I love credit cards so much!

Status
Not open for further replies.
So I haven't sent an SM in quite some time, I can't even remember why I did it before. I assume that this is an "account inquiry" type from the drop down? That makes the most sense to me but they have an option for Other Inquiry and I can't even think what you'd use that for given their options so now I'm hesitating.

I don’t think it really matters either way. If you select the wrong subject, your SM will eventually get forwarded to the right dept.
 
Thanks! May I ask did you suggest that you might cancel or did you just ask for a retention offer?

I was prepared to cancel; in fact had paid off the card. I said I wanted to cancel unless they could give me a reason to keep it. They reviewed the account (how much spend and what type) and then came back with the offer as “being on the account.” So I said I would do it. Made the spend in maybe 2 weeks and the points have posted even before statement close. Good luck!

Just about to apply for the CIC and am getting nervous about my Chase history. I am 4/24:

1/17 CSR
8/17 Delta Gold Personal
2/18 Disney Chase and CF (I was not planning to go for business cards when I did this, or I wouldn't have done 2 cards this quickly)
5/18 Delta Platinum Business

The feedback I got 2 months ago was to wait until May, but I don't want to risk a shut down so I wanted to make sure I haven't missed any recent changes. I want to get the CIC before the bonus changes (if it does) and I am ready for a new minimum spend before I go on a work trip in mid-June.

Please help me decide if I am crazy! Thanks!

I agree with @Lain that you should be fine with doing it now. Only issue could be if your credit limits on the 3 Chase personal are crazy high in proportion to your income. If that is the case you might want to proactively secure message them and ask to lower the limits.
 
I don’t think it’ll throw up any red flags if you ask to reduce a credit line on a card you just got.

A lot of people are stunned by how high of a credit limit they get on the CSR. And I know a lot of people don’t feel comfortable having that much credit available to them. Too tempting to go on a spending spree that they can’t pay back. So I don’t think it’s strange at all to go back to Chase and ask them to lower it to something more reasonable.

You don’t have to call to reduce your CL. Do it via SM. Log into your Chase account, go into SM, select credit cards and the account you’re writing about, and just ask to reduce your CL on card ending in xxxx from $xxxxx to $xxxx. No need to offer up any explanations. They’ll get back to you, and the change is effective immediately (although it might not reflect on your credit reports until Chase updates the credit bureaus).

This is true, and that's a good point. It's just so unfathomable because for years and years I've been trying to increase my CL's that I couldn't imagine someone wanting to lower them; other than us folks wanting a new CC. :) It seemed like a red flag that if I don't trust myself with that much credit, maybe you shouldn't either. But like you said I'm sure it happens all the time and I'm just irrational.
Among all my card issuers I was like 140% of my personal income in credit limit because until recently I never applied with household. (just never really occurred to me to do it given how we decided to do our finances.) And I thought that was pretty cool :) I used household this time because I read Chase liked a higher income for the Reserve and given my current job situation, it felt better using hubby's income with mine YTD only in case I don't find a new job for a while. So I expected it to be a higher limit than I'm used to getting but not that high.
 
Plastiq type payments? heh heh heh

LOL not sure, she didn't specify. She asked me what service I used, and she had never heard of it, but apparently someone must have, because she found where it was.
 

The rental car actually can't be attributed to churning. My DH used to travel a lot for work so he had some Hertz points built up from that. I know you can use URs to book cars though, but it may be better to transfer URs to a car rental company and book that way. Maybe someone else can chime in on that? I do think Costco is as good as it gets as far as the cash price for cars.

i guess it depends on how many points is required on either end. I recall reading an email about SPG and Hertz are partnering up, u can earn SPG points on a Hertz rental.

Nope! But Staples is not charging a fee on their Visa gc's this week - https://www.doctorofcredit.com/staples-no-purchase-fees-on-200-visa-gift-cards-4-22-18-4-28-18/

Could you buy those and then make your Dis gc purchase at Sam's with those?

