I love credit cards so much!

[Tikitoi]

It shouldn't change your */24 status. I have the same $100 cash back offer that I forgot about until you mentioned it. I activated mine last week. Account number still the same too.

Thanks for that. I will check the account number but good to know it won't affect my 4/24 status. Especially that I just got down to 4/24.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I'm finally feeling a little back to normal and able to catch up on the many posts I've missed. Thanks again to all of you who sent thoughts and hugs my way. My little man is doing better every day, which is a blessing. Thus far, the last week or so has been uneventful aside from follow-up appts with his doctor - which I'm so thankful for.

Since it's been over 30 days since my CIC app that resulted in denial, I'm planning to apply again soon. I SM'd Chase this week to reduce the CL on the 3 personal cards I have with them hoping this will help. Is there a general consensus of how long one should wait to apply after lowering CLs? I know applying too soon can be an issue.

Also, with all the talks of shutdown I'm trying to be more aware of the timing of my apps. Here's my stats for the last 24 months:
09/29/16 - AMEX BCE
01/05/17 - CSR
02/15/17 - Disney Visa
07/06/17 - CIP
10/17/17 - Marriott Personal
12/26/17 - AMEX SPG Biz

I did get 4 Chase cards last year, so I'm not sure if trying for the CIC again would be pushing my luck. I do have a mortgage through a local credit union. What do y'all think?

I read somewhere that chase updates the credit bureaus when you pay your balance to $0, even if it isn't at a statement closing date. So you could do that and it would theoretically update with the bureaus faster. Then app for the CIC. As far as shutdown risk, you look good to me...no cards at all in 2018.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

I'd like some advice as to which cards to start with

Our credit scores are somewhere around 800 (can't check right now; that's what they were before we froze the accounts last year after fraud). We only have 2 credit cards, a Discover and a Citi MC, and have held both since the 90s. We only use the mc when we can't use the discover. We attempt to max out the quarterly categories. I know we're missing soooooooo many opportunities!

We are not comfortable with double dipping. I am also not comfortable at this point with business cards. (Dh has not side hustle at all.) I have tutored in the past but have not for the past four years as I was homeschooling a high school student. Now that she's heading off to college, I'm taking a year off to decide what I want to do If I do jump back into tutoring I might consider business cards at that point. MS makes me twitchy lol

So I think one of us should begin with a Chase Sapphire product---correct? And then refer the other to the same?

I do want us to get SW cards (we fly SW almost exclusively) but we'd want to wait until the bonus goes back up. Might that happen in the fall? Because of not wanting to double-dip, the companion pass is probably out of reach.

I want to proceed slowly with opening cards. We shouldn't have problems meeting most minimum spending amounts though doubling up to say $8K/3 months could get a bit tricky.

Help, please!

(I will use the referral links from DISchurners )

 

[speedyfishy]

So I think one of us should begin with a Chase Sapphire product---correct? And then refer the other to the same?

I do want us to get SW cards (we fly SW almost exclusively) but we'd want to wait until the bonus goes back up. Might that happen in the fall? Because of not wanting to double-dip, the companion pass is probably out of reach.

A Sapphire card does make sense for your first step, but really make sure you don’t want the double dip. If I had to pick I’d probably do the CSP for the first year since you get the AU bonus and waived annual fee the first year. The second year I’d probably upgrade to the CSR. Personally I think the CSR is worth an extra $55, but not an extra $150 which is the difference the first year when you have an annual fee waiver.

Definitely wait on the Southwest card. 40,000 is the lowest bonus I have seen since I started this. When I flew recently they had a 50,000 offer on the plane hopefully they make that available to everyone again soon. Also, since you only want one card they should be releasing a premium one soon that you should consider.

 

[miztressuz]

I went to Safeway today and got a $500 Mastercard for $10 off when I loaded a coupon to the app. Planning to load the coupon to SO’s account and getting another one tomorrow. I’m working on a MSR and it’s a $4.95 money maker for each card.

