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i barely GNU her! posted:I got an offer for an Amex Green last week. Looking into it, apparently it's a charge card, not credit. Is it worth taking it just to get a history with Amex (I've heard they will consider your entire account history for things like credit increases, not just the card in question, for example) or should I go out/wait for a Blue? The prevailing wisdom is that Amex charge cards are a great way to get your foot in the door with their revolvers. The underwriting is pretty much the same for all of them so I would consider the Preferred Rewards Gold if you spend a lot on airfare, gas, or groceries. Amex does heavily consider your past with them, good and bad. They also back date your cards to the year of your first card with them. So if you get a charge with them this month, and a revolver, say, in March 2014, they will report the new card as being opened in March 2013. Obviously this is good for your AAoA.
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Oct 28, 2013 16:54
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I searched the thread and saw reference to a British Airways card from a year ago, so hopefully there's been some updates. Are there any readily available chip and pin cards that don't have ludicrous annual fees? My wife and I travel to Europe on pretty much a yearly (sometimes twice yearly) basis and not having a chip and pin card is getting to be a real pain in the rear end. I haven't gotten a credit report in a while, but I can confidently say that I've never made a late payment and I pay my two existing cards off every month. No debt. edit: I don't care about points, rewards, or any of that; I care most about annual fees and foreign transaction fees.
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Oct 30, 2013 18:36
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So, my father recently received an invitation for 100k points for the Amex Platinum Card ($400 annual fee) for $3k spend. I won't be able to use his invite code for this, correct?
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Oct 30, 2013 18:45
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Shadowhand00 posted:So, my father recently received an invitation for 100k points for the Amex Platinum Card ($400 annual fee) for $3k spend. I won't be able to use his invite code for this, correct?
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Oct 30, 2013 19:26
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crazyfish posted:I searched the thread and saw reference to a British Airways card from a year ago, so hopefully there's been some updates. Are there any readily available chip and pin cards that don't have ludicrous annual fees? My wife and I travel to Europe on pretty much a yearly (sometimes twice yearly) basis and not having a chip and pin card is getting to be a real pain in the rear end. I could be wrong, but I don't think there are any US based cards with true chip+pin. The EMV chips I am currently aware of are Chip+Signature, not Chip+Pin. British Airways Visa, United MileagePlus, Amex Platinum are all good choices. Several Citibank cards have EMV chips, but few have no FTF. My Citi Thank You Prefered has a chip in it, but carries a 3% FTF. Reconsider your thought on the annual fee. For example, the Amex Platinum has a hefty 450 dollar annual fee but it can more than pay for itself. You get 200 dollars towards airline fees, and fancy lounge access. That can pay for itself right there. If you get any use out of any of the other perks, you're ahead of the game. If you fly a specific airline to Europe every time, get the top card from them that you can. United Mileage Plus or Citi AAdvantage World Elite, the benefits usually outweigh the annual fee cost.
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Oct 30, 2013 20:44
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skipdogg posted:I could be wrong, but I don't think there are any US based cards with true chip+pin. The EMV chips I am currently aware of are Chip+Signature, not Chip+Pin. We don't fly a specific airline all the time (basically whatever's cheapest) and we largely don't care about fancypants lounge access. If I can't get a true chip and pin card, I did see that Bank of America offers chip+sig on a card with no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees, so that'll likely be the route we go.
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Oct 31, 2013 00:22
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Unfortunately, the best general travel cards either charge a forex fee (Amex PRG), or don't have EMV (Chase Sapphire Preferred, Barclays Arrival). There are a couple hotel cards that might be worth considering: Chase Marriott Card (https://creditcards.chase.com/credit-cards/marriott-credit-cards.aspx) Citi Hilton Card (https://www.citi.com/credit-cards/credit-card-details/detail.do?ID=hilton-hhonors-reserve-card) They both have an annual fee, but are chip + signature, have no foreign exchange fees, and you can get a free night in their hotels every year, which can often save you more than the cost of the annual fee. Both cards give you hotel status, and the Hilton card actually gets you free breakfast at any Hilton, which can sometimes save you a lot of money. skipdogg posted:If you fly a specific airline to Europe every time, get the top card from them that you can. United Mileage Plus or Citi AAdvantage World Elite, the benefits usually outweigh the annual fee cost. In comparing the two cards, the United Mileage Plus Club Card - has a lower fee ($395 vs $450) - gives you two bags instead of one (although the Citi AA Exec card allows the benefit to be used on a larger group) - has a better earn rate (1.5 miles on all non-United purchases!) - and better ancillary benefits, like Hyatt and Avis benefits.
