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Do you hoard credit card points? (1 Viewer)

Buckna said:
Barclays AA is also on the flowchart for me but AA doesn't really fly out of Denver much and I am a long way away from planning any big reward type trips. I am 1-24 (SW Priority from 2/2019 before I really started researching this stuff, focusing on SW Bus cards at the moment) and was thinking of doing the Chase Marriott next based on the flowchart's recommendation to get the clock started for the 24 months between SUBs (SignUpBonuses) on the AMEX SPG cards. Would probably go CIP's after that. What are your thoughts on that?
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AA miles can also be used at about 1.1CPP for hotels and often times 1.5CPP for car rentals.  They are also able to be used to book other OW partners if you have access to them.  Do not pass over that card.  Period.

Your plan sounds fine. The Marriott cards are best used for mileage transfers to airlines now as the CPP on stays has been devalued to trash level.  Luckily they are the most flexible in that regards (even more than UR/MR).  

Given where things are in the game I would consider doing the MDD early in the cycle, in prior years doing it at 4/24 was the optimal approach, but the game is getting tighter and there is no telling when they get around to closing that loophole.   If that means you miss one card like the United MPE or something so be it.

 
culdeus said:
Given where things are in the game I would consider doing the MDD early in the cycle, in prior years doing it at 4/24 was the optimal approach, but the game is getting tighter and there is no telling when they get around to closing that loophole.   If that means you miss one card like the United MPE or something so be it.
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Thanks, I had tried to find some data points or guide on reddit when it was best to do the MDD but it seemed like a lot of people waited until 4/24 but many others more recently were doing it at like 2/24 instead without much discussion on why. The guides for Sapphire or for all things Chase weren't clear on that aspect that I could tell.

If you successfully pull off the MDD, I assume that both cards add towards your total for 5/24? The MDD is just to make sure you can get both SUBs right? (with the caveat that doing it at 4/24 got you around 5/24 for the 2nd card I assume as well.)

 
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Buckna said:
Thanks, I had tried to find some data points or guide on reddit when it was best to do the MDD but it seemed like a lot of people waited until 4/24 but many others more recently were doing it at like 2/24 instead without much discussion on why. The guides for Sapphire or for all things Chase weren't clear on that aspect that I could tell.

If you successfully pull off the MDD, I assume that both cards add towards your total for 5/24? The MDD is just to make sure you can get both SUBs right? (with the caveat that doing it at 4/24 got you around 5/24 for the 2nd card I assume as well.)
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Yes, in an ideal world you do it at 4/24 taking you to 6/24 giving you a bonus chase personal card.  

Given how they are giving out CIP right now to people like candy It makes some sense to just burn the two slots while you can still do it and hope the CIP train keeps running.  

Again, all up to your risk tolerance.

 
I used points to buy a new fridge. Still hovering around 1mm Amex points, and in debating what to do with them, I'm giving strong consideration to buying a #### ton of gift cards when Amex has a sale on a brand that can easily be converted to liquid (such as Home Depot). One dollar per 100 points at Home Depot (they usually run this special once a year) would be 10k in gift cards and I think I can easily convert that to $9.5k in cash, which would be roughly 50% higher than Amex offers cash for points. 

Also, signed up for an Amazon card today on Prime. Got an instant $100 Amazon gift card, plus 5% back on all Amazon purchases. When I get the card in the mail, I intend on putting it in a safe and never using it. This card is strictly for Amazon purchases. Worth noting, no annual fee, but a ridiculous 27% APR, don't use it if you aren't paying in full at the end of the month. 

 
fantasycurse42 said:
I used points to buy a new fridge. Still hovering around 1mm Amex points, and in debating what to do with them, I'm giving strong consideration to buying a #### ton of gift cards when Amex has a sale on a brand that can easily be converted to liquid (such as Home Depot). One dollar per 100 points at Home Depot (they usually run this special once a year) would be 10k in gift cards and I think I can easily convert that to $9.5k in cash, which would be roughly 50% higher than Amex offers cash for points. 

