I love credit cards so much!

[JKalai]

Arg...

Just applied for the Southwest Premier and got approved through the public 40k signup bonus. I knew I should have done a little more research into the card because I just saw the 50k links on reddit!

This is my 2nd CC, and my history is a bit low so I think I'm going to wait a couple months until I apply for the plus.

 

[peel]

Instead of closing these cards, I have my Netflix subscription set up on one of them and my Hulu subscription set up on the other. I also have each card's monthly bill set up for auto-pay. This way each card is used and paid in full every single month, which keeps them active and in good standing.

That's what I do, too. I have Hulu, Netflix, and Spotify monthly subscription fees that each go to a different, otherwise unused, card. I had kind of forgotten about my oldest card with my highest credit limit for a while. There aren't any cash or point incentives, it's just a plain old credit card. Luckily, rather than closing my account due to inactivity, they instead sent me a targeted offer to receive a $150 statement credit if I spent $500 in the next 90 days. No problem, Bank of America, I'll take your free money!

 

[amalone1013]

Thanks for the responses. I figured it would be best to just leave the cards open and not used, but wanted to hear what you thought. My husband has always been very leery about credit cards and I finally convinced him a couple of years ago that he needed to get some cards to build his credit. He was unhappy that I had credit trouble in my past, but my score was higher than his. I explained to him it was due to the fact that I built mine back up over time and since he hadn't had any revolving credit at all, that's why his score was probably lower. Now we have a few cards that we use regularly, but they are all cash back cards. I think I'll just finish paying out what we have on some of those, and just keep them open while changing to new miles cards for regular use. I just need to convince him of this because he gets super nervous with us having "too many cards" whether they are used or not. I typically pay our balances in full every month (with the exception of holiday shopping sometimes) and we're very good with our finances. I think it's just something that has always bothered him and always will. Took me forever to get him to use our CCs for the cash back percentages instead of using his debit card for our checking account. He's just not a fan of CCs in general I suppose.

My DF was really nervous about opening too many new credit cards too - he had 2 cash back cards, and a few store cards he had been talked into. I talked him into getting a Barclay Arrival Plus last year before our California vacation and we were able to use the $500 bonus towards our Universal tickets. When I wanted to get more into this, I showed him what the sign up bonuses could do for our honeymoon costs, and that helped change his mind - especially with the big wedding expenses, which we already had the cash for. I showed him how we might as well put everything on cards and then pay it off and get something out of it. I keep track of everything, because that's my strong suit, and I put important dates (like AMEX offers, minimum spend requirements) into a shared google calendar so he can see. I also remind him occasionally of bonus categories, because I remember those pretty well when I'm out and about. We use YNAB so we can easily check to make sure we stay on top of paying the bills to avoid interest/late fees.

We're going to WDW in September for 2.5 weeks for our wedding and honeymoon, and we've got 10 free nights (5 at the Dolphin and 3 at Four Points near Universal from SPG cards, and we're going to cover a night in Port Canaveral with Barclay points), free flights thanks to the CSR (going to book with points), and we each got a no fee Disney Visa for a $200 gift card bonus (each). We've opened 2 SPG AMEX cards, 2 Disney Visas, and I got the CSR. We're saving over $2k just on flights and hotel, because originally I was looking at renting DVC points for the entire time. My CSR travel credits (I got to double dip) covered around 2/3 total of our flights and 5 nights at Pop Century at the end of this month. And then with AMEX offers (though those aren't necessarily tied to a travel card with them) we've saved $180 on Disney gift cards, $160 on our phone bill, plus $50 on some other miscellaneous offers...

So we might end up paying $640-$1090 in annual fees, but we've gotten around $4450 in value at this point, so...

 

[amalone1013]

Instead of closing these cards, I have my Netflix subscription set up on one of them and my Hulu subscription set up on the other. I also have each card's monthly bill set up for auto-pay. This way each card is used and paid in full every single month, which keeps them active and in good standing. I monitor them via YNAB, to ensure there are so strange charges or anything. But otherwise, I don't bother with them.

That's what I do, too. I have Hulu, Netflix, and Spotify monthly subscription fees that each go to a different, otherwise unused, card.

I'm totally stealing you guys' ideas here. That is a great way to not worry about an old no fee account!

Does anyone else know that you can book "activities" through the UR portal? I am getting ready to use 13,000 UR to book Kennedy Space Center tickets for my family of 4. I'll still have over 90,000 UR points left. I saw Universal tickets and Legoland as well. Thoughts? Good use of UR?

I'm glad you mentioned this, because I never bothered to look under the activities! We aren't going until September so I've got time to figure out if cash or points is best for us, it'll probably depend on where the budget is, but I never would have checked here.

 

[mhartman09]

I agree that if the cards do not have any annual fees, don't close them. They actually help your score.

