I love credit cards so much!

[SouthFayetteFan]

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!

There's an easy answer to this...when you meet the MSR on one card get another one...put the old card away and use the new one. Then do it again...and again...and again, lol! That's my strategy, always be MSRing!! haha

 

[gottalovepluto]

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

If that's your tactic do it sooner rather than later. Amex stopped mailers and some of the reps know it!
Edit: Amex has stopped biz mailers

 

[gottalovepluto]

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!!!

BEST. PLAN.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Finally getting to typing this up! I will do my best to explain my strategy. I can't say what I will do in 4 years like you described, but I think I have a plan for the next 6-12 months. My goals at this point are to earn points or cash for travel mostly for Disney and family travel (so no need for hotel stays). So far we have used card bonuses and points for flights. We fly Delta almost exclusively and so far I have been focusing on Chase UR and Delta miles.

5/2018 CIC (4/24)
8/2018 Discover IT for the double cash back in the first year or Southwest Plus (to cash out) (5/24)
1/2019 (or when finished with minimum spend) CIP (4/24 after my CSR drops off)
8/2018 Southwest Plus or Discover IT or something with a good offer (5/24)

The long break in the fall is for my second player (who is 0/24) to CSP/CSR double dip or CSP if I can't convince him to do both. We don't seem to have a problem meeting spend, but the CSR/CSP double dip will be tight with organic spend.

I might add another Amex Business card in there depending on how minimum spend goes for the other cards. At the beginning of next year I will have to decide whether to wait to get under 5/24 (August) or go for other cards and leave the Chase cards for player 2. He is pretty hesitant at this point even after seeing what I have been able to do with my accounts alone. I will also be looking ahead for a big trip in 2021 where we will want to fly to Asia (arrival point TBD) and possibly a cruise while there. Thanks for your willingness to help think things through!

You probably meant 2019 on the last card. I think it's great to have a plan out that far. Your pacing is excellent - perhaps instead of a SW Plus card in Aug you could look at the NEW SW card when it comes out I think the amount of time between your CIC and CIP is great too! I'm not a big fan of the Discover move but if it fits your strategy, then it works

 

[speedyfishy]

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.

I’m not a big gambler. I’d really just be going to get my Gold card so I could book another Atlantis vacation. I think when I go to Atlantis I’m going to give myself $50 to spend at the casino. I have never gambled before, but when I was younger (before legal gambling age) I taught myself how to count cards. lol I will not be trying that at a Casino though lol.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Is it crazy to get Amex Hilton card for a stay in 10 days? This Pittsburgh trip has changed again. It still kinda helps with my Hawaii trip for 2020. Along with Marriott/spg vacation packages.

How hard is it to get a biz Amex.

Very, very easy.

Do I need to post this again...

 

[gottalovepluto]

I’m not a big gambler. I’d really just be going to get my Gold card so I could book another Atlantis vacation. I think when I go to Atlantis I’m going to give myself $50 to spend at the casino. I have never gambled before, but when I was younger (before legal gambling age) I taught myself how to count cards. lol I will not be trying that at a Casino though lol.

Well now we know who not to play poker with here!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

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

AMEX Biz cards are the bomb...until you run out of them (lol - I basically have them all now).

 

[speedyfishy]

Well now we know who not to play poker with here!

I only know how it works for blackjack we are all good lol

 

[gottalovepluto]

Chase UR Disney World Ticket Watch 2018: Today is one week from when we bought tickets from Chase Travel, no tickets yet. Called Chase Cruise and they talked to the agent who booked the tickets, she said she's been checking on them but they haven't processed yet and she will be calling Funjet Monday if she doesn't have the confirmation numbers by then *sigh*

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

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.

I am a rebel and stay outside of hotel blocks or conference hotels because I always favor SPG (and now Marriott).

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.