Also, signed up for an Amazon card today on Prime. Got an instant $100 Amazon gift card, plus 5% back on all Amazon purchases. When I get the card in the mail, I intend on putting it in a safe and never using it. This card is strictly for Amazon purchases. Worth noting, no annual fee, but a ridiculous 27% APR, don't use it if you aren't paying in full at the end of the month. 
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Get a schwab investor account, get a schwab plat, cash out your MR to your schwab investment account at 1.25CPP .  

Good god don't buy gift cards with that ####.  FFS.  

 
culdeus said:
Get a schwab investor account, get a schwab plat, cash out your MR to your schwab investment account at 1.25CPP .  

Good god don't buy gift cards with that ####.  FFS.  
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I have a Schwab account (investor, 401k, employee equity)... How do I transfer these points at the equivalent of 1.25? To me, .0095 cash per per point is a good yield, no? 

ETA: and I can retroactively do this? Meaning, I have 1mm on my current Amex account, open a Schwab platinum Amex account, transfer those points right to a schwab investment account? Are there restrictions such as I need to make x amount of trades or invest x amount of dollars for x amount of time to withdraw? 

 
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Buckna said:
Also if anyone is thinking of signing up for a Southwest card (Jan/Feb timeframe is the best time of year to earn a companion pass because you get it for the rest of 2020 and 2021.) I am down for sending referral links out and/or rotating with others that have SW cards too.
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SW personal cards are running an increased bonus through 2/10 of 40k points after 1k in spend in the 1st 3 months plus another 35k pts if you spend 5k total over 6 months. Even if someone wasn’t interested in a Companion Pass, the points can be redeemed at 1cpp for Amazon credit. So that would be 40k + 35k + 5k = $800 Amazon credit

 
culdeus said:
Yes, in an ideal world you do it at 4/24 taking you to 6/24 giving you a bonus chase personal card.  

Given how they are giving out CIP right now to people like candy It makes some sense to just burn the two slots while you can still do it and hope the CIP train keeps running.  

Again, all up to your risk tolerance.
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In your opinion is the CSR still worth it after the news of the increase in AF and the dubious new “perks”? I won’t be able to pull off a MDD before the fee goes up it seems (was planning to do it in April/May when I have a lot of organic spend coming up.)

 
fantasycurse42 said:
I used points to buy a new fridge. Still hovering around 1mm Amex points, and in debating what to do with them, I'm giving strong consideration to buying a #### ton of gift cards when Amex has a sale on a brand that can easily be converted to liquid (such as Home Depot). One dollar per 100 points at Home Depot (they usually run this special once a year) would be 10k in gift cards and I think I can easily convert that to $9.5k in cash, which would be roughly 50% higher than Amex offers cash for points. 

Also, signed up for an Amazon card today on Prime. Got an instant $100 Amazon gift card, plus 5% back on all Amazon purchases. When I get the card in the mail, I intend on putting it in a safe and never using it. This card is strictly for Amazon purchases. Worth noting, no annual fee, but a ridiculous 27% APR, don't use it if you aren't paying in full at the end of the month. 
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HD gift cards go on sale for better than that.  Usually in spring and fall.  $1=100 is the normal rate and the sale is usually $1=75-80 points.

 
Buckna said:
In your opinion is the CSR still worth it after the news of the increase in AF and the dubious new “perks”? I won’t be able to pull off a MDD before the fee goes up it seems (was planning to do it in April/May when I have a lot of organic spend coming up.)
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There are no cards that a signup bonus is not worth the AF.  It's keeping the card long term which is the dubious value proposition.  

 
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matuski said:
Why would you do this over a 2% cash card... are you averaging more than 2 points per dollar on a plat card?  5x for airfare but 1x everything else right?

In other words is 1.25cp a good deal or nah?

Amex reviews are annoying.. like this one touting a 2cp IF YOU FLY SINGAPORE COCKROACH AIRLINES.

eta - I'm reading these conversions to cash are not taxed, making the math more favorable.
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You need to pair it with other cards.  Schwab is sort of an Amex exit card unless you plan to be an MS heavy hitter.  You never drop real money on this card, but if you get the BBP then that pays out 2.5% on everything even unbonused.  Even light category spending 4x dining 5x grocery on the applicable cards starts to add up, but need to MS a little bit here and there to keep things honest and clear all the AFs long term.   

