I love credit cards so much!

[SouthFayetteFan]

I’ve read conflicting info on that. At first I saw one blogger post 24 months and figured I’m out but DH isn’t. Then another blogger clarified and said it’s 90 days for upgrade bonuses. I’m crossing fingers for the 90 day but if it isn’t, no big deal.

Which one stated that clarification? I haven’t been keeping up with that restrictive language but I initially noticed that VFTW, DoC, and TPG all said 24 months on upgrade bonuses. I just want to make sure I’m giving folks good advice as it relates to what to do now and a month from now with Marriott cards and the Lux card.

 

[speedyfishy]

Yeah if you don’t want to go for the bonus you don’t have to. I didn’t for my account. Check the requirements to keep the account fee free. The savings account only requires $300 and the checking I think requires $500. They can be closed after 6 months.

@hsmamato2

 

[Lain]

Oops, also meant to ask, is there any reason to get DH a Biz Green Employee card? I have a feeling they will end up sockdrawered until AFs come up. He probably won't use it for everyday spend at this point.

Well, do the referral to Biz Green for 20k+5k+5k MR after first spend within a year. First year AF is waived, then $95 AF, so cancel after a year.

The Employee Biz Green has no AF, and you can hand DH a card to put charges towards your primary account to help meet MSR.

 

[hsmamato2]

Pretty much, the progress bar is a nice touch and can confirm if things are being tracked correctly. But since it's not exactly real time I still use the Advanced Search to see how far I have left. It doesn't have pending transactions but the search is easy if it's a straight category like this quarter. I run that rather than keep track myself.
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Or if you have specific companies, like 4th qtr last year with Target and Amazon, you can use the description field. It'll search for amazon or target and bring everything up.
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For this upcoming 4th qtr where it's a store and a category will have to do two different searches. If you put something in the description (amazon) and select a category (wholesale clubs) it will look for that text only in transactions listed in that category.

What I totally forgot last quarter, is that Target codes as Supermarket on discover Instead of using some gift cards I got at 10% off for my Target purchases I could have just used that toward my category spend and not have some of these VGC's sitting in my safe. (another reason I was looking forward to not having a MSR to meet I can get rid of some GC's)

Hope that helps some, and I didn't just take up space on the thread ​

sorry to bring this up again.... but the discover deals...how/when do they show up? I just realized they exist,and want to keep track....

 

[SBWB48]

I came home to a UPS Express Envelope with a solid gray box and my shiny new Biz Platinum inside.

The Biz Plat's packaging is thinner than the personal Platinum's, and doesn't include a wooden cardholder/smartphone stand.

ETA: And I just added the Biz Platinum to Apple Pay, Plastiq, and PayPal.

SO JEALOUS. I applied the evening on the same day and rep said it likely wouldn't be shipped out that evening given the timing. Here's to hoping my shiny box is waiting for me later tonight

depends on what u plan to do later on, if your plan is to MS in the future, that card could be a good chance for you to test things out. like what @speedyfishy said, go to your grocery store and see if you can get an MO out of them. go to walmart, see how it works. If your not really into that, its probably easier to load it to Venmo and transfer to a friend, then have them give u back the money.

Thought Visa Metas don't load on Venmo? I tried that before and card was rejected, unfor.

Are others having trouble having credit post on sams club Amex offer? I know some have and wondering if it has posted now. @CyndiLouWho? I did the chat today and they said 8 weeks. Gave me flashback to my dealings with Amex on getting Dh’s bonus to post. Maybe I will stop longing for another Amex card...they can be so difficult.

And look we are almost at 2000 pages! Wasn’t it like yesterday we were at 1000?!?

Mine posted yesterday. Although the credit says 28th, the charge itself posted 7/23 (actual purchase 7/20, showed as posted on 7/24, same day the purchase arrived). Their system is wonky.

My purchase on 7/23 also had the credit post with the date of 7/28. I have two 7/26 purchases that I have not seen credit just yet. I know with the June expiry deal, I had to open two chats to get them to fix it. This time, my first purchase auto-credited.

