for the cards that you have now. I am also a big fan of labeling the actual card!

https://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2018/03/21/international-family-trip-miles/

 

[speedyfishy]

Can we do another poll? What are everyone's favorite amex Biz cards? I am ready for another MSR!

Are you looking for MR? I’m curious too since I can only seem to get approved for Chase and Amex cards. lol I was looking at the Business Gold, but there are targeted offers for 75,000 MR instead of the 50,000. I called asking for it and the guy wouldn’t give it to me. He was pushy trying to get me to apply for the 50,000. He was like isn’t 50,000 better than 0 and I was like nahhh lol. I think I’m going to call and say I lost the mailer is there anyway to pull it up lol

 

[disneybirds]

Then in late 2013 Mr. and Mrs. @SouthFayetteFan were the proud parents of a 3 1/2 year old lil' SFfan and newbown baby SFfan and they found out that their extended family was planning a summer trip to WDW (and this would be in addition to the small family unit's annual trip in Jan/Feb each year. @SouthFayetteFan had earned a small stash of SW points from business travel and could score one or two free tickets. But 2 round trip flights for the family in a 5 month span called for a bigger plan and so this necessitated a google search "How To Earn Lots of Southwest Points". A blog popped up...Million Mile Secrets...which spoke of a mythical creature...the elusive Companion Pass. Filled with awe and wonder, @SouthFayetteFan had to have one of these. It seemed too good to be true...but all the comments said it worked. There truly was no "catch"... And so he went about earning one, once again turning his back on his Discover 1%. Much to his surprise, with no issues whatsoever, a companion pass just fell into his lap for spending a meager $4,000 (plus some slight other point earning efforts). Once the Companion Pass was earned, he continued to put purchases on the SW cards to pad the point total a little more. Then there was another card or two in late 2014 including a Marriott card as that was the hotel chain of choice.

Then in early 2015 tragedy struck. @SouthFayetteFan's family business is sold and the young father finds himself soon to be out of work. At that same time a mailer showed up for the Mr. and Mrs. for an AMEX Blue Cash card offering $250 back for $500. This seemed too good to be true but sure enough there was no "catch" or fine print and the family was happy to take the free money. The "job crisis" lasted all of 2 weeks when job offers came rolling in and @SouthFayetteFan ultimately chose to move in a whole new career direction into banking. While the concerns over money were short lived, this new "game" of getting paid by CC companies to save money seemed to be a worthwhile hobby. The family got 14 cards in 2015; and then 29 in 2016. Travel suddenly cost nothing and the family was hooked on churning.

Now you have a little history of how I got into this game Also...I know what it's like to feel loyal to that 1% (or now 2%) card and think the game isn't worth it. I'm educated, analytical, financially savvy...and I didn't see the light for many years. I'm so glad (and fortunate) to have found this hobby as without it our family wouldn't have been able to form such wonderful memories on our countless trips

Great story! I think Disney may be the gateway card. Our first venture into cc points was back in 2001ish when Disney came out with double points for gas and groceries. First time I had ever put everyday expenses on a cc. Crazy to think about how many $$ went on that Disney card when I could have been earning better rewards elsewhere!

 

[Lain]

Do you have to go through and click on each transaction to verify points post? There must be an easier way!

Just be thankful that you can even see how many MR or Starpoints you earned on each transaction. Amex only added this feature in the last few months.

 

[Albort]

Does Amex give you your account immediately? Would they expedite the card?

Amex rarely expedites cards. Hit or miss on whether Amex will give you a temporary card number immediately upon approval.

i heard differently, a lot of people were able to call in to get their cards expedited(esp during the SPG Biz 35k time). If front line rep cant do it, ask for supervisor. YMMV of course.
dont bother with chat.

 

[Lain]

Can we do another poll? What are everyone's favorite amex Biz cards? I am ready for another MSR!

I don't think you have the following:

Amex Blue Business Plus: 2x MR on everything up to $50,000 in purchases/year, $0 AF. I think there's an offer out there with 20k MR for $5k MSR?

Amex Business Rewards Gold: If you can get the 75k MR signup bonus offer for $5k or $10k MSR/3 months. 3x MR on your choice of the following, and 2x MR on the rest: (1) airfare purchased directly from airlines; (2) advertising; (3) gas stations; (4) shipping; (5) computer hardware, software, and cloud computing. First year AF waived.

Amex Business Platinum: If you can get the 100k MR signup bonus offer for $10k MSR/3 months (not the current 100k MR for $25k MSR/3 months public offer).

Then there are Hilton and Delta biz cards that I'm not too familiar with.

