If the home improvement are something you can charge to an Amex,
I would def consider the SPG 35K offer first. Many have found meeting the spend on Amex cards difficult just given the acceptance rates of merchants. If your home improvement expenses can easily knock out a chunk or all of the 7K required on the new SPG offer, you could be sitting happily with 42K in SPG points fairly soon and maybe even refer DH. As someone else mentioned, the transfer partners could help you with your bigger trips down the road or even Alaska coming up. Don’t forget SPG gives you 5K bonuses for every 20K in transfers.
Because the offer expires 3/28, I would advocate the SPG Biz slightly over the double dip for now since it doesn’t affect your 5/24 and still can put you in a position to double dip later (or maybe shortly thereafter if your home improvements far exceed 7K for the SPG). If you are worried about the spend if coupling with the double dip, there’s certainly creative ways to do it as
@Lain has shared with another poster via Plastiq or bank funding. But this is all dependent on whether your home expenses are Amex eligible.
I actually was thinking of that after I posted. Took a while but I realized that it's a little less than a double dip so if we did that instead we could actually hit that and still do a smaller min spend card with it. And has been pointed out here it doesn't happen often and may not be around later.
That CIP offer has been solid for awhile. Would be surprised if it changed - Chase doesn't do that much.
The SPG offer is really good considering it only goes to 35k a couple times a year. Plus as
@Albort has said before...changes may be coming to the SPG/Marriott lineup...
EDIT: I'll also say that Delta offer seems to come around pretty frequently. I passed it up a few times before I went for it in December. And now it's back again already.
Agree with
@SouthFayetteFan, I think the SPG is far more likely to change before the CIP. If you can swing the spend on the SPG biz's new offer, I'd go for that before the CIP.
And this was what I was wondering about the CIP, could I reasonably push it off without missing the 80K? Original plan was to double dip the sapphires now and then after that period was complete do CIP in the summer when we have insurance payments due. A little FOMO if they drop the bonus while we're looking at things like SPG or Hilton instead.
Ok - so there was A LOT in your post...I'm just going to address a couple of things...
- I'd REALLY think hard about passing up the CSP/CSR double dip...you have an opportunity for BOTH of you to do that...once you apply for one card and not the other you're locked out for 24 months though. I'd just hate to see you regret that later...Also you may want to wait a couple of months to see if an increase CSR offer comes along which could affect your decision on this. There are some loose rumors out there right now that with the increase on the CSP that an increase to CSR may follow.
- This SPG Business offer that came out is PHENOMENAL. 35k points for $7k spend is the best this offer has been since March of 2016...2 years! You could take advantage of that without affecting your 5/24 status. Also...if one of you go the SPG biz you could then refer the other to it and take home over 92k SPG points (of course you'd have to hit the $14k spend to do that).
- One added comment for the road - I'd guess those Hilton offers aren't going anywhere anytime soon. They seem to be pretty standard/fair offers, that's all speculation but that's how I see it.
Good luck with whatever you decide! I'm sure others will have some helpful viewpoints as well.
That's what I haven't been able to find good speculation on. Didn't know if because they are the new, shiny card the offer is better now than may be later, or if they come out the gate with their standard offer and raise it occasionally as applications decline. It'd be nice to have it before our stays in May but it's probably not a deal breaker. I'll keep my fingers crossed we get lucky and meet minimums sooner than planned and still apply before May, ha!
Ok I'm going to add another thought...
When you're ready to go for URs you should do something like this:
Player 1: CSR/CSP double dip...meet both min spends
Player 2: CIP...meet min spend
Player 1: referred to CIP by Plyr2...meet min spend
Player 2: referred to CSR/CSP double dip by Plyr1...meet both min spends
You'll end up with something in the neighborhood of 440,000 URs! This would be $26,000 in combined minimum spends so it could keep you busy for a long time and you'd have no risk of Chase shutdown as your alternate between players.