Plastiq has a promo going on until the end of September (so 2 more months) where if you use MasterPass to pay, the payment is fee free up to $250 (and 2.5% fee for whatever amount over $250), so a lot of people have been making payments in $250 increments to their mortgage companies, student loans, etc. I believe you can only schedule 1x $250 payment a day, but some people get around this by scheduling payments for $249.97, $249.98, $249.99, $250, etc.

DPs say adding MCGCs to MasterPass works for payments through Plastiq. Churningsearch is down so I’m having a hard time digging up more DPs. Obviously, with Chase Freedom and Walgreens there’s one way to get a $500 MCGC for 5x and offset the 1.19% fee, and Amex’s Lowe’s and Staples offers give 10% statement credit on MCGCs and their fee, even though those max out at $200 and has like a ~3% fee. But the point is to meet MSR on new Amex cards, so the most straightforward plan would seem to be to buy $500 MCGCs from a store that doesn’t report level 3 data, like a grocery store, for a $5.95 fee (1.19%), add to MasterPass, and liquidate that card through Plastiq in 2x fee free payments of $250. (Which is better than Plastiq’s standard 2.5% fee, considering the Plat doesn’t code in any way that offsets the 2.5% fee, and MasterCards don’t have the restrictions that Amex has.) Rinse and repeat.

Before making payments to a mortgage in $250 increments, you should probably find out how they treat partial payments and overpayments, like whether it’ll apply against your monthly payment or against principal only.

I can be the DP for the multi-payment MasterPass promo. I scheduled 3 $250 payments with my new Citi Biz AA through MasterPass. No issues with the same amount x3 on the same day.

In other news, I finally had a hit for the M&T Bank bonus. Schwab brokerage push posted 7/27/18, M&T $250 bonus posted 7/30/18. Also, and I kinda forgot about it briefly, Fulton Bank also posted. Met requirements (10 debit purchases) 6/25/18, $150 bonus posted 7/27/18. Fulton Bank's bonus is once per household and lifetime, but it is very easy - no DD required, no monthly fees - so it's very much and open and forget about it for a month type of account.

Fulton was great. Was sad it is once per household. However, I will say, closing it is a pain. Tried to call and was told I have to visit a branch...

DW and I have AT&T's grandfathered unlimited data plan for our iPhones, but AT&T's been increasing the price on the plan every few months recently. We've thought about switching to T-Mobile -- how are their data plans?

I had the grandfathered unlimited as well, but finally looked at their new unlimited plans, which ended up being cheaper with the autopay (even though it requires autopay, I just prepay so it never triggers the autopay and I get the discount). The new unlimited says they have the right to slow down speeds to 3G if you exceed 22GB (per person, not as a household), so unless you can blow through that in a month (I even tested by streaming whatever I could lol), not an issue and I found it a bit cheaper. I prefer AT&T because in my area, T-Mobile's towers and service isn't great.

 

[SBWB48]

sorry to bring this up again.... but the discover deals...how/when do they show up? I just realized they exist,and want to keep track....

I've done a few in the past and usually you get an email confirm, and it will tell you 3-4 weeks I believe. I've never had issues with them crediting other than one purchase and when I SM them, they fixed it rather quickly. So, if you keep track, shouldn't have an issue and their customer service is great.

 

[amalone1013]

The Employee Biz Green has no AF, and you can hand DH a card to put charges towards your primary account to help meet MSR.

Sorry, what is the MSR? Isn't it just one purchase?

I'm running on 3hrs of sleep...

 

[1st*toright]

I've fallen behind, and I can't catch up... This board just moves too quick.

I was enjoying the HP and Hamilton love a few pages back - much love for both in my house. My littlest alternates between listening to HP on audible (first 2 books only - she is only 5, and it does get more intense as the books go on) and listening to Hamilton. She can quote extensively from both (fortunately she seems to have figured out the words in Hamilton that she shouldn't be repeating).

