I love credit cards so much!

[striker1064]

Somebody actually got all 30 teams approved but I think they may have had some of them get closed then after they received them.

That does sound vaguely familiar. I would say, this is why we can't have nice things, but in reality it's just sour grapes that I didn't do it when I had the chance.

 

[amalone1013]

Because of SW's awesome cancellation policy when you pay with RRs, I was prepared to cancel my own ticket (which only cost me 17000 RRs when the schedule was first released) if the CP ended up not opening up and there would've been no penalty or expiration date. This kind of flexibility is worth it to me to have a strategy for accumulating URs and CPs.

I love this, I always want to have RRs on hand for booking! I've got three trips booked right now, one is a maybe, one is for sure... and the last one was dependent on concert tickets. The tickets only went on sale last Friday so I was able to book flights when the schedule opened in case it worked out... which it did! And so far the flights have not dropped, only gone up in points/price.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

That does sound vaguely familiar. I would say, this is why we can't have nice things, but in reality it's just sour grapes that I didn't do it when I had the chance.

Yeah, my stance on that is different than some of the blatant HUCA abuse that sometimes is advocated for these days. If they kept approving, why stop. He wasn’t trying to abuse a loophole or break a rule.

 

[schmass]

We are north of Boston as well but never tried PVD! I have been using MHT instead with the non-stop SW flights to MCO.

We flew into MHT once from MCO and that was very easy, as well. It seems like PVD has more nonstop flights to MCO per day, so if the drive isn't much further, you might want to check it out as well!

 

[striker1064]

Yeah, my stance on that is different than some of the blatant HUCA abuse that sometimes is advocated for these days. If they kept approving, why stop. He wasn’t trying to abuse a loophole or break a rule.

Ugh geez, yes. We could take over this entire thread talking about how awful that is. They told you no once, get over it, either keep it or close it.

I otherwise agree, which is why I find things like Chase shutdowns to be so frustrating (even though I think it is a little bit of mass hysteria that Chase is perfectly fine with). No other issuer does anything so extreme. If Barclays doesn't want me to have a card, they deny the application. Maybe Chase should look into that instead of carpet bombing customers.

 

[SBWB48]

For the record, my everyday non bonus spend was on the SPG but I think I may be moving towards the Amex Blue biz for everyday non bonus spend after August since it is 2x MR. I figure I can hit the UR bonuses pretty easily with Disney GCs and don't need to add more by using the CFU. So, I think I will use the Amex Blue biz to diversify. Would love to hear anyone else's thoughts on what they plan to do for everyday spend and why.

This is my dilemma as well. I don't have the CFU (yet; have 4 CFs betweenn DH and I) and the closest to 2x on any other card is the 2% cashback on my Capital One Spark Biz (which will be closed come the anniversary since I only got it for the 1K bonus). Might be time to finally bite on the BBP, but I just got the Citi AA Biz and now eyeing the Hilton Biz that just dropped before that goes away...so between those it would buy me some time with MSRs to see what others are doing (absent an MSR) with non-category spend post 8/1.

Would also consider using the CIC to just buy VGCs and use those for non-category spend as well; ~3.5x call it (via CSR/UR portal and likely more transferring).

 

[AmyAnne]

For the record, my everyday non bonus spend was on the SPG but I think I may be moving towards the Amex Blue biz for everyday non bonus spend after August since it is 2x MR. I figure I can hit the UR bonuses pretty easily with Disney GCs and don't need to add more by using the CFU. So, I think I will use the Amex Blue biz to diversify. Would love to hear anyone else's thoughts on what they plan to do for everyday spend and why.

This is a good question. I never was on the SPG train but what to use for everyday spend is a perpetual question. Right now I'm using the Capital One Spark for everything except groceries (2% cash back on everything, but has an annual fee and I'm not sure it's worth keeping anymore) and the AmEx PRG for groceries. The AmEx Blue Business could be my next card -- I need an MR earning card for when I cancel my Plat cards. Although with my kids as AUs on the PRG, the AmEx offers more than cover the AF for that card.

