I love credit cards so much!

[Jen and Ashwin]

Yeah, I've read that about Carnival as well. I've been lurking on the Cruise Critic forums & reading recommendations there for first cruises, and good lines/ships for kids. The options on Carnival out of NYC at the times we could go are both on their new ship, Horizon, which doesn't start sailing until next year so there isn't much info out there about it yet. I'm not too particular about the destination (a beach is a beach, to me) so the choice will come down to the ship, pricing, & available dates.

This makes me laugh a little. DH and I both really like cruising. I have been on 10 RCI cruises. DH has been on two cruises, both with me. His first cruise was a New Year's cruise in 2014 and it went to Honduras, Belize and Mexico. I booked mostly active excursions because I thought that is what he would like, but I did schedule a half day beach excursion too. He hated it. He didn't really like swimming in the water (it wasn't the best area for swimming, honestly) and didn't want to just lay on the beach. He got fidgety and started bugging me so that I couldn't read my book. We ended up heading to the restaurant up the beach, sitting there for several hours until the bus went back to the boat. He made me promise not to book any beach time on any of our future trips. So for my husband, a beach is probably a beach, but ultimately destination will matter a great deal to us since beaches are not on our itinerary.

 

[eeyoresmom]

Can someone critique my thinking. I need to book a rental car for our Disneyland trip next month. Cash price through Hotwire is around $20 per day, points through UR portal are around 2000 per day, or just about $30. Since I'm redeeming through CSR at 1.5x is this essentially the same price? I would rather use points but am not entirely opposed to paying cash. I should have thousands of SW RR points hit tomorrow so I will see what the prices are like there as well.

 

[belle1986]

Not sure if this was posted here yet but I received an email yesterday from Disney Visa Rewards for a $40 Disney gc after a 20min DVC "phone tour". I called yesterday and it was super easy. Was on the phone 15min and my gc should be here in 30 days. Fingers crossed it gets here in time for my trip.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Ok, I've made it through the first 100 pages and have been lurking for the last 100 pages or so. I still have a few questions that are probably answered somewhere.

When it comes to the 5/24 for Chase this is just 5 cards opened in the last 24 months or 5 times applying? I opened the Amazon Visa in April and applied for the Disney with the fee in July (denied but I didn't really know much yet and didn't realize I probably just needed to shift around available credit lines.
So am I 1/24 or 2/24?

Also how does Chase decide how much credit they will give you? It seems so over the place. Some people say they get huge available credit and others get like $3000.I have about 20,000 between 3 Chase cards and that seems to be the limit for me. I have always applied with just my income since I've never been denied until the Disney Premier card. If I start including DH's income which will more than double what I have been putting will that open it up more?

I really want to apply for the CSR I'm afraid of being denied if it will count toward the 5/24. I have never been denied before and I think getting denied for the Disney Premier card is messing with my head!

Denials do not count towards 5/24, just actual open accounts. For people with excellent credit, Chase generally bases your maximum available credit on roughly 50% of your income. With someone with less than excellent credit or a shorter credit history, the credit lines will likely be much lower.

For example, my husband moved from Canada just over 2 years ago. We have been working on building up his credit in the US. When he applied for a Chase Freedom card earlier this year, they only approved him for a $1,000 credit limit even though that is a tiny, tiny fraction of our overall income. This is likely because he has such a short credit history and his credit rating is only in the 'Good,' not 'Excellent' range right now.

If you add your husband's income to your own the next time you apply, this should increase the amount that Chase is willing to extend to you. I always put our combined household income when applying for credit cards, since both of our incomes go towards paying the bills.

 

[laceltris3]

I just ordered my Disney debit card. I usually only use debit for ATM, but there are some benefits to having it on our cruises. I usually cover onboard charges with gift cards (our charge on our Northern Europe cruise was less than $200) so I think I'll be ok with losing out on the 3X points from the CSR for such a small amount.

And I will love the Mickey & Crew card in my wallet as opposed another boring Chase blue card.

 

[pinkxray]

Denials do not count towards 5/24, just actual open accounts. For people with excellent credit, Chase generally bases your maximum available credit on roughly 50% of your income. With someone with less than excellent credit or a shorter credit history, the credit lines will likely be much lower.