 

[amalone1013]

I was wondering if I needed to buy this Hotels.com gift card on Amazon ($42.50 for $50, so 15% off)... Which reminded me, I hadn't checked my Memorial Day Weekend reservation for several days, so I did and it's gone down $30! Cool! So I cancel and rebook, then go to add the $30 leftover to my other Hotels.com gift card, which I thought had maybe $30 or $40 on it. Nope, it had $90. Probably don't need the Amazon deal this time around!

 

[Lain]

Are you looking for MR? I’m curious too since I can only seem to get approved for Chase and Amex cards. lol I was looking at the Business Gold, but there are targeted offers for 75,000 MR instead of the 50,000. I called asking for it and the guy wouldn’t give it to me. He was pushy trying to get me to apply for the 50,000. He was like isn’t 50,000 better than 0 and I was like nahhh lol. I think I’m going to call and say I lost the mailer is there anyway to pull it up lol

Yeah, "nahhh" because if you take 50k, you'll never get a shot at the 75k offer again. So better to take 0 and HUCA.

This is what I hate, hate, hate about Amex. Amex has a one bonus per lifetime/per product rule, so there's a strong incentive to apply only for the best offer that Amex makes available for a particular card. But Amex has these public offers and also targeted offers (not to mention offers available through incognito and similar tricks) that are so much better. It's a terrible way to start a new relationship with a cardmember by luring them to apply for a public offer, if they find out later that Amex has a better offer available to the next customer. (And they will find out; hello, the internet and social media.) And even then Amex has an official policy not to match other offers (even better offers you've been targeted for on that very card). If you're lucky, Amex might throw you a bone with some "courtesy points."

 

[Disneyonmymind]

It seems a good idea to have a long range plan a la @SouthFayetteFan. So I am attempting one and I welcome everyone's input. One side of me is anxious to get a bevy of new cards ASAP while the other side of me reads the shut down thread on reddit...

My immediate travel goals are not too lofty - free/cheap trips to Disney/and Florida, plus free hotel rooms at various other places. We do a lot of road trips and beach vacations each year. We are thinking of Florida for Thanksgiving. Also, with a large extended family, I am constantly invited to weddings, grad parties, reunions, etc. A lot of times, those planning the events do a hotel block so I don't get to pick the hotel but I do get to pay for it. Most of the hotels this summer are Marriott brand. We like to attend but the hotels really add up so that was my original intent when I started looking at travel cards. I'm not sure about the SW CP. It seems like a great deal just not sure we'd use it enough. We don't do much air travel but that might change in the future. I'm still pondering that so I'd like to leave open the possibility for beg of 2019. Spending time on this thread has me considering more, more, and more travel, lol

ME (0/24) - got SPG biz (Apr 2018), no HP, working on MSR now
DH (1/24, Jan 2017, Chase Dis) - got CIP (March 2018)- met the MSR in one month, have >90K UR on first statement!

I almost got the Capital One Venture card for the $600 travel credit just because it seemed like a no-brainer. I could so easily use it on my hotel bills. But, I started reading here so I stopped myself (but the mailer is here on my desk, LOL, tempting me). Instead, DH got the CIP and I got the SPG biz. I'm about to pull the trigger on another VISA card, probably the CIC before 5/20, and/or the CIP with DH's referral. Or, we could each apply for the CIC. I am very interested in SPG/Marriott cards and points too but that seems so up in the air right now. I saw the rumor of possible "rich" bonuses coming in the near future, so I'd like to be ready lol. Obviously, I want the CSR/CSP double dip. Help! I need a disinterested party to weigh in with a plan.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Not sure if this was mentioned previously, but Amex has an offer for Delta. Spend $300, get $60 back. It was on two of my cards, so the next two work flights that I book will be making me $120.

 

[speedyfishy]

Yeah, "nahhh" because if you take 50k, you'll never get a shot at the 75k offer again. So better to take 0 and HUCA.

This is what I hate, hate, hate about Amex. Amex has a one bonus per lifetime/per product rule, so there's a strong incentive to apply only for the best offer that Amex makes available for a particular card. But Amex has these public offers and also targeted offers (not to mention offers available through incognito and similar tricks) that are so much better. It's a terrible way to start a new relationship with a cardmember by luring them to apply for a public offer, if they find out later that Amex has a better offer available to the next customer. (And they will find out; hello, the internet and social media.) And even then Amex has an official policy not to match other offers (even better offers you've been targeted for on that very card). If you're lucky, Amex might throw you a bone with some "courtesy points."

Yeah, exactly I was going to explain that to him but thought a nahhh would be more appropriate. He was also like we can’t get you the 75k, but let’s get started with this 50k application. lol he was very pushy lol

 

[speedyfishy]

It seems a good idea to have a long range plan a la @SouthFayetteFan. So I am attempting one and I welcome everyone's input. One side of me is anxious to get a bevy of new cards ASAP while the other side of me reads the shut down thread on reddit...

