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Do you hoard credit card points? (1 Viewer)

gianmarco said:
With a new AMEX Gold Delta card, there's a $50 statement for any purchase through Delta.  However, they now exclude gift cards.  I don't have any travel planned where I can use Delta in the next 3 months (when the purchase has to be made).  Any ideas/thoughts on what to spend to get the $50?
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Do you know anyone flying Delta.  If you can get them to buy a beer with your card it should trigger the whole 50. 

 
culdeus said:
Actually that will make your problem worse. 
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They wouldn't give me credit for my bonus spend target until after the 3rd billing cycle then? That seems dumb, but was also what I was afraid of. Guess I'm waiting until the end of the month.

 
Walking Boot said:
At the worst you could probably buy someone a WiFi pass or Priority Boarding for $15 and then keep the $35 difference. Or offer to split it with someone buying anyway 
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Wifi pass won't work. 

 
Anyone got good hints on ThankYou points redemption?  I have 65k of those things and have no idea what to do with them.  Their air partners are, for the most part, not US-centric.  

 I need to cancel the card in a few months to keep from hitting the annual fee.

 
TripItUp said:
Just another reason to drop the spg card....went from a top 3 card to not worth having.

you suck marriott
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The Marriott Visa is great for at least paying for your room. Bonuses on top of bonuses especially if you have status. 

Recent stay for 9 days at a hotel that was around 275 a night turned into about 130k points (there was also some double point bonus going on at the time which was big). That’s about 3 nights in a nice hotel in pretty much any destination city in the world. 

 
Sand said:
Anyone got good hints on ThankYou points redemption?  I have 65k of those things and have no idea what to do with them.  Their air partners are, for the most part, not US-centric.  

 I need to cancel the card in a few months to keep from hitting the annual fee.
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I'm not sure if you've done this yet but instead of canceling, just try to call them and ask for a product change. I just did that for the exact same reason (Aadvantage, though) and got the Double Cash. That way you keep the age and utilization. 

 
culdeus said:
Yes.  Tons. What makes the flowchart hard?  
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just a lot of info.  and it's blurry when enlarged.   :mellow:    i think the ink card is my best bet.  correct?  feel free to suggest a better option.

and what about the wife and i doing separate cards to accumulate as many bonuses as possible?

 
DA RAIDERS said:
just a lot of info.  and it's blurry when enlarged.   :mellow:    i think the ink card is my best bet.  correct?  feel free to suggest a better option.

and what about the wife and i doing separate cards to accumulate as many bonuses as possible?
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If you have no relationship with chase then you need to start with something like world of Hyatt first. 

They don't give out CIP out of the blue 

And yes. Both of you should be doing this. It's called 2 player mode. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
DA RAIDERS said:
this makes my head hurt.

looking for the best travel point cc.  i'm looking at at the amex delta 70k sign up bonus.  thoughts? 

is there a better option?  
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I had the same reaction.  Just ended up going with a Chase Sapphire with the 60k sign up bonus.  

 
McBokonon said:
I'm not sure if you've done this yet but instead of canceling, just try to call them and ask for a product change. I just did that for the exact same reason (Aadvantage, though) and got the Double Cash. That way you keep the age and utilization. 
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I cashed them in for mortgage checks.  I may do a product change or just cancel.  Not sure yet.

 
ex-ghost said:
Nope, you cancel most of them after one year. The game is the initial sign-up points. 
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I work with a guy who is an expert on this stuff.  Just did a download with him and am starting to get into it.

One thing he mentioned is that you can call and downgrade cards instead of canceling them.  Said it is better for your credit score.  Interesting fact was that you can have more than one of the same card.  For example, he said he has like 5 Chase Freedom cards (no annual fee) as he has downgraded other Chase cards that had annual fees after he worked the sign up bonus angle for them.

His initial advice to me was to get the Chase 5/24 out of the way first.  Right now, I have the Freedom card (no annual fee) and I am working the sign up bonus and 5% spend categories.  Also have the Chase Sapphire Preferred which will give me 60,000 bonus points after I hit my spend ($95 annual fee, but the 60,000 point equates to something like $750 worth of travel).  We dine out a lot too, so will use the Sapphire Preferred as it has 2x points on dining/travel.  Will probably add the Freedom Unlimited next (no annual fee and 1.5x points on all spend) which will be my base spend card when I'm not using the regular Freedom on the 5% categories and the Sapphire Preferred on dining/travel.