For example, my husband moved from Canada just over 2 years ago. We have been working on building up his credit in the US. When he applied for a Chase Freedom card earlier this year, they only approved him for a $1,000 credit limit even though that is a tiny, tiny fraction of our overall income. This is likely because he has such a short credit history and his credit rating is only in the 'Good,' not 'Excellent' range right now.

If you add your husband's income to your own the next time you apply, this should increase the amount that Chase is willing to extend to you. I always put our combined household income when applying for credit cards, since both of our incomes go towards paying the bills.

Thanks for the info! I have excellent credit and have for years so I was a little shocked when I didn't get the Disney card. Now, I'm wondering why the heck I always only used my income. I have only been working part time for years until last July so adding on that I now work full time and I will start including Dh's will hopefully bump up the Chase limits.

 

[pinkxray]

I haven't seen Jetblue mentioned much on this thread. I know there is a JetBlue card (don't really want right now) but is there any other option for a credit card that lets you transfer points to Jetblue? We fly out of Bradley so it's usually between Jetblue and Southwest. We almost always have Southwest points but I would love to use Jetblue once in awhile.

 

[MrPTato]

What! That's crazy, great news, thanks


Hmm, my SiL was recently approved after calling in to verify their address (he added my DD as AU) and they would not let him get more than one design (they both had to have the same card). I thought that was odd. How did you get multiple cards?

There is a link under your profile to "Change Card Design"

 

[Pooh2]

I haven't seen Jetblue mentioned much on this thread. I know there is a JetBlue card (don't really want right now) but is there any other option for a credit card that lets you transfer points to Jetblue? We fly out of Bradley so it's usually between Jetblue and Southwest. We almost always have Southwest points but I would love to use Jetblue once in awhile.

We have not found any options for transferring to Jet blue so got the Jet Blue card. The annual fee of $99 gives you 5,000 pts each year so figured might as well keep it in the card line-up. We also get 10% points back when using points to book a flight as well as a free checked bag.

 

[Lain]

Can someone critique my thinking. I need to book a rental car for our Disneyland trip next month. Cash price through Hotwire is around $20 per day, points through UR portal are around 2000 per day, or just about $30. Since I'm redeeming through CSR at 1.5x is this essentially the same price? I would rather use points but am not entirely opposed to paying cash. I should have thousands of SW RR points hit tomorrow so I will see what the prices are like there as well.

I don't think the car rental through Chase is a great deal vs. Hotwire. You're saying Hotwire is ~$20/day and Chase is ~2000 UR/day. 2000 UR is worth $20 when used as a statement credit (100 UR = $1). You could book through Hotwire at the ~$20/day rate, earn 3x points under the travel bonus for the car rental, and still use the ~2000 UR as a statement credit against the Hotwire charge.

 

[Lain]

I haven't seen Jetblue mentioned much on this thread. I know there is a JetBlue card (don't really want right now) but is there any other option for a credit card that lets you transfer points to Jetblue? We fly out of Bradley so it's usually between Jetblue and Southwest. We almost always have Southwest points but I would love to use Jetblue once in awhile.

We have not found any options for transferring to Jet blue so got the Jet Blue card. The annual fee of $99 gives you 5,000 pts each year so figured might as well keep it in the card line-up. We also get 10% points back when using points to book a flight as well as a free checked bag.

Both Citi ThankYou points and Amex Membership Rewards points transfer to JetBlue: 1.25 ThankYou points = 1 TrueBlue point; 250 Membership Rewards points = 200 TrueBlue points. Both issuers periodically offer transfer bonuses that increase the value of TYP and MR when transferring to JetBlue. Citi and Amex have many points earning cards with big sign-up bonuses, but if you know you want to transfer those points to JetBlue, plan ahead so you can take advantage of when transfer bonuses happen.

 

[calypso726]

Just made a $100 purchase on walmart.com. gonna see how it plays out. if everything lays out, it should get 15.5x?

