I love credit cards so much!

[trenty]

Hi! I've been quietly following this thread for a while, just starting to churn, and have a question about when I'm able to sign up for the Chase cards again to receive the bonuses. For reference - mostly interested in churning the CSP, Freedom, CFU, and Southwest cards right now. Average spending is about $2,500-$3,000/3 months so MSR for CIP is too much for me - CSP is a stretch but I'll do it; not interested in MS right now. I don't think with my spending/travel that the CSR is better than the CSP for me (very little dining out and basically no travel). The only way I see CSR possibly being better would be if the $300 travel credit applies to travel purchases made with points through the Chase portal (is that possible?).

My main question - I've tried doing some research and I'm still not sure when exactly I can sign up for the same card to receive the signup bonus. For example, approved for CSP 7/11/18, receive bonus 10/15/18 (assume statement close), card cancelled 7/10/19 to avoid AF. When can I reapply for the CSP to get the signup bonus again? Would it be 8/1/20 or 11/1/20 or something else? If I can't get the bonus until 11/1/20, can I open the card on say 9/1/20 and get the bonus on 11/15/20 (so just make sure the MSR hits after 11/1/20)? Is it ok to open the CSP again only about a year after cancelling it?

I'm hoping to use these cards to help offset the costs of going to Disney World every other year - it wouldn't be possible for me to go that frequently without it! And since I've been following for a while - thank you for all the useful info!

If you open CSP, consider keeping it open even with the AF. It the only card I have with an AF that I will not cancel because of the travel award benefits. After CSP consider CF as it gives 5% on rotating categories and has no AF. Transfer your CF UR points to CSP and get more from them. Then after some time passes consider one of the Chase SW cards. That one has an AF, but worth it for the sign up bonus. That one can be cancelled after a year and the sign up bonus (second year) will be refunded. That is how I started in this hobby.

And - consider joining our reddit group for more tips and support links.

Edit -just want to add that I do not MS and have accumulated quite a bit of UR and SW points. I am cautious and churn slowly - although the next few months will pick up for me a bit as DH has agreed to be my Player 2.

 

[1st*toright]

Side hustle stuff- I had registered with a local focus group outfit MONTHS ago, but never got invited for anything. They finally got in touch and asked me to be in a focus group that pays $150 for 1 hour, and of that group 8 people will be chosen for a second hour and paid another $100. Not bad! Topic - something to do with banks! If they ask, I will definitely tell them that sign up bonuses totally work, and they should do more of them!

 

[trenty]

If you open CSP, consider keeping it open even with the AF. It the only card I have with an AF that I will not cancel because of the travel award benefits. After CSP consider CF as it gives 5% on rotating categories and has no AF. Transfer your CF UR points to CSP and get more from them. Then after some time passes consider one of the Chase SW cards. That one has an AF, but worth it for the sign up bonus. That one can be cancelled after a year and the sign up bonus (second year) will be refunded. That is how I started in this hobby.

And - consider joining our reddit group for more tips and support links.

Edit -just want to add that I do not MS and have accumulated quite a bit of UR and SW points. I am cautious and churn slowly - although the next few months will pick up for me a bit as DH has agreed to be my Player 2 so we can travel to Europe next summer.

Edit again - and don't forget Chase's 5/24 rule. If you need help figuring that out - just ask here and we can help.

 

[striker1064]

Someone actually just recommended that same offer to me on Reddit! I’m going to do that instead. It seems like there’s a lot of different options for accruing AA miles and that’s one of my options for flying to Japan in 2020, so I’m going to start hitting up all of those options.

That's, uh, an understatement.

Two Barclays AAviator cards that require only a single purchase to trigger the bonus, Citi Biz, Citi personal, plus mailers.

looks like if I pull up Citi I get 60K for 3K spend in 3 months with waived annual fee (99). If I do a dummy booking I get 50K miles, 200 stmt credit for AA purchases and no waiver of annual fee for 2500 MSR in 3 months. For my situation, I think the 60K deal is better. Have to analyze for your own situation.

