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Do you hoard credit card points? (3 Viewers)

ex-ghost said:
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.
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I mean I went prague->vienna->alps->venice last year

Stayed at Cat 8 Marriot properties and a Cat 4 Ritz in Vienna in a Jr. Suite that had two bedrooms, and club access.  for free.  

These are rooms that baseline at 800 and on up to 1400/nt.  

http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/europe/vienna/rooms-suites/club-suite#fndtn-Floorplan

I would not pay that much for the hotels, but I would have gone on the trip.  

This is where I stayed in venice for 3 nights.  I spent less on the credit card to get the points for stuff I buy than I would have on the hotel.  

https://www.google.com/search?q=gritti+palace+venice&rlz=1C1GCEB_enUS851US851&oq=gritti+palace+venice&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.4220j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

The alps hotels I stayed at was absolutely insane as well.  

This year it's England/France but staying at some absolutely sick places on this trip as well.

 
culdeus said:
I mean I went prague->vienna->alps->venice last year

Stayed at Cat 8 Marriot properties and a Cat 4 Ritz in Vienna in a Jr. Suite that had two bedrooms, and club access.  for free.  

These are rooms that baseline at 800 and on up to 1400/nt.  

http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/europe/vienna/rooms-suites/club-suite#fndtn-Floorplan

I would not pay that much for the hotels, but I would have gone on the trip.  

This is where I stayed in venice for 3 nights.  I spent less on the credit card to get the points for stuff I buy than I would have on the hotel.  

https://www.google.com/search?q=gritti+palace+venice&rlz=1C1GCEB_enUS851US851&oq=gritti+palace+venice&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.4220j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

The alps hotels I stayed at was absolutely insane as well.  

This year it's England/France but staying at some absolutely sick places on this trip as well.
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Family of 4, would not have made trips to Italy or Costa Rica without free flights. Hell, went to Chicago to catch Bears/Cubs/Northwestern games. Again, would not have happened without free flights and hotel.

 
Walking Boot said:
Caesars Diamond for $100 is a pretty good deal considering that it brings free parking at the hotels, which is like $50/day in Vegas. Of course I'm the cheap guy who picks the garage with free parking and then walks to the hotel I'm actually staying in.
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I think the biggest perk is how it waives the resort fees on Caesars rooms. Normally, when you get a free/comped room, you have to still pay the resort fees ($27/night in AC and $35/night in LV).

And there's something about a $100 celebration dinner each year, which pays back your annual fee right there 

 
Walking Boot said:
I know Diamond status "resets" annually, do you get to keep it after the first year? Do you cancel the card and do the dance again the next year or something? I think I read you only get the Wyndham status for 90 days off the Amex, but not sure how reliable that info is. 
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That I'm not sure.  My hope is that Caesars doesn't bother checking back with Wyndham to make sure I'm still a Wyndham Diamond member (assuming it does lapse after the 90 days).  And if the Caesars Diamond ends at the end of the year, I'll circle back and see if there is another match program or short cut to get to Diamond status.

 
culdeus said:
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.
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Citi, Cap1, Discover for sure offer no hard pull credit line increases. I go in there and hit the button on those every few months. AMEX also does soft pull CLI but I don't try as often there. But yeah, a lot of them do.

 
McBokonon said:
Citi, Cap1, Discover for sure offer no hard pull credit line increases. I go in there and hit the button on those every few months. AMEX also does soft pull CLI but I don't try as often there. But yeah, a lot of them do.
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If you have a year of payment history they may opt not to. I should have mentioned that.  Yeah Amex is odd about credit.  Once you hit a certain income level and spend with them you may as well be a billionaire.  

 
For those wondering about business cards.  I just signed up my wife and I up for our second business card.  Selling stuff on ebay and facebook was good enough to qualify.  I put less than 1 year in business and under $500 income.  It was for the Citi Business AAdvantage and Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Business.  We will end up with 300K in points between us.

 
It does appear that there is some evidence that Citibank AA mailers may be drying up.   This is one of the easier churns out there as they are not MS sensitive allowing you to just buy a half dozen gift cards every so often and focus on other banks.  

It does seem that the game is getting tighter now, no real margin for error anymore.  Chase and Amex are still pretty loose, but that could stop at anytime.  Frankly I don't get why they keep giving out CIPs like candy.  That can't last much longer.

AA points were also a little underrated in the sense that they were a solid 1cpp at hotels.  For such an easy currency to get that's a massive boost to the bottom line.

 
culdeus said:
It does appear that there is some evidence that Citibank AA mailers may be drying up.   This is one of the easier churns out there as they are not MS sensitive allowing you to just buy a half dozen gift cards every so often and focus on other banks.  

