I love credit cards so much!

[trenty]

Not seeking to change your mind, but just wanted to say.....3 months ago I was also very apprehensive about applying for business cards.....and I do actually have a legitimate, but small, business. 3 months later and my wife and I now have 3 business cards between us and a load more points for the trouble.

I really don't think Amex or Chase care all that much. If you are applying as a sole proprietor, they are assessing your personal credit risk, not how good your business is. Why else are they routinely giving out credit limits of 7k+ to people who claim to have annual business revenue of only $1k. So if you have the slightest claim to having any "business" revenue, you could perfectly reasonably take advantage of the extra points offered by business cards.

Of course, if that doesn't work for you - that is OK too. Everyone has a different approach to risk and reward. Find what works for you and seek to maximise your rewards within your comfort level. Be warned though - it is a slippery slope once you get your first business card.

Thanks. At the present time I am earning enough points for what I need/want with very little output (only the $95 CSP fee). I do plan to get other cards but not for a while. Yes, everyone has a different comfort level and I am comfortable where I am right now. That may change at some point, but not yet.

 

[miztressuz]

Final product. What do u guys thinks?

I'm late to the party, but you already filled in my suggestions nicely: Why would I be interested in attending? (with Travel the world for free!) and How am I accomplishing that? (with Set goals, earn rewards!)
That's all I'd need to get me there Looks good.

 

[Judique]

Just did the math and once DHs CIP bonus posts (I can see it pending) we'll have 265k UR points! How did that happen?

I need one more hotel night for our September trip. Right now I've got Cabana Bay on UR pts for one night, RPR for one night using up my hotels.com gc stash plus my free night ($110), and 6 nights at the Dolphin. I need to cover a night between RPR and the Dolphin.

Hmmm, I could book a room at Pop for a night plus our tickets for the trip, comes to $1186 or 79k UR pts...

Yes, we will be the crazy people doing one night at each hotel. But since we won't be dragging around wedding attire and accessories, we can hop to save a few points/cash... like RPR is $160 more for Friday night and we land at MCO at 11pm, so...

Can you book an airport hotel and go to RPR in the morning?

 

[3 DD love princesses]

@calypso726 ended up signing DH for a culinary and 2 wines. Also a mix it make it for dd8 and I. Hoping to take all three to the kids free ones but we will see since there’s no pre sign up they have you plan 11 mo (for Dvc) 6 mo for dining 60 days fp but won’t let you sign up for free classes.

 

[GlamMistress]

Was offline most of yesterday and just now seeing the Amex news - holy crap. I think I just squeaked by with my Delta Gold bonus.

Amex tightening the screws for sure.

 

[miztressuz]

Gift card exclusions during a promo means the store’s own gift cards? WF gave me a 20% cashback offer. It says gift cards are excluded in the terms. I don’t want to call them to alert them and because I know I’m going to have to speak to multiple people for someone to know anything.

Trying to buy a $500 Visa or MC gift card to convert to Disney and airline gift cards and get $100 cashback to convert into Hotels.com

In general, usually. That said, for credit card offers it depends on the level of data the store sends to the credit card whether it actually is enforced or not. If it's excluded then I'd imagine they are sending that data, but I have no Wells Fargo cards to have any experience with it. Though I would think buying a Visa or MC or another 3rd party gift card would be ok; gets iffy if trying to buy HD one. I've bought 3rd party GC's with BoA offers, which seems to be the same or similar program, but I'm not sure if there were any specific exclusions on those offers.
That's a tough one, might want to research other deal sites to see if anyone had posted what they bought that worked. I can usually find someone that only bought gift cards to see their experience. But on the last offer I thought I read someone's comment that there wasn't an exclusion for gift cards listed. I'm assuming you have a new offer since the last one expired in May.

My Home Depot's have Disney GC's and I think possibly Southwest and Delta for airlines (not entirely sure though, haven't checked HD gift card rack since the holidays so memory is fuzzy on airlines) if you wanted to bypass the V/MC gift card step.

 

[EC0323]

This is a difficult comparison as Marriott Points and URs have very different valuations. I'll present a ton of detail here, but there isn't necessarily a black/white answer to which you should use.

• Marriott points are typically valued at 0.6 - 1.0 cpp (cents per point)
• Marriott points do not specifically tie to the cash rate on the room - they will follow the award chart "grid"
• When booking using Marriott points, keep in mind the 5th night is FREE so if you are staying 5 or more nights then that can increase your cpp.

On the other hand:

• URs when paired with a CSR are valued at no less than 1.5 cpp
• URs will tie directly to the cash rate on the room
• There is no 5th night free benefit when using URs

So In Most Cases when comparing a hotel looking at Marriott Points vs. URs, it will require less UR points. Does that make it the better value? No, not necessarily. URs are far more valuable and flexible (i.e. they can be used on hotels, flights, rental cars, transferred to partners, etc.) Their transfer rates to partners are 1:1 which is much better than Marriott's transfer rate to airlines.

IF you had both URs and Marriott points at your disposal and were trying to make a decision:

• Do you plan to use your Marriott points for a nights and flights some day? Maybe you should save them up
• Is the cpp on the Marriott redemption > 0.7 cpp? It sounds like a pretty good deal
• Are you staying 5 nights? Make sure you factor in the 5th night free in your comparison.
• Are you staying 7 nights? Have you evaluated whether a nights and flights is your best option?
• What other travel plans do you have coming up...is it better to save your URs or your Marriott points for those trips?