In churning news, after much hemming and hawing about my next card, I pulled the trigger on the Amex Biz Platinum this morning - I've been trying to pull the 100k personal card via cardmatch with zero luck, so this seemed like a good way to go. Instant approval.

We are $300 away from done with the CSR/CSP double dip and I have a big contractor bill coming due in about a week. I figured the amex would arrive super quick (rep told me to call her direct line if I haven't gotten it by Thursday) and I could get set up to pay my contractor via Plastiq and knock out a big chunk of that 10k in one go, leaving me with a more normal MSR to work on for the next few months. In the rep's crazy spiel of card benefits I found out that you get 1.5 points per 1$ on purchases over $5k (hadn't focused on that before because how often would I even have a single purchase over $5k?), so that helps offset the Plastiq fee too. My first MR card!

Thanks again to everyone here - before this board, I didn't make the connection that our rental unit (a real, legit business!) would qualify us to get business cards.

 

[tink1970]

Conversation this am with my trainer:

TuckerTheTrainer: So I have 16 or 17,000 Amex Rewards with my new card

me: great...

TTT: I can use them for cash back on my bill or a Nike gift card or some other thing

me: Um, some would say that gift cards are not the best use of your points but of course you know your situation best
(internally yelling: NOOOOOO!!!!!! Just NOOOO!)

TTT: I'm going to think about it

me: good idea

I've tried to explain the benefits of card hacking but as a 23 year old he is quite risk adverse. Then again, I knew nothing about this at his age so he's better off than I was.

I could just hear the collective groans at the idea of MRs being used for a nike gift card

 

[tink1970]

Sorry, what is the MSR? Isn't it just one purchase?

Yep, pay the $95 fee and one purchase. I'm guessing the "other card" is referencing the Plat or BGR MSR.

 

[Lain]

Sorry, what is the MSR? Isn't it just one purchase?

I'm running on 3hrs of sleep...

I'm talking about 2 different Biz Greens.

The one you'd refer to DH from your Biz Plat for the referral+welcome bonuses. That Biz Green would be in DH's name. AF waived first year, $95 after that. MSR is just one purchase (e.g. crickets, a banana, a pack of gum, Amazon reload), to trigger his 5k MR welcome bonus.

The other is an Employee Biz Green (an AU card) just for DH to carry around to help you meet your Biz Plat MSR. No bonuses, no other MSR. $0 AF.

 

[Lain]

Conversation this am with my trainer:

TuckerTheTrainer: So I have 16 or 17,000 Amex Rewards with my new card

me: great...

TTT: I can use them for cash back on my bill or a Nike gift card or some other thing

me: Um, some would say that gift cards are not the best use of your points but of course you know your situation best
(internally yelling: NOOOOOO!!!!!! Just NOOOO!)

TTT: I'm going to think about it

me: good idea

I've tried to explain the benefits of card hacking but as a 23 year old he is quite risk adverse. Then again, I knew nothing about this at his age so he's better off than I was.

I could just hear the collective groans at the idea of MRs being used for a nike gift card

How many "Buy $50 Nike gift card, get $10 bonus" promos do I have to see? Nikes are some of the most frequently, and deeply discounted gift cards out there.

 

[DaveL]

I've fallen behind, and I can't catch up... This board just moves too quick.

Was just thinking the same thing after skipping some 30+ pages after getting tied up the last two days in projects.

 

[miztressuz]

sorry to bring this up again.... but the discover deals...how/when do they show up? I just realized they exist,and want to keep track....

the only place I have seen them separated out is on the actual statement. on the website everything is just a summary of total cashback. When the charge posts you get an email confirming you used the deal. it says they have 10 weeks to give the cashback but so far mine have shown up on the next statement. I haven't used it too often so it could be coincidence, but you should haven't wait long to track it through.

an example, a charge posted on the 22nd, my statement ends on the 11th, only cashback from the purchase on that statement. on the following month's statement the "New Cashback Bonus This Period" breakdown has a line for "Discover Deals and Promotional" that has the extra cashback from the deal.