I am about done with Amex.  I've had

Vanilla Plat, BGR, PGR, SPG Biz, SPG normal, BizPlat, Hilton Surpass, Hilton Biz, and Schwab.  

I really only lack Hilton Aspire, Green, and a few of the delta cards, maybe amazon.  

I'll probably MS the gold grocery long term to make the annual fees worth it and just keep that and the schwab and eventually kill the schwab.  

 
ex-ghost said:
Have you confirmed that or just not received the email yet? Locked?
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I'm locked.  I'm fully expecting them to shut me down.  Not sure what's taking so long.  Anyone with more than 2 citicards in a year in the last 3 years is going to be shutdown.  

 
culdeus said:
I'm locked.  I'm fully expecting them to shut me down.  Not sure what's taking so long.  Anyone with more than 2 citicards in a year in the last 3 years is going to be shutdown.  
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How do you find out if you are locked or shut down? 

 
Brony said:
How do you find out if you are locked or shut down? 
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If you are locked you can't make any award tickets, if you book them they just go pending and never actually ticket.

If you are shut down they will cancel all your award travel and send you an email saying your account was closed.

 
culdeus said:
I'm locked.  I'm fully expecting them to shut me down.  Not sure what's taking so long.  Anyone with more than 2 citicards in a year in the last 3 years is going to be shutdown.  
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I haven't checked to see if I am locked, but I positive I will be shut down. Lots of citi subs. Have a biz class flight to Europe this summer, have already backed it up with another flight. Oh well, good while it lasted.

 
ex-ghost said:
I haven't checked to see if I am locked, but I positive I will be shut down. Lots of citi subs. Have a biz class flight to Europe this summer, have already backed it up with another flight. Oh well, good while it lasted.
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Same.  Got a backup on United.  Have a couple others I've backed up on Southwest.  Whatever.  

 
Ax has fallen. P2 just got shut down by AA. Only a matter of time until I am next. Many SUBs over past two years. Drat. 

 
matuski said:
Why would you do this over a 2% cash card... are you averaging more than 2 points per dollar on a plat card?  5x for airfare but 1x everything else right?

In other words is 1.25cp a good deal or nah?

Amex reviews are annoying.. like this one touting a 2cp IF YOU FLY SINGAPORE COCKROACH AIRLINES.

eta - I'm reading these conversions to cash are not taxed, making the math more favorable.
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That's pretty much my question for any card. 

Some cards give better on different categories, but on the whole it's really hard to beat my 2.5% cash back card.  For simplicity I'm tempted to scrap all other cards as it is. I have 6 others. Don't use any discover at all any more, the other 5 all have a category at 5-6% except my Navy Fed at 3% for restaurants. 

 
-OZ- said:
That's pretty much my question for any card. 

Some cards give better on different categories, but on the whole it's really hard to beat my 2.5% cash back card.  For simplicity I'm tempted to scrap all other cards as it is. I have 6 others. Don't use any discover at all any more, the other 5 all have a category at 5-6% except my Navy Fed at 3% for restaurants. 
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Boa has a stronger card if you hold 250k with them.  This counts Merrill also.  For most people this works out to an aggregate 3%+.   I fallback to this card now in certain situations.   

 
culdeus said:
Boa has a stronger card if you hold 250k with them.  This counts Merrill also.  For most people this works out to an aggregate 3%+.   I fallback to this card now in certain situations.   
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Brokerage accounts or just in the bank? 

Seems like a really limited group if it requires $250k in a savings account. 