 
Al Czervik said:
I work with a guy who is an expert on this stuff.  Just did a download with him and am starting to get into it.

One thing he mentioned is that you can call and downgrade cards instead of canceling them.  Said it is better for your credit score.  Interesting fact was that you can have more than one of the same card.  For example, he said he has like 5 Chase Freedom cards (no annual fee) as he has downgraded other Chase cards that had annual fees after he worked the sign up bonus angle for them.

His initial advice to me was to get the Chase 5/24 out of the way first.  Right now, I have the Freedom card (no annual fee) and I am working the sign up bonus and 5% spend categories.  Also have the Chase Sapphire Preferred which will give me 60,000 bonus points after I hit my spend ($95 annual fee, but the 60,000 point equates to something like $750 worth of travel).  We dine out a lot too, so will use the Sapphire Preferred as it has 2x points on dining/travel.  Will probably add the Freedom Unlimited next (no annual fee and 1.5x points on all spend) which will be my base spend card when I'm not using the regular Freedom on the 5% categories and the Sapphire Preferred on dining/travel.
Click to expand...
This is not the approach Reddit would have you take.   At least with respect to chase.  

 
Al Czervik said:
I work with a guy who is an expert on this stuff.  Just did a download with him and am starting to get into it.

One thing he mentioned is that you can call and downgrade cards instead of canceling them.  Said it is better for your credit score.  Interesting fact was that you can have more than one of the same card.  For example, he said he has like 5 Chase Freedom cards (no annual fee) as he has downgraded other Chase cards that had annual fees after he worked the sign up bonus angle for them.

His initial advice to me was to get the Chase 5/24 out of the way first.  Right now, I have the Freedom card (no annual fee) and I am working the sign up bonus and 5% spend categories.  Also have the Chase Sapphire Preferred which will give me 60,000 bonus points after I hit my spend ($95 annual fee, but the 60,000 point equates to something like $750 worth of travel).  We dine out a lot too, so will use the Sapphire Preferred as it has 2x points on dining/travel.  Will probably add the Freedom Unlimited next (no annual fee and 1.5x points on all spend) which will be my base spend card when I'm not using the regular Freedom on the 5% categories and the Sapphire Preferred on dining/travel.
Click to expand...
I mean not to put too fine a point on this, but this post highlights how difficult it is to manage these cards optimally.

The freedom card has a very weak SUB, and is considered a PC card by most of the churners out there.  That in effect wastes a 5/24 slot down the road.  

The CSP is a very weak travel reward card with a AF that gives few benefits, and the ongoing spend bonuses are weak.  The better approach would have been to utilize the Multiple Daily Dip which is outlined on the flowchart, or have gone for the Reserve alone which provides far more value if you are in the middle of ramping up 5/24 on two players.  Now you are dead to that for 48 months.

I am now on my 4th CIP (across two players).  I turn the CIP into CIU after a year which has better ongoing benefits than CFU.  I never expected the CIP to last this long, it's really made the decision to keep P2 <5/24 great.  

Basically, I think Freedom and Freedom Unlimited are easily outclassed even with cash-out option by the Southwest cards. CF and CFU are mainly PC options unless your credit score is thin or weak.  Then those are your only real options anyways.

I finally crossed my 50th card in 3 years (2 players) this week with 3 new cards.  The overwhelming amount of information that is available can be daunting, but it's doable.  Leaving in three weeks for my second consecutive year of 2 weeks in europe with all hotels and airfare paid for, and all expenses paid by bank account signups.  Clearing 18k this year (easily, probably will wind up around 22k).  Depending on what citibank does with their AA mailers should keep that running next year or better given I will go big/24 on P2 next year.

 
@culdeus so you are traveling to Europe for 2 weeks with hotel and airfare fully paid plus ~18K in cash back (or whatever)?  Or is ~18K the total value you received from your cards this year?  Either way it's impressive. 

