I love credit cards so much!

[eeyoresmom]

Two questions please...I usually use my Amex BCP for gift cards at grocery stores to get 6% . I am very close or maybe just over maxing out that benefit anyway. I am working on meeting MS for my new INK business card and plan on buying some cards at Staples for the 5x rewards. We have a CSR as well....should I be buying gift cards at Staples regardless? If I'm not missing anything those points are worth 7.5x when transferred to CSR? Second question, I opened my two SW cards last April and want to close one . Do I have to wait until the AF posts and then cancel for a refund or can I close it before then?

 

[Judique]

Sheraton club lounge tonight was serving bbq pulled pork sliders; petit crab cakes; Mediterranean-style olive, mozzerella, and artichoke skewers; deli meats and cheese with biscuits; veggie dippers with ranch sauce; tortilla chips with salsa; bottled water, soft drinks, coffee, tea, beer and wine; and cookies!

Dinner!

 

[speedyfishy]

Wells Fargo is not giving me my bonus for my business account that I opened. They are saying I didn’t meet the requirements, but I did. I read over the email and the fine print multiple times. I did a secure message so I think I will call. if it doesn’t work I think I’m going to have to file a CFPB complaint. This has got to be the worst bank ever.

 

[hsmamato2]

Well...Amex offers.... awhile back when everyone was getting the $500/$100 cruise offer, I got nothing on any of my cards (I wanted it so much!) and now that I changed my mind for this year and not cruising..... I get the offer on my BCP yesterday! Why would it show up so late? strange..... I claimed it anyway in case there's something I can figure out to use it on soon...... but wth? why would I not get it, then get it 2 months later?

 

[Gwmw1210]

Hi - we love new posters on our awesome thread

So you are at 4/24 (I'm assuming you know something about the Chase 5/24 rule - if you don't, it basically is a rule for Chase cards that puts limitations on getting certain cards). Once you hit 5/24 you would be locked out of numerous Chase cards. Luckily you have 2 cards falling off in September. Right now I'd consider the CIP card (Chase Ink Preferred) which has an 80,000 UR (ultimate reward) bonus! It requires a $5,000 MSR (min. spend requirement) in 90 days. You OR your husband could get that card, hit the $5k...then refer the other spouse to the card. That would earn you the following:

• 80k from sign-on 1
• 5k+ from min spend
• 20k from referral 2
• 80k from sign-on 2
• 5k+ from min spend 2

That's 190,000 URs for your next $10,000 in spend. That's worth a min. of $1,900 but almost $2,400 toward travel thru your CIP...AND if you had your husband later get a CSR card (Chase Sapphire Reserve) those points would then be worth over $2,800! You have a ton of options available to you since your husband is only at 1/24.

Another thing you may want to consider is going after a Southwest Companion pass which can be done through getting 2 SW RR cards. The general advice is to try to earn that as early in the year as possible (i.e. maybe wait until early 2019) BUT you don't have to wait. The reason people do that is because once you earn it you have it for the rest of that year and all of the next year.

We have a private Reddit group you can join if you're interested - we share some tips there and also have the ability to support other DISers when applying for cards. If interested send me a PM

Thank you so very much for your input and prompt response. I was thinking along those lines as well but I was a bit confused whether we would be ok to apply for the CIP because I currently have a CIPlus & the CIC. And my husband has a CIC as well. The confusion exists because I wasn’t sure if it is considered the same “product” as the old one I have.

I hope that makes sense.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Reddit question.

I see that the referral links thread changed. I want to copy my links to the new post, but it doesn't take the links or the formatting with it. Is there any easy way to do this or do I have to reformat it again? If that is the case, I am going to keep a word doc of my formatting so that I don't have to spend so much time redoing it all again.

CIC question.

DH gave me the go ahead to apply him for the CIC. He has only lived in the US for 2.5 years and so his credit history is short. His credit score is 767 currently. Do you think this is high enough to get approved for CIC? He is at 3/24 and hasn't applied for another card since his Chase Sapphire Preferred on 09/01/2017.

 

[speedyfishy]

Reddit question.

I see that the referral links thread changed. I want to copy my links to the new post, but it doesn't take the links or the formatting with it. Is there any easy way to do this or do I have to reformat it again? If that is the case, I am going to keep a word doc of my formatting so that I don't have to spend so much time redoing it all again.

CIC question.

DH gave me the go ahead to apply him for the CIC. He has only lived in the US for 2.5 years and so his credit history is short. His credit score is 767 currently. Do you think this is high enough to get approved for CIC? He is at 3/24 and hasn't applied for another card since his Chase Sapphire Preferred on 09/01/2017.

For Reddit you have to go to edit the comment and then copy and paste. I think the old threads are locked now though and you can’t go to edit.

