I love credit cards so much!

[peel]

brilliant-thank you!!! think its worth a call to see if they'll offer a bonus to stay with this one,or would that be silly?

I was successful in getting a $100 credit to keep my SW Premier even though I sock drawered it after I met MSR. It's worth a shot.

 

[Lain]

Help me think through the math on paying bills via Plastiq when NOT in min spend mode . . .

For example, my electric company only charges $1.65 per cc payment up to $1k. Even though the fee is tiny, it may make more sense to pay via Plastiq/CIP:

$1,000 payment
$25 Plastiq fee (2.5%)
UR earned 3,075
value of UR $46.13 (@1.5 - assume xfer to CSR)
Net value $21.13 ($46.13 less $25 Plastiq fee)

$21.13 = 2.1% net cash back

If I pay direct to the power company - even with a 2% cash back card, I would earn:

$20.03 (2% cash back x $1,001.65)
-$1.65 fee
$18.38 Net = 1.8% net cash back

Of course, how one values UR matters + in the above case (since the difference in cash back isn't large), one could argue that cash back now is more valuable vs points used later (and potentially devalued). Curious to hear everyone's thoughts on this.

I think your math needs to be a more case-specific in your second example, i.e., paying the utilities directly.

Your utilities will charge that $1.65 fee whether you pay a $1000 bill or a $100 bill, so the percentage of the fee will be different.

On a $1000 bill, a $1.65 fee represents 0.165%. On a $100 bill, it's 1.65%. Both are lower than Plastiq's 2.5%. Either way, it's a raw $1.65 out of pocket.

However, if I pay Plastiq using CIP, then:

On a $1000 bill, I pay a $25 fee, but earn 3,075 UR, worth $30.75 in cash, and net $5.75. On a $100 bill, I pay a $2.50 fee, but earn 307.5 UR, worth $3.07 in cash, and net 0.57¢. (I'm assuming only a cash value here because you can cash out 1 UR point = 1¢ at anytime. Of course, UR points are worth more when redeemed for travel through CSR.) On simply cash value, I could cash out the UR points earned on the Plastiq transaction, use the cash to pay the fee, and still come out ahead. So instead of paying $1.65 I'll never see again, I'll have made some money.

 

[miztressuz]

thanks.... I couldn't find it....

Np, I had a double take myself when they made the change to this format, since we're not used to seeing it like that I kinda just skipped over all the stuff on the back. Kept staring at the front going "something's missing"...

 

[Lain]

So my 80,000 CIP bonus posted this morning (already transferred to CSR) and I was approved for SPG Biz yesterday. Making great progress toward Europe for next summer! I've come up with a decent list of things I can pre-pay (Verizon, electric bill, EZ Pass) plus I'll be paying my car insurance bill and buying 30,000 SPG points with my new card as soon as it arrives. $7,000 is a lot for me for 3 months but it just really forces me to shift spending which thankfully I can do.

CONGRATULATIONS! On both the good news!

I'll try it if I'm desperate. Personally, I interpret prepaid cards narrowly (visa and mc gift cards, for example) (not that it matters how I interpret it!). Does anyone know if there any data points where someone has been denied their bonus for buying a normal gift card? I've only read about the Simon gift cards. Also, I'd probably put some random amount on the GOC card like $489.52 just in case. Or throw in a candy bar. But I thought Amex has access to very detailed level data so that probably doesn't matter.

ETA: Yikes I just read that they actually say gift cards too! I'd probably avoid GOC but I'm pretty risk averse.

I bought about $900 worth of Target gift cards on my SPG Biz back during the 10% off sale in December. Didn't have a problem with those amounts counting towards MSR and triggering the bonuses. I did vary the amounts by adding other items to my transactions.

 

[1st*toright]

FYI - it's not $10k and it isn't 6 months. It's actually a $7k spend over 3 months this time around.

And this is why I should take the time to find the relevant post here, rather than googling to check what the current offer would be... We will see when I get done with the CIP, then see if I can schedule out $7k in the next 3 months.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

And this is why I should take the time to find the relevant post here, rather than googling to check what the current offer would be... We will see when I get done with the CIP, then see if I can schedule out $7k in the next 3 months.

No worries - we got your back! This SPG offer is available through referral links as long as you apply by 3/28/18 so you have some time to think about it.

 

[1st*toright]

No worries - we got your back! This SPG offer is available through referral links as long as you apply by 3/28/18 so you have some time to think about it.

Sounds like its time to sign up for Reddit...