For example, I currently have two credit cards that don't make much sense for me to use anymore because the rewards aren't that great but they both are no annual fee cards so they cost me nothing to keep. They were the first two credit cards that I ever opened and so they contribute a lot towards my age of credit as well as giving a boost to my overall available credit. Instead of closing these cards, I have my Netflix subscription set up on one of them and my Hulu subscription set up on the other. I also have each card's monthly bill set up for auto-pay. This way each card is used and paid in full every single month, which keeps them active and in good standing. I monitor them via YNAB, to ensure there are so strange charges or anything. But otherwise, I don't bother with them.

I did have a card that had an annual fee and the rewards no longer made sense, so I closed that card last year. I had a small and very temporary hit to my credit score, but my score has since gone up even more upon opening my CSR card a few months ago.

This is an excellent idea. None of our current cards have annual fees, so I will definitely look into just putting some of our monthly subscriptions on those to keep them active. Thanks so much!!

 

[WDWRook]

The 5/24 rule only applies to Chase, right? I'm at 4/24 now and drop a card in February and another in April. I have the CSR, Disney Visa, and Amazon all from Chase, a Spirit card (that I should cancel due to the $49 annual fee and poor redemption rules) and two credit union no fee cards. I'd like to get a Chase Freedom, Chase IHG, Delta Amex, SPG, and Amex card. I assume I should get the chase cards first, then I don't need to worry about the 5/24 rule any more. Right? My goal is to rack up UR Points and points I can transfer into Delta Skymiles for flights.

 

[Ngwira]

My DF was really nervous about opening too many new credit cards too - he had 2 cash back cards, and a few store cards he had been talked into. I talked him into getting a Barclay Arrival Plus last year before our California vacation and we were able to use the $500 bonus towards our Universal tickets. When I wanted to get more into this, I showed him what the sign up bonuses could do for our honeymoon costs, and that helped change his mind - especially with the big wedding expenses, which we already had the cash for. I showed him how we might as well put everything on cards and then pay it off and get something out of it. I keep track of everything, because that's my strong suit, and I put important dates (like AMEX offers, minimum spend requirements) into a shared google calendar so he can see. I also remind him occasionally of bonus categories, because I remember those pretty well when I'm out and about. We use YNAB so we can easily check to make sure we stay on top of paying the bills to avoid interest/late fees.

We're going to WDW in September for 2.5 weeks for our wedding and honeymoon, and we've got 10 free nights (5 at the Dolphin and 3 at Four Points near Universal from SPG cards, and we're going to cover a night in Port Canaveral with Barclay points), free flights thanks to the CSR (going to book with points), and we each got a no fee Disney Visa for a $200 gift card bonus (each). We've opened 2 SPG AMEX cards, 2 Disney Visas, and I got the CSR. We're saving over $2k just on flights and hotel, because originally I was looking at renting DVC points for the entire time. My CSR travel credits (I got to double dip) covered around 2/3 total of our flights and 5 nights at Pop Century at the end of this month. And then with AMEX offers (though those aren't necessarily tied to a travel card with them) we've saved $420 on Disney gift cards, $160 on our phone bill, plus $50 on some other miscellaneous offers...

So we might end up paying $640-$1090 in annual fees, but we've gotten around $4700 in value at this point, so...

We stayed at the Four points near Universal last August. Do you plan on doing Universal, too?

 

[Ngwira]

I'm totally stealing you guys' ideas here. That is a great way to not worry about an old no fee account!


I'm glad you mentioned this, because I never bothered to look under the activities! We aren't going until September so I've got time to figure out if cash or points is best for us, it'll probably depend on where the budget is, but I never would have checked here.

Glad you could make use of it. I have to call in to buy the KSC tickets as it won't let me book online for some reason...

 

[Albort]

The 5/24 rule only applies to Chase, right? I'm at 4/24 now and drop a card in February and another in April. I have the CSR, Disney Visa, and Amazon all from Chase, a Spirit card (that I should cancel due to the $49 annual fee and poor redemption rules) and two credit union no fee cards. I'd like to get a Chase Freedom, Chase IHG, Delta Amex, SPG, and Amex card. I assume I should get the chase cards first, then I don't need to worry about the 5/24 rule any more. Right? My goal is to rack up UR Points and points I can transfer into Delta Skymiles for flights.

5/24 applies to all cards. so apply for chase cards first.
UR dont go into Delta. i believe u need to transfer into Korean Air or one of their partners to use on delta.

 

[Ngwira]

Just used the remainder of my 2017 CSR travel credit on the Hampton Inn Orlando South! I paid with my CSR so I'll get 3x UR! I do think I will keep it after the one year, it's an awesome card!

When booking my Baltimore hotel through the UR portal, it did ask me for my loyalty number so Marriott should have no problem confirming my gold status for the reservation.

