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pram posted:I just got my Chase Sapphire Preferred in the mail, I'm planning on getting the free 40,000 points. My other credit card is the Fidelity Investment Rewards amex with the 2% cash back. Are there any other cards I should consider getting? Is Chase Freedom better than the Fidelity with the Sapphire Preferred because of the points? Unless you're spending the points on travel rewards with the sapphire preferred's discounts, the 2% cash back is strictly superior.
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Sep 21, 2013 19:38
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baquerd posted:Just to be clear, you stay in hotels roughly 80 nights a year? Definitely sounds like a no-brainer. Yep. I was leaning that way. Another question though... Say I only travel like this for 2 or so years. What are the consequences of canceling cards a few years after opening them. With Spending 45-50k a year on travel, I don't mind having 170$ a year in credit card fees but that will change if I start spending less in the future
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Sep 21, 2013 20:00
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pram posted:I just got my Chase Sapphire Preferred in the mail, I'm planning on getting the free 40,000 points. My other credit card is the Fidelity Investment Rewards amex with the 2% cash back. Are there any other cards I should consider getting? Is Chase Freedom better than the Fidelity with the Sapphire Preferred because of the points? Don't forget that booking travel through Chase's UR site with points nets an extra 20%. Those 40,000 points are worth 500$ if you use them to book travel
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Sep 21, 2013 20:02
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It's my understanding people like the Chase Freedom because of the 5x points on bonus categories that can then be transferred to CSP UR points
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Sep 21, 2013 20:08
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Yes, there's no reason to NOT get a Freedom card since it has no yearly fee and you can transfer your points to the Sapphire Preferred account, which allows you to use the Ultimate Rewards points for all kinds of other things. And there is no consequence of closing your Hilton card in a couple of years - once you earn the points, the credit card company transfers them safely to your Hilton account and they can't get them back unless you skip a payment. Closing a Sapphire card might be a problem if its your only account that earns Ultimate Rewards points, but any card (hotel cards, airline cards) that send their points FROM a bank TO a hotel/airline is safe to close without worrying about losing points.
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Sep 21, 2013 21:52
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oxsnard posted:Yep. I was leaning that way. Another question though... Say I only travel like this for 2 or so years. What are the consequences of canceling cards a few years after opening them. With Spending 45-50k a year on travel, I don't mind having 170$ a year in credit card fees but that will change if I start spending less in the future Assuming you have prior credit cards and post-cancellation your credit utilization is still relatively low, canceling cards only open for a year or two will be neutral to positive on your credit score.
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Sep 21, 2013 23:18
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oxsnard posted:Hey so I just saw an ad for the HHonors Amex Surpass card. With 12 points per dollar spent at Hilton properties I'm starting to think that it might be worth looking into in addition to my Chase Sapphire Preferred. The annual fee is 75$ but I can stay at Hilton properties at least 80 nights a year. Since the value of HHonors points seems to be a little under half that of traditional points, that would still equate to just under 6 points instead of the 2.14 I get with the sapphire card. Hilton points are valued at about 0.4 cents each, which means your return is roughly 4.8 cents per dollar on Hilton spend. The highest valued hotel points are SPG at something like 2.95 cents each, so you're obviously coming out ahead.
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Sep 23, 2013 02:41
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Badass. Thanks! Feels weird to pay so much in annual fees but I know it'll be worth it
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Sep 23, 2013 23:13
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oxsnard posted:Don't forget that booking travel through Chase's UR site with points nets an extra 20%. Those 40,000 points are worth 500$ if you use them to book travel By far the best value with the Sapphire Preferred is transferring points to their airline partners. You can transfer points 1:1 to United, Southwest, BA, and Virgin among others.
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Sep 24, 2013 15:18
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Hashtag Banterzone posted:By far the best value with the Sapphire Preferred is transferring points to their airline partners. You can transfer points 1:1 to United, Southwest, BA, and Virgin among others. Hyatt hotel points are also quite nice. 22k points ($220) gets you a night at hotels with rates over $400.