 

[Judique]

For all you Hyatt card holders, an email came from Hyatt this morning for a bonus when buying points.

30% when you buy 5000 plus.

I'm considering a 15K purchase to beef up my Hyatt balance for my summer beach trips. Room costs $450 plus taxes so over $500 in July and August high season which is when I want to go. Points nights are currently 15K. I like to do 3 night trips, so this would help stretch my points and reduce the room cost to about $275 by purchasing points. This is the Hyatt that hasn't opened yet.

I find that purchasing points often works for high value redemptions.

I'm also considering booking the Marriott next door to try it out, since I have a bunch of Marriott points now.

 

[Lain]

I've fallen behind, and I can't catch up... This board just moves too quick.

I was enjoying the HP and Hamilton love a few pages back - much love for both in my house. My littlest alternates between listening to HP on audible (first 2 books only - she is only 5, and it does get more intense as the books go on) and listening to Hamilton. She can quote extensively from both (fortunately she seems to have figured out the words in Hamilton that she shouldn't be repeating).

In churning news, after much hemming and hawing about my next card, I pulled the trigger on the Amex Biz Platinum this morning - I've been trying to pull the 100k personal card via cardmatch with zero luck, so this seemed like a good way to go. Instant approval.

We are $300 away from done with the CSR/CSP double dip and I have a big contractor bill coming due in about a week. I figured the amex would arrive super quick (rep told me to call her direct line if I haven't gotten it by Thursday) and I could get set up to pay my contractor via Plastiq and knock out a big chunk of that 10k in one go, leaving me with a more normal MSR to work on for the next few months. In the rep's crazy spiel of card benefits I found out that you get 1.5 points per 1$ on purchases over $5k (hadn't focused on that before because how often would I even have a single purchase over $5k?), so that helps offset the Plastiq fee too. My first MR card!

Thanks again to everyone here - before this board, I didn't make the connection that our rental unit (a real, legit business!) would qualify us to get business cards.

Awesome! Congratulations! One more for the 100k MR Biz Platinum train!



If you missed it, once you get your Biz Platinum account set up, consider referring yourself to the Biz Green card for a total of 30k MR points, and maybe consider referring DH too. Let me know if you need the details and I can dig them up.

 

[amalone1013]

The other is an Employee Biz Green (an AU card) just for DH to carry around to help you meet your Biz Plat MSR. No bonuses, no other MSR. $0 AF.

Him having an employee biz green will count towards biz plat? Mind blown.

 

[Judique]

Conversation this am with my trainer:

TuckerTheTrainer: So I have 16 or 17,000 Amex Rewards with my new card

me: great...

TTT: I can use them for cash back on my bill or a Nike gift card or some other thing

me: Um, some would say that gift cards are not the best use of your points but of course you know your situation best
(internally yelling: NOOOOOO!!!!!! Just NOOOO!)

TTT: I'm going to think about it

me: good idea

I've tried to explain the benefits of card hacking but as a 23 year old he is quite risk adverse. Then again, I knew nothing about this at his age so he's better off than I was.

I could just hear the collective groans at the idea of MRs being used for a nike gift card

Then you will really groan when I tell you I redeemed some for a Old Navy/Gap gift card a few years back! I truly had no other use for them and I wasn't using the card. This was before amex offers which made me value that lil ole MR card more!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Him having an employee biz green will count towards biz plat? Mind blown.

This is the business version of adding Gold AU cards to the personal Plat.

You can add Plat AU cards to your Biz Plat but I think it costs $300 per AU. Instead you can add an employee Green AU card for free. This is an AU CARD added to your platinum and thus their spend counts towards your MSR.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I now have 7 Amex cards, 5 opened this year, 2 in the last week. The Biz Platinum is a charge card, and a biz card at that, so your 3 other credit cards don’t matter for approval. You’ll want to have a story ready to chit chat about with your rep, and numbers for the application. My rep actually wanted me to apply for more cards! Check out my post from last night?

Ok, read it. I will try and work up some courage today.