I love credit cards so much!

[hsmamato2]

Get the Biz first. For Chase business cards, you need to have no other Chase applications in the last 30 days. When approved for the Biz, you can get one other personal card in the next 30 days. Chase personal cards are subject to a more lenient 2/30 rule, which means that to be approved, you cannot apply for more than two Chase cards in a 30 day period.

got it- thanks. so I have to be sure to go for biz a couple of weeks before our trip and hopefully get the pers. on the plane.(do you do it thru the SWA app that you watch tv on?

 

[Lain]

so if I already initiated pooling option, but nothing else,(emails not clicking thru) can I go back in and do the transfer?

I'd try it. Good luck!

 

[Calfan]

i think it does... i know it was confirmed on reddit. ill have to dig that up on a different time.
expert flyer is a bit complicated to use though. try the trial period to mess around with it before u go through with it. haha. its one reason why i bug my friend cuz he knows how to read it and etc.

Thanks! Yes, would definitely go for the trial to see how helpful and user friendly (or not) it is.

 

[Lain]

Just got a vet bill on my horse and of course can't pay it with Amex They take MC though so I'll use that to complete my Citi AA biz MSR. I guess I'll order DH an employee card for my SPG biz so he can start using that.

In the future, you could always buy VGCs and have the vet run the charges on Visa.

My kid's pediatrician doesn't accept Amex just as I'm working on SPG Lux and Biz Plat MSRs, so I handed over a VGC the other day.

 

[Lain]

@Haley R I'm so happy you got your flights!! I was feeling secondhand stress for you lol

We just had an amazing travel opportunity come up for which we are going to have to pay actual real money and could use some help deciding which cards we should get and/or if we should stray from the Plan. We'll be going to India this December with a few professor friends, one of whom is from Delhi and will be arranging all the internal travel. I am so excited because India has been on my list forever, and dh has always said he'd only go to India if we went with friends who were from there.


We will be flying EWR-Delhi on 12/9 nonstop on United. We have to be on this particular flight because that's what our friends will be taking. We will be returning Delhi-EWR on 12/21, also the daily nonstop. When dh heard that the flight time is longer than the JFK-PEK nonstops we took a few years back *in economy omg*, he said we should book business These flights have 2 classes, Polaris and economy. It looks like the planes, for now at least, will not have the fancy new Polaris seats with the 1-2-1 arrangement but the 2-2-2 arrangement.

Dh and I are both 1/24, with his CSP and my CF from early July. We also have very old cards, Discover and a non-TYP Citi they PCd from something else.

The original plan for me
9/18 CIP (my tutoring "business")
12/18 a SW personal
2/19 SW biz
6/19 CIC or CSR or CSP/CSR double dip

The original plan for dh
9-10/18 something non-business chase, maybe United or Hyatt
and then no idea lol

We have about 2 weeks until we can purchase the airfare of $7500ish (waiting on visa process for one friend who is a citizen of a different country). We need something with travel protection and something that gets better travel bonuses than dh's 2x CSP for the flights and then something else for the hotels etc.

Suggestions? Our goal has been to collect enough points/miles for a 3 week trip to Australia in fall 2020, flying at least business, with hotels and internal travel covered as much as possible.

Thanks

Just to be clear, you have $7,500 in airfare spend coming up in 2 weeks, and you want to know which card(s) to go for?

 

[tink1970]

Ok expert advice from you big travelers here please.... on our return flight home from HI,we land in LAX at 12:24 a.m.- our flight to east coast leaves at 6:15(ish) a.m.- wwyd? I'm considering a hotel room,but it would be for about 4 hours tops and we prob won't sleep anyway...or just hang out and wait. I don't think any PP lounges are open that early..... what to do? I can easily book a free night at the IHG next door to airport.... but I feel like its a waste of points

I think it depends on how much you value showers and just a quiet place to just...be. Honestly I've taken the free hotel voucher many times in ATL when there have been delays not expecting to sleep but just wanting a place to shower and have alone time. My good friend just returned from HI (OGG-LAX-ATL-PNS) and she is totally burned out on flying right now; it's a long journey from HI to East Coast so whatever you can do to make yourself more comfortable is worth it!