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Sep 24, 2013 15:19
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Question - I have a credit card that I first got over a year ago but didn't use until recently. The offer on the card was 0% APR for the first 12 months. Did the 12 month period with 0% APR start when I first received the card a year ago, or when I first used the card a couple months ago?
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Oct 1, 2013 15:08
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Depends. You pretty much have to ask customer support about the bonus. It could mean no interest on any purchases for the first 12 months, or no interest for the first 12 months on any purchases made within the first 30 days.
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Oct 1, 2013 15:13
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Harry posted:Depends. You pretty much have to ask customer support about the bonus. It could mean no interest on any purchases for the first 12 months, or no interest for the first 12 months on any purchases made within the first 30 days. Whoa - that's some misleading advertising I was not aware of. I'll give my card company a call - thanks man.
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Oct 1, 2013 15:20
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Well, after 3 phone calls, Amex is determined not to give me the 25000 MR bonus because I wasn't savvy enough to use a different web browser than normal. I really like the card but I'm going to cancel it. The message I'm getting is "we'll treat you better if you come back to us in a year as a non-customer".
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Oct 1, 2013 21:01
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Hey credit goons, I want to finally get into this rewards business so hopefully you guys can help me out. My situation is this: -I've had one single basic credit card with Chase for 13 years. Some years ago they changed it into a regular Sapphire card. It has a $7500 limit. -I've only seen my credit score once, 4 years ago, and it was 755. -I moved to NYC a few months ago. I can pay my rent with a credit card. This is ridiculous and I simply have to take proper advantage of it. -I'm currently paying the full rent each month on my Sapphire. This is probably really bad because my credit utilization has suddenly jumped from something like 2% to maybe 40% per month. Questions: -Should I check how big of a problem this utilization is? How do I actually find out if my credit score took a dive? -What should my next step be? Apply for a new card, I'm assuming? Or request a limit increase on my current card? -If a new card, what would be best? Should I try to upgrade my Sapphire to a Preferred and try to get the bonus out of it too? Apply for a Freedom? Amex, Starwood, something else? (Note that I'm trying to travel once or twice a year now, and my other main expenses besides rent are groceries and restaurants, and not a whole lot else. I'm actually pretty frugal in general, giant rent payment aside.) Thanks for any advice!
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Oct 2, 2013 23:43
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TheEye posted:Hey credit goons, I want to finally get into this rewards business so hopefully you guys can help me out. My situation is this: I'm not sure if upgrading your sapphire to a preferred would give you the bonus. Would be worth a call though. Are you traveling a lot? Is this mostly going to be used for paying rent? Cashback for Rent seems to be the way to go, although if you're really thinking about maxing points by paying your rent with a credit card, I'd go on credit card opening binges myself in order to get the max spend requirements out of the way and getting boat loads of points.
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Oct 3, 2013 00:34
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If you can use Amex, the fidelity 2% card is almost definitely the way to go unless you hit some kind of jackpot and the charge is classified as groceries or something hilarious like that.
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Oct 3, 2013 01:06
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TheEye posted:Hey credit goons, I want to finally get into this rewards business so hopefully you guys can help me out. My situation is this: You can call to ask for an increase in your credit limit Otherwise you should try to maximize your rewards by upgrading from a 1% card to a 1.5% or 2% card. The Fidelity Amex 2% card is a great option- the main disadvantage is that not everyone accepts Amex. If you want to try out a travel card then consider the Barclay Arrival card. It's probably a better deal than the Saphire preferred as you can get a $400 bonus and it is a 2% on everything with a 10% travel redemption bonus- the first year will be waived. $84 thereafter. Here is a link to the deal: http://www.barclaycardarrival.com/premium-travel/compare-arrival/ Another nice and simple credit card is the CapitalOne Quicksilver card. It is a 1.5% cashback card. I think they are offering a $100 bonus right now (but make sure you google around first before choosing any credit card bonus). It is a Visa so you can use this credit card pretty much everywhere. No special travel incentives, just a very simple credit card.