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Oct 31, 2013 00:48
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crazyfish posted:I searched the thread and saw reference to a British Airways card from a year ago, so hopefully there's been some updates. Are there any readily available chip and pin cards that don't have ludicrous annual fees? My wife and I travel to Europe on pretty much a yearly (sometimes twice yearly) basis and not having a chip and pin card is getting to be a real pain in the rear end. I was able to order my Citi Forward with a chip+signature for no extra cost. It doesn't have an annual fee, but it does have a brutal 3% FTF. However it saved me a lot of hassle having it as a back-up card in Europe for when cash or my lower-FTF credit union no-chip card wouldn't work. I, too, would love to find a US-based credit card with a chip (preferably chip+pin, but that's even harder it seems) that has no annual fee and a 1% or less FTF but I haven't found one yet. I really wish the US would start getting on the chip bandwagon. Guinness fucked around with this message at 00:56 on Oct 31, 2013 |
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Oct 31, 2013 00:51
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To my knowledge, the only no annual fee card without a ForEx fee is the Barclays Arrival. However, Barclays hasn't gotten onboard the Chip train (...yet).
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Oct 31, 2013 01:06
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Small White Dragon posted:Unfortunately, the best general travel cards either charge a forex fee (Amex PRG), or don't have EMV (Chase Sapphire Preferred, Barclays Arrival). According to myFico forums posters that generally know their stuff, CSP is going rollout EMV in November or December. USAA offers their rewards Mastercard with a chip and signature version, but sadly there is a FTF. Bulky Bartokomous fucked around with this message at 01:29 on Oct 31, 2013 |
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Oct 31, 2013 01:19
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I believe most Capital One cards don't have a foreign exchange fee unless it's somehow hidden somewhere as both the Quicksilver and the Venture One say they don't and also don't have an annual fee. Not sure how much this helps though as I don't believe they support chip and pin.
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Oct 31, 2013 01:19
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crazyfish posted:We don't fly a specific airline all the time (basically whatever's cheapest) and we largely don't care about fancypants lounge access. If I can't get a true chip and pin card, I did see that Bank of America offers chip+sig on a card with no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees, so that'll likely be the route we go. Yeah, the BankAmericard Travel Rewards card might be your best bet. Chip/Sig, no annual fee, no FTF, and 1.5 points per dollar, redeemable as statement credit on your travel. You'll probably need drat good credit to get the card though. edit: It seems Penfed can do Chip+Pin one their credit cards, might be worth checking out. skipdogg fucked around with this message at 02:40 on Oct 31, 2013 |
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Oct 31, 2013 02:28
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Dantu posted:Highly, highly doubtful. Just tried it as an experiment. Looks like I ended up approved. Entered my information and everything.
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Oct 31, 2013 05:09
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Shadowhand00 posted:Just tried it as an experiment. Looks like I ended up approved. Entered my information and everything. I never said you wouldn't get approved! We'll see if you get 100k MR, though.
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Oct 31, 2013 12:26
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Dantu posted:I never said you wouldn't get approved! We'll see if you get 100k MR, though. Hope so  Reading reviews about the concierge service though, it sounds like that's definitely gone downhill. 
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Oct 31, 2013 17:02
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Shadowhand00 posted:Hope so Don't mind me, I'm just bitter because they won't give me 25000 MR on my PRG even though I completed the spend. I made the mistake of applying while logged in. I hope you get it, that is a lot of MR, biggest offer I've seen. Regardless congrats on the new card. You can get the EMV version if you care about that at all. E: If you are curious there is an entire website dedicated to bashing their CEO, who has apparently been busy giving himself pay raises and bonuses while slashing US based jobs. That may explain the drop in service quality. Chase also hired away one of their big guns to brand manage their cards, with the CSP being their headliner. Bulky Bartokomous fucked around with this message at 22:20 on Oct 31, 2013 |
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Oct 31, 2013 18:42
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Supposedly the Platinum card airline credit is calendar year while the fee is based on your sign up date. So make sure to buy some gift card through an airline to basically cancel out the first years fee.
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Oct 31