Just did this last night too and the cashier made sure to ask that I loaded the $10 coupon before he rung it up It would seem enough people have come through even though it looked like the variable ones were fully stocked. I'll be heading back with another account this week to pick up another just in case they don't do anymore coupons before the end of the month.

I just tried to make a dummy booking and see if I could add a GC as payment and don't see a way. I am sure they could do it at the desk. I am going to purchase some too. Will use them for DH's work stays so it is basically free $$ for us.

Glad it wasn't just me, I didn't notice it either when we made our reservations but at the time I wasn't really looking so wasn't sure if I missed it.

They get run as AmEx card though, I think, so I wonder if you could just enter it as a CC for the advanced rate. But probably need enough on the gift card to cover the deposit.

 

[Lain]

I'm finally feeling a little back to normal and able to catch up on the many posts I've missed. Thanks again to all of you who sent thoughts and hugs my way. My little man is doing better every day, which is a blessing. Thus far, the last week or so has been uneventful aside from follow-up appts with his doctor - which I'm so thankful for.

Since it's been over 30 days since my CIC app that resulted in denial, I'm planning to apply again soon. I SM'd Chase this week to reduce the CL on the 3 personal cards I have with them hoping this will help. Is there a general consensus of how long one should wait to apply after lowering CLs? I know applying too soon can be an issue.

Also, with all the talks of shutdown I'm trying to be more aware of the timing of my apps. Here's my stats for the last 24 months:
09/29/16 - AMEX BCE
01/05/17 - CSR
02/15/17 - Disney Visa
07/06/17 - CIP
10/17/17 - Marriott Personal
12/26/17 - AMEX SPG Biz

I did get 4 Chase cards last year, so I'm not sure if trying for the CIC again would be pushing my luck. I do have a mortgage through a local credit union. What do y'all think?

So glad to hear you and your son are doing better. After the spate of bad luck you’ve had, no news seems like good news!

I’d agree with @disneymagicgirl on timing; by your card count, getting another Chase card wouldn’t be any risk. Your last card was the SPG Biz in December, which Chase doesn’t count. Your last Chase card was the Marriott personal card way back in October 2017, almost 8 months ago. And you only have one Chase business card, the CIP, which you opened over 11 months ago. You’re 4/24, so you qualify for the CIC.

IIRC, Chase denied you because your business was too new and had insufficient business revenue, which I remember didn’t make sense because they’ve approved others with new businesses and much less revenue. Do you have any reason to bump up your revenue projections a little?

Maybe Chase looks at revenue as a factor of amount of credit extended? Amount of credit extended has to be it, because I think you were over 60% last month, right?

There’s no consensus on how long after reducing your credit lines with Chase will it have the effect of increasing your likelihood of auto approval for new cards. The reduction in credit line is effective immediately, but it doesn’t seem to get updated to your credit reports until Chase reports your account to the credit bureaus at the close of a billing statement. I don’t know if Chase’s approval algorithms are looking at data from their internal systems (which should have your lowered amounts, and presumably your biz card credit lines) and/or from your credit reports. I tend to err on the more cautious side, reduce a credit limit a month ahead of when I think I’ll apply for a new Chase card, and wait until my credit report is updated.

 

[chattadisser]

Didn't someone here do a Phoeniz/Grand Canyon/AZ trip recently? Or am I making that up?

@DisneyMandC

We just got back from 10 days in Phoenix, Sedona, Flagstaff, Page, Grand Canyon and Scottsdale. We only spent 2 days in Grand Canyon and depending on the time of year you go, that might be too much. Depends on how much hiking you want or don't want to do. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[KPK02090]

So I went for the Cambridge Savings Bank (in New England) bonus today. First attempt at a bank bonus. After submitting I got an email saying they needed more information and to upload a picture of my license. I did that and the status is now “under review”.
Does this seem normal for opening a bank account online?