 
I've learned that it's good to keep a spreadsheet going with all of your cards including date signed up, credit limit, minimum spend, annual fee, what info you used on sign-up (for biz cards) and at minimum last 4 numbers of each card.  I also use this to keep track of username/pw as I have separate logins for each biz account. 

 
Brony said:
I've learned that it's good to keep a spreadsheet going with all of your cards including date signed up, credit limit, minimum spend, annual fee, what info you used on sign-up (for biz cards) and at minimum last 4 numbers of each card.  I also use this to keep track of username/pw as I have separate logins for each biz account. 
Click to expand...
This.  In order to achieve somewhat optimal performance, you need to track your movements pretty closely.  Credit card churning is not for the lazy or disorganized.  

 
Steeler said:
@culdeus so you are traveling to Europe for 2 weeks with hotel and airfare fully paid plus ~18K in cash back (or whatever)?  Or is ~18K the total value you received from your cards this year?  Either way it's impressive. 
Click to expand...
No, this would include the value I spent on redemptions.  There are hardcore guys that clear that much using heavy manufactured spending, I only do light MS to meet min-spends.

 
Brony said:
I've learned that it's good to keep a spreadsheet going with all of your cards including date signed up, credit limit, minimum spend, annual fee, what info you used on sign-up (for biz cards) and at minimum last 4 numbers of each card.  I also use this to keep track of username/pw as I have separate logins for each biz account. 
Click to expand...
Reddit has a few good ones with some nice macros

 
culdeus said:
I mean not to put too fine a point on this, but this post highlights how difficult it is to manage these cards optimally.

The freedom card has a very weak SUB, and is considered a PC card by most of the churners out there.  That in effect wastes a 5/24 slot down the road.  

The CSP is a very weak travel reward card with a AF that gives few benefits, and the ongoing spend bonuses are weak.  The better approach would have been to utilize the Multiple Daily Dip which is outlined on the flowchart, or have gone for the Reserve alone which provides far more value if you are in the middle of ramping up 5/24 on two players.  Now you are dead to that for 48 months.

I am now on my 4th CIP (across two players).  I turn the CIP into CIU after a year which has better ongoing benefits than CFU.  I never expected the CIP to last this long, it's really made the decision to keep P2 <5/24 great.  

Basically, I think Freedom and Freedom Unlimited are easily outclassed even with cash-out option by the Southwest cards. CF and CFU are mainly PC options unless your credit score is thin or weak.  Then those are your only real options anyways.

I finally crossed my 50th card in 3 years (2 players) this week with 3 new cards.  The overwhelming amount of information that is available can be daunting, but it's doable.  Leaving in three weeks for my second consecutive year of 2 weeks in europe with all hotels and airfare paid for, and all expenses paid by bank account signups.  Clearing 18k this year (easily, probably will wind up around 22k).  Depending on what citibank does with their AA mailers should keep that running next year or better given I will go big/24 on P2 next year.
Click to expand...
I thought I understood English pretty well as it’s the only language I read or write.  After reading this I’m seriously doubting that ability.  

 
The reddit link above says my first card should be a Chase SW Biz card if I want the SW companion pass. The card has a $199 annual fee and I'm not a business owner. Is this still the card to start with?

 
joker said:
The reddit link above says my first card should be a Chase SW Biz card if I want the SW companion pass. The card has a $199 annual fee and I'm not a business owner. Is this still the card to start with?
Click to expand...
You need to really have an odd case to not follow the flowchart at least thru 5/24

 
At what point does one have so many credit cards that it begins to negatively impact their credit score?  I'm in the 800's and the only debt we have is mortgage/car.  I've been much more liberal lately with accumulating credit cards to point hoard and cash bonus, but I'm wondering if there is a too many limit - and about where it is.

 
joker said:
The reddit link above says my first card should be a Chase SW Biz card if I want the SW companion pass. The card has a $199 annual fee and I'm not a business owner. Is this still the card to start with?
Click to expand...
If you want the SW companion pass and will get use out of it, then yes. 