Normally I'd agree with you, but Citi is known to match offers on other credit cards with a simple SM from your online account. If you apply for 60k/$3k, you'll get 60k for $3k spend and can potentially (likely) be matched to 70k/75k. If you apply for 50k/$200 SC/$2.5k spend, you'll get 50k + $200 AA GCs (or $200 of whatever other AA incidental you deem worthy) for $500 less spend, and can still potentially (likely) be matched to 70k.

It's up to you, but because of how generous Citi is with matching AA offers, the $200 SC offer for less spend is the clear winner.

 

[StephPlum]

Normally I'd agree with you, but Citi is known to match offers on other credit cards with a simple SM from your online account. If you apply for 60k/$3k, you'll get 60k for $3k spend and can potentially (likely) be matched to 70k/75k. If you apply for 50k/$200 SC/$2.5k spend, you'll get 50k + $200 AA GCs (or $200 of whatever other AA incidental you deem worthy) for $500 less spend, and can still potentially (likely) be matched to 70k.

How do you go about getting matched? Do I need to find the higher sign-up and then screen shot and ask? or just go ahead and ask for more?

 

[DisneyMandC]

That's, uh, an understatement.

Two Barclays AAviator cards that require only a single purchase to trigger the bonus, Citi Biz, Citi personal, plus mailers.

Yup, the Barclays AAviator card should be in the mail for me within the next week or so, and I'm going to apply for DH before the promo ends. Probably won't get this Citi Biz for DH right now since 8k is a stretch for us in MSRs at the same time. It'll only work for CSR/CSP when we do that soon because I'm timing it over our WDW/USO trip and Christmas.

 

[Natgridenergy]

DW Sapphire double dip complete and both are approved!

 

[Natgridenergy]

DW Sapphire double dip complete and both are approved!

And the $8k total MSR is as good as done because we just had solar installed on the house and the final bill should be coming any day now. Easiest one yet!

 

[hsmamato2]

I’m guessing gas stations put a temporary charge on credit cards, which could be something crazy high like $99 and not work on a VGC with a limited balance. If you want to use your VGC at Costco or Costco Gas, you can go in warehouse to use your VGC to buy a Costco Cash gift card, which can be used for merchandise or gas.

perfect!

 

[Albort]

Now to spend $5000 to get my 100k points. Anyone know if I can buy gift cards at Bjs if that would work towards that 5000? Or is this the card that says no gift cards? My disney trip final payment is coming up.

its not suggestive to do that. if you can organically spend, its best to do that. If you do need help in making your MSR, you just need to try to mix it with other spendings and make sure that store doesnt send L3 data to amex.
A friend of mine spent $1k of 7k on gift cards... she got her bonus.

the reason its not suggestive is that Amex can claw your points back stating it is a credit to cash transaction... although it shouldnt count since its technique not. its not worth the risk.

 

[peel]

My main question - I've tried doing some research and I'm still not sure when exactly I can sign up for the same card to receive the signup bonus. For example, approved for CSP 7/11/18, receive bonus 10/15/18 (assume statement close), card cancelled 7/10/19 to avoid AF. When can I reapply for the CSP to get the signup bonus again? Would it be 8/1/20 or 11/1/20 or something else? If I can't get the bonus until 11/1/20, can I open the card on say 9/1/20 and get the bonus on 11/15/20 (so just make sure the MSR hits after 11/1/20)? Is it ok to open the CSP again only about a year after cancelling it?

You would reapply 24 months from when you received your bonus. So in your example, it would be 10/15/20--but like you did, I'd wait until November, and because I'm cautious I'd probably wait until 11/15 to reapply.

ETA: Also, I wouldn't cancel on day 364, I'd wait until the AF is posted and then call to cancel. If you cancel within 30 days of the AF posting you'll get a total refund.

