Wow! Thanks for the warm welcome. I feel overwhelmed just thinking about all of this, TBH. I guess I'll have to ask a bunch and take baby steps and see how it goes. If my questions get annoying, just let me know.
Thanks so much. No new cards. DH locked up our credit after the big breach.
If you start applying for new credit cards, you'll have to lift these freezes if you want to be automatically approved, or someone from the issuer will probably call you to allow a pull of your credit report.
We are going to Europe this summer.
Cool, where?
I doubt he'd want me messing too much with our credit, but we're open to thinking about other cards. I know he's read the points guy and others online discuss which cards people think are the best.
There's a misconception that applying for credit cards will ruin your credit. As long as you pay off your credit cards every month and don't get over your budget chasing minimum spending requirements ("MSRs"), credit card churning could be a very lucrative hobby and even increase your credit score! Personally speaking, I've been at this for about a year and a half and my credit score has increased from an average range of about 805-815 to 830-845. The one exception is if you're seeking mortgage or a refinance, then you'll probably want to lay off new credit cards for anywhere from half a year to a year before.
So your husband reads The Points Guy ("TPG")! Think of him as kind of the poster boy of the brand of credit card churning that banks want. TPG shows you all the awesome things you can do and places you can go with credit card rewards -- and to be fair, he has some great guides and analyses, but he won't tell you all the tricks or loopholes, and he wants you to apply through his affiliate links that make his parent company money but don't always offer you the best signup deal.
What we do here is basically in the same lane, but we try always to be straight and honest about the best offers, tips and strategies to help each other towards their dream vacations.
Not willing to part with the AMEX at this point. We are getting a lot of use out the Centurion lounges, Uber deal, and no foreign transaction fee. I'm pretty sure that we will have that fee with our other cards. Our big expense for the trip is hotels, and I know they take AMEX.
Sounds like you have the Amex Platinum. No one's telling you to part with it. It's a good card with solid perks! But it totally sucks for every day spend. For most things, you're earning only 1 Membership Rewards ("MR") point per $1; and its 5x MR categories are so highly specific and restrictive! I love my Amex Platinum, but I have so many other cards in my wallet that offer me better rewards on my every day and category spending!
It does sound like your household puts quite a lot of spend on the Platinum -- how long have you had it and when does the card's annual fee ("AF") hit again? The next time the AF comes up on that card, I'm thinking you or your husband needs to call Amex and ask for a retention offer. Something along the lines of, "I see my AF just posted. I've enjoyed the card but I'm evaluating whether I should keep it or cancel it because there are so many other cards out there that offer better rewards on the money I've been putting on my Platinum. What kind of incentive can you offer me to keep this card another year?" Retention offers are specific to the card account and can depend on things like how many years you've had the card, how much you put on the card in the past year, whether you've used up the benefits, even the time of year and what their renewal numbers are looking like. I was offered 30,000 MR points in March to keep my Platinum open another year. Another member in this thread was offered 50,000 MRs last week to keep his Platinum for another year.
We have 3 of them on the same account so we are getting a decent amount of points on it, no business, and only one income (so I guess only one person who can really apply for them).
What do you mean you have "3 of them on the same account?" 3 different Amex cards on the one Membership Rewards account?
You'd be surprised what counts as a "business." Do you or your husband sell on eBay, Etsy, Craigslist, etc.? Consult, contract, babysit, pet sit, dog walk, teach or tutor, play in a band, bake and sell cookies, drive Lyft or Uber, anything that generates some side revenue? The reason we ask is because that qualifies you to apply for business credit cards that have some of the most lucrative signup bonuses. Another benefit of business cards is they tend not to report to your personal credit reports, so the cards and any balances on them don't show up on your credit report.
Another misconception is that you can't apply for credit cards if you personally have no income. That's just wrong. When applying for credit cards, you can use total household income. There are several full-time moms and dads in this thread who have been approved for multiple credit cards listing their job as "homemaker" or "parent" using household income. Don't be discouraged. It's best to have two spouses involved in this hobby (2-Player mode) because you two can double up on the bonuses, for example, Player 1 signs up for a credit card for the bonus, then refers Player 2 for the same credit card for another bonus, and gets a bonus for the referral; and stagger getting new credit cards between you two so neither of you present as too much of a risk to the credit card issuers.
Thanks so much! I'll try to keep up since I'll start to pick up the lingo and abbreviations that way. And yes, we often question our other cards. The AA one I only have because I have over 100k miles with AA and I'm not ready to let them just expire.
So I don't have an AA card, nor do I fly with AA. But all airlines cards that I'm aware of post all miles earned at the end of each monthly billing statement to your account with the airline (so your 100k miles are with AA), miles are not stored on the card or with the credit card issuer (not with Citi or Barclays). Do you receive any tangible benefits from your AA card? Are you paying a fee? Do those benefits outweigh the fee you pay? How old is the card? Because if you're not getting the fee's value in benefits for holding the AA card, you may want to think about canceling it (or downgrading it to a no-fee card if that's an option) -- unless it's a really old credit card that's adding to your Average Age of Accounts ("AAoA") factor in your credit score.
I know there's been some talk of 