It does seem that the game is getting tighter now, no real margin for error anymore.  Chase and Amex are still pretty loose, but that could stop at anytime.  Frankly I don't get why they keep giving out CIPs like candy.  That can't last much longer.

AA points were also a little underrated in the sense that they were a solid 1cpp at hotels.  For such an easy currency to get that's a massive boost to the bottom line.
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when you say you are on your 4th CIP for 2 players, is that 2 each, or did you get 4 under one person's name? 

 
Brony said:
when you say you are on your 4th CIP for 2 players, is that 2 each, or did you get 4 under one person's name? 
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1 for me 3 for wife.  Others have been able to score 4 cip.  All told gotten 2 ciu and 4 cip bonuses so far across two players.  

No way this lasts.

 
I've been lazy but probably will push money in to get the sapphire banking bonus also.  Because why not.   

 
culdeus said:
1 for me 3 for wife.  Others have been able to score 4 cip.  All told gotten 2 ciu and 4 cip bonuses so far across two players.  

No way this lasts.
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Thx. I just finished 3rd. 2 for me, 1 for P2. P2 does not enjoy the game unfortunately. 

 
Walking Boot said:
I guess, if this is correct, you only need to get the Hilton Amex once, cancel it after the first year, and use the Wyndham/Caesar's alliance to ping-pong Diamond status back and forth between the two every Jan/Feb
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Yup, the "ping-pong" between the during Jan/Feb is what I read too.

Fwiw, it DID work. I'm officially diamond now and didn't need to gamble thousands of dollars. 

:flex:

 
eoMMan said:
Yup, the "ping-pong" between the during Jan/Feb is what I read too.

Fwiw, it DID work. I'm officially diamond now and didn't need to gamble thousands of dollars. 

:flex:
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Come again with how this works? I have a Hilton Ascend Amex.  Was Diamond before but am Gold now...

 
culdeus said:
I mean I went prague->vienna->alps->venice last year

Stayed at Cat 8 Marriot properties and a Cat 4 Ritz in Vienna in a Jr. Suite that had two bedrooms, and club access.  for free.  

These are rooms that baseline at 800 and on up to 1400/nt.  

http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/europe/vienna/rooms-suites/club-suite#fndtn-Floorplan

I would not pay that much for the hotels, but I would have gone on the trip.  

This is where I stayed in venice for 3 nights.  I spent less on the credit card to get the points for stuff I buy than I would have on the hotel.  

https://www.google.com/search?q=gritti+palace+venice&rlz=1C1GCEB_enUS851US851&oq=gritti+palace+venice&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.4220j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

The alps hotels I stayed at was absolutely insane as well.  

This year it's England/France but staying at some absolutely sick places on this trip as well.
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I am intrigued - but EIGHTY FIVE cards?

 
Judge Smails said:
I am intrigued - but EIGHTY FIVE cards?
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Yeah, I imagine a ton of junk mail and potential for identity theft as one's credit footprint increases. But if you are super organized, diligent about payment and enjoy the "game", more power to you.

I have a single card. Capital One visa; I think it's platinum. I pay for everything I can using it. I've only used the points for travel, and typically fly somewhere 4-5x/year. Not loyal to any particular airline, though Hawaiian and United are our main carriers. My credit score and income are good.

For the cc aficionados, if you could have one card, what would it be? What card should I consider?

 
Judge Smails said:
Come again with how this works? I have a Hilton Ascend Amex.  Was Diamond before but am Gold now...
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If you have the Hilton Ascend Amex CC (which I think is changing names soon), you automatically get complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status.  This is important.  Follow the steps below...

1. Sign up for Wyndham rewards (not a CC). Link

2. Take a screenshot of your Hilton Honors Gold webpage that shows your member number and name.

3.  Upload that to the Wyndham rewards matching website (see step 1).

4.  Wyndham should now show you as a Wyndham Diamond member.

5.  Take a screenshot of your Wyndham Diamond account that shows your member number and name.

5. Go to the Caesars website HERE and upload this screenshot and Caesars should make you a Diamond member.  It could take a week or so until you see the change on-line.

Your Caesars Diamond status lasts until the end of January 2020 but your Caesars tier credits reset January 1st.  So the "ping-pong" method mentioned a few posts back is important.  During January, do the steps above in reverse order (match your Caesars Diamond to become Wyndham Diamond again).  Then come February, match your Wyndham Diamond back to Caesars Diamond and you should have it for all of 2020.  

 
Terminalxylem said:
Yeah, I imagine a ton of junk mail and potential for identity theft as one's credit footprint increases. But if you are super organized, diligent about payment and enjoy the "game", more power to you.