I feel like if your DH got the CSP he has a good shot at getting the CIC.

 

[Gwmw1210]

Hi - we love new posters on our awesome thread


We have a private Reddit group you can join if you're interested - we share some tips there and also have the ability to support other DISers when applying for cards. If interested send me a PM

I’m not able to send you a PM yet. But I am interested in joining the private Reddit group when I can.

 

[Lain]

Two questions please...I usually use my Amex BCP for gift cards at grocery stores to get 6% . I am very close or maybe just over maxing out that benefit anyway. I am working on meeting MS for my new INK business card and plan on buying some cards at Staples for the 5x rewards. We have a CSR as well....should I be buying gift cards at Staples regardless? If I'm not missing anything those points are worth 7.5x when transferred to CSR? Second question, I opened my two SW cards last April and want to close one . Do I have to wait until the AF posts and then cancel for a refund or can I close it before then?

1. Didn’t you get the CIP? The CIP does not earn 5x UR at office supply stores. It’s the Chase Ink Cash (“CIC”) that earns 5x UR at office supply stores. To the second part of this question, it really depends if you value 6% cash back or UR points that can be transferred to the CSR for 50% added value.

2. Wait until your anniversary bonus points post to your SW account, then cancel. The Plus comes with 3k RR bonus points on your cardmember anniversary; the Premier gives you 6k RR points. As for the AF, you can cancel within 30 days of it being billed to your credit card account to get a refund.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I’m not able to send you a PM yet. But I am interested in joining the private Reddit group when I can.

If you share your Reddit name here on this thread I’ll Add you. if you don’t have Reddit you’ll need to register first.

Also you can PM once you have 10 messages. You can use a test board to just post random stuff to get your message count up LOL.

 

[Lain]

I was a bit confused whether we would be ok to apply for the CIP because I currently have a CIPlus & the CIC. And my husband has a CIC as well. The confusion exists because I wasn’t sure if it is considered the same “product” as the old one I have.

The Chase Ink Preferred (“CIP”) is not the same product as the CIC or Ink+, so that’s not an impediment.

I’d note, however, that:

1. It gets harder to get more business cards from Chase if you already have two under your SSN. People don’t seem to have much problems getting two Chase business cards, but it starts to get shaky for 3. What some people do, if their prior cards are under their SSN, is apply under an EIN for their business or get an EIN for their “business” and use that for a new card.

2. Relatedly, if you already have a product like the CIC under your SSN, you can get another of the same card by applying with an EIN. (So for the CIP, you could apply for a CIP under your SSN, then some time down the line, refer yourself to apply for a 2nd CIP (using an EIN) to “double dip” that big signup bonus.

3. Another practical reason it gets hard is each time you apply for a new card, you’re asking Chase to extend you more credit. But at some point you’ll reach a limit at which Chase feels they’ve extended as much credit to you as they can. This is usually cited as both personal and business credit lines accounting for about ~50% of total household income, although many people report that their credit lines with Chase are far more than 50% of household income. Whatever it is, you’ll notice the credit limits on new cards start to be lower, and eventually the bare minimum allowed on a certain card product (e.g. $5k minimum on the CIP).

If you feel you may be reaching the limit of your credit extended from Chase, you can preemptively lower your credit limits about a month before applying to potentially increase the odds of approval without having to go through reconsideration. There’s some debate whether this is advisable or a good thing because (1) of you are denied for too much credit extended, you might be able to ask Chase reallocate credit from your other cards to open a new card. Keep in mind that Chase views total credit extended to include both personal and business lines, but you cannot move credit between one to the other (so if you choose to reduce your credit lines first, leave enough on whatever side in case you are able to move credit around). And (2) although it seems Chase will still let customers move credit to open a new card in most cases, there have been increasing reports of Chase telling some customers that moving credit is not allowed, or they don’t do that anymore, or they’ll have to close some cards to open a new one.

 

[SBWB48]

Sheraton club lounge tonight was serving bbq pulled pork sliders; petit crab cakes; Mediterranean-style olive, mozzerella, and artichoke skewers; deli meats and cheese with biscuits; veggie dippers with ranch sauce; tortilla chips with salsa; bottled water, soft drinks, coffee, tea, beer and wine; and cookies!

@Lain what are the hours for the evening spread? Wondering if we want to consider the Sheraton for our first night (no parks) and then move over to Hyatt House for the remainder since we will be at the parks well past the evening food hours?

Wells Fargo is not giving me my bonus for my business account that I opened. They are saying I didn’t meet the requirements, but I did. I read over the email and the fine print multiple times. I did a secure message so I think I will call. if it doesn’t work I think I’m going to have to file a CFPB complaint. This has got to be the worst bank ever.

