I love credit cards so much!

[gottalovepluto]

Good morning! I feel like I've learned so much following this board, and now I've got a bit of a plan to put in place, but wanted to see if my order of operations makes sense.

Some context first: We have two big trips on the horizon: one to WDW in October (not yet booked) and one to Germany for the Christmas markets in December 2019 (so next year). We live across the country from our families, so the three of us (me, DH, and DD, who is 2) fly back a couple of times a year to see them. When we go to Germany, it'll be us plus my dad, so four travelers.

We have a handful of cards now, here are the ones that might be relevant to this story:
- We both have Alaska Visa Signature cards, and we want to keep them because the companion fare is really helpful for those cross-country trips. We also have enough points still sitting for a free domestic flight (or half-ish of an international through partners).
- I have the AmEx SPG (picked up at the rec of this thread!). I just hit the minimum spend for the bonus.
- I have a United Card and an American card. The benefits on the American card are garbage and we don't fly them often anymore, so I'm going to cancel that. Thinking I'll keep United for the free checked bags, but am not wedded to it (except that it's a generous line, which is always nice for the credit score)... we're starting to lean towards loyalty to Alaska/Virgin, with Southwest as a second option.

For Disney this year, I'll have a little over 33k points after I hit this spend. I had originally planned on referring DH and hitting a spend on his, but then got to thinking about the CSR for him. So now my plan is to use their current point purchase promo to purchase the last 7k points I need for my free stay. From there:

• Have DH (who is fewer/24 than me) apply for CSR
• Use CSR travel credit to pay the last $200 I need for airfare for that Disney trip (we have $400 in vouchers sitting with one airline)
• Hit the spend on his CSR and hold those points for Germany bookings next year.
• Have him apply for Blue Cash preferred (the 6x groceries would be a big deal for us)
• Have him apply for the Alliant Visa (3x cash back on other purchases, including daycare) as recommended on this board.
• Later this year, when I'm back under 5/24, apply via referral for CSR and hit spend on that. Or do I do that early next year, since I don't have an immediate use for the $300 travel credit if his is covering Disney, which is our only second half 2018 trip? I think I read that travel credits are tied to application date, not calendar year, so the timing is probably important. Would just be banking URs to use for Germany.
• Once I apply for CSR, is it worth keeping his CSR, or should one be PCd down? Biggest spending categories for us are daycare (would go on that Alliant Visa) and groceries, which would go to AmEx Preferred until we max the category (less than six months), then... I'm not sure where we would charge them... If CSR makes sense, CSR, otherwise another good cash back card.
• I still think there'd be value in referring him to AmEx SPG and hitting the spend on that ahead of Germany, too. So maybe do that after we hit spend on my CSR?

So I feel like our priorities right now are: finish dealing with spends/point buys for Disney so that I can book that. Then start dealing with applications/spends for Germany. Once we hit spends on CSRs, SPGs, move spending to cash back rewards cards until categories are maxed, then figure out the best way to get some benefit from charging.

Anything that you'd do differently? Note that we can't do biz cards (no biz, and industries we work in are strict about it).

Bummer about no biz cards, but it is what it is for some. There are still many great options for you!

Have you looked into CSR/CSP double dipping for your DH? There is a very specific way you have to go about doing it, certain day and time in case you have to call reconsideration on the first app, so thoroughly research it out first but a number of people have successfully applied for both on the same day and gotten both bonuses! The downside, is it is quite the spending chunk to meet.

Another option, Barclaycard Arrival+. Right now, they are running 40K bonus miles worth $400 in statement travel credit. They ran a $500 offer last year, no idea if that's coming back. Now- Barclaycard has tightened up their application rules, I think*** can't find the datapoints on it hopefully someone else chimes in*** they are like 6/24. If you want your DH to have this card and the sapphires you may have to be very careful about how you go about it. This card is nice because of how flexible the statement credit is, airlines, hotels. AF waived first year, so make sure to use the points in year 1 so you can cancel!

Fwiw, Chase refused to allow my mom to pc her csr down within the first year. Insisted she wait until her 1 year mark. This was at the end of Dec.