 

[Lain]

Ok. So very frustrated right now. Trying to get a few CC's as we have some big purchases coming up. So, a week or so ago I mentioned I was denied for the CIP and I called in and the guy said stuff about too many recent accounts and other nonsense. So, in the meantime I applied for AMEX Gold Business. Was approved for that and waiting on the card. Still need another card so thought I would apply DH for the Barclaycard offer that was just released. Did not get instant approval and kept checking online and was denied for that also. (said reason would be in the letter they send). So, getting very frustrated as we have never been denied for cards. Following is the cards in the past 24 months for both of us. If anyone has any suggestions that would be great...

Me:
Chase CSR (PC to Freedom and just a week ago PC'd back to CSR) - 11/16
Chase Marriott - 5/17
Chase SW Business - 6/17 (just closed card to free up $ available)
Chase SW Plus - 6/17
AMEX SPG - 12/17
Chase Marriott Business - 2/18
AMEX SPG Business - 4/18
AMEX Gold Business - 7/18

So, Should be 4/24, 1/12 and 1/6 - which to me seems pretty good.

DH:
Chase Freedom (Was CSR) - 8/16
Barclay Arrival + - 4/17 (card is closed but I know still counts)
AMEX SPG Business - 7/17
Chase SW Business - 1/18
Chase SW Plus - 1/18
Chase Ink Preferred Business - 5/18

So, He should be 3/24, 1/12 and 1/6.

Neither one of us are AU's on each others cards.

I got the denial letter from Chase yesterday and it says: Our decision was based on these specific reasons:

New Chase Business Card Recently Opened (Didn't think Business cards counted and the last one was in February)
Too many credit or loan accounts opened recently (we just closed on Refi on our house - would that affect anything)
Too many active accounts or too much available credit ( I had recently lowered limits on some cards and cancelled one of them - maybe not soon enough)
Not enough time has passed since your last account with us was opened. (again last account was Marriott Business in February)

It also said they used my credit score which they showed as 853 from Equifax.

I don't see any real reason for the denial compared to how many cards others get. Something I am not seeing. Now that I have the letter was thinking of calling recon again... Any suggestions for me?? Thanks.

My guess...

I really think it’s a credit line issue. The rest seem thrown in there to puff up the basis for denial. You’ve seen DPs from people who got approved for a Chase biz card a month or two months after being approved for a prior Chase card. (And yes, Chase can see they’ve approved you for one of their biz cards even though they don’t count against 5/24.) And I’ve seen DPs from people who apply immediately after a mortgage or refinance closes and get approved, so that’s not it.

If your CLs were the issue, but you say you reduced them before applying, I don’t think you gave it enough time. Some people reduce CLs days before applying and get approved, but I’m thinking their CLs probably weren’t high enough on balance with other factors that Chase may consider to get their application denied, so when they reduced their CLs didn’t ultimately matter. But if your CLs really were too much, then it’s best to have reduced them far enough in advance that the statement for the card(s) close, get reported with the lower CLs to the credit bureaus, and have it reflected on your credit reports. Even though you can SM Chase to reduce your CLs, and it takes effect “immediately,” the lower CLs don’t show on your credit reports until close of statement, and if you apply before then, Chase’s approval system may be pulling in old info from your credit reports.

You could try again for the CIP next month when your credit reports show the lower CLs.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

A note on the HSBC bank bonus ($350 version - $10k for 90 days, no direct deposit). There were all kinds of horror stories on DoC about how hard it was to get the account set up (lots of stories about codes only being sent by mail, additional identifying info required etc), but it actually went reasonably smoothly for me. They don't communicate well, but I saw the trial deposits in the bank I was funding from, and did a chat to figure out how to complete my app (my app was still listed as pending, but the trial deposits had already happened - seemed odd). So they sent me to the site I needed, and I was able to enter the trial deposit info. Shortly thereafter (like 5 mins) I got a text with a code and an email with another code that I was able to enter together and get my account fully set up - so like 24 hours from application to set up.