 

[gottalovepluto]

What is CIP? I like credit cards and all but lots of jargon here I just don’t get. I have 3 cards that I use and really i don’t use them that much. I have a Disney Chase (meh not so good). Chase Sapphire and a Capital One Card which I never use.

So there are over 800 pages here on credit cards which honestly I’m NOT going to read.

So for those of us late in the game today how about a little help on acronyms and abbreviations. Where would a noob CC person even start? I see lots of posts “we flew here free” or “stayed here free” or “upgraded to Europe free”. I like free but man I’m confused

to our little corner of the DIS! We do love free around here, unfortunately free comes with 3 things:
1) Discipline to pay your credit card in full every month and to NOT SPEND MORE THAN YOU OTHERWISE WOULD when meeting a minimum spend (I'm not counting paying ahead on things like utilities because you would already purchase those)
2) Organizational skills to not miss payments, miss spending deadlines, lose your points to expiration, pay annual fees on cards you don't intend to keep
3) Time. This will take time, you will have to research each offer, ask questions here or on reddit (they're not as nice I warn!). If you have a little time but are not looking to take on a whole new hobby take that into consideration when you get a credit card.

(OMG guys, I came up with an acronym!! DOT!... yeah, no. Well, I felt cool for like 2 seconds )

That out of the way if you are still with me continue on! (If not it's OK, this isn't for everyone.)

Reading all 800 pages here is not a great starting point for sure. I'd skim the last 100 to get a feel for stuff.

Here are two places for you to start your learning: skim the wiki of r/churning https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/wiki/index and DoC's list of best credit card offers https://www.doctorofcredit.com/best-current-credit-card-sign-bonuses/
The wiki is a decent starting place, but it is by no means gospel. Personally I haven't opened loyalty accounts everywhere because some I will never use. The rule of thumb for cleaning up your credit score for mortgage apps in the community is 6 months, super-super-super conservative is that 2 years- I'd actually never seen 2 years before scanning that wiki right now. As for DoC, I prefer his info over outfits like TPG (ThePointsGuy) because most bloggers promote whatever credit card gets them referrals even if you are getting half the bonus you could on a different link. DoC doesn't use their referrals for credit cards.

In general Chase is where many start unless an amazing offer somewhere else comes along: https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/5mhaai/beginners_chase_guide_for_folks_under_524/

Glossary! https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/wiki/glossary

ETA: literally everyone already has you covered! I'm leaving this here but lol, I love this thread guys! Credit card ninjas- you have questions, you'll get an answer basically before you've even asked it [insert ninja emoji here]

 

[christineinvegas]

Hi! I'm a new poster, but LONG time lurker. You guys have been amazing to follow...I can't even.

I'm at work and can't keep up with how fast this thread is moving....Oh man.

Here's my dilemma I'm hoping for a quick answer.

I need Hawaiian Airlines miles specifically. I'm in 2 player mode, but DH doesn't care for the game much. LOL

We just finished the MSR on our 2 HA cards. I have some SPG points from both of our personal SPG's that I want to convert to Marriott for the Miles/Nights package, but I still need about 70k Marriott points if I do it that way.

So I was thinking of either getting the SPG Biz (spend is a little high for me) or Marriott.

DH is 3/24, I am 5/24 til the middle of this month.

Can we have a personal SPG and a Biz?

Or is there a better credit card to transfer for HA miles?

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Sounds like its time to sign up for Reddit...

https://memegenerator.net/img/instances/80571150/what-are-you-waiting-for-champ.jpg

 

[gottalovepluto]

Hi! I'm a new poster, but LONG time lurker. You guys have been amazing to follow...I can't even.

I'm at work and can't keep up with how fast this thread is moving....Oh man.

Here's my dilemma I'm hoping for a quick answer.

I need Hawaiian Airlines miles specifically. I'm in 2 player mode, but DH doesn't care for the game much. LOL

We just finished the MSR on our 2 HA cards. I have some SPG points from both of our personal SPG's that I want to convert to Marriott for the Miles/Nights package, but I still need about 70k Marriott points if I do it that way.

So I was thinking of either getting the SPG Biz (spend is a little high for me) or Marriott.

DH is 3/24, I am 5/24 til the middle of this month.

Can we have a personal SPG and a Biz?

Or is there a better credit card to transfer for HA miles?

You can have a personal SPG and a Biz. Idk about HA, sorry.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Hi! I'm a new poster, but LONG time lurker. You guys have been amazing to follow...I can't even.

I'm at work and can't keep up with how fast this thread is moving....Oh man.

Here's my dilemma I'm hoping for a quick answer.