 

[DisneyMandC]

In the future, you could always buy VGCs and have the vet run the charges on Visa.

My kid's pediatrician doesn't accept Amex just as I'm working on SPG Lux and Biz Plat MSRs, so I handed over a VGC the other day.

Yeah if I didn't have the MC I would definitely do that. Fortunately having two MSRs to meet at the same time panned out this time! I did use VGC at Costco the other day. I know some have said before to use the last four of the card as the pin number but that didn't work and she ran it as credit and that worked fine.

 

[Lain]

Question. The recommendation is 90 days between AMEX credit card apps. Does this pertain to business credit cards too or just personal?

I think you're misunderstanding.

There's no general recommendation of waiting 90 days between Amex credit card apps.

Amex has a timing limit of approving 2 credit cards in a rolling 90-day period. Credit cards include both business and personal cards. Note Amex has credit cards (mostly their co-branded cards) and charge cards (think Green, Gold, the Platinums, and their business versions). The 2/90 rule does not apply to Amex's charge cards. So in a 90-day period, you can apply for 2 credit cards, but you can also go for as many charge cards as you can meet spend on and Amex is willing to approve you for.

Amex also limits you to holding 5 open credit cards at a time. If you try to apply for a 6th, it will go pending and you'll have to close one to get it approved. Amex does not limit the number of charge cards you can hold.

 

[wendow]

so if I'm going to try this, I would need to get the biz at least 30 days prior to flying and going for the pers. offer in flight?

That would be fine or the reverse -do the personal in-flight and do biz 31 days later. I think either works depending on your flight timing.

 

[Haley R]

Woo Hoo!!! So glad you got your flights. It’s usually a lot easier if you give yourself two years on the planning. One year to get the points in place so they are available one year before you travel and there when the flights are released. I will likely be following your footsteps to book ANA with Virgin miles. I know I will be dealing with a change fee too since the return would not be open when I book the departure and my dates won’t be flexible. But I don’t mind so much since it is do-able on far less miles than every other option and it gives me an excuse to take advantage of the current Amex MR to Virgin bonus.

As for the need to book hotels on each end of your trip, well that’s easy. There are a gazillion ways to stay and not pay. You also have a huge community here that is happy to help you with that!

I’m sure I’ll be here to ask more questions! Lol

We will be staying at the Hilton Tokyo bay so I’m considering getting a Hilton card but I haven’t quite decided yet. We are still using dh’s CSR but he said yesterday he thinks we met that msr already.

 

[Haley R]

Yaa!! So glad you have your flights booked

Me too! It’s a huge weight off my shoulders. I got to pick our seats and that was pretty fun! I’m so excited for my little cubicle seat lol. Dh wants to do Disneyland now that we are flying out of lax but idk if we can add that cost plus we’ll already be gone almost 3 weeks.

 

[Lain]

The project is just under $15k. I do not have a new card to meet sign up bonus. DH just got the CSR but via PC so no bonus. I was still thinking of putting the spend on that card. We have CSP, CSR, Amex Spg Personal, CIC, CIP and Marriott. The contractor will take a check. Not sure about PayPal. Venmo is just like Plastiq right? I thought about Plastiq but I wasn’t sure the fee would offset the points earned.

ETA: I just remembered I lowered my CL to $5k on CIP and CIC and my CL is only $5k on Marriott.

I'd inquire if the contractor will accept PayPal or Venmo. Venmo is more like PayPal, and not like Plastiq. PayPal and Venmo are peer-to-peer payment services (PayPal actually owns Venmo). You have an account, contractor has an account. You can add credit cards, debit cards, bank accounts to your account as funding sources, then send a payment to your contractor's account. Your contractor will probably want you to eat the fees if you're using credit cards. PayPal charges a 2.9% fee + $0.30 per transaction. Venmo charges a 3% fee for credit cards. But, Venmo earns 3x UR on the payment amount and 3% fee when using CIP. (However, I see your CIP limit is only $5k, which won't be enough for a ~$15k job.)