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Oct 3, 2013 03:09
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Is it possible to make monthly new car payments with a reward card? (or for that matter the down payment?) I have excellent credit and always pay off my card. So if I get near 0% financing, could I charge the monthly payments to a cash back rewards card, thereby netting 1-3% off? It seems like a loophole they would close.
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Oct 3, 2013 07:43
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CatchrNdRy posted:Is it possible to make monthly new car payments with a reward card? (or for that matter the down payment?) Down payment - yes, monthly payments - no. There are probably exceptions to this but generally your lender will ask for a check or direct deposit from your bank. The only way to use a credit card is as part of a wire transfer which your credit card will treat as a cash advance (this does not earn you points).
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Oct 3, 2013 11:12
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TheEye posted:Hey credit goons, I want to finally get into this rewards business so hopefully you guys can help me out. My situation is this: Actual spending is a drop in the bucket in the points game compared to sign up bonuses. You are in a fantastic position to get some! SPG is nice for the airline transfers though to be honest, I've used my points for rooms. Sapphire preferred is awesome, but make sure you get it in a way that lets you get that sign up bonus. Ideally you app for a couple cards at the same time so the inquiries age and fall off together, but you have to be able to hit the promo spend requirements too. Check out million mile secrets and places like that, myFico forums has tons of good info too.
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Oct 3, 2013 15:23
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Medikit posted:Down payment - yes, monthly payments - no. Thanks, do you think the dealership will be upset at having to pay Visa or Amex the transaction fee for the down payment? This is a little outside the purview of this thread, but would I need to tell them I'd pay the down payment via card beforehand? They'd probably jack up the price.
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Oct 3, 2013 19:42
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CatchrNdRy posted:Thanks, do you think the dealership will be upset at having to pay Visa or Amex the transaction fee for the down payment? This is a little outside the purview of this thread, but would I need to tell them I'd pay the down payment via card beforehand? They'd probably jack up the price. Car buying recommendation time: I actually recommend getting approved for a car loan in advance and walking in with cash. This could save you over $1000 immediately. PenFed is offering 1.99% rates right now: https://www.penfed.org/Auto-Loans-Overview/ It also helps if you know the lowest price that the dealer is willing to offer. This forum can be helpful to see what others are getting: http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.ef17997/ Meanwhile use an e-mail account that you don't mind getting spammed and sign up for online dealer quotes: http://www.edmunds.com/ Be prepared to get e-mails and phone calls during the middle of the day. Look for your car during the last third of the month when deals are sweeter. When you talk about prices, make sure that they include title/registration fees and taxes. After you find your car be prepared to be offered a lot of extras. Everything they are offering is marked up. Refuse everything. For the extended warranty look up ahead of time to see if your state allows you to purchase this from another dealer. If not I would at least try haggling with them on the extended warranty if this is something you are interested in. Regardless, you don't need to talk about your purchasing plans with them at any point. If they ask at all just tell them cash or credit. Again you'll get a better deal with cash since their low interest rate loans usually don't include any potential discounts you might receive with cash. When you are finally ready to check out just casually ask them if they take Visa, Amex, Mastercard, whatever. Let your credit card company know ahead of time that you will be making a large purchase. Finally never constrain yourself for time. Don't be afraid to play chicken and tell them that you are walking if they start adding on additional fees. Medikit fucked around with this message at 02:42 on Oct 4, 2013 |
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Oct 4, 2013 02:40
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CatchrNdRy posted:Thanks, do you think the dealership will be upset at having to pay Visa or Amex the transaction fee for the down payment? This is a little outside the purview of this thread, but would I need to tell them I'd pay the down payment via card beforehand? They'd probably jack up the price. They won't care. You can also pay some car loans/mortgages/student loans with credit cards using this: https://www.chargesmart.com/
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Oct 4, 2013 03:18
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Medikit posted:Car buying recommendation time: thanks. Yup, I gave them a google voice 2nd number and a hotmail account. I am happy with the standard manufacturer's warranty and know to refuse rust/desert coating, wax, and tint overhauls. I heard offering cash is worse, they know you have money and they'd rather make it off financing you. I bought the Consumer Reports (2014 mazda6) guide for $14 and was quite disappointed. It didn't have much information that I couldn't find off the internet. I just am not sure how much I should try to lowball at all, new cars don't seem marked up as used do. The salelady just gave me a decent but not spectacular out-the-door quote via email and said I MUST ACT IN 24 HOURS OR THE DEAL IS OFF. I barely gave them my info. Harry posted:They won't care. You can also pay some car loans/mortgages/student loans with credit cards using this: have you used this? it seems there is a fee attached.