This is odd. Was it the $300 bonus you applied for (the $500 deposit min requirement)? Did you do it in-branch? Both myself and DH did the in-branch (probably 30min each) and got the bonus within a week. The banker simply transferred the $500 from our personal checking account during account opening and even reminded us that "they say the bonus can be 4-5 weeks, but I've seen them plenty of bonuses deposited within a week "

Don't recall another biz Wells offer, so I'm curious since the deposit requirement is hard to deny you for, if that was what you applied for.

 

[Lain]

Dinner!

Seriously! I could save a lot of money having dinner in the club lounge. But alas, we have Fantasmic dinner reservations at the Blue Bayou tonight.

 

[Lain]

@Lain what are the hours for the evening spread? Wondering if we want to consider the Sheraton for our first night (no parks) and then move over to Hyatt House for the remainder since we will be at the parks well past the evening food hours?

Happy hour with hor d’oeuvres is 5-7 pm. It did seem like they stop replenishing some items in the latter half. The lounge can be accessed at any other time for soft drinks, coffee, tea, and water. Hyatt House is about a 5 minute walk across the street.

 

[eeyoresmom]

1. Didn’t you get the CIP? The CIP does not earn 5x UR at office supply stores. It’s the Chase Ink Cash (“CIC”) that earns 5x UR at office supply stores. To the second part of this question, it really depends if you value 6% cash back or UR points that can be transferred to the CSR for 50% added value.

2. Wait until your anniversary bonus points post to your SW account, then cancel. The Plus comes with 3k RR bonus points on your cardmember anniversary; the Premier gives you 6k RR points. As for the AF, you can cancel within 30 days of it being billed to your credit card account to get a refund.

@Lain will you marry me? lol, seriously though thank you!! You are right....I got the CIP, duh. Thats one less store I have to go in I guess. I'll just get my gift cards anywhere to meet MS. I do have to downgrade my CSP next month and this has me strongly leaning toward the Freedom over the CFU.

 

[eeyoresmom]

1. Didn’t you get the CIP? The CIP does not earn 5x UR at office supply stores. It’s the Chase Ink Cash (“CIC”) that earns 5x UR at office supply stores. To the second part of this question, it really depends if you value 6% cash back or UR points that can be transferred to the CSR for 50% added value.

2. Wait until your anniversary bonus points post to your SW account, then cancel. The Plus comes with 3k RR bonus points on your cardmember anniversary; the Premier gives you 6k RR points. As for the AF, you can cancel within 30 days of it being billed to your credit card account to get a refund.

About the SW anniversary points. Will I keep these if my AF is refunded???

 

[Alexle2007]

About the SW anniversary points. Will I keep these if my AF is refunded???

Yes! They are deposited directly to your SW RR account

 

[peel]

Actually you shouldn’t add him as an AU on ANY card, not just a card he might want. Any AU Card will count against 5/24.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

About the SW anniversary points. Will I keep these if my AF is refunded???

Once points transfer into your Rapid Rewards account they are safe.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Okay, could someone here take a look at my CC sign-up timeline and make sure I'm not making some grave planning error? I've put this together by reading the resources on Reddit and asking a few questions both here and there. Not quite understanding how business cards and what and when I can double-dip and how that affects 5/24, so any feedback would be much appreciated.

Goal: 10 Days at Disney/Universal, flight+hotel+tix mostly on points in May of 2020. Between spring 2019 and end of 2020, take a few short domestic trips (1-4 nights) using SW points, companion pass, and UR transferred to Hyatt.

Overall Strategy: Pay for flights by using points + companion pass on Southwest. Pay for tickets and hotel rooms as much as possible using Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Charge food and souvenir expenses to room to keep earning points

Limiting Factors: Want to purchase a condo in spring 2019; not doing manufactured spend methods; can charge $3k/month MAX on cards; want to avoid annual/transaction fees as much as possible.