8K + 5k + 5k +8k = $26,000 minimum spendings... its a pretty penny... haha
Exactly,
@Albort , exactly
I'm looking at that and going
The UR points sounds phenomenal and in my daydreams that's what we do, but unfortunately, or fortunately, we don't have a lot of expenses. 4k in 3 months can be doable, 5k would be a stretch unless we're around christmas, more than that and I'm stumped. So I'm kind of dependent on these HI projects we're looking to complete in the next couple months to hit the high min spend, unless I'm willing to pay fees or get creative. Our "businesses" aren't very expensive either so that won't add much into the mix.
I feel like I am not so great at figuring out the order of cards. I don't even know what to get DH next. Ha! But here are my general thoughts on the Alaska trip...
I'd probably try and do the cruise portion via the UR cruise dept. To do that, you will want to have a CSR. So getting a CIP/CSP/CSR will get you a ton of points. You could refer your hubs as well. I'm not sure about if that is hitting chase too hard/what order/etc. I just know that would be alot of UR points! The Hilton card could work for one of the hotel stays (Alaska or Cali). My tip is that the 5th night is free for honors silver, gold, diamond...so use those for your longer stay. Flights from cali to home on southwest points maybe. And possibly consider SW points to Seattle and the train to Vancouver. (that is my plan for next summer.) I'm not sure what your best bet is for flights Alaska to home...maybe get the SPG and transfer points to airline. Well, those are the cards I would consider. Someone more professional now can maybe come along with better ideas or help you with the best order in which to obtain the cards. Don't forget to have DH sign up through your referral links for his cards and vice versa.
Great minds
This is exactly my plan so far since we've got a bundle of SW points saved up for it. While not as luxurious as one would want in a cross country trip, we're still of sound body we can rough it if I pick strategic layovers. And thanks for the tip on the Hilton, we don't stay there often and haven't really looked into their program much; other than to find out we mis-remembered our last stay dates and lost the piddling amount of points we actually had
There is a lot of questions in your post and I cannot give advice for all but I'd like to really encourage you to double dip the CSP/CSR if you can pull off the MSR. For us, UR have been really valuable. We got my dh the CSR and the month before he went under 5/24, Chase changed the rules on getting both the cards. I so wish we had the option to double-dip. I love the CSR. The ability to redeem at 25% more than the CSP can be a huge difference in your points cost. And after the $300 travel credit, there is only $55 difference in annual fees. Really something to think about!
Again, I love UR so CIP is another card I highly suggest for both you and your hubby. The 80k seems to be the norm but we all know with Chase, things can change quickly. I'm pretty sure it was less a couple of years ago.
If I were in your shoes, I'd double dip the CSR/CSP first and then once you have met that spend, I'd move to the CIP. I've found the UR points so flexible. Then rinse and repeat with using each other's referral links
I'm so tempted to do it as that was the original plan a couple weeks ago, but I can't get over paying the AF on a card I'm not going to "use" right away. So I'm torn, could we manage to do 15k in 3 months if we manage to get approved for SPG and CSR/CSP at the same time? or try SPG and the CSP 60k while it's out and try for the double dip much later on player 2? I'm afraid to get the cards and then not meet the spend, or feel like I have to pay crazy fees in order to meet it if we get desperate (although the Plastiq fee isn't crazy, it's just so ingrained to not pay any money I don't have to even though I can see the value in some cases)
But thanks everyone for the thoughts! Hubby just got the Chase bank bonus accounts set up this morning so we're on the way to some cash there! (as an aside, he told me the bank manager said there was $250 DD requirement for the checking account to get the bonus. I thought there wasn't a minimum? or did I miss that?) So now I can work on him for the card applications, maybe get something in this weekend. Need luck we get approved for everything we want, it's been years and years since I've been denied anything but I've never gone for any of the high class cards before.
so thank you!
but yes I have 22 cards falling off in the next 11 months, haha!