 
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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I'm checking into Flamingo exactly 2 weeks from today.  If I sign up for this credit card today, do you think I could be Diamond status before my check in date?  That would be freaking awesome!  Just not sure how quickly the process moves.  It seems like I can do everything online and not have to go through a rep at all.

 
fred_1_15301 said:
I'm checking into Flamingo exactly 2 weeks from today.  If I sign up for this credit card today, do you think I could be Diamond status before my check in date?  That would be freaking awesome!  Just not sure how quickly the process moves.  It seems like I can do everything online and not have to go through a rep at all.
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2 weeks is probably cutting it too close but who knows.  Maybe it'll give you an excuse to make another Vegas trip in a few months.

 
eoMMan said:
2 weeks is probably cutting it too close but who knows.  Maybe it'll give you an excuse to make another Vegas trip in a few months.
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 But I can do everything online, right?  Oh well - I still go to AC a fair amount and I’m sure I’ll go back to Vegas within a year.

 
fred_1_15301 said:
 But I can do everything online, right?  Oh well - I still go to AC a fair amount and I’m sure I’ll go back to Vegas within a year.
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Correct, but if you are talking about applying for the card today, I'm not sure how long AMEX would take to approve you and issue you your card.  As Walking Boot mentioned, make sure you get the correct AMEX card.  The Hilton Honors Gold comes with it automatically and you'll have a separate membership number for that.  Good luck.

 
Dumped my stupid Marriott Bonvoy cards--it's not as good as Starwood, and in any event I'm realizing that it's a better perk to have status on an airline than status with Marriott (thanks for the free check-in points!).  Opened up Delta Skymiles Amex cards since that's my airline of choice -- already had the gold, opened the platinum, and then went for it the next day and opened Reserve too.  Some nice signup bonuses with them, and we'll do all our household spending on the Reserve.  Should get us some nice airline miles for free travel on family vacations, and hopefully also net me some Delta status to make business travel a little less painful.

 
fred_1_15301 said:
I'm checking into Flamingo exactly 2 weeks from today.  If I sign up for this credit card today, do you think I could be Diamond status before my check in date?  That would be freaking awesome!  Just not sure how quickly the process moves.  It seems like I can do everything online and not have to go through a rep at all.
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Beginning of Feb it only took me about 2 days for Wyndham to match to Hilton, but it took nearly two weeks for Caesar’s to do their match to Wyndham. YMMV, I saw some people saying they got matched in less than a week. Plus beginning of Feb they get flooded with people rematching status for the year so may be quicker now with less volume.

Process is super simple and online like you said. AMEX is usually pretty quick with approvals (I was instant approved) and you don’t need the card to show up to start signing up for benefits like Hilton status, as soon as they approve you should be able to create an account online. Might be worth trying if you want the CC anyway, it’s a very good card with some great benefits if you travel. If Diamond Match doesn’t go thru until you are already there you can still use some of the perks like the $100 diamond credit for dinner.

 
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Otis said:
Dumped my stupid Marriott Bonvoy cards--it's not as good as Starwood, and in any event I'm realizing that it's a better perk to have status on an airline than status with Marriott (thanks for the free check-in points!).  Opened up Delta Skymiles Amex cards since that's my airline of choice -- already had the gold, opened the platinum, and then went for it the next day and opened Reserve too.  Some nice signup bonuses with them, and we'll do all our household spending on the Reserve.  Should get us some nice airline miles for free travel on family vacations, and hopefully also net me some Delta status to make business travel a little less painful.
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Marriot is devaluing like crazy. For example, last week they upped the category status on about a third of all their hotels making it more expensive for points or in some cases not possible to book using free night certificates. Many credit card churners are dropping their cards.

 
fred_1_15301 said:
 But I can do everything online, right?  Oh well - I still go to AC a fair amount and I’m sure I’ll go back to Vegas within a year.
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Btw, if/when you get your Diamond status, check out the Diamond lounge at Bally's in AC (upper floor near Buca DiBeppo). They have a small buffet and a great view of the water while you eat. Hours are a little screwy so check on that first but it's a cool chill spot to grab something to eat.

 
I was able to submit the Wyndham match request last night.  I’m hoping that moves quickly and then that would give me a week and a half for Caesars to also complete the match.  I’ll probably try calling them as well to see if there is a way to push it along.  Can’t hurt I guess.