*sigh* i went too late and they are all wiped cleeeeean. :(
 
This is true, and that's a good point. It's just so unfathomable because for years and years I've been trying to increase my CL's that I couldn't imagine someone wanting to lower them; other than us folks wanting a new CC. :) It seemed like a red flag that if I don't trust myself with that much credit, maybe you shouldn't either. But like you said I'm sure it happens all the time and I'm just irrational.
Among all my card issuers I was like 140% of my personal income in credit limit because until recently I never applied with household. (just never really occurred to me to do it given how we decided to do our finances.) And I thought that was pretty cool :) I used household this time because I read Chase liked a higher income for the Reserve and given my current job situation, it felt better using hubby's income with mine YTD only in case I don't find a new job for a while. So I expected it to be a higher limit than I'm used to getting but not that high.

Yeah, if Chase ever asks (they won't), you don't want to suggest you're a risk, that you can't trust yourself with credit; say you just don't need that much credit.
 
That is a dilemma. I want to know what you decide (and why :scratchin:scratchin)


I agree. This is crazy! How is it even possible? :confused3
For now I've decided to wait on the CIC. We have a VERY detailed strategy...we are 20 months into a 4 year plan and I have a good idea of what our next 10-15 cards will be...@wendow is right that this offer isn't worth calling an audible over. We have more lucrative offers in front of us right now, and delaying the strategy could mess up later steps. If the rumored CIU replaces CIC it doesn't mess up my plan at all (I just swap that in instead). Plus I don't want to put unneeded eyes on my account going for 2 biz cards in a 45 day span. I reserve the right to change my mind in the next week and a half but for now that's what I'm going with.
 
I think the advice you got two months ago still holds. The Delta Platinum Business should have almost no effect on your calculus because it’s a biz card that won’t show up on your personal credit report. I’m not sure if Amex did a hard pull on your Delta Platinum Biz application, but even if they did, Chase is not particularly inquiry sensitive.

I agree with @Lain that you should be fine with doing it now. Only issue could be if your credit limits on the 3 Chase personal are crazy high in proportion to your income. If that is the case you might want to proactively secure message them and ask to lower the limits.

Thanks to both of you! I just got nervous all of the sudden as I got close to my application date. No worries about the credit % with Chase. I already reduced my Disney Visa by quite a bit since I don't plan to use it and I was planning for other card apps.
 
So after getting the CSR/CSP a couple weeks ago I'm now at 61% of household income in Chase CL's. This sounds no good for getting a CIC, especially since on my CSP app they asked if I wanted to add more income before they approved it. (I said no, still got approved)
I was thinking about just taking 5k off my Disney card to leave room for the CIC because I don't need that anymore (years back I asked for the 5k increase to cover a trip and haven't been close to even my original CL ever since) but after working the numbers I realized how high I was. And I'm thinking while 57% is better, probably not good enough? I don't really want to reduce my other cards... even if I did what I was willing to lose it wouldn't bring me under 50%, it's really that high limit on the CSR. Probably a little irrational but I was trying to avoid touching the new CSR since it just seems odd to ask for a credit reduction so soon after receiving it, like haven't even got the first statement yet soon. But when they approved that it basically doubled my CL with them. Do you think I should ask to reduce it enough to bring me under 50%?

And what do you say when you ask to have it reduced? Like if I have to call, do they ask why? It's still a little unfathomable to me to ask to have less credit but I know it's for a good cause :)
I'm in the camp of proactively reducing limits. I just call and tell them I'd prefer to have it reduced, they say some spiel about not being able to reverse it once it's done. Sometimes they are confused, I just remain firm that it is my desire to lower the limit and they do it. I like to call (and not SM) because of some of the horror stories of people on SM mis-reading or making mistakes and then not being able to correct it. I will log out and log back in while on the phone with the CSR to make sure the changes were made as I asked.
 