I'm not of the mindset that you have to follow the flowchart exactly - no use collecting Delta points for example if Delta doesn't operate a lot of flights near you.  But, it is worthwhile understanding the flowchart to know that certain cards will have limitations on how frequently you can earn that bonus. So some thought needs to be applied to the sequence that you earn bonuses and the flowchart is helpful for that as a guideline. 

 
Brony said:
If you want the SW companion pass and will get use out of it, then yes. 

I'm not of the mindset that you have to follow the flowchart exactly - no use collecting Delta points for example if Delta doesn't operate a lot of flights near you.  But, it is worthwhile understanding the flowchart to know that certain cards will have limitations on how frequently you can earn that bonus. So some thought needs to be applied to the sequence that you earn bonuses and the flowchart is helpful for that as a guideline. 
Click to expand...
To that end you get as flexible point as possible and then move to specific programs by need.  Obviously if you need a chunk of Hyatt. Then focus that earlier.  

 
MAC_32 said:
At what point does one have so many credit cards that it begins to negatively impact their credit score?  I'm in the 800's and the only debt we have is mortgage/car.  I've been much more liberal lately with accumulating credit cards to point hoard and cash bonus, but I'm wondering if there is a too many limit - and about where it is.
Click to expand...
Here's the one neat trick that Banks don't want you to know.   

I've never and I mean never had a higher credit score.  I'll do 3 inquiries and dip to 802 but back to 820 within 3 weeks or so.  If I had a more diverse credit profile I could push to 840-850 easily.  

 
Walking Boot said:
50? I mean, # of cards doesn't matter as much as total credit you can pull on vs your income.

Twenty cards with a limit of a thousand dollars each vs an annual income of $100k makes you low risk and easy to get more credit. Five cards of $25k each vs a $75k income will have your score lowered.

All that said, credit score is pretty meaningless once you already have the mortgage. What do you care what your score is? What are you going to use it for?

 If you're making payments on time and not carrying balances, you're fine. With a good credit foundation you can clean up your score in a couple of months if you had to and worry about it later. 
Click to expand...
We may move in the next couple-few years.  If we don't then we're probably staying where we are though.

That detail helped confirm that I should continue to ignore the 'update info to increase limits' emails.  Thanks for that.  Every time I think we have a new, great card another one comes around.

 
Walking Boot said:
50? I mean, # of cards doesn't matter as much as total credit you can pull on vs your income.

Twenty cards with a limit of a thousand dollars each vs an annual income of $100k makes you low risk and easy to get more credit. Five cards of $25k each vs a $75k income will have your score lowered.

All that said, credit score is pretty meaningless once you already have the mortgage. What do you care what your score is? What are you going to use it for?

 If you're making payments on time and not carrying balances, you're fine. With a good credit foundation you can clean up your score in a couple of months if you had to and worry about it later. 
Click to expand...
It is important to understand credit score/credit approval and what drives each.  

Credit score is not based on income.  That's important.  And often overlooked.

The biggest factors in credit score are

  • On time payments (more = better so more accounts with on time=better)
  • Utilization - The more credit of your total credit you use, lower your score
  • Total # of accounts and blend of accounts (Having just 1 CC and nothing else hurts, having mortgage in last 10 years, car in last 7 years etc. all help. even if have the loan and pay it off)
The biggest factors in credit approval

  • Total credit line already established at that bank/income.  Chase usually will approve you up to 50% of this number, for example.
  • Credit score is usually a "Must be this tall to ride".  
  • Utliization.  Now this is where it gets interesting.  CapitalOne will deny you for low utilization.  But Chase will deny you for high utilization.  You need to know how to shift your utilization quickly if you are bouncing between banks.  Having one card with a low limit to put some gift cards on real fast can help with a CapOne approval.  Why? CapOne is predatory, they want to be the bank that breaks you.
  • Any derogatory at that bank, in history.  Late payments, charge offs, usually is a hard no.
 
MAC_32 said:
We may move in the next couple-few years.  If we don't then we're probably staying where we are though.

That detail helped confirm that I should continue to ignore the 'update info to increase limits' emails.  Thanks for that.  Every time I think we have a new, great card another one comes around.
Click to expand...
Never increase limits on a credit card.  It results in a hard pull, nearly 100% of the time.  Just get another card.  You get the utilization benefit all the same with the extra sign up bonus all for the cost of a hard pull anyways.