 

[speedyfishy]

So I went for the Cambridge Savings Bank (in New England) bonus today. First attempt at a bank bonus. After submitting I got an email saying they needed more information and to upload a picture of my license. I did that and the status is now “under review”.
Does this seem normal for opening a bank account online?

Yeah, I had to do that for memory bank.

 

[spacerangerqueen]

Sorry for multiple posts...just thought of a few questions...

Has anyone stayed in the Jurassic Park suites at Uni? We have never done Uni, but DS10 LOVES Jurassic park. Was thinking could be a fun mom/son bday weekend the first of March.
The other thing we could do is wait til spring break week, 3/18 I think, and do 3 nights there followed by 5 down at Baha Mar in Nassau.

So on that note, has anyone gone to the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar yet? Trip advisor reviews seem good except food prices. I can deal with that I guess. Better than @speedyfishy 's review of Atlantis.

They just opened Jurassic World suites yesterday and I really want to book one now! They gave one away at the Social Media Meetup I attended at Universal Saturday night and I was super jealous of the winner. Wish they were a Starwood property so I could book a night with the points I just earned from the SPG personal I have no plans for and try it. I look forward to your writeup if you end up staying there!

 

[Lain]

I'd like some advice as to which cards to start with

Our credit scores are somewhere around 800 (can't check right now; that's what they were before we froze the accounts last year after fraud). We only have 2 credit cards, a Discover and a Citi MC, and have held both since the 90s. We only use the mc when we can't use the discover. We attempt to max out the quarterly categories. I know we're missing soooooooo many opportunities!

We are not comfortable with double dipping. I am also not comfortable at this point with business cards. (Dh has not side hustle at all.) I have tutored in the past but have not for the past four years as I was homeschooling a high school student. Now that she's heading off to college, I'm taking a year off to decide what I want to do If I do jump back into tutoring I might consider business cards at that point. MS makes me twitchy lol

So I think one of us should begin with a Chase Sapphire product---correct? And then refer the other to the same?

I do want us to get SW cards (we fly SW almost exclusively) but we'd want to wait until the bonus goes back up. Might that happen in the fall? Because of not wanting to double-dip, the companion pass is probably out of reach.

I want to proceed slowly with opening cards. We shouldn't have problems meeting most minimum spending amounts though doubling up to say $8K/3 months could get a bit tricky.

Help, please!

(I will use the referral links from DISchurners )

@speedyfishy's already offered you some good advice.

Since you are starting with a clean slate at 0/24 (zero cards in the past 24 months), you should absolutely focus on Chase cards for the time being because of its "5/24 rule." Many of Chase's most lucrative cards are subject to the 5/24 rule and you will be denied for them once you have opened 5 personal (or reportable business) cards from any issuer in the past 24 months.

Another rule to consider. You're interested in Chase cards that are subject to a one card per product family rule. The Chase Sapphire cards are subject to a "one Sapphire rule," which is included in the terms of the application for the Chase Sapphire Preferred ("CSP") and Chase Sapphire Reserve ("CSR"), saying basically you cannot get a CSP or CSR if you currently hold another Sapphire card, or received a signup bonus on a Sapphire card product in the past 24 months. SW's consumer cards also have a "one SW card rule," which will deny you for a SW consumer card if you currently have a SW consumer card or received a signup bonus on a SW consumer card in the past 24 months.

The first part of these rules are easy to get around, because you can product change or close a card after your first year so that you're no longer holding that card.

However, the second part of the rules that denies you another card in the product family if you've received a signup bonus on a card in the same product line in the past 24 months basically means you need to make a decision to double dip or be blocked from getting another bonus in that product family for at least another 2 years.

For you, right now, neither limitation is a problem because you don't currently have a Sapphire or SW consumer card, and you've never received a bonus on either product line. But the 24 months limitation on bonuses in the same product family means if you apply for a CSP or CSR, you need to make a decision about double dipping the other Sapphire card on the same day or you're locked out of the signup bonus on another Sapphire card for at least 2 years (24 months from when you earn the signup bonus).