I have a single card. Capital One visa; I think it's platinum. I pay for everything I can using it. I've only used the points for travel, and typically fly somewhere 4-5x/year. Not loyal to any particular airline, though Hawaiian and United are our main carriers. My credit score and income are good.

For the cc aficionados, if you could have one card, what would it be? What card should I consider?
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Surprisingly very little junk mail. The most we get is from capital one for my daughter, who is 16. Not sure why that is happening.

 
ex-ghost said:
85 is between myself and P2. Detailed spreadsheets. Currently have 32 active, the other 50+ have been closed over time.
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What do you do if have a card that you don't plan on using anymore?  Just let it be?  Will they eventually just close it on you?  Is it better to throw a small charge on it every few months just to keep it active?

 
eoMMan said:
What do you do if have a card that you don't plan on using anymore?  Just let it be?  Will they eventually just close it on you?  Is it better to throw a small charge on it every few months just to keep it active?
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In general always move cards to a no annual fee version if you do not use it or the benefits.

If the card has no value to you, and can't be move to a no-AF version then cancel.  You may be offered a retention offer, I rarely turn these down.

Non AF cards it's good to put about $5 in spend on every 6 months.

 
eoMMan said:
What do you do if have a card that you don't plan on using anymore?  Just let it be?  Will they eventually just close it on you?  Is it better to throw a small charge on it every few months just to keep it active?
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Yep, every 6-12 months I put around $2 charge to amazon. All are either fee-free cards or ones like IHG that receive a free night every year. I will pay $80 a year for those cards since that are very useful.

 
ex-ghost said:
Yep, every 6-12 months I put around $2 charge to amazon. All are either fee-free cards or ones like IHG that receive a free night every year. I will pay $80 a year for those cards since that are very useful.
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Free night cert cards are nice. 

 
I just opened a chase sapphire reserved, looking forward to the 50,000 reward points but bummed it won’t arrive till after prime day. I already called to see if I could get the numbers digitally but they said no which sucks however I have some large purchases coming up so the 4K will be easy to get. Looks like I’ll be opening a prime card as well for the discount on prime day. My question is since I only plan on using it once for the discount will it look bad to cancel after a few months? I want to just use the chase card to maximize points and don’t plan to use the amazon card except for the one time to get the discount. 

 
CGRdrJoe said:
I just opened a chase sapphire reserved, looking forward to the 50,000 reward points but bummed it won’t arrive till after prime day. I already called to see if I could get the numbers digitally but they said no which sucks however I have some large purchases coming up so the 4K will be easy to get. Looks like I’ll be opening a prime card as well for the discount on prime day. My question is since I only plan on using it once for the discount will it look bad to cancel after a few months? I want to just use the chase card to maximize points and don’t plan to use the amazon card except for the one time to get the discount. 
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Don't do this.  Please.  Begging you. 

Any of this.  

 
culdeus said:
Don't do this.  Please.  Begging you. 

Any of this.  
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I left out an important part, I’m active duty so I have no fees for the chase card and get the 300 free for travel so that one is a no brainer. :shrug:  I have the Amex platinum but the points aren’t worth it, I only have it for the lounge access and $200 free travel. I have to do a kitchen upgrade when I move in but figure I’d rather charge it then use my debit card since I don’t get #### back with that.

 
CGRdrJoe said:
I left out an important part, I’m active duty so I have no fees for the chase card and get the 300 free for travel so that one is a no brainer. :shrug:  I have the Amex platinum but the points aren’t worth it, I only have it for the lounge access and $200 free travel. I have to do a kitchen upgrade when I move in but figure I’d rather charge it then use my debit card since I don’t get #### back with that.
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U will blow your 5/24 for what 100 bucks in Amazon discount?

 
CGRdrJoe said:
I left out an important part, I’m active duty so I have no fees for the chase card and get the 300 free for travel so that one is a no brainer. :shrug:  I have the Amex platinum but the points aren’t worth it, I only have it for the lounge access and $200 free travel. I have to do a kitchen upgrade when I move in but figure I’d rather charge it then use my debit card since I don’t get #### back with that.
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There's a lot to unpack here.  But let's keep eyes on the prize.  You need a card with an instant number.   That leaves you with Citi and amex.  If active duty not sure why you wouldn't get the amex gold biz card.   Much later, get the Schwab platinum card and move your MR out at 1.25cpp.  

Alternatively Citi has decent public offer on as biz cards that kick an instant. 

 
Terminalxylem said:
For the cc aficionados, if you could have one card, what would it be? What card should I consider?
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I like the chase reserve for the travel benefits and it does have good rewards for lots of things.  You seem to travel enough to get good benefit from it.  I'd actually recommend having two.  One for travel and one catch all.  For the catch all a 2% one.  Double cash or fidelity (If you have an account there).