I'd probably lean towards using the Marriott points if the cpp is decent and saving URs (with the exception of if you are saving up for a nights and flights).

Hopefully this helps...or maybe it just makes it more confusing, lol

Thank you. It does help. I am just beginning so all information is good. Thanks for taking the time to explain.

 

[speedyfishy]

Double dipped SO for the Sapphires and he got two instant approvals. He is done now until January. In the past six months he has gotten the CIP and the CIC I’m a little nervous for a shutdown, but I need more points. lol

 

[DisneyMandC]

Yeah I was denied around then. I think I’m going to wait until July I’m lowering my credit limits and removed myself as an AU.

I'm wondering if I don't get good news in this letter from Barclays if I could apply again next month before the deal expires on July 29. I'm going to see what my letter says and then apply for DH for that and the Hilton biz before the end of the month too.

Double dipped SO for the Sapphires and he got two instant approvals. He is done now until January. The past six months he has gotten the CIP and the CIC I’m a little nervous for a shutdown, but I need more points. lol

Woohoo!!! Good double dip news makes me feel better about DH's chances in October.

 

[speedyfishy]

I'm wondering if I don't get good news in this letter from Barclays if I could apply again next month before the deal expires on July 29. I'm going to see what my letter says and then apply for DH for that and the Hilton biz before the end of the month too.



Woohoo!!! Good double dip news makes me feel better about DH's chances in October.

I was so nervous. I really didn’t want to call and pretend to be him. The CSR was the second app and it asked if he wanted to consider any additional income and I may have fudged that and added some more income.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

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.

Thanks! The CSP/CSR decision will require some math lol

Any info yet about the future SW premium card?

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

@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!

Thanks for the advice @Lain I appreciate it

 

[miztressuz]

Double dipped SO for the Sapphires and he got two instant approvals. He is done now until January. In the past six months he has gotten the CIP and the CIC I’m a little nervous for a shutdown, but I need more points. lol

Double dip dance party... and many good thoughts and fingers crossed against a shutdown

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

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!

Thanks for the welcome and the advice! Yes, I'm going to have to crunch some numbers wrt CSR/CSP. We don't spend much on dining out (though that may change once youngest leaves for college and recent-college-grad middle moves into an apartment this summer---they have serious food allergies and restrictions).

Travel spending is increasing each year. Do DVC dues count under the travel category?

 

[speedyfishy]

Thanks! The CSP/CSR decision will require some math lol

Any info yet about the future SW premium card?

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/rumor-chase-will-launch-premium-southwest-card/

A $150 annual fee, rumored to have an offer of 70,000 bonus points and priority A1-15 boarding.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

I feel the same as you. Don't feel comfortable with the double-dip or business cards. And I am very cautious with this hobby and churn slowly. I am not always working on a minimum spend.

I started with the Chase Sapphire Preferred. It has a $95 annual fee that is waived the first year and gives 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4000 within the first three months. I then moved onto the Chase Freedom to get the 5x points that I can transfer to the CSP. I did also get the Companion Pass by opening 2 SW credit cards (before Chase prohibited this). After that I slowed down a lot.

I earn enough to cover my family's airfare for one or two trips a year, and to fly my DS to and from college several times a year.

My present philosophy is to earn as many travel rewards as possible with little out of pocket expense. So I tend to gravitate towards the low annual fee/no annual fee cards.

Thanks @trenty I've gotten the feeling that this group is welcoming to all types

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/rumor-chase-will-launch-premium-southwest-card/

A $150 annual fee, rumored to have an offer of 70,000 bonus points and priority A1-15 boarding.

Thanks much--off to read

 

[amalone1013]

OMG! Reading that gave me an anxiety attack. I just got back from our annual work conference in Atlanta and had my own ADR Disney planning panic attack last night. DH texted me at 2:30 in the morning in his own panic as he just realized he never set the calendar reminder to book our dining reservations for this Thanksgiving. We are traveling with both sides of the family and it is a party of 16 Of course everything we planned on doing was not available and we are toying with the idea of doing things off property or postponing to 2019. Luck was on our side and we were able to book dining reservations, just not what we had initially planned. Crisis averted!

Oh no, I'm glad you got some reservations! I feel anxious because we only have 1 ADR for our trip that is 3 months out! We just weren't 100% sure we were going until a week ago.

 

[Albort]

I'm late to the party, but you already filled in my suggestions nicely: Why would I be interested in attending? (with Travel the world for free!) and How am I accomplishing that? (with Set goals, earn rewards!)
That's all I'd need to get me there Looks good.

maybe i should make the words "Free" a lot bigger... lol

Double dipped SO for the Sapphires and he got two instant approvals. He is done now until January. In the past six months he has gotten the CIP and the CIC I’m a little nervous for a shutdown, but I need more points. lol

for a second there, i thought you were double dipping on an SO. #earlymorning #whatwasithinking lol

Thanks! The CSP/CSR decision will require some math lol

you do get more benefit with the CSR, its worth it the first year. after, could be a different story. the $450 is a big chunk to pay at the beginning. everyone has different views though haha.

 

[speedyfishy]

for a second there, i thought you were double dipping on an SO. #earlymorning #whatwasithinking lol

Hmmm, if I did that id have so many extra points.