For the SW companion pass, you need to earn 110k RR points in the same calendar year. The SW Plus/Premier consumer cards currently offer only a 40k RR points signup bonus. Even when they were at their highs last year, each card offered only 60k RR. The SW Biz card currently offers a 60k RR signup bonus. So if you want the SW CP, you've got to make another decision here whether to double dip 2 SW consumer cards when they raise their signup offers again, or sign up for 1 SW consumer card + the SW Biz card. I know you aren't comfortable double dipping or signing up for business cards, but those two options are the only way you'll get around the "one SW card rule," short of signing up for 1 SW consumer card and putting $50k-70k of spend on that card in one calendar year.

Good luck!

 

[Psychodisney]

Sorry for multiple posts...just thought of a few questions...

Has anyone stayed in the Jurassic Park suites at Uni? We have never done Uni, but DS10 LOVES Jurassic park. Was thinking could be a fun mom/son bday weekend the first of March.
The other thing we could do is wait til spring break week, 3/18 I think, and do 3 nights there followed by 5 down at Baha Mar in Nassau.

So on that note, has anyone gone to the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar yet? Trip advisor reviews seem good except food prices. I can deal with that I guess. Better than @speedyfishy 's review of Atlantis.

We went to the Baha Mar last March for a day while on our cruise to check it out. It is beautiful! We have next spring break booked on points! Well, mostly. We need 2 rooms, 5 nights each. I got one room for all 5 nights but I only had enough points for 3 nights in the second room...and now the last two nights arent available on points. Still a great deal. The pools are beautiful but they don't have a water park yet. There is a small aquarium you can see from the pools and a pool with cliffs to jump off of. The beach was nice with kayaks and paddle boards to use (included in your resort fee). I'll have explorist status by then, and will have club passes to use for breakfast and evening snacks/drinks which we'll make good use of! Can't wait!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I'd like some advice as to which cards to start with

Our credit scores are somewhere around 800 (can't check right now; that's what they were before we froze the accounts last year after fraud). We only have 2 credit cards, a Discover and a Citi MC, and have held both since the 90s. We only use the mc when we can't use the discover. We attempt to max out the quarterly categories. I know we're missing soooooooo many opportunities!

We are not comfortable with double dipping. I am also not comfortable at this point with business cards. (Dh has not side hustle at all.) I have tutored in the past but have not for the past four years as I was homeschooling a high school student. Now that she's heading off to college, I'm taking a year off to decide what I want to do If I do jump back into tutoring I might consider business cards at that point. MS makes me twitchy lol

So I think one of us should begin with a Chase Sapphire product---correct? And then refer the other to the same?

I do want us to get SW cards (we fly SW almost exclusively) but we'd want to wait until the bonus goes back up. Might that happen in the fall? Because of not wanting to double-dip, the companion pass is probably out of reach.

I want to proceed slowly with opening cards. We shouldn't have problems meeting most minimum spending amounts though doubling up to say $8K/3 months could get a bit tricky.

Help, please!

(I will use the referral links from DISchurners )

Do you spend a decent amount of money on travel and dining out? If so, the CSR is definitely worthwhile. Even if you don't, it may be worthwhile just for the redemption rate on the portal of 1.5%. Those are all numbers you'll want to estimate before making a decision. Worst case, if you open a CSP and decide you should've done the CSR, you can always upgrade...thats what I did for DH.

So yes, open one or the other (personally I think the CSR is the way to go in many cases) and then once you meet the MSR, refer the other spouse to another sapphire.

There is supposed to be a new SW premium card coming that we are all eager to hear more about. Maybe we will have more info on that by the time you are ready for card #3.

Welcome to the group!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Glad it wasn't just me, I didn't notice it either when we made our reservations but at the time I wasn't really looking so wasn't sure if I missed it.