In addition to the CSR, I have the AMEX platinum which also gives you Hilton, SPG, Marriott and Hertz gold and we have travel reservations through all of these companies this year. So even if I hated giving up that $450 annual fee last month, I'm hoping the perks I will receive will make up for it. I'm a bit nervous to try to transfer my MR since I applied through the Thanksgiving link. has anyone who applied through that link tried to transfer their MR out?

 

[Albort]

For example, I currently have two credit cards that don't make much sense for me to use anymore because the rewards aren't that great but they both are no annual fee cards so they cost me nothing to keep. They were the first two credit cards that I ever opened and so they contribute a lot towards my age of credit as well as giving a boost to my overall available credit. Instead of closing these cards, I have my Netflix subscription set up on one of them and my Hulu subscription set up on the other. I also have each card's monthly bill set up for auto-pay. This way each card is used and paid in full every single month, which keeps them active and in good standing. I monitor them via YNAB, to ensure there are so strange charges or anything. But otherwise, I don't bother with them.

theres also a consideration of sign up bonuses. if the bonus is big enough, you might want to consider closing them, wait the 2 years(or however long it is) and the reapply. Also something to think about as well.
Citi Thank You trio is one example.

 

[Ngwira]

theres also a consideration of sign up bonuses. if the bonus is big enough, you might want to consider closing them, wait the 2 years(or however long it is) and the reapply. Also something to think about as well.
Citi Thank You trio is one example.

Barclay Arrival Plus is another...

 

[Ngwira]

Thinking about the next cards to churn...don't have any plans to open up any cards any time soon but..I'm thinking the CSP for the bonus, the Hyatt card for the 2 free nights, Marriott for the 80k bonus, the AMEX ED 25k signup bonus to keep my MR when I close my Platinum and PRG later this year, the IHG and Capital One Venture. Also I still don't have any Barclay cards, so the Arrival and Arrival Plus. Am I missing any good ones? Bank of America Merrill card? I already churned the Amtrak card which gave us round trip sleeper rooms from Philly to Orlando for family of 4 and one way to NYC from Philly, family of 4.

 

[WDWRook]

5/24 applies to all cards. so apply for chase cards first.
UR dont go into Delta. i believe u need to transfer into Korean Air or one of their partners to use on delta.

But only Chase follows that rule, right? So, once I'm over 5/24 I can apply for Amex cards with no 5/24 rule. UR can buy Delta flight via the portal, or via Korean Air. I've not done either yet, but I'm watching to see if any prices change soon.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

theres also a consideration of sign up bonuses. if the bonus is big enough, you might want to consider closing them, wait the 2 years(or however long it is) and the reapply. Also something to think about as well.
Citi Thank You trio is one example.

The cards I have do not have large sign-up bonuses and probably never will, so I am not concerned. They are the kind of cards that I was able to open when I was 18 and 20 years old with little to no credit history. They give rewards in the realm of 1 point per dollar. And one of them is an Amex, which you can never get a repeat bonus for, ever.

But this is a good point and another thing someone should consider when deciding whether to close an account.

 

[Albort]

But only Chase follows that rule, right? So, once I'm over 5/24 I can apply for Amex cards with no 5/24 rule. UR can buy Delta flight via the portal, or via Korean Air. I've not done either yet, but I'm watching to see if any prices change soon.

each company has their own rules. Amex are 1 lifetime bonus only, citi has a 2/65 day rule.
even the 5/24 isnt a solid rule... there are rumors that if you go into "pre-approved" section of your app, u can get a chase card despite being over the 5/24 rule.

 

[Albort]

Thinking about the next cards to churn...don't have any plans to open up any cards any time soon but..I'm thinking the CSP for the bonus, the Hyatt card for the 2 free nights, Marriott for the 80k bonus, the AMEX ED 25k signup bonus to keep my MR when I close my Platinum and PRG later this year, the IHG and Capital One Venture. Also I still don't have any Barclay cards, so the Arrival and Arrival Plus. Am I missing any good ones? Bank of America Merrill card? I already churned the Amtrak card which gave us round trip sleeper rooms from Philly to Orlando for family of 4 and one way to NYC from Philly, family of 4.

do u do any business with BOA?

 

[Ngwira]

do u do any business with BOA?

Nope, but my hubby banks with them. My accounts are with Chase (checking) and AMEX (high yield savings).

 

[Albort]

Nope, but my hubby banks with them. My accounts are with Chase (checking) and AMEX (high yield savings).

my cousin recently found some accounts with IRA accounts where u can earn a total of 5% in some categories... cashback though, none of that travel points...
alaska air CC i heard is a good idea too.

 

[amalone1013]

We stayed at the Four points near Universal last August. Do you plan on doing Universal, too?

Yup, we're thinking two days there. How was the Four points?