My immediate travel goals are not too lofty - free/cheap trips to Disney/and Florida, plus free hotel rooms at various other places. We do a lot of road trips and beach vacations each year. We are thinking of Florida for Thanksgiving. Also, with a large extended family, I am constantly invited to weddings, grad parties, reunions, etc. A lot of times, those planning the events do a hotel block so I don't get to pick the hotel but I do get to pay for it. Most of the hotels this summer are Marriott brand. We like to attend but the hotels really add up so that was my original intent when I started looking at travel cards. I'm not sure about the SW CP. It seems like a great deal just not sure we'd use it enough. We don't do much air travel but that might change in the future. I'm still pondering that so I'd like to leave open the possibility for beg of 2019. Spending time on this thread has me considering more, more, and more travel, lol

ME (0/24) - got SPG biz (Apr 2018), no HP, working on MSR now
DH (1/24, Jan 2017, Chase Dis) - got CIP (March 2018)- met the MSR in one month, have >90K UR on first statement!

I almost got the Capital One Venture card for the $600 travel credit just because it seemed like a no-brainer. I could so easily use it on my hotel bills. But, I started reading here so I stopped myself (but the mailer is here on my desk, LOL, tempting me). Instead, DH got the CIP and I got the SPG biz. I'm about to pull the trigger on another VISA card, probably the CIC before 5/20, and/or the CIP with DH's referral. Or, we could each apply for the CIC. I am very interested in SPG/Marriott cards and points too but that seems so up in the air right now. I saw the rumor of possible "rich" bonuses coming in the near future, so I'd like to be ready lol. Obviously, I want the CSR/CSP double dip. Help! I need a disinterested party to weigh in with a plan.

I’d get you both the CIC before the 50k offer may expire. Your DH’s CIP application was close but it should be fine because my SO’s was close too.

I’d then get you the CSR/CSP double dip.

CIP then should be next for you. I’d separate this from the CSR/CSP applications.

CSR/CSP double dip should happen for your DH too. You should refer him to these and let him cool a bit with Chase since he should hopefully have gotten two Biz cards.

You seem to be meeting the MSR quickly so I’d fill in the gaps with Amex Biz cards. If a SPG Biz referral offer comes back you should refer your DH to that. Citi and Barclays have AA Biz cards too if you need. (My “business” can’t seem to get approved for these.)

ETA: does southwest fly from your airport to Disney? If so I’d still potentially go for the companion pass even if you only use it once a year and get it for 2019/2020. You will have a lot of points to travel later on.
Does united fly to Florida from your airport? You could always get that card instead.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

where does everyone fall in the category of buying swa points? I see they're 30% off right now, and I could a few thousand to top off my acct which is pretty dry (in the interest of preserving my UR)

I'm sure this was already answered BUT it's not a good deal. The points are worth less than what you pay for them...and there's no way to redeem them for more (i.e. there are no special loopholes like there can be with non-revenue based systems or hotels).

 

[Judique]

Yeah I had no idea it’s called Horseshoe. I may take a trip since that’s not that far.

leave your wallets at home.....just bring whatever cash you don't need anymore...

You can always drop by Maryland Live at Arundel Mills if you want to try your luck there! We now have lots of casinos in Md, including a little one down in Chesapeake Beach if you didn't already know about it.

I've gone but after I lose a few dollars - maybe $50 - I get disinterested fast, lol. Haven't done MGM yet so may be I'll drop by to see it when I'm feeling lucky.

 

[gottalovepluto]

CIC status is now 7-10 days. Now to wait for the letter to find out why. This is for a legit biz so I may call recon depending on what the letter says.

I sweat legit bizs have more hurdles than the fake ones!

 

[DaveL]

It's a terrible way to start a new relationship with a cardmember by luring them to apply for a public offer, if they find out later that Amex has a better offer available to the next customer. (And they will find out; hello, the internet and social media.)

Hah! I used that in my quest for the 100k CIP match and got a "Eh. Should have talked to a BRM first." Never did work out, was really wanting to get a survey on that call.

 

[calypso726]

Spoke with DH and he is up for a little more crazy in our life! So my new plan to get to Japan next year is to use the AS miles I'm getting from the hotels and flights Marriott packages to book Emirates. I've never taken a shower while flying on a plane. So, that seemed a good enough reason to do it. While I was looking at flights I saw that we'd have to connect in Dubai. I've never been there, nor had a desire to go there, to be honest. But, if I have to connect there anyhow and deal with a long layover, then I was thinking I might as well take advantage of AS's stopover rules and do a stop over in Dubai, go ride camels in the desert and go s̶k̶i̶i̶n̶g take ski lessons at the mall and find out what other sorts of shenanigans we might get ourselves into. So that is the current plan, we shall see how it goes. DH agreed to take off 2 more days so we can attempt to do this. YAY!!!