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Oct 4, 2013 08:00
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Nope. Some of them have fees, some don't from the look of it.
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Oct 4, 2013 15:22
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Credit card newb question - if I made a purchase mid-September and my credit card company says the balance won't be billed to me until this month's statement, and that my payment isn't due until November, does it negatively affect my credit rating if the balance is billed? Or is it better to pay it off right away so that it never shows on the statement?
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Oct 4, 2013 17:56
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EugeneJ posted:Credit card newb question - if I made a purchase mid-September and my credit card company says the balance won't be billed to me until this month's statement, and that my payment isn't due until November, does it negatively affect my credit rating if the balance is billed? Essentially it depends on who you are trying to impress. If you plan on applying for a new card or loan you want to pay before the statement cuts so it shows 0% utilization. If you are trying to get CLIs on existing cards it is better to let the statement cut so they see you are using your credit.
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Oct 4, 2013 18:05
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Dantu posted:Essentially it depends on who you are trying to impress. If you plan on applying for a new card or loan you want to pay before the statement cuts so it shows 0% utilization. So if I use my card every month for a year, but I never let a balance show on a statement, they would likely deny a CLI in a year's time? That's good to know. Credit Karma has shown my credit score go up 3-4 points every month I use the card with 0 balance posted, so I'm not sure if I want to risk stopping that.
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Oct 4, 2013 18:17
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Dantu posted:Essentially it depends on who you are trying to impress. If you plan on applying for a new card or loan you want to pay before the statement cuts so it shows 0% utilization. Of course, regardless, you should always pay off everything by the due date.
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Oct 5, 2013 00:21
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I'm planning a wedding over the course of the next year, and I wanted to get a new card with an introductory 0% APR for 14 or 15 months to put all the wedding expenses on. This is both to try and track my spending, and to hopefully get cash back or rewards on what I spend. Based on my research, my two best options for this are the Chase Freedom card or the Amex Blue Cash Everyday card. The only downside to either of those cards is that I won't really see the benefits of their rotating high-percentage cash back categories, since I won't really be using the card at gas stations, movie theaters, drugstores, etc. But it does still give 1% cash back on everything else, so that's better than nothing. One concern I had about the Amex Blue Cash Everyday - I currently already have the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card, and my 0% introductory APR on that doesn't run out until January. Will Amex allow me to open another credit card with them and get a whole new introductory 0% APR period, even though I already have pretty much the same card? Same question actually goes for the Chase Freedom card. I currently have a Chase Slate card that I never use - I only got it to transfer a high balance onto it and pay it off at 0% over time. Those payments will be finished by the end of this year, and the 0% APR on that card is up in February of next year. Will they let me basically reset the 0% APR clock by getting a new card? Also, one other question about the 0% cards. I know I've heard that when you get a 0% APR card from Best Buy or whatever, and use it to make a big purchase, if you don't pay off the entire purchase by the end of the 0% APR period, then they hit you with interest for the entire cost of the purchase. Does that rule apply for these cards as well? Do I need to make sure I have a zero balance by the end of the introductory 0% APR period, or do they just start charging my remaining balance at the regular rate at that point?