How? Please explain. I must have missed a post somewhere.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I noticed a DP on Reddit yesterday of someone whose annual fee posted on a Southwest Plus card and they called to discuss how they didn't know if the annual fee was worth it and were immediately offered a $70 statement credit. Someone chimed in and said they had the same experience with their Business Premium card. Some people seem to think an important part of this is to do it right after the fee posts. Idk- I don't even have any Southwest cards but I know others here do!

 

[platamama]

Thanks for the info! I have excellent credit and have for years so I was a little shocked when I didn't get the Disney card. Now, I'm wondering why the heck I always only used my income. I have only been working part time for years until last July so adding on that I now work full time and I will start including Dh's will hopefully bump up the Chase limits.

The application states you can use any income you rely on, e.g. spouse, parents, investments, government payments, retirement funds, etc. Definitely add your spouse to your income.

One thing to be aware of is that some cards need a minimum level of credit allowed in order to be opened. For instance, yesterday I called Chase about my application for the CSP and after a 30 minute conversation with a helpful cust svc rep, I ended up getting approved since I was willing to move credit lines around from my other cards because the CSP needs a $5,000 line in order to be opened. She was initially going to route my application for a second tier review - for a higher credit limit so that I might get the card but that approach carried the possibility of a denial (I'd already been denied on my initial application) - but if I was willing to move credit around then she could approve me then and there. So that's the way I went. This is my third time getting the CSP, I closed my previous one a few months ago.

 

[eeyoresmom]

I don't think the car rental through Chase is a great deal vs. Hotwire. You're saying Hotwire is ~$20/day and Chase is ~2000 UR/day. 2000 UR is worth $20 when used as a statement credit (100 UR = $1). You could book through Hotwire at the ~$20/day rate, earn 3x points under the travel bonus for the car rental, and still use the ~2000 UR as a statement credit against the Hotwire charge.

You lost me at using the UR's as a statememt credit so i book through Hotwire ( can I use DHs CSR to book a car in my name?? Never tried that), paying with the csr gets us 3x points and then.....? Im having a hard time understanding how much money in the long run this saves us. Thanks Lain and everyone for the help

 

[Tikitoi]

Just made a $100 purchase on walmart.com. gonna see how it plays out. if everything lays out, it should get 15.5x?

Did you buy a GC? Be very interested to know how that will play out...

 

[gottalovepluto]

Not sure if this was posted here yet but I received an email yesterday from Disney Visa Rewards for a $40 Disney gc after a 20min DVC "phone tour". I called yesterday and it was super easy. Was on the phone 15min and my gc should be here in 30 days. Fingers crossed it gets here in time for my trip.

Ditto! I received it but my Mom didn't, do you have the Disney Premier? That's the only difference between us so I'm wondering if it was targeted to Disney Premier holders? (To my shock I got my 20 min phone tour done in 5 this morning! I think it was the "you can pass this down to the next generation! How many children do you have (insert name)?" "None!" that wrapped everything up in such a hurry...

 

[gottalovepluto]

Just made a $100 purchase on walmart.com. gonna see how it plays out. if everything lays out, it should get 15.5x?

Hmm- Is this through the Chase offer? If so I can see the 15x (10x then transfer to CSR for 50% more redemption value = 15x)

 

[Ava]

This makes me laugh a little. DH and I both really like cruising. I have been on 10 RCI cruises. DH has been on two cruises, both with me. His first cruise was a New Year's cruise in 2014 and it went to Honduras, Belize and Mexico. I booked mostly active excursions because I thought that is what he would like, but I did schedule a half day beach excursion too. He hated it. He didn't really like swimming in the water (it wasn't the best area for swimming, honestly) and didn't want to just lay on the beach. He got fidgety and started bugging me so that I couldn't read my book. We ended up heading to the restaurant up the beach, sitting there for several hours until the bus went back to the boat. He made me promise not to book any beach time on any of our future trips. So for my husband, a beach is probably a beach, but ultimately destination will matter a great deal to us since beaches are not on our itinerary.

LOL. Neither my wife nor I are big beach people, but the kids love it. Plus, if we're sailing to the Caribbean I figure at least one beach excursion is a given.

 

[gottalovepluto]

My walmart online purchases of a visa gift card and a starbucks gift card show the 10x points pending on my Chase UR account!