Never keep 2 CSRs after the 1 year mark, you could always pay $75 for an AU card on one of them if you ultimately decide you want one in each of your pockets.

Should look into finding big bonuses on Amex cards for your Germany trip. I have very little familiarity with MRs but others here are great with them so you can consider transfer partners and the golden oldie option of cold hard cash! @SouthFayetteFan put together "Amex Platinum Card for Schwab" guide on our Reddit group that is golden for generating cash from MR sign up bonuses. Definitely read that! (if you're not in our reddit group join Reddit and then pm @SouthFayetteFan or @Albort to join our closed group there- we're all nice!)

 

[wendow]

Never keep 2 CSRs after the 1 year mark, you could always pay $75 for an AU card on one of them if you ultimately decide you want one in each of your pockets.

Or do like I did...and several others here on the board...Request a 'replacement card'. Chase will send another card in the cardholder's name and the spouse can use that one without needing to pay the AU'er fee. I've been doing that for about 6 mos now and it's worked great

 

[jujubiee4]

So for the first time...in a long time...I'm at a loss on what card to get next. I gotta spend some time and look into things. Does anybody have thoughts on my likelihood of being approved with Capital One? Here are my stats:

• 24 new cards in the past 24 months (24/24 lol)
• Only 4 new cards in the last 12 months
• Only 2 new cards in the last 6 months
• (PLUS 7 AMEX biz cards between me and the wife that aren't appearing )
• Inquiries: 2 in Sept 2017; 1 in Aug 2017; 2 in May 2017; 17 inquiries prior to that (total 22 inquiries)

If you know me then you know I have or have had almost every card worth mentioning...my wife goes under 5/24 in April so just trying to buy time until then. I'm considering doing 1 personal card and then I need to stop with personal cards as I can get back under 5/24 myself in 15 months (and we'll be busy with my wife hitting Chase until then anyways).

Cards I'm considering are:

• Any Capital One card
• BofA Premium Travel Card (although I don't really like that the travel credit doesn't seem easy to use)
• Open to other suggestions?
• If you were interested in what cards I already have hit up: https://www.reddit.com/r/DISchurner...rdsnot_a_soap_opera_just_a_thread_to/dr26t3c/

Any thoughts? I know I'm usually the one dishing out the advice here, haha - so interested if anybody has thoughts for me now!

Capital one Venture is my favorite "don't have to worry about it" card. I applied about 18 months ago
got the 50k bonus and now have about $900 flexible travel credit sitting in the account and i havent used
it in the last 6 months. To me it is like a "forced" travel savings. I have to have flexibility as my love right
now is DCL cruises so i need bonuses to apply to that cost.

App was simple and instantly approved with 30k limit which they recently upped automatically to 38k. I do
my apps 2 or 3 at a time so it must not have been a big hit on the pulls as my score has never been below
820 in 3 years.

When i don't feel like chasing/monitoring rotating categories on different cards which irritates my husband
i just pull out this. It adds up fast and can only be used for travel so im not tempted to take statement credit.

 

[hsmamato2]

SpG..... I forget, but I think I saw it here somewhere....when you use your spg cc to pay for resort fees,room charges at swolphin, does it code 2x,or 1x? for some reason I thought someone had said it's only 1x on that card.... got to keep which cc I want to use straight for upcoming trip

 

[jujubiee4]

Anyone have any recommendations on flights to Italy? I'm sending my daughter there to
visit her friend for the summer? Transfer UR points? get another card? lol

I see Norwegian air is not that expensive. Im hesitant to because this seems to be a new
route for them. Anyone fly with Air France?

 

[havaneselover]

SpG..... I forget, but I think I saw it here somewhere....when you use your spg cc to pay for resort fees,room charges at swolphin, does it code 2x,or 1x? for some reason I thought someone had said it's only 1x on that card.... got to keep which cc I want to use straight for upcoming trip

Yes, I believe that's what @pillow said.

 

[SBWB48]

I have nothing with Cap1 so that's why I was considering them too. Obviously a lot of my inquiries and cards are over a year old, since this is the last card I plan to apply for in my name in the near future three inquiries and a denial wouldn't be the end of the world, haha.