1. Right now – get Chase Freedom Unlimited for husband to build his credit, up my credit limit on existing card to help qualify for CIP, get a better job (priority #1! But I've got some good leads so I'm hopeful).
2. June-ish 2018 – get CIP ($95 AF) – 80k
3. Mid-Oct. 2018 – get SW Business or SW Personal Plus ($99/69) – Either 60/50k [can I get BOTH the CIP and the SW Business cards? I do have legitimate businesses even if they're just me doing alterations and babysitting for friends for cash.]
4. Mid-Nov. 2018 – get SW Premier ($99) – 50k [or can I double-dip SW Biz/Premier in Oct.?]
5. PAUSE – Buying a condo in spring, no churning!
6. Early Jan. 2019 – Meet min. Spends on SW cards (not a day earlier!), get Companion Pass!
7. May 2019 – Double-dip CSR ($450) and CSP ($0) – 100k
8. June 2019 – Downgrade CIP to no-fee card
9. July 2019 (90 days after meeting spend for CSR/CSP double-dip) – should have minimum 180k UR points by now
10. Aug. 2019 – get United MPE ($0) – 40k miles OR I can start signing up my husband as Player 2 in this game, and focus our spending to meet his MSRs to churn the CSP/CSR and CIP points.
11. Mid-Oct. 2019 – Downgrade/cancel whichever SW card I like less to save on AF.
12. Nov. 2019 – get Marriott ($0) – 75k points (maybe use these at Swolphin for split stay?) OR Maybe get a Hyatt card here for non-Disney trips?
13. Nov. 2019 - Book hotels w/points
14. Dec. 2019 – May 2020 – Amass points, use them to pay for tickets, go to Disney, rejoice!
15. May/June 2020 - Downgrade whichever Sapphire card I like less to save the annual fee.

How does all that sound? I'm not quite sure how the timeline works out with staying at 5/24. After I get the Chase card bonuses and Southwest Companion Pass I'm flexible on which cards happen next. If I want to stay in mostly Hyatt hotels (looks like there are great options for UR redemption in all the places we want to travel in the next few years), is it a good idea to sign up for a Hyatt card of some kind? Or are United MPE/Marriott cards the better choices?

I'm also assuming the offers, products available, and redemption scheme stay mostly the same over the next 2 years, but of course who knows what will change between now and then.

Other questions:

1. This is SUPER basic but...I can pay off my charges on my credit card immediately with no problem, right? I ask because it makes me nervous to run up a huge balance each month and needing to have all the cash on hand RIGHT THEN to pay it all off in one chunk. Mathematically it may be the same but it psychologically feels different to me, if that makes sense?
   
   
2. Talk to me about this CSR travel credit. Let's say I'm booking the Grand Floridian (it's nice to dream, isn't it) and after points, need to spend $300 to pay the remaining balance. Could I charge the balance it to my CSR and then get the $300 statement credit so my effective out-of-pocket cost for the hotel is zero? (I mean, I paid the annual fee, but that was a sunk cost, so I'd like to get my money's worth).
   
   
3. Are park tickets a good redemption of UR points? Or would it be better to buy them with cash through Undercover Tourist to get to the minimum spend on something, get the 3x points/statement credit from the CSR, and then cash out the UR points to offset the out-of-pocket cost?
   
   
4. What would you do with 400k UR points (theoretically possible with Player 2) - spread them out over a few years worth of travel so you take trips partly on points, partly with cash? OR blow it all on 8 nights at the finest hotels Disney and Universal have to offer?

If you got to the end of this wall of text, bless you. I'll send you some cookies once I move and have a stove that actually works.

Like others have said change dh to a cf instead of cfu to use the bonus categories
Is there a reason you are holding off on getting the CIP? I’d go for the CIP now and then refer your dh. That would give you 180k between the two cards.

As for sw bus and CIP I had both up till this month. There was 6-7 mo in between apps for the bus cards
I added dh as auth user on both my sw bus and CIP. Just referred him last month and no problem of him getting his own. Then added me as au on his CIP.

Also once you get your Mortage you can try it through plastiq using CIP for 3x ur. Also if you have other bills or loans you can use plastiq to get extra rewards.

As for using UR you can get your entire Disney package with them and add dining plan if you chose to do so. By using UR through CSR to book to redeem at 1.5. (Only way to get a discount on dining plan other than using discounted gc)
Remember to show support by going through the Reddit group since most of your cards you are interested in are listed

So......If plastiq says that the payment was sent, does that mean everything is good? I just received and email stating that payment was sent and should be received by April 4th. when i look at my account in plastiq it says payment sent and the last step is waiting for deposit.

Looks like it went through. Once payment is sent you should be fine. I chatted with them yesterday since I got another email asking for info otherwise my payment would be declined and refunded. Rep told me that the check was sent. She didn’t ask for the details and I didn’t mention that they were requesting more info.

So, dh & I will be in FL in April for 5 nights. We are literally at a different hotel every night, and while we are not going to any parks , we do want to go have a meal (probably at the Poly). Anyway, I'm trying to find an offsite place to stay for the night. We never stay offsite. Any recs?

I also wondered about renting points for one night onsite but can you even do that for one night?? I've never rented for less than a week.

I’ve rented one nights before. It’s up to each owner what they want to rent. If you want let me know the date and I can let you know the availability. It’s less than 30 days so availability will be slim if any. Also if canceled the points go into holding. I know many won’t rent short notice. There’s also a chance you could rent points for cheap if someone has points to use up.