 
When you sign up for a new card with an annual fee, how does it get paid?  Do they just throw it on your first statement?

 
The latest mortgage guidance is that as long as you  are 750+ consistently you just need to cool down apps for about 3 months, and do nothing until you close.  

It gets dicey in the 700-750 range.  That might require 6 months of downtime.

If you do a large volume of Biz cards, some lenders will completely ignore them and some will not.  It still is not advisable to do any applications once process is going.

 
culdeus said:
I mean not to put too fine a point on this, but this post highlights how difficult it is to manage these cards optimally.

The freedom card has a very weak SUB, and is considered a PC card by most of the churners out there.  That in effect wastes a 5/24 slot down the road.  

The CSP is a very weak travel reward card with a AF that gives few benefits, and the ongoing spend bonuses are weak.  The better approach would have been to utilize the Multiple Daily Dip which is outlined on the flowchart, or have gone for the Reserve alone which provides far more value if you are in the middle of ramping up 5/24 on two players.  Now you are dead to that for 48 months.

I am now on my 4th CIP (across two players).  I turn the CIP into CIU after a year which has better ongoing benefits than CFU.  I never expected the CIP to last this long, it's really made the decision to keep P2 <5/24 great.  

Basically, I think Freedom and Freedom Unlimited are easily outclassed even with cash-out option by the Southwest cards. CF and CFU are mainly PC options unless your credit score is thin or weak.  Then those are your only real options anyways.

I finally crossed my 50th card in 3 years (2 players) this week with 3 new cards.  The overwhelming amount of information that is available can be daunting, but it's doable.  Leaving in three weeks for my second consecutive year of 2 weeks in europe with all hotels and airfare paid for, and all expenses paid by bank account signups.  Clearing 18k this year (easily, probably will wind up around 22k).  Depending on what citibank does with their AA mailers should keep that running next year or better given I will go big/24 on P2 next year.
Click to expand...
Just got our 85th card in two player mode over the past 3 years. Credit scores in the 790's. Fun game to play, but it takes time and organization. Strong spreadsheet game needed. Calculated that we have "saved" over $32k in travel costs. "Saved" because we would not go on many of the trips without all the points.

 
Not sure if this has been answered before, but do you need an actual business to apply for a business card? If not, what do you put in the Business Name field - just make something up?

 
joker said:
Not sure if this has been answered before, but do you need an actual business to apply for a business card? If not, what do you put in the Business Name field - just make something up?
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No, you just put your own name as a sole proprietorship. If you don't have an actual business, do not make up a name. If you sell things on ebay, tutor, really anything that makes money, you have a business in the eyes of a bank. I have opened a few business bank accounts in branch and they ask what you do, how much you make, how long in business, etc. I say ebay (true), less than $1000 (true) and 3 years (also true).

 
My goal is to get a Diamond card at Caesars Rewards (you know...the casinos).  I found this on another board:

There's a lot of talk about credits and gambling to get to Diamond. The fastest/cheapest way to do it is to get Hilton Gold (can be done with any of a number of $95/yr cards), turn that into Wyndham Diamond (match), and turn that into TR Diamond. 

If someone travels a lot, then paying the $550 to get Amex Platinum is another way to do it, but that's a pretty hefty annual fee (well worth it if you travel). 

Either way, this is something that can be done for less than $100 in a single day. 

Now, again, that doesn't impact your ADT and if you want to get good free rooms you're gonna have to run some money through the casino occasionally, but just getting the Caesars Diamond is fast/easy/cheap.
Click to expand...
More specifically, in order to get the Hilton Gold, I think you need to apply for the Hilton Honors American Express Ascend Card.

I'm probably gonna try it sometime over the next week.  I'll report back if it works.

But with El Dorado and Caesars now merging, how knows if this will all change soon.

 
joker said:
Not sure if this has been answered before, but do you need an actual business to apply for a business card? If not, what do you put in the Business Name field - just make something up?
Click to expand...
First name last name first name last name

Apply for a EIN from the IRS.  Takes 5 minutes and is instant.  This helps alot.  It has 0 tax impact whatsoever.  

 
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