I wonder what I am doing wrong since I'm only at 30% and had to move credit around in order to get the SW Plus and Marriott.
There are other factors at play that could affect that decision. Lots of stuff that we couldn't begin to opine on (i.e. do you have a mortgage, do you have a home equity, length of credit history, student loans, credit limits with other issuers, balances on card at time of application, etc.). Somebody with a good score but missing on some of those factors could get less CL than somebody with a lesser score but hitting better on those factors. The computer has some algorithm to analyze all the data from your credit report and make a credit limit decision (or deny based on not wanting to extend anymore credit). Once the computer has "denied" for that reason then when you recon the rep can move CL to get the card opened.
 
Just about to apply for the CIC and am getting nervous about my Chase history. I am 4/24:

1/17 CSR
8/17 Delta Gold Personal
2/18 Disney Chase and CF (I was not planning to go for business cards when I did this, or I wouldn't have done 2 cards this quickly)
5/18 Delta Platinum Business

The feedback I got 2 months ago was to wait until May, but I don't want to risk a shut down so I wanted to make sure I haven't missed any recent changes. I want to get the CIC before the bonus changes (if it does) and I am ready for a new minimum spend before I go on a work trip in mid-June.

Please help me decide if I am crazy! Thanks!
What are your next moves after this? If you've followed my (crazy) posts about my decision making process...knowing your next 4-5 cards (at least) + what you're trying to earn points for could affect a recommendation. :)
 
...a lot of people don’t feel comfortable having that much credit available to them. Too tempting to go on a spending spree that they can’t pay back...
I agree with this reason. I also wouldn't say that if you actually speak to an agent about reducing credit limits, haha! Wouldn't want them to place a note like that on my account (and yes I am being paranoid) haha!
 
There are other factors at play that could affect that decision. Lots of stuff that we couldn't begin to opine on (i.e. do you have a mortgage, do you have a home equity, length of credit history, student loans, credit limits with other issuers, balances on card at time of application, etc.). Somebody with a good score but missing on some of those factors could get less CL than somebody with a lesser score but hitting better on those factors. The computer has some algorithm to analyze all the data from your credit report and make a credit limit decision (or deny based on not wanting to extend anymore credit). Once the computer has "denied" for that reason then when you recon the rep can move CL to get the card opened.

I think you're right on all of this, but I can't figure out what the algorithm is. Chase has currently extended credit of 67% of my income across two business cards and two personal cards. While I have a great credit score and always have, I also have a mortgage and a literal mortgage's worth of student loans as well. I never proactively pay down my balances specifically for the purpose of applying for a new card, though I do pay on my cards every two weeks (when I get paid). I will lower my credit limits before going for another card, but it's just strange that it's never been an issue for me.
 
i guess it depends on how many points is required on either end. I recall reading an email about SPG and Hertz are partnering up, u can earn SPG points on a Hertz rental.



*sigh* i went too late and they are all wiped cleeeeean. :(

Oh boo! Gotta go early on those. Remember the MasterCard promo from about a year or so ago? The one where there was an instant rebate of something like 15%??? I want that again!!
 
I think you're right on all of this, but I can't figure out what the algorithm is. Chase has currently extended credit of 67% of my income across two business cards and two personal cards. While I have a great credit score and always have, I also have a mortgage and a literal mortgage's worth of student loans as well. I never proactively pay down my balances specifically for the purpose of applying for a new card, though I do pay on my cards every two weeks (when I get paid). I will lower my credit limits before going for another card, but it's just strange that it's never been an issue for me.

I've never lowered my credit limits either. Well over 50% for Chase. I have a mortgage and recently opened a Chase HELOC. Credit score in excellent range. I never preemptively pay my cc balances before applying for a card. I just pay the statement balance in full once per month.
 
Now you all get a long post from me :)

Things have changed a bit since March when I thought we'd pay off my car… New circumstances boil down to, DH owes $12.5k on his car that we are about to pay off. I haven’t used Plastiq much so it just has my Marriott card and SPG biz card in there, and AMEX blocks both Ford and Toyota on Plastiq. Visa comes up fine, and I have made a payment on Toyota with it, no problem. So Amex might be out for that purpose.