 

[trenty]

This is just where we differ in the points we like best, I guess. I totally get paying a small fee to earn rewards. My thinking is why would I earn less rewards when I could earn more?

And my thinking is FREE is FREE. Why would I pay to earn rewards? Yes - you are earning more rewards than I am and at a faster pace. But I have less out of pocket expenses, travelling for close to free. This is why I don't use Plastique.

I am not disagreeing with you are telling you that you are wrong. We are both correct, just view things differently.

 

[amalone1013]

We are both correct, just view things differently.

I like that this is the main attitude on this board vs some of the other sites

 

[liloca]

I will

We flew into MHT once from MCO and that was very easy, as well. It seems like PVD has more nonstop flights to MCO per day, so if the drive isn't much further, you might want to check it out as well!

I will check for my next trip. MHT only has 2 non-stop flights per day! One early morning and one late afternoon.

 

[calypso726]

Now wait, I'm going to challenge this idea since I think it's a good topic for discussion. Wouldn't minimizing your lost opportunity costs mean you should always be putting all of your spend on new cards and ignoring category bonuses?

It's great that Plastiq earns you 3x UR on your CIP. Let's say my rent is $2,000 per month. With Plastiq's fee, running the charge will cost me $2,050. I'll earn 6,150 URs, worth $61.50 in cash, or $92.25 redeemed through Chase's travel portal after transferring to the CSR.

However! One must consider the costs of doing this.

First, I need a CIP. That costs me $95/year. Next, I need a CSR. It's true that after year 1, you can be up $150 due to the double travel credit, but that's only if you cancel the card. If you keep the card year after year, you're in the hole $150 annually. You'll have to pay that $2k rent 3 times before you make up the fees on your card. If your rent or mortgage is lower, it takes longer to make that up, but in our hypothetical analysis this isn't important.

Or, instead of trying to do all that mental gymnastics for a few extra URs, what if you just signed up for new cards? Let's take Amex. It's notoriously difficult to MS on Amex cards, and it's only getting harder, so it makes sense to put large organic spend on Amex cards. Let's say you're interested in Schwab cashout. This is easiest because we can do a dollar-for-dollar comparison.

The Schwab Platinum requires a hefty $5k spend for 60k MR points and a $550 annual fee. Our MSR will be met on Plastiq alone after 3 months. This will net 66,150 MRs after the bonus posts. Schwab cashouts need to be made in 1k MR increments, so we can cash out those 66k MR at 1.25cpp and end up with $825. Less our $550 AF, we're up $275.

But the Schwab card was just the beginning. Now that we have the card we need, we can get the Schwab train rolling and get a new card every month. There are so many MR cards that either have the AF waived or no AF. You can use just Plastiq to meet the minimum spend on those cards and cash out literally thousands of dollars. Or you can earn $92.25 in travel. The Schwab example isn't even totally necessary. The 60k MR (or 75k or 100k from the Vanilla Platinum) is worth many times more than the 3x UR through Plastiq. And that's just the beginning.

In my eyes, the missed opportunity cost of trying to reign in category spending just for Chase is huge. I'm interested to hear other's thoughts about this. I realize I'm in an extreme minority, and most people talking about churning are actually more or less just talking about Chase churning. But once I started to think about how much further I could go, how many more trips I could take, how many more points I could amass, and how I could turn a lot of those points into pure cash, trying to do category spend became worthless. The points I would earn from category spending are a rounding error on the number of points I've amassed. That's not a brag either, by the way - it's just reality.



Well, we posted these two things at the perfect time!

heh, im starting to see this as well, i mean, u can earn a crapload of UR points but ur basically buying the points at less than a cent a point. i guess in a way, u can still be profitable in the long run. i depends on what u redeem i guess.
As for MS on amex cards, its pretty easy. After reaching MSR, it seems like Amex doesnt care what u do. Simons mall still work for 1x on SPG... Amex offer also works very well to MS as well.

speaking of the CF, were u able to activate 5x on all your cards? someone told me Chase forced it down to 1 card only.