If you used the CSR, you'd earn only 1x UR on the payment and fees on whatever service you use to pay the contractor. Plastiq charges a 2.5% fee, and PayPal and Venmo charge the fees above.

I'd actually think about opening up a new card or cards for this job, because I don't know how you get ahead of the fees by just spending on the cards you have. A new card will have the outsized value of the spending bonus, so a 2-3% fee isn't that big of a deal.

As @1st*toright mentioned, you can use Visas and MasterCards to pay a contractor through Plastiq. Plastiq will not allow an Amex payment to a contractor. If you decide to go for an Amex card anyway, again see if you can use PayPal or Venmo, or you just have to get a little more creative.

 

[hsmamato2]

I think it depends on how much you value showers and just a quiet place to just...be. Honestly I've taken the free hotel voucher many times in ATL when there have been delays not expecting to sleep but just wanting a place to shower and have alone time. My good friend just returned from HI (OGG-LAX-ATL-PNS) and she is totally burned out on flying right now; it's a long journey from HI to East Coast so whatever you can do to make yourself more comfortable is worth it!

got it..... I may do it,I can always cancel the room if I don't want it later-

 

[hsmamato2]

I just went over Dh and I credit karma accts.... both looking good with 825 scores but I stupidly added Dh to a couple of my cards as AU- if it's chase, can I SM thru my acct to have him removed? or his acct? and what about an Amex AU? do we have to call? (me or dh?) thanks-

 

[hsmamato2]

That would be fine or the reverse -do the personal in-flight and do biz 31 days later. I think either works depending on your flight timing.

ok 1st acct to drop has a 12/1/16 date on it, does that mean we're good to go re 5/24 after the 1st,or do we wait longer? that will determine the order of application for us since we fly out on the 7th of Dec.

 

[platamama]

so if I'm going to try this, I would need to get the biz at least 30 days prior to flying and going for the pers. offer in flight?

That would be fine or the reverse -do the personal in-flight and do biz 31 days later. I think either works depending on your flight timing.

@hsmamato2 If your 5/24 status will be affected by getting the personal card (since the SW Biz card is subject to 5/24) then I'd stick with your plan to do the Biz first.

 

[Lain]

I just went over Dh and I credit karma accts.... both looking good with 825 scores but I stupidly added Dh to a couple of my cards as AU- if it's chase, can I SM thru my acct to have him removed? or his acct? and what about an Amex AU? do we have to call? (me or dh?) thanks-

If it's Chase, you can SM to have him removed as AU on each card. Then, from his account, SM Chase to have them remove the AU accounts from his credit reports at every bureau to which Chase reports, and throw in the line that he has been removed as an authorized user on these accounts, and he is not and has never been financially responsible for these accounts.

 

[hsmamato2]

@hsmamato2 If your 5/24 status will be affected by getting the personal card (since the SW Biz card is subject to 5/24) then I'd stick with your plan to do the Biz first.

wait.... (I had to re-read this lol) biz first b/c that will still be 4/24? and then 30 days later the pers? but if I did pers. first, then he'd be 5/24 again,and no biz allowed(right?)

 

[hsmamato2]

If it's Chase, you can SM to have him removed as AU on each card. Then, from his account, SM Chase to have them remove the AU accounts from his credit reports at every bureau to which Chase reports, and throw in the line that he has been removed as an authorized user on these accounts, and he is not and has never been financially responsible for these accounts.

I SM thru my acct and remove him,then SM thru his acct to chase to notify the agencies? ( I'm slow on the uptake today and trying to get things in order)

 

[Haley R]

I'm usually not, either, but I have a $250 Delta GC that I won in a sweepstakes a while back & I have about 60K existing SkyMiles to use. Unfortunately, I discovered this board/thread too late to really get in the game for this trip because our tickets go on sale next month. We will live with Y+ seats. My mom is usually a committed J flyer but she says she can deal for 7 hours.

With all the other little bonuses (forgot about Saks!), I think Plat will be worth it. I'll apply later tonight.


Congrats on getting your flights booked!

Thank you!