They get run as AmEx card though, I think, so I wonder if you could just enter it as a CC for the advanced rate. But probably need enough on the gift card to cover the deposit.

That is worth a try! I will give it a go and report back, but it will be August because for July we are doing the hilton cc on all stays for triple points.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

They just opened Jurassic World suites yesterday and I really want to book one now! They gave one away at the Social Media Meetup I attended at Universal Saturday night and I was super jealous of the winner. Wish they were a Starwood property so I could book a night with the points I just earned from the SPG personal I have no plans for and try it. I look forward to your writeup if you end up staying there!

oohhhh, ha! It popped up in an ad for me online today so I clicked on it. Didn't realize they were new! I found them on UR portal. Reg price is $715 or so for our dates, and it was just under 50k points a night. I think it would be worthwhile for a bday suprise and short trip.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

We went to the Baha Mar last March for a day while on our cruise to check it out. It is beautiful! We have next spring break booked on points! Well, mostly. We need 2 rooms, 5 nights each. I got one room for all 5 nights but I only had enough points for 3 nights in the second room...and now the last two nights arent available on points. Still a great deal. The pools are beautiful but they don't have a water park yet. There is a small aquarium you can see from the pools and a pool with cliffs to jump off of. The beach was nice with kayaks and paddle boards to use (included in your resort fee). I'll have explorist status by then, and will have club passes to use for breakfast and evening snacks/drinks which we'll make good use of! Can't wait!

Another family that requires 2 rooms....I feel your pain. Oldest DD won't join us if we do spring break, so we may be able to get by with 1 room this trip.
I was looking at the website and we can do our nights for 27k points/night club level. I am thinking thats best. Regular rooms are 20k a night. Booking through hyatt appears better than the UR portal.
I need to call and see if we can have the toddler in the 2 queen room on a cot (total of 5 people). I am guessing she would need a wrist band or something at the pool, so it would be hard to just sneak her in.
My boys and hubby are all about the beach all day long, so I don't think they'd miss a waterpark. That is awesome that kayaks etc are included. I need to run this place by DH tonight and see if he is onboard. Thanks!

 

[spacerangerqueen]

oohhhh, ha! It popped up in an ad for me online today so I clicked on it. Didn't realize they were new! I found them on UR portal. Reg price is $715 or so for our dates, and it was just under 50k points a night. I think it would be worthwhile for a bday suprise and short trip.

I think they've had Jurassic Park one's for awhile so I wasn't sure if you were talking about those or the Jurassic World one's. The World ones were all over my feed yesterday. I hadn't checked the UR portal for them yet. Might need to stash some points away for that...

 

[CyndiLouWho]

That was me 5 months ago!!! I paid EVERYTHING with my debit card. Over 20K a year in daycare .... so many points lost

Don’t feel bad, you learned. My sister/BIL are all about the debit card. They are taking their family of 5 to Greece for 2 weeks this summer and were going to do it all on debit card. My sister finally talked BIL in putting international airfare on Discover and then he put the in country airfare on an old Cap One Venture. He thinks it earns miles to transfer to airlines but they are really a statement credit.

 

[DisneyMandC]

@DisneyMandC

We just got back from 10 days in Phoenix, Sedona, Flagstaff, Page, Grand Canyon and Scottsdale. We only spent 2 days in Grand Canyon and depending on the time of year you go, that might be too much. Depends on how much hiking you want or don't want to do. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks!! It occurred to me that our annual anniversary trip in April would be a nice time to go out there, of course I know that's peak season. I was thinking more like a 5 day trip flying into Tucson and sort of driving through the state spending a night in Tucson, Phoenix, Flagstaff, etc. Hiking isn't really our forte. I'm happy to stare at a mountain or big hole in the ground, but I'm not really into climbing up or down either of those things haha.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Applied for the Hilton Biz and received insta-approval!

Did anyone give you a congrats?

If not, here you go. If yes, here’s another !