I probably should acknowledge that once you are sitting on large point balances your attitude can change on things too. I often forget we have people working on their 1st Card here and people working on their 80th and everything in between. Our large balances afford me the ability to take a different approach than if I were chasing a specific redemption in the immediate future.

I remember a similar discussion on /r/churning, and I’m not saying I disagree, only that I have a different churning style that my reluctant P2 wife and I are comfortable with.

We live in San Francisco, where cost of living is high, and believe me I’ve thought often that if I threw our monthly expenses towards new cards only, we could probably hit MSRs on one or two new cards each month. But just because we could, doesn’t mean we want to sign up for that many new cards each year notwithstanding velocity limits imposed by the different card issuers.

More specifically, take for example the CIP, yes it has a 2.5% fee on Plastiq, but I view the card as a moneymaker because as long as Plastiq codes 3x, I’m getting more value back than I put in, and I view this transaction as setting aside some money into our vacation fund every month. And yes, the CIP has a $95 AF, but it’s referability has been kind to me and just one referral more than covers the AF. (As a general point, my wife is not a fan of AFs, so we math it out when AFs post whether keeping the card is worth the fee.)

And I’m not ignoring MRs, I’m just trying to balance getting new Amex cards with rounding out the Chase cards I want in my wallet while I’m still under 5/24. Combined with wanting to sign up only when I can get the best offer on a new Amex because of its one bonus per lifetime rule generally, I’ve been a bit slow going through the Amex cards. I value MRs, but they’re just not as flexible or as good a value to me as URs. I’ve got a stash of about 220k MRs, and will get around to hitting the Schwab Plat, Biz Plat, Biz Green, BGR, Green, ED, BBP (and am I missing anything?) eventually. Not to mention P2 who hasn’t hit any MR cards of her own yet.

@striker1064 - Cracking up that we were on the same wavelength at the same time

@Albort - DH was able to activate on both his CF cards.

Ok, responding to all on the discussion and in no particular order.

Mortgage is paid off so the CIP does us no good. I think it’s an awesome card for those who can use Plastiq for mortgage.

If memory serves, I think it was @SouthFayetteFan that crowned me Queen of annual fees. So I’m gonna throw my 2 cents in on that as pertains to the Chase UR cards.

DH and I each have the CSR card. We keep our spending separate. This makes both our lives easier and works best for us. Both of us still come out way ahead on the CSR $150 AF after factoring in the travel credit which is easily met. We spend enough in dining and travel categories that the extra point makes up for the fee. More than once I have noticed that redeeming through the UR portal and not having the CSR would have cost me more than the extra $150 fee on the additional points I would have needed if all I had was the CSP or my Ink+. With our travel habits I have seen that even having 2 CSR cards in the household more than pays for itself and goes far beyond that.

Our workhorses are the Ink+ cards. We pay the $95 AF on those too. I know the CIC has no AF but it is capped at $25k in 5x categories. There are years that we will surpass that number. For us, it makes better sense to keep them.

I need to earn what we burn at a constnt rate. We try to maintain a balance of 3-4 million points and miles at any given time. This is across all the airlines, hotels and variable points we collect. We don’t MS much but aren’t averse to it when needed. Since we won’t go under 5/24 the easiest way to replace what we burn is through category spending.

In order to meet our travel goals we must rely on point accumulation via airline cards or points that can transfer to airlines. If we were to put all of our spending towards MSR that can be used for cash back or on a 2% cash back card we would have to put an abrupt halt on travel. Cash for points earned that way can’t buy me what the points can get me when I transfer to an airline.

I like Amex MRs as another currency I can go to when needed. I will use Amex for an offer. I tend to only apply for Amex cards when there is a historically high bonus offer. Because SPG lose its value come August I am thinking about the Amex blue biz for non bonus spend. But I think there will be lots of mathing and points to consider before I know for certain.