 
Walking Boot said:
US Bank has been running pretty well for me with 5% cash back on utilities. With water, power, and sanitation all on one bill and no fee for paying with a credit card online (unlike my gas company which charges more for cc payments), it's adding up fast. One bill free every year and a half is a good deal. 
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US Bank is good but it is a regional bank and they won't accept people in certain states.  

 
culdeus said:
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. 
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if the wife shows no income, is two player mode possible?

 
Walking Boot said:
US Bank has been running pretty well for me with 5% cash back on utilities. With water, power, and sanitation all on one bill and no fee for paying with a credit card online (unlike my gas company which charges more for cc payments), it's adding up fast. One bill free every year and a half is a good deal. 
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Does tv/internet count?

 
eoMMan said:
If you have the Hilton Ascend Amex CC (which I think is changing names soon), you automatically get complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status.  This is important.  Follow the steps below...

1. Sign up for Wyndham rewards (not a CC). Link

2. Take a screenshot of your Hilton Honors Gold webpage that shows your member number and name.

3.  Upload that to the Wyndham rewards matching website (see step 1).

4.  Wyndham should now show you as a Wyndham Diamond member.

5.  Take a screenshot of your Wyndham Diamond account that shows your member number and name.

5. Go to the Caesars website HERE and upload this screenshot and Caesars should make you a Diamond member.  It could take a week or so until you see the change on-line.

Your Caesars Diamond status lasts until the end of January 2020 but your Caesars tier credits reset January 1st.  So the "ping-pong" method mentioned a few posts back is important.  During January, do the steps above in reverse order (match your Caesars Diamond to become Wyndham Diamond again).  Then come February, match your Wyndham Diamond back to Caesars Diamond and you should have it for all of 2020.  
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This post, complete with links, should have gotten more love.

But it's okay.

I'm fine.

Really.

Don't worry about it.

We're good.

:lol:

 
Walking Boot said:
If you're responsible and in good shape, I wouldn't really worry about credit score until six months before you start looking to get a new house. That's plenty lead time to get your credit report in order to show a higher score, if needed. 

Once you're above 750+, there's no real benefit to going higher. You're not going to get a better rate at 820 than 770. 
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That's not entirely true these days. You hit the highest tier for interest rates at 740 but most mortgage insurance companies (if you're going conventional and putting less than 20% down) have moved to risk based pricing where there are additional credit tiers at 760 and sometimes even 780 depending on the LTV, DTI, number of borrowers, program, etc. 

 
I'm going to ask the most basic of questions here, since I've never tried to use CC rewards. Do your points get put on your hotel/airline account?

 
I ask this because I have been so diligent in getting myself out of debt and am now looking to play the game. Before I was head down and just get my life in order mode.

 
hagmania said:
I ask this because I have been so diligent in getting myself out of debt and am now looking to play the game. Before I was head down and just get my life in order mode.
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we are in the same boat, hag.  i'm waiting on the chase sapphire preferred card am excited to get churning!  my wife and i love to travel and can't wait to upgrade our travels.

so, i have the same question as hagmania, specific to the chase program.  how do i redeem, track the points?  do i have to book through chase?  or can i just transfer my chase points to a travel partner?  

thx all!

 
DA RAIDERS said:
so, i have the same question as hagmania, specific to the chase program.  how do i redeem, track the points?  do i have to book through chase?  or can i just transfer my chase points to a travel partner?  
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You can do both.  There is a Chase portal to book flights and you can also transfer points over to some airlines.  The portal rules, IMO.  Wait for a killer airline deal (Scott's cheap flights, travelpirates, etc.) and book through Chase with the multiplier (I have the CSR).  

I ran across a deal that got me from Atlanta to Kauai for $375 apiece, booked through Chase with 1.5x points - used 50k points in total.  If flights are expensive and there is award travel available it is probably better to transfer to airline points and use them that way.  

 
DA RAIDERS said:
we are in the same boat, hag.  i'm waiting on the chase sapphire preferred card am excited to get churning!  my wife and i love to travel and can't wait to upgrade our travels.

so, i have the same question as hagmania, specific to the chase program.  how do i redeem, track the points?  do i have to book through chase?  or can i just transfer my chase points to a travel partner?  

thx all!
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Read a bit more.   UR and MR are both transferrable currencies and you need to decide how to get the most value out of them.   In some cases that will be through a portal.

 
bcat01 said:
For those wondering about business cards.  I just signed up my wife and I up for our second business card.  Selling stuff on ebay and facebook was good enough to qualify.  I put less than 1 year in business and under $500 income.  It was for the Citi Business AAdvantage and Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Business.  We will end up with 300K in points between us.
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What kind of flights can you get for 300k?

 
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