If the 1K back on 10K spend on the CapOne Biz Spark was still offered, I would definitely advocate for that card (I got it back in Nov and was a fan, but will be cancelling once the AF is due later in the year). Higher spend to keep you going for a few months and 12% return on everything (unless you need the card benefits like price protection, return protection, etc. then no dice.). I got a targeted mailer so the offer is still alive, but seems like they aren't transferable since I tried to use it for DH, but didn't work. Since a CapOne denial isn't meaningful to you, if the public offer of $500 back on 4K spend makes sense, I would consider it with the combination of a better sign up bonus + overall better return on everyday spend. Could be your one and done with CapOne in the near term (until you want to swing back down the road) since they don't have many travel cards otherwise that I think would best your current line up.

 

[gottalovepluto]

So for the first time...in a long time...I'm at a loss on what card to get next. I gotta spend some time and look into things. Does anybody have thoughts on my likelihood of being approved with Capital One? Here are my stats:

• 24 new cards in the past 24 months (24/24 lol)
• Only 4 new cards in the last 12 months
• Only 2 new cards in the last 6 months
• (PLUS 7 AMEX biz cards between me and the wife that aren't appearing )
• Inquiries: 2 in Sept 2017; 1 in Aug 2017; 2 in May 2017; 17 inquiries prior to that (total 22 inquiries)

If you know me then you know I have or have had almost every card worth mentioning...my wife goes under 5/24 in April so just trying to buy time until then. I'm considering doing 1 personal card and then I need to stop with personal cards as I can get back under 5/24 myself in 15 months (and we'll be busy with my wife hitting Chase until then anyways).

Cards I'm considering are:

• Any Capital One card
• BofA Premium Travel Card (although I don't really like that the travel credit doesn't seem easy to use)
• Open to other suggestions?
• If you were interested in what cards I already have hit up: https://www.reddit.com/r/DISchurner...rdsnot_a_soap_opera_just_a_thread_to/dr26t3c/

Any thoughts? I know I'm usually the one dishing out the advice here, haha - so interested if anybody has thoughts for me now!

I was denied Cap1 Venture in Oct. while they hit all 3 bureaus this was their only reason "Based on your credit report from Trans Union, number of bank cards tradelines opened in the last 24 months". I was 7/24. Idk about the ease of getting their other cards.

 

[Judique]

I still think there'd be value in referring him to AmEx SPG and hitting the spend on that ahead of Germany, too. So maybe do that after we hit spend on my CSR?

This would be a quick way to get those 7500 referral points. It might be a good idea to get him an SPG now, as the program/cards may change this year.

 

[pillow]

SpG..... I forget, but I think I saw it here somewhere....when you use your spg cc to pay for resort fees,room charges at swolphin, does it code 2x,or 1x? for some reason I thought someone had said it's only 1x on that card.... got to keep which cc I want to use straight for upcoming trip

Here you go - from Starwood:

Starpoints are awarded for eligible room rates, food and beverage charges (excluding alcoholic beverage purchases where prohibited by law in California, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Oregon), laundry/dry cleaning services, in-room mini bar charges, in-room telephone/fax and movie charges. Room upgrades, extra beds/cots, refrigerator/microwave rentals are also eligible for Starpoints.

Unfortunately, most other charges are not eligible, and can include, but are not limited to, the following:

- Taxes, service charges, resort charges, gratuities
- Parking, both valet parking and self-parking, car rental and limousine service
- Any charges through the hotel’s Business Center and in-room Internet charges
- Package handling charges
- Gift shops, or other hotel shops including spa, beauty salon, florist charges
- Recreational charges such as golf, tennis, health club fees, water sports, tours
- Nights paid via Starwood Preferred Guest Free Night Awards and Cash&Points rate plan
- Room charges to a Master Bill or Wholesale Tour Voucher
- Airline Crew room charges
- Travel Agent Education room rates (StarPro)
- Wholesale room rates
- All-inclusive packages
- Any bookings made through a third-party website. (e.g. Expedia, Priceline, Hotwire, Travelocity, Orbitz, Hotels.com)
- Any bookings, tours or pre-packaged deals made through a travel agency or tour operator in which the room portion of the stay is paid to the travel agency or tour operator
- Group room rates which have been highly discounted by the hotel
- Hotel charges which have been split and paid between two or more persons
- Starwood Employee/Family/Friends room rates

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I was denied Cap1 Venture in Oct. while they hit all 3 bureaus this was their only reason "Based on your credit report from Trans Union, number of bank cards tradelines opened in the last 24 months". I was 7/24. Idk about the ease of getting their other cards.