 

[DisneyMandC]

@striker1064 - Cracking up that we were on the same wavelength at the same time

@Albort - DH was able to activate on both his CF cards.

Ok, responding to all on the discussion and in no particular order.

Mortgage is paid off so the CIP does us no good. I think it’s an awesome card for those who can use Plastiq for mortgage.

If memory serves, I think it was @SouthFayetteFan that crowned me Queen of annual fees. So I’m gonna throw my 2 cents in on that as pertains to the Chase UR cards.

DH and I each have the CSR card. We keep our spending separate. This makes both our lives easier and works best for us. Both of us still come out way ahead on the CSR $150 AF after factoring in the travel credit which is easily met. We spend enough in dining and travel categories that the extra point makes up for the fee. More than once I have noticed that redeeming through the UR portal and not having the CSR would have cost me more than the extra $150 fee on the additional points I would have needed if all I had was the CSP or my Ink+. With our travel habits I have seen that even having 2 CSR cards in the household more than pays for itself and goes far beyond that.

Our workhorses are the Ink+ cards. We pay the $95 AF on those too. I know the CIC has no AF but it is capped at $25k in 5x categories. There are years that we will surpass that number. For us, it makes better sense to keep them.

I need to earn what we burn at a constnt rate. We try to maintain a balance of 3-4 million points and miles at any given time. This is across all the airlines, hotels and variable points we collect. We don’t MS much but aren’t averse to it when needed. Since we won’t go under 5/24 the easiest way to replace what we burn is through category spending.

In order to meet our travel goals we must rely on point accumulation via airline cards or points that can transfer to airlines. If we were to put all of our spending towards MSR that can be used for cash back or on a 2% cash back card we would have to put an abrupt halt on travel. Cash for points earned that way can’t buy me what the points can get me when I transfer to an airline.

I like Amex MRs as another currency I can go to when needed. I will use Amex for an offer. I tend to only apply for Amex cards when there is a historically high bonus offer. Because SPG lose its value come August I am thinking about the Amex blue biz for non bonus spend. But I think there will be lots of mathing and points to consider before I know for certain.

Goals.

 

[Albort]

Our workhorses are the Ink+ cards. We pay the $95 AF on those too. I know the CIC has no AF but it is capped at $25k in 5x categories. There are years that we will surpass that number. For us, it makes better sense to keep them.

i recently found Ink+ beneficial is travelling abroad. friend of mine later found himself lacking of an no FTF card, has the CIC. CI+ still has the FTF and the 5x bonus. I think my CI+ is still a keeper.
Im planing on seeing if i can max out the CI+. Last year, i did around 15k. this year... im hoping i can do it!

 

[liloca]

I need to earn what we burn at a constnt rate. We try to maintain a balance of 3-4 million points and miles at any given time. This is across all the airlines, hotels and variable points we collect. We don’t MS much but aren’t averse to it when needed. Since we won’t go under 5/24 the easiest way to replace what we burn is through category spending.

Just wow......

 

[amalone1013]

Goals.

Right???

@calypso726

 

[Lain]

And my thinking is FREE is FREE. Why would I pay to earn rewards? Yes - you are earning more rewards than I am and at a faster pace. But I have less out of pocket expenses, travelling for close to free. This is why I don't use Plastique.

I am not disagreeing with you are telling you that you are wrong. We are both correct, just view things differently.

I know you’ve been adamant against applying for business cards, so Plastiq may not offer you very good value unless you have a CIP or an MSR you can’t meet with only organic spend, but I really like the CIP+Plastiq 3x combo so I’ll offer up one way to look at the fee that’s not paying anything more out of pocket to earn rewards.