I need Hawaiian Airlines miles specifically. I'm in 2 player mode, but DH doesn't care for the game much. LOL

We just finished the MSR on our 2 HA cards. I have some SPG points from both of our personal SPG's that I want to convert to Marriott for the Miles/Nights package, but I still need about 70k Marriott points if I do it that way.

So I was thinking of either getting the SPG Biz (spend is a little high for me) or Marriott.

DH is 3/24, I am 5/24 til the middle of this month.

Can we have a personal SPG and a Biz?

Or is there a better credit card to transfer for HA miles?

You can have a personal SPG and a Biz. Idk about HA, sorry.

You should have a personal SPG And Biz (Fixed That For You)

 

[miztressuz]

Chase, unlike AMEX is very steady with their offers. The CSP 50k offer had been going for years before the recent increase. That Chase Disney offer has been around for 6 years or something like that, Freedom has been $150 for a loooong time. Of course there's always risk but my plan is that CIP will still be at 80k in a year, haha (for what it's worth...which isnt' much!)

On the min spends...If you have extra cash this is where pre-paying expenses can come in handy. We paid our gas and water and 6 months electric (they had a cap) for the year in January to hit a min spend. I'm planning to pay the rest of the year's cable bill with CIP when we get that later this year. I look at those prepayments as part of my emergency fund...basically they are bills I am guaranteed to not have to pay. Sometimes we'll buy gift cards to Aldi for our next couple of months of groceries. We've also bought VGCs before and then just spent down on those for a month or 2 after hitting a min. spend. Just some ideas

Yeah, I have to work the numbers on prepayments. We've done things like that sporadically but I think I have hubby on board to do it more often. We started with the internet and wireless bills last quarter when we both got the AmEx offer and then with the utility category on Freedom we kept the pre-payments going. This may be the first time we fully max out the CF quarter.

And I do value your opinion on the Chase bonus, with you being one of the ones on here living it for so long it, experience does add some worth Anything can change at the drop of a hat, but I've been doing my job at the same company for so long I can predict the actual timeline of a project within a week or so even for brand new projects/products/people... unfortunately some things are universal (for what it's worth, it's never shorter than the original accepted timeline which is always the "best case scenario" despite my best efforts at trying to keep to it after dissuading them from using it. i've only been doing this for more than a decade, what could i possibly know ) So I'll follow you guys best educated guestimates and be flexible if the unexpected occurs.

 

[gottalovepluto]

...You don't have to use the Chase corporate code to take advantage of Executive status. Book with whatever code you want, and reserve a Midsize car. If the location has an Emerald Aisle it will also have an Executive Aisle. Go straight to the aisle and pick any car, then show your Executive card when checking out. You should also have the Executive status linked to your National account, so I'm not sure you even need the card, but it's better to carry it. If the location doesn't have an Emerald Aisle where you choose your own car, I believe you will be upgraded at the counter with your Executive status, but I haven't been through that myself so I can't be positive.

@mistyinca I'm getting behind and need to go to work but in case I didn't already tell you check the price on the UR portal before you book through National. We got a much lower price even paying cash (which you can via UR) than we were being quoted from National. (We were after a Tahoe size car, so a specific rental category in our case.)

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Yeah, I have to work the numbers on prepayments. We've done things like that sporadically but I think I have hubby on board to do it more often. We started with the internet and wireless bills last quarter when we both got the AmEx offer and then with the utility category on Freedom we kept the pre-payments going. This may be the first time we fully max out the CF quarter.

And I do value your opinion on the Chase bonus, with you being one of the ones on here living it for so long it, experience does add some worth Anything can change at the drop of a hat, but I've been doing my job at the same company for so long I can predict the actual timeline of a project within a week or so even for brand new projects/products/people... unfortunately some things are universal (for what it's worth, it's never shorter than the original accepted timeline which is always the "best case scenario" despite my best efforts at trying to keep to it after dissuading them from using it. i've only been doing this for more than a decade, what could i possibly know ) So I'll follow you guys best educated guestimates and be flexible if the unexpected occurs.

I believe the history on the CIP is it was introduced in fall 2016 and the bonus has remained at 80k ever since so it's got a good track record

 

[SBWB48]

So don't even do Disney gc thrown in with my groceries? I'm sure I'll be able to do the spend without but that was one way I thought would help. The alternative is using the amex to pay directly on my hotel instead of my csr...

I have bought a ton of store gift cards using AMEX to meet min. spends over the past 20 months. I've earned a sign-up bonus on 19 AMEX cards during that time including 6 in the past 6 months. Obviously your experience could be different but I've bought Target GCs, gift cards at my local gas station, gift cards at my local grocery store to Disney, etc. and had no issues. The issue is level 3 data on Cash-equivalent gift cards (Visa Gift Cards primarily) - I'm not sure buying a Kohl's gift card at my local Giant Eagle grocery store really hits the radar...