Whether I have issues getting the bonus remains to be seen, but the setup wasn't bad. I think you do have to park the money for at least 3 months, and there is something on the DoC website about a $25 penalty if you close it before 180 days, but I couldn't find the penalty provision in any of the screenshots I have.

I had written that one off based on the docs comments. Let us know if the rest goes smoothly and maybe I will give it a try.

 

[speedyfishy]

Hi! I've been quietly following this thread for a while, just starting to churn, and have a question about when I'm able to sign up for the Chase cards again to receive the bonuses. For reference - mostly interested in churning the CSP, Freedom, CFU, and Southwest cards right now. Average spending is about $2,500-$3,000/3 months so MSR for CIP is too much for me - CSP is a stretch but I'll do it; not interested in MS right now. I don't think with my spending/travel that the CSR is better than the CSP for me (very little dining out and basically no travel). The only way I see CSR possibly being better would be if the $300 travel credit applies to travel purchases made with points through the Chase portal (is that possible?).

My main question - I've tried doing some research and I'm still not sure when exactly I can sign up for the same card to receive the signup bonus. For example, approved for CSP 7/11/18, receive bonus 10/15/18 (assume statement close), card cancelled 7/10/19 to avoid AF. When can I reapply for the CSP to get the signup bonus again? Would it be 8/1/20 or 11/1/20 or something else? If I can't get the bonus until 11/1/20, can I open the card on say 9/1/20 and get the bonus on 11/15/20 (so just make sure the MSR hits after 11/1/20)? Is it ok to open the CSP again only about a year after cancelling it?

I'm hoping to use these cards to help offset the costs of going to Disney World every other year - it wouldn't be possible for me to go that frequently without it! And since I've been following for a while - thank you for all the useful info!

Welcome! You can get the card again 24 months after you received the bonus. So in your hypo you would have to apply after 10/15/20.

You can pay with cash and points when booking through Chases travel portal I’m unsure if that would code as travel. I would normally recommend getting the CSR when you plan to go to Disney and helping offset ticket or food costs if you are staying onsite, but since you probably won’t be able to do the 8k required spend with the CSR and CSP at the same time I’d def start with the CSP. Same bonus, no annual fee and an AU bonus. After your first year you can reevaluate and see if you want to upgrade. The difference between the CSR/CSP after the second year is $55 if you use the travel credit. The difference the first year is basically $200. ($150 annual fee compared to 0 and the 5,000 AU bonus.)

However, I’d actually recommend starting with either the CIC or CIU. Both cards are Chase buisness cards that have no annual fee and currently have a bonus of 50,000 UR for 3k in spend.

 

[LynnTH]

My guess...

I really think it’s a credit line issue. The rest seem thrown in there to puff up the basis for denial. You’ve seen DPs from people who got approved for a Chase biz card a month or two months after being approved for a prior Chase card. (And yes, Chase can see they’ve approved you for one of their biz cards even though they don’t count against 5/24.) And I’ve seen DPs from people who apply immediately after a mortgage or refinance closes and get approved, so that’s not it.

If your CLs were the issue, but you say you reduced them before applying, I don’t think you gave it enough time. Some people reduce CLs days before applying and get approved, but I’m thinking their CLs probably weren’t high enough on balance with other factors that Chase may consider to get their application denied, so when they reduced their CLs didn’t ultimately matter. But if your CLs really were too much, then it’s best to have reduced them far enough in advance that the statement for the card(s) close, get reported with the lower CLs to the credit bureaus, and have it reflected on your credit reports. Even though you can SM Chase to reduce your CLs, and it takes effect “immediately,” the lower CLs don’t show on your credit reports until close of statement, and if you apply before then, Chase’s approval system may be pulling in old info from your credit reports.