Say someone has a $1,000 bill that they use Plastiq to pay, and incur a 2.5% fee of $25, but they pay with a CIP that earns 3x UR back on the payment and fee totaling $1,025, for 3,075 UR. At the very least, that’s worth $30.75 in cash as a bank deposit or statement credit. If you want to be diligent about not paying any fees to earn points, you can cash out 2,500 UR to cover the $25 fee, and still come out ahead 575 UR on that $1,000 bill. [ETA Otherwise, you can view that $25 as contribution to your vacation fund, which when converted to 2,500 UR points can later be redeemed at 1.5x through the CSR, so your $25 becomes $37.50 worth in travel.] If you paid that bill with a check or direct debit, you would’ve earned no rewards at all.

 

[michelleandbrett]

Hi, I was hoping to get some help with the Disney credit card bonus offer. I recently signed up for a Disney credit card to get the $200 signup bonus and just got my gift card yesterday. Is my husband able to sign up for a card as well and get the $200 gift card? It also says add an authorized user to get another $50 gift card- can we both sign up and be authorized users on each others accounts getting a total of $500? Do I need to do things in a certain order or anything weird to make it all work? Neither of us have gotten any credit card bonuses in the past 24 months. My other cards are chase freedom and quicksilver. He has chase freedom, citi double cash and discover. Thanks!

 

[trenty]

I know you’ve been adamant against applying for business cards, so Plastiq may not offer you very good value unless you have a CIP or an MSR you can’t meet with only organic spend, but I really like the CIP+Plastiq 3x combo so I’ll offer up one way to look at the fee that’s not paying anything more out of pocket to earn rewards.

Say someone has a $1,000 bill that they use Plastiq to pay, and incur a 2.5% fee of $25, but they pay with a CIP that earns 3x UR back on the payment and fee totaling $1,025, for 3,075 UR. At the very least, that’s worth $30.75 in cash as a bank deposit or statement credit. If you want to be diligent about not paying any fees to earn points, you can cash out 2,500 UR to cover the $25 fee, and still come out ahead 575 UR on that $1,000 bill. If you paid that bill with a check or direct debit, you would’ve earned no rewards at all.

I not comfortable with the idea of getting a business card, so yes - no Plastiq for me. However, I do see your point, and how it could still be free.

If I paid that bill with a check or debit card - no rewards. But, I pay with one of my credit cards, so I do get rewards, just not as many as I would get paying with Pastiq. And I am okay with that.

Right now, almost all of my spend and some of DH's goes on one of our cards, depending on the type of spend. I am more comfortable in this game than he is, and I need to respect that. We are earning free travel and are happy.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

We try to maintain a balance of 3-4 million points and miles at any given time. This is across all the airlines, hotels and variable points we collect.

Most people on r/churning would say that’s crazy...”earn and burn” and all that crap.

I totally agree though. When my SW balance gets under 500k I start to get a little worried, LOL! I don’t fear devaluations, I expect them to occur at times but love the fact that we could fly anywhere at anytime with no worries or cost. We don’t quite maintain 3-4 million but I feel pretty good in the 2 million range. I know our travel patterns are different thatn yours @calypso726 so while you diversify in different programs I like to focus a few key programs (currently SW, Marriott, URs and MRs). We currently have 2.5 million across those programs which I estimate to be worth $26,757 in future travel.

I won’t rehash my long post on it but this ties back to the “no wrong way to churn” comment I made.

 

[WVMomof3]

I not comfortable with the idea of getting a business card, so yes - no Plastiq for me. However, I do see your point, and how it could still be free.

If I paid that bill with a check or debit card - no rewards. But, I pay with one of my credit cards, so I do get rewards, just not as many as I would get paying with Pastiq. And I am okay with that.

Right now, almost all of my spend and some of DH's goes on one of our cards, depending on the type of spend. I am more comfortable in this game than he is, and I need to respect that. We are earning free travel and are happy.

.

That works great until you have a big spend that does not take credit cards. My main focus on getting the CIP and plastiq was to pay DDs tuition. My choices otherwise are check or bank transfer, no CCs allowed. Just set up payment yesterday, looks good so far! Hoping it goes all the way through with no problems.