I've done the same as @SouthFayetteFan and @Lain. Purchased GCs for various restaurants or retailers at the grocery store and Target GCs during the sale and never had any issues with Amex/RAT team. My total was in the ballpark of 1-1.5K at the time.

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.

Right, but all dependent on whether your home improvements are Amex eligible. If so, I think it's almost a no brainer, especially since you mentioned you are still unsure about the CSR. Buys you a little more time on the double dip idea without it counting against you (i.e. if the CSR bonus increases before you decide to double up, keep earning bonuses, not count towards 5/24, not miss a bonus on a card that could go away potentially, etc.). Good luck with your decision!

 

[calypso726]

Along the same lines - it seems as if the good Amex offers have completely dried up. I wonder if using too many of those is considered "rewards abuse." I don't think I've taken advantage of an Amex offer in at least 2 months, which is unusual. Makes me wonder if Amex is pulling back on those intentionally.

I noticed that too. I haven’t seen anything I want to jump on and take advantage of since December.

Was someone here going to DC for the Cherry Blossoms this year?

They've just announced 2018's peak days will be March 17 to March 20.

Me! Gah!!! We arrive March 30 but if it doesn’t work out there’s always next year.

@calypso726 I believe?

Sorry for such a huge post so late at night, but I finally just got all my thoughts together (as you'll see if you keep reading, I tend to overthink things... drives hubby crazy)

I'm looking for advice on jumping into this points game full time. Cashback has been mostly my focus as it never felt like we could earn enough points to make using them worthwhile. Since we do 1 bigger trip each year, the cashback saved up since the last trip is used for this trip. So far I only have a CF for UR points, and we have a AmEx Green and Everyday card for MR points.

I’m in a little application paralysis but need to get something started soon as I have some home improvement projects coming up that I can use to meet minimum spends. Here goes:

Short term Goal: Anniversary Alaska cruise trip Sep 2019. We’ll do a 7 night northbound cruise starting in Vancouver, so we’re planning 2 nights pre-cruise Vancouver, 2-3 nights post cruise Alaska, fly back to the west coast for another 2 or 3 nights somewhere (probably California but so many choices even there) before heading home. Since we’re doing Alaska at the end of the season not sure if we want to stay there longer yet, so we’re flexible still.

Long term Goals: Amass some flexible points for bucket list trips. We’re not sure exactly the order but every couple years we’d like to do a big trip to see the sights while we’re still young enough to really enjoy it. I have a personal goal to step foot on every continent, we have a whopping 2 down so far

Things like, Antarctica (@calypso726 I am so looking forward to a recap of your trip, NatGeo is on my short list of options), Hawaii, Rhine or Danube river cruise, Panama Canal cruise, British isles tour (with possible layover in Iceland), snorkel/dive the Great Barrier Reef, etc etc

What we have so far is

• SW points to get back and forth from east coast to west coast
  
• IHG and Marriott for various hotel nights
  
• Norwegian for some OBC and shore excursion credits
  
• Discover it card cashback match (completes 12/18)

What I think we need is

• A nice place to experience Alaska (not just the cheapest IHG room I can find )
  
• Flights from Alaska back to lower 48
  
• Depending on where in CA we decide on, might want to stay at an experience (like DL maybe )
  
• How to do tours or meals (is there any values out there other than cashback?)

Current 5/24 status:
Me...............................................Hubby

5/17 Norwegian BoA........................5/17 AU on Norwegian
11/17 Discover IT..........................12/17 SW Plus
....................................................1/18 AmEx Blue Cash

1. Was interested in the CSR/CSP double dip as with the projects I could pull off 2-3 cards in the same period. But since I don’t really need the CSR right away is it a wasted slot/AF? Original plan was to do it later this year so the trip next year was included in the one AF. Aside from who knows what will happen in the future, what’s the disadvantage to doing just a CSP now and then keeping a slot open for hubby to do a CSR later in the year? Not sure we’d have the spend later this year for both so I don’t think we can both double dip (but I hate missing out on both bonuses) I had toyed with my double dip now, then see where the landscape is next year and get one (or both) sapphires for hubby then. I’d keep one and downgrade the other to a CFU so we only have one CSR at a time.

2. I’m also interested in getting the CIP. Is the 80k bonus fairly common? Is this this something we should think about sooner rather than later to capitalize on that? I have no biz cards, we only dabble in “businessy” things, but I am thinking about making it more formal and opening an Etsy shop to attract a better class of buyers.