Last post was also about two weeks before the CIC 50k offer went public. So all of the posts about CIC vs CIP the last few days really had me debating. And I was leaning towards CIP because I figured if that's the only card I get, at least I could put it all on CIP and come out slightly ahead vs direct payment from checking. But we don’t have many bills to take advantage of CIP/Plastiq currently, so we’d probably benefit more from CIC on everyday spending.

I’ve now worked up three scenarios:

1. Get CIP for DH, pay off car entirely through this card

$12.5k x 2.5% fee ($312.50) = $12,812.50 = 38,437.5pts + 80k bonus at 1.5cpp with CSR = $1776.56

2. Get CIC for DH, pay off $3k of car to meet MSR and rest through direct debit

$3k x 2.5% fee ($75) = $3,075 = 3,075pts + 50k bonus at 1.5cpp with CSR = $796.13

3. Convince MIL to double dip CSR/CSP, pay $8k of car to meet min spend, Plus get DH CIP for remainder of car, leaves us with ~$400 left of CIP spend.

CSR/CSP: $8k x 2.5% fee ($200) = $8,200 = 8200pts + 100k bonus at 1.5cpp with CSR = $1623
CIP: $4.5k x 2.5% fee ($112.50) = $4,612.50 = 13,837.5pts + 80k bonus at 1.5cpp with CSR = $1407.56​

Yup sticking with CIP over CIC for my situation :P I do hope it sticks around though….

So the reasoning behind scenario 3, which just came to me this morning, is that we are planning a surprise family cruise next summer, with the three kids and SOs covering the in-laws. So the CSR/CSP/$300 credit minus AF could go towards the ILs cabin, total of $1473. If I had to cancel and rebook to do this it’d be about $1273 because the price is slightly higher, but it’d be awesome if I could transfer it to Chase and make a payment with URs. This would mainly hinge on being able to transfer the UR points to DHs account as a household member, because I wouldn’t want MIL to get any emails and spoil the surprise. And on the whole approval thing :P And hey, maybe i could get MIL to switch to CSP instead of her Capital One card, I think she'd come out ahead. Does this just sound like a super crazy plan?


Plans:
  • Now: Scenario 1 or 3, and possibly AMEX Business card for one of us...
  • Nov: Refer me to CIP, downgrade my CSR to CF, start thinking about double dip CSR/CSP for me (bonus received 11/16, this will depend on upcoming expenses - could be looking at paying my car off around then, if so that could also be delayed to help the double dip since its it's a 0% loan)
  • Dec/Jan: Try for SW CP either double dip or biz + personal
  • Make more plans for DH, as at this rate he’ll be at 0/24 for SW CP… nothing crazy, just need to do some research.


Circumstances have changed a bit since I first posted this, but I just updated all the card info:

Ok. So I have around $15k left on my car loan. We've got most of that to pay it off already and will definitely have the rest in the next few months, if not sooner. But I could spread it out a bit to play nice with the companies. $15k at the 2.5% fee with Plastiq is $375, bit I will probably leave my current auto payment alone so it would be a little less than that overall.

My cards (6/24):
  • SPG Personal 6/16, Disney 9/16, CSR 10/16
  • Sw Plus 5/17, Sw biz 5/17, Marriott Personal 9/17, CFU 9/17, SPG biz 10/17
  • Older cards: no fee Barclay Arrival, Discover It
DHs cards (3/24):
  • Disney 9/16, SPG personal 9/16
  • CSR 8/17
  • SPG biz 3/18
  • Older cards: Barclay Arrival Plus, Discover it
 
Status
Not open for further replies.












Receive up to $1,000 in Onboard Credit and a Gift Basket!
That’s right — when you book your Disney Cruise with Dreams Unlimited Travel, you’ll receive incredible shipboard credits to spend during your vacation!
CLICK HERE






DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest DIS Tiktok DIS Twitter DIS Bluesky

Back
Top Bottom