Thanks - I'm not gonna get my hopes up for Cap1 as it seems I am highly unlikely to get approved, lol. Might lean back towards that BofA Premium Rewards card...

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

DISchurners PSA...
Make sure you check all your links to see if they are active. They will expire after awhile. I try to go and test people's links every so often (found one today and sent a reminder). You don't want to miss out on a potential click because your link expired.

Also if you want to join our Private DISchurners Reddit group just send me @SouthFayetteFan or @Albort a PM here on the DIS with your Reddit name. There are some additional tips over there, a nice Wiki (done by @Albort) that has some great resources and it's also the best way to support fellow DISers when applying for new cards by using each other's links. EVERYBODY is permitted to share their links there too - no karma requirements, etc. like on r/churning. Thanks!

 

[Albort]

Here you go - from Starwood:

Starpoints are awarded for eligible room rates, food and beverage charges (excluding alcoholic beverage purchases where prohibited by law in California, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Oregon), laundry/dry cleaning services, in-room mini bar charges, in-room telephone/fax and movie charges. Room upgrades, extra beds/cots, refrigerator/microwave rentals are also eligible for Starpoints.

i think @hsmamato2 is talking about the charges onto the cards. which i do believe it earns 2x(1x in regular cat, 1x in other cat). what you posted above is on SPG side, the points earned via SPG is only room rate, does not include tax or any resort fee.

edit: yes, i can confirm it earns 2x.

 

[calypso726]

Holy cow! Just got back from a 3 day Disney cruise and there's 13 pages to catch up! Geez this board moves fast!

 

[Ngwira]

Headed to Vegas tomorrow. My CSR and Amex platinum will be headed there with me .

 

[miztressuz]

OMG finally caught up from vacation, I did it all in one sitting so I wouldn't forget what I read... totally a dumb idea I don't want to think about how many hours I spent on this rather than fixing our dryer that conked out on us yesterday (with 2 loads of wet laundry, ugh. fortunately we were headed to mom's to watch the Super Bowl so we just brought it with us... she even remembered to swap loads during one of the breaks, because who remembers to do their laundry when visiting someone else's house ... mom's are awesome )

So I'm reaching back for some of these posts:

I called Chase right away and of course the fraud person said we're cancelling the card and sending another. I'm actually spending way too much time trying to figure out how the card could have been compromised. I haven't used it at any of the obvious places someone could put a skimmer, like a gas station pump or an ATM. In fact, until a few days ago I hadn't used it at all for a few weeks. One charge at Panda Express and then the fraudulent charge the same day. I guess the cashier at Panda Express could have skimmed it but that would be kind of gutsy as I was standing right there (although not really paying attention to what she was doing).



The fraud person I spoke to was less than friendly. Not rude exactly but more like I was inconveniencing her by having this issue. She didn't volunteer any info about the charge and only sort of answered my questions about what kind of charge, when, where, etc. All I know is that it's a charge from an event venue in LA. And no offer to overnight the card (although I didn't ask).

Some times the numbers were swiped months in advance of the actual fraud purchase. All depends on how they got the number so you may never know where it was stolen from. But, in our little world, Chase seems to have a rash of incidents lately. Just a couple months ago both hubby's Amazon card and my Freedom card got hit with fraud charges within weeks of each other and they don't usually get used at the same places and we had all cards in our possession. So could be odd coincidence or hubby's an AU on my Freedom and somehow someone skimmed both cards from his wallet.... I'm going with coinkydink. I'm on my 3rd (or maybe 4th?) Freedom number because of fraud charges in the last 2 or 3 years.