You could try again for the CIP next month when your credit reports show the lower CLs.

Ok. So I called Recon again and talked to a really nice gal. Explained everything about lowering my credit limits etc and she looked at could see that but said it probably would not show up that way on my credit report for 30-60 days. So, she asked if I wanted to go through with Recon and I said yes. So, she asked a lot of questions and we were on the phone for about 40 minutes. She said she is going to put it through and she is recommending that I get the card but she has to pass it on to another lender to view everything. So, that is better than what it was. Now I have to wait for that approval/denial. (fingers crossed). Am I able to call the Chase Status Line for this now also?

 

[Lain]

Welcome to American Express!
I bit the bullet and was approved. My card will be here 3 business days it says. But gave me a temporary card for virtual wallet. Thanks everyone for your advice.

Now to spend $5000 to get my 100k points. Anyone know if I can buy gift cards at Bjs if that would work towards that 5000? Or is this the card that says no gift cards? My disney trip final payment is coming up.

CONGRATULATIONS on taking that big plunge!


The Amex Platinum packaging is something really special and the card is beautiful.

You’ve already gotten some advice on whether or not to put gift card purchases on an Amex.

There is some risk that Amex RATs may not like it and claw back any bonus, so the safest advice is to not buy gift cards or Visa/MC/Amex gift cards or make P2P payments when trying to meet MSR. There’s also some thought that Amex is more aggressive with clawing back bonuses on their own cards (Membership Rewards) than points on their co-branded cards (e.g., Delta miles, SPG points, Hilton points).

That said, as a practical matter, I’ve seen numerous DPs that PayPal and Venmo payments count towards MSR (just don’t be sending payments to a SO who shares the same address as you). I’ve also purchased Target gift cards on an Amex while meeting MSR, as well as $500 VGCs mixed in with regular groceries at supermarkets, and bought e-gift cards on apps like MileagePlus X. I’ve never had a problem with those transactions counting towards MSR. I think most people will say that Amex isn’t aggressive in enforcing their terms against buying third-party gift cards, which are mostly “closed loop” and can only be used for goods or services at the specific merchant. Amex is likely to be more strict against buying Visa/MC/Amex gift cards and other “cash equivalents.” I’m not so concerned about buying the occasional VGC or MCGC along with my groceries at a supermarket because these stores tend not to send “Level 3 data” that would basically reveal everything you bought to Amex. And since I throw in groceries, my total transaction amount just looks like a big grocery run and not the telltale $505.95.

(Not sure if BJs sends Level 3 data. You could make a regular purchase, then check how the transaction shows up on your Amex account. @Albort has a good post that shows the difference between Level 1, 2, and 3 data.)

 

[Lain]

Ok. So I called Recon again and talked to a really nice gal. Explained everything about lowering my credit limits etc and she looked at could see that but said it probably would not show up that way on my credit report for 30-60 days. So, she asked if I wanted to go through with Recon and I said yes. So, she asked a lot of questions and we were on the phone for about 40 minutes. She said she is going to put it through and she is recommending that I get the card but she has to pass it on to another lender to view everything. So, that is better than what it was. Now I have to wait for that approval/denial. (fingers crossed). Am I able to call the Chase Status Line for this now also?

Yes, the recon line should change from 7-10 days back to 30 days or 2 weeks, and hopefully to approved in the next day or two. Good luck!!!

 

[Lain]

DH just got approved for CSP. If I SM Chase will they expedite the card?

Congratulations! I’m noticing a lot of approvals today!



(Not sure they’ll expedite the CSP. I’m thinking no...)

 

[trenty]

Congratulations! I’m noticing a lot of approvals today!

Thank you. Officially in 2 Player mode. I did SM and they said he should receive the card in 1 to 2 business days.

 

[trenty]

Congratulations! I’m noticing a lot of approvals today!



(Not sure they’ll expedite the CSP. I’m thinking no...)

When should I expect to see my referral bonus?