3. Those Hilton cards are tempting. I wouldn’t mind adding a third hotel brand into our repertoire. And since we have 2 stays in May booked at Hilton properties, I was thinking of getting hubby to sign up for one of them beforehand (he has the existing Hilton account we booked the stays under). Still deciding which but something with the 100K option. I’m assuming the offer is so good because they are new, how long do you think that would last best educated guestimate?

4. I’d also like some SPG cards since we already have a decent Marriott account going, I think earning some SPG bonuses would be helpful long term for both that and travel in general. I was thinking of getting a Marriott for myself at some point and pool the points. But again, how soon should we jump on this given the SPG landscape changing, try to squeeze in now or see what the new products do?

Initial thoughts was to do the CSR/CSP for me and get hubby to do a Hilton now. That’s probably all we can safely do at once as most places will take a deposit for large projects on credit but like the balance in cash. Then look at some biz cards like CIP or SPG, Marriott to keep some slots open. What am I missing? Should we look at this in another way and go for cards that might not be around later first? Is there an advantage to picking out any airline cards for the flight back from Alaska or about the same using UR, MR or maybe SPG points for that?

TL;DR Paralyzed, Help! What should I apply for first?

I’m looking forward to it too and will post a TR somewhere on the DIS, most likely the “other options” on the ABD thread.

I am going to agree on the previous advice as well, given your goals. Start with that CSR/CSP double dip and have DH get the CIP. I’d go that SPG biz card next.

SPG will give you lots of option for airline transfers and also has the added bonus of SPG stays. We did an Alaska Disney cruise in 2014 and stayed at a Westin in Vancouver near Stanley Park which was very nice. We had friends that stayed at the Peninsula and paid with UR points.

We flew to Vancouver on United with UR points transferred to the airline and snagged some first class saver award seats. So that is another option with UR points.

This post is why I'm leery of collecting more Delta points - even though I want the plat for the new signup. And I predominantly focus on MR for Delta transfers... but look at this. Insanity.

https://twitter.com/RenesPoints/status/969578732737454080

To save you the click, Delta wants nearly a million miles for first between Singapore and Buenos Aires... for one person. Yikes.

Exactly! Took me longer than I expected to use my Delta Sky Pesos for flights. I am content with using them to go to Disneyland for Dapper Days so I will call it a win!

 

[hsmamato2]

Np, I had a double take myself when they made the change to this format, since we're not used to seeing it like that I kinda just skipped over all the stuff on the back. Kept staring at the front going "something's missing"...

discover deals.... is this an additional earn opportunity on top of the 5% cashback categories (quarterly)- altho it looks like it doesn't work on gift cards at sams club which is one offer I see

 

[miztressuz]

Right, but all dependent on whether your home improvements are Amex eligible. If so, I think it's almost a no brainer, especially since you mentioned you are still unsure about the CSR. Buys you a little more time on the double dip idea without it counting against you (i.e. if the CSR bonus increases before you decide to double up, keep earning bonuses, not count towards 5/24, not miss a bonus on a card that could go away potentially, etc.). Good luck with your decision!

Yep, for sure! I've got 2k lined up right now that if I had the card in my hot little hand I could knock that out today so even if I don't get many other projects on it we should be able to do 5k in 3 months... which is what made me realize we could probably swing that one instead. Just got to read up on business applications, despite AmEx trying to give me a business card since I was in college, I never really looked into the application requirements and how to apply.

 

[Albort]

Help me think through the math on paying bills via Plastiq when NOT in min spend mode . . .

For example, my electric company only charges $1.65 per cc payment up to $1k. Even though the fee is tiny, it may make more sense to pay via Plastiq/CIP:

$1,000 payment
$25 Plastiq fee (2.5%)
UR earned 3,075
value of UR $46.13 (@1.5 - assume xfer to CSR)
Net value $21.13 ($46.13 less $25 Plastiq fee)

$21.13 = 2.1% net cash back

If I pay direct to the power company - even with a 2% cash back card, I would earn:

$20.03 (2% cash back x $1,001.65)
-$1.65 fee
$18.38 Net = 1.8% net cash back

Of course, how one values UR matters + in the above case (since the difference in cash back isn't large), one could argue that cash back now is more valuable vs points used later (and potentially devalued). Curious to hear everyone's thoughts on this.

have you also considered using a CFU instead?

$15.02 ($1,001.65*1.5% back)
-$1.65 fee
value of UR $22.53
Net value $20.88

it might be more simple to use CFU than to use plastiq.