 
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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Let's say I become Caesars Diamond by next week.  Does that mean that it will expire end of January, 2021?  If I just became Wyndham Diamond today, when will my Wyndham Diamond status expire?  It appears from this thread that my Wyndham Diamond status expires prior to Caesars Diamond (hence the need to first match back to Wyndham January, 2021).  

 
fred_1_15301 said:
Let's say I become Caesars Diamond by next week.  Does that mean that it will expire end of January, 2021?  If I just became Wyndham Diamond today, when will my Wyndham Diamond status expire?  It appears from this thread that my Wyndham Diamond status expires prior to Caesars Diamond (hence the need to first match back to Wyndham January, 2021).  
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Yes, your Caesars Diamond would expire end of January 2021.  If you gamble enough now through Dec. 2020, you can "earn" Caesars diamond status through January 2022.  

I believe the Wyndham Diamond only lasts 90 days (unless you meet the requirements of staying a bunch of nights at Wyndham properties). 

What I would suggest (and this worked for me this past Jan/Feb)...

1.  In Jan 2021, match your Caesars Diamond BACK to the Wynham Diamond so your Wyndham Diamond is valid again.

2.  In Feb 2021, match your Wyndham Diamond BACK to the Caesars Diamond.  It's important you wait to do this until Feb.

I can't promise this will work again next year but it worked this past Jan/Feb.

 
Otis said:
Dumped my stupid Marriott Bonvoy cards--it's not as good as Starwood, and in any event I'm realizing that it's a better perk to have status on an airline than status with Marriott (thanks for the free check-in points!).  Opened up Delta Skymiles Amex cards since that's my airline of choice -- already had the gold, opened the platinum, and then went for it the next day and opened Reserve too.  Some nice signup bonuses with them, and we'll do all our household spending on the Reserve.  Should get us some nice airline miles for free travel on family vacations, and hopefully also net me some Delta status to make business travel a little less painful.
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Bonvoy is basically a dead program now.  

For those starting out Delta amex cards are a good way to get going with Delta, but the easiest way to earn Delta points are through MR earning cards.

 
eoMMan said:
Yes, your Caesars Diamond would expire end of January 2021.  If you gamble enough now through Dec. 2020, you can "earn" Caesars diamond status through January 2022.  

I believe the Wyndham Diamond only lasts 90 days (unless you meet the requirements of staying a bunch of nights at Wyndham properties). 

What I would suggest (and this worked for me this past Jan/Feb)...

1.  In Jan 2021, match your Caesars Diamond BACK to the Wynham Diamond so your Wyndham Diamond is valid again.

2.  In Feb 2021, match your Wyndham Diamond BACK to the Caesars Diamond.  It's important you wait to do this until Feb.

I can't promise this will work again next year but it worked this past Jan/Feb.
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Yes I have a feeling they’ll figure things out and close the loophole by next year.  Regardless, it’s still worth it to have for 2020.  I’ll be planning more AC trips now for sure.

 
Does Costco Cash, Wal-Mart, and Starbucks cards count toward manufactured spending limits for CSP? 

My GF hasn't been able to hit her limit since her company shutdown.

 
Question - Points were used from a friend on their Chase account to purchase a round-trip flight that was scheduled for April 4th. The flight was cancelled. Chase has a policy about having to cancel the flight within 24 hours of purchase in order to be refunded the points, but this cancellation was due to the virus, not a last second cancellation. I'm not sure how this works, but the airlines is saying that they can't refund/voucher and has to be through Chase. 

Chase should be refunding the account in full right despite that policy?

 
This is more of a general CC question than a hoarding question but I think you guys will be able to help.  My wife and I have a bunch of credit cards that we've accumulated over the years but we only use a couple each month.  We use a specific card for groceries, a specific card for target, a specific card for online purchases, and a specific card for everything else.  We've had travel cards in the past and other reward cards that we don't use at this time.

But we want to simplify by getting rid of old cards that we no longer use and the question is what's the best way to do that without harming the credit score.  She has a credit score of 830+ and mine is 780+.  Is it OK to get rid of ~10 cards at once?  Or would it be better to spread it out over time and slowly reduce the number of cards we have.  And if we cut down from 20 to 10 cards (or lower), would that drastically change our credit score?  Or, should we be looking at the available credit amount and not reducing that too quickly (or by too much)?

 
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