Since you are so low on your 5/24, I would focus yourself on Chase cards. The CIC for you both before 5/20 sounds like a good plan to me. The increased 50k bonus is a good one and won't add to your 5/24. Then your DH can refer you to the CIP in a few months and you will still be in good shape to target a CSR/CSP double dip. You can downgrade one of those cards to a CF or CFU after the first year and then apply for the other card later in the year. This gets you the Chase "Quadfecta." And you can move on to other cards from there.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

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.

Hmmm...I'm always up for helping with a plan.

Being that you're 0/24 and 1/24 I wouldn't necessarily worry about the CIC offer that's out there now. There are bigger offers available to you and you won't run out anytime soon.

If I was hatching a plan, it'd look something like this:

May - YOU - CIP (referred by husband) = 105k URs (including MSR)
Jul/Aug - HUSBAND - CSR/CSP double dip = 110k URs (including MSR) - now you have a CSR to redeem at 1.5x and a crap ton of URs!
Oct/Nov - YOU - CIC or CIU = 53k URs (including MSR)
Dec/Jan - HUSBAND - SW Biz & SW Personal = 110k+ SW RRs + companion pass
'19 Mar/Apr - maybe an AMEX biz card to keep the Chase Slow Roll going
'19 Jun/Jul - YOU CSR/CSP double dip (referred by husband) = 110k URs (including MSR) - do this and then downgrade husband's cards to Freedom cards before paying any AFs
'19 Aug/Sept - HUSBAND - CIC or CIU = 53k URs
'19 Nov/Dec - YOU SW Biz and SW Personal (personal referred by husband)

I'm not saying this is a perfect plan but you could get ALL of those cards and when done you would both be only at 3/24 but 400k+ URs and 200k+ SW points richer.

Obviously you have to personalize this plan some but it really is helpful to know your exact next step then weigh any short term opportunities in between. CIC now wouldn't be a BAD move - I'm just not sure it's a necessary move given your starting point.

 

[Judique]

If that's your tactic do it sooner rather than later. Amex stopped mailers and some of the reps know it!

They did? I just got an Amex mailer for the Premier Rewards Gold. Or do you mean stopped for just that card?

 

[speedyfishy]

They did? I just got an Amex mailer for the Premier Rewards Gold. Or do you mean stopped for just that card?

The personal? What’s the offer lol

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

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!!!

My parents went to Dubai and had a great time. This sounds like a good plan.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

So I just booked a work trip to DC for next month. Unfortunately, my desired hotel is the W, but the government rate is too high. I booked myself at the JW Marriott instead, so I will plan to submit a hotel review for that next month.

 

[shairpdrh]

You probably meant 2019 on the last card. I think it's great to have a plan out that far. Your pacing is excellent - perhaps instead of a SW Plus card in Aug you could look at the NEW SW card when it comes out I think the amount of time between your CIC and CIP is great too! I'm not a big fan of the Discover move but if it fits your strategy, then it works

Thanks for the catch on that year. I am just wrapping up 2017 at work, so I keep getting 2019 dates wrong. Thanks for the input! What would you (or others) recommend in place of the Discover. I will admit that I am struggling a bit given that I don't want hotel points or a SW CP. I'd love ideas!

 

[Judique]

The personal? What’s the offer lol

It is 50K. With 3x for flights, and 2x for gas, restaurants and supermarkets. $0 intro fee and 195 after first year. $2000 spend.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Thanks for the catch on that year. I am just wrapping up 2017 at work, so I keep getting 2019 dates wrong. Thanks for the input! What would you (or others) recommend in place of the Discover. I will admit that I am struggling a bit given that I don't want hotel points or a SW CP. I'd love ideas!

You could consider the Chase Freedom Unlimited. With your CSR, it gets your 2.25% on any purchase, which beats the 2% from the Discover IT. Might not be as good if you were looking to maximize on the categories though.

 

[gottalovepluto]

They did? I just got an Amex mailer for the Premier Rewards Gold. Or do you mean stopped for just that card?

Ack! Apparently they just stopped doing it for business cards. https://www.doctorofcredit.com/american-express-has-ended-physical-business-mailers/