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Oct 5, 2013 22:53
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My current regular credit card is the Fidelity Visa. I also have a very old student Amex account that I never use as well, a college credit union card I never use (my oldest), as well as an Amazon Visa I only use for amazon purchases. I'm single, usually spend around 1k on my credit card, and only travel 4-5x/year. Should I: 1) Not worry about it too much and just use the Fidelity Visa 2) Add on the Fidelity Amex 3) Grab another card?
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Oct 6, 2013 15:05
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Small White Dragon posted:I'm not really sure about that, some of the geeks over on the boards where they obsess over these sorts of things claim a small utilization is better than 0. Let me be a little more clear, you are right that was a little sloppy. Your utilization only matters when you are applying for something, because that's the only time your FICO score matters. Yes, it's possible to massage the score by following certain strategies, such as paying before the statement cuts. At the end of the day though, it doesn't matter if you aren't applying for something because scores are not cumulative. They are just snapshots. If you are applying for something, you ideally want to show between 1-9% total utilization, and less than half of your cards showing any utilization. The rest of the time, just spend within your means, and pay on time, and ideally the full balance.
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Oct 6, 2013 23:42
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In other news I got approved for the 50k mile offer on the United Mileage Explorer. Pretty stoked.
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Oct 6, 2013 23:46
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EugeneJ posted:So if I use my card every month for a year, but I never let a balance show on a statement, they would likely deny a CLI in a year's time? Well, that lender will know you've been using your card, but let's say you have more than one lender. The other lender would just assume you haven't been using the card if they see 0% utilization every month. So if you were hoping to grow CLIs with more than one lender, that could backfire on you.
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Oct 6, 2013 23:49
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OldSenileGuy posted:One concern I had about the Amex Blue Cash Everyday - I currently already have the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card, and my 0% introductory APR on that doesn't run out until January. Will Amex allow me to open another credit card with them and get a whole new introductory 0% APR period, even though I already have pretty much the same card? Same question actually goes for the Chase Freedom card. I currently have a Chase Slate card that I never use - I only got it to transfer a high balance onto it and pay it off at 0% over time. Those payments will be finished by the end of this year, and the 0% APR on that card is up in February of next year. Will they let me basically reset the 0% APR clock by getting a new card? Here's an example with Amex. If you have a Platinum card, they won't give you the signup bonus if you sign up for a Mercedez Benz Platinum card or a Gold card. But, you can signup for a Starwood card, Delta card, Blue Cash card, .etc and get that introductory bonus. In any case, you should always check their T&C when you do this.
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Oct 7, 2013 01:00
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Dantu posted:Your utilization only matters when you are applying for something, because that's the only time your FICO score matters. This is not entriely true. Most finance companies will monitor your credit statistics and score and take action based on it (i.e. raise interest rates, reduce credit limit, close account, etc.).
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Oct 7, 2013 16:02
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Edit: never mind, I did a little googling and it looks like this is how Chase rolls. I'll just get a new card.
Soothing Vapors fucked around with this message at 17:22 on Oct 7, 2013 |
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Oct 7, 2013 17:13
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LorneReams posted:This is not entriely true. Most finance companies will monitor your credit statistics and score and take action based on it (i.e. raise interest rates, reduce credit limit, close account, etc.). The context to the response was whether or not it was worth stressing about massaging your utilization within the 1-9% range. On the other end of the spectrum, yes, running 90-100% utiilization might bring about adverse actions.
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Oct 7, 2013 23:54
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I just got into the credit rewards market and was approved for an AmEx BCP and a Barclaycard Arrival MasterCard. I travel a lot on business, and my travel all has to be booked through my boring business citi travel card. I have two questions: 1) Can I use my Barclaycard's travel rewards for upgrades on flights and hotels booked with my citi travel card? 2) Can airline miles be exchanged for points on a rewards credit card or vice versa? Sorry if these questions are stupid. theres a will theres moe fucked around with this message at 02:49 on Oct 15, 2013 |
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Oct 15, 2013 02:35
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