Other than that only my Discover card has had fraud twice in the whole time I've had it. First time was about a year after getting it and then all good until earlier last year (2017) for which we blame the Girl Scouts website It was one of the last legit purchases on it when I was reviewing it with the Discover fraud department and the rep was joking about it. This year we're sending a check to my niece instead

Marriott and SPG points can become a quick addiction. When you think about it - there are 4 cards (SPG, SPG Biz, Marriott, Marriott Biz)...if you are in 2 player mode and BOTH get all 4 cards referring each other where possible you end up with almost 800,000 Marriott points likely worth $6k+ (on about $28k in combined min. spends). It's pretty insane!

So how about Marriott Biz 75k points after $3k spend with AF waived the first year...

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/chas...siness-75000-points-no-annual-fee-first-year/

My 2 Cents...this Marriott Business offer is phenomenal! I don't ever recall seeing the AF waived on the biz card! If Marriott/SPG points are on your list I'd strongly consider this one...you can get it when over 5/24 and it doesn't hurt your 5/24 status.

I think it is LITERALLY the only Chase card that you can say both of those statements about!

...
Also, our Marriott account is in my husband's name, but I want to apply for the card in my name. Any foreseeable problems linking these accounts so the 75k go in under his number?

TIA! Just want to make sure I have all my wandering ducks in a row before I do this!

...

4. If you want to transfer your Marriott points to DH's Marriott Rewards account, Marriott allows you to transfer to anyone up to 50,000 points per year with a $10 fee per transfer. (Don't do this. Read on.) Gold and Platinum members transfer free. HOWEVER, since Marriott and SPG merged, you can now transfer your Marriott points to SPG at a rate of 3:1, then SPG allows you to transfer any amount of points in increments of 1,000 to a member of the same household/mailing address. Once those converted points are in DH's SPG account, he can then transfer the SPG points to his Marriott account whenever you want at a 1:3 rate.

Good luck!

I've been wondering about all this lately and I think you all have answered a bunch of my questions about earning and then transferring points to a single Marriott account after going for multiple cards in 2 player mode. Like @DisneyMandC, the Marriott account is hubby's and I think it would make the most sense to pool everything into one instead of splitting it, but wasn't sure how to go about it. Also, eventually looking at lifetime statuses. At the moment we've got enough nights for Silver Elite for life BUT woefully behind on lifetime points (need 1.2M but we've got like 300K ish) so was trying to strategize the quickest way to ramp the points up. Eventually I think we'd both go for SPG cards (not sure what ones yet, still thinking) and maybe I'd get a Marriott one too but still trying to work it all out with potential UR cards so I don't screw any of that up. Knowing we can run the transfers game through SPG helps. Thanks!

We are wanting to diversify our hotel points without jeopardizing hubby’s Hilton lifetime diamond that he will attain in 3 years.
I have a hard time thinking about booking Marriott when he has no status because he earns at such a higher rate at Hilton.

What is the beat way to get some status at Marriott without starting at the bottom? Are there any Marriott cards he can get that give him a level or two up from peon? Ha. Once he gets some sort of status we can hit Hilton hard until get 60 nights to renew diamond, then switch the rest of the year to marriott.

Sure. That's the Ameriprise Platinum. AF is waived the first year.

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/different-flavors-of-the-american-express-platinum-card/



Some flavors of the Amex Platinum (I think personal Platinum, business Platinum, and Mercedes-Benz) offer automatic SPG Gold status, which can be matched with Marriott for Gold Elite status, for as long as you hold the card.

Also just having the Marriott CC gets you at least Silver Elite, it's not gold but it's not the bottom either so you'd get bonus points on your stays at least. Plus every 3k in spend earns you another Elite night. It's not super awesome but I'm pretty sure that's part of how we hit the lifetime nights needed for lifetime Silver Elite already.

 

[miztressuz]

Headed to Vegas tomorrow. My CSR and Amex platinum will be headed there with me .

That sounds dangerous.... good luck!

 

[miztressuz]

OOPs, sorry, you're right, I mixed up the two products! The Discover It Miles card is 1.5%, doubled the first year. The Discover is 1%, w the 5% bonus categories, doubled the first year. Thanks for catching that!

Gotcha, thanks for clarifying! Thought I had a little FOMO going on, that I wasn't doing something right, hehe

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Good morning! I feel like I've learned so much following this board, and now I've got a bit of a plan to put in place, but wanted to see if my order of operations makes sense.

Some context first: We have two big trips on the horizon: one to WDW in October (not yet booked) and one to Germany for the Christmas markets in December 2019 (so next year). We live across the country from our families, so the three of us (me, DH, and DD, who is 2) fly back a couple of times a year to see them. When we go to Germany, it'll be us plus my dad, so four travelers.

We have a handful of cards now, here are the ones that might be relevant to this story:
- We both have Alaska Visa Signature cards, and we want to keep them because the companion fare is really helpful for those cross-country trips. We also have enough points still sitting for a free domestic flight (or half-ish of an international through partners).
- I have the AmEx SPG (picked up at the rec of this thread!). I just hit the minimum spend for the bonus.
- I have a United Card and an American card. The benefits on the American card are garbage and we don't fly them often anymore, so I'm going to cancel that. Thinking I'll keep United for the free checked bags, but am not wedded to it (except that it's a generous line, which is always nice for the credit score)... we're starting to lean towards loyalty to Alaska/Virgin, with Southwest as a second option.

For Disney this year, I'll have a little over 33k points after I hit this spend. I had originally planned on referring DH and hitting a spend on his, but then got to thinking about the CSR for him. So now my plan is to use their current point purchase promo to purchase the last 7k points I need for my free stay. From there:

• Have DH (who is fewer/24 than me) apply for CSR
• Use CSR travel credit to pay the last $200 I need for airfare for that Disney trip (we have $400 in vouchers sitting with one airline)
• Hit the spend on his CSR and hold those points for Germany bookings next year.
• Have him apply for Blue Cash preferred (the 6x groceries would be a big deal for us)
• Have him apply for the Alliant Visa (3x cash back on other purchases, including daycare) as recommended on this board.
• Later this year, when I'm back under 5/24, apply via referral for CSR and hit spend on that. Or do I do that early next year, since I don't have an immediate use for the $300 travel credit if his is covering Disney, which is our only second half 2018 trip? I think I read that travel credits are tied to application date, not calendar year, so the timing is probably important. Would just be banking URs to use for Germany.
• Once I apply for CSR, is it worth keeping his CSR, or should one be PCd down? Biggest spending categories for us are daycare (would go on that Alliant Visa) and groceries, which would go to AmEx Preferred until we max the category (less than six months), then... I'm not sure where we would charge them... If CSR makes sense, CSR, otherwise another good cash back card.
• I still think there'd be value in referring him to AmEx SPG and hitting the spend on that ahead of Germany, too. So maybe do that after we hit spend on my CSR?

So I feel like our priorities right now are: finish dealing with spends/point buys for Disney so that I can book that. Then start dealing with applications/spends for Germany. Once we hit spends on CSRs, SPGs, move spending to cash back rewards cards until categories are maxed, then figure out the best way to get some benefit from charging.

Anything that you'd do differently? Note that we can't do biz cards (no biz, and industries we work in are strict about it).

I’d do the CSR early in the morning. Get that approved then in a different browser apply for the CSP. This would get you 100k ur. So far it’s still working.
Once you are under 4/24 you could apply as well.

 

[vanjust14]

DISchurners PSA...
Make sure you check all your links to see if they are active. They will expire after awhile. I try to go and test people's links every so often (found one today and sent a reminder). You don't want to miss out on a potential click because your link expired.

Also if you want to join our Private DISchurners Reddit group just send me @SouthFayetteFan or @Albort a PM here on the DIS with your Reddit name. There are some additional tips over there, a nice Wiki (done by @Albort) that has some great resources and it's also the best way to support fellow DISers when applying for new cards by using each other's links. EVERYBODY is permitted to share their links there too - no karma requirements, etc. like on r/churning. Thanks!

Speaking of these links...are the Marriott offers for the 75,000 points and waived AF through these links? I saw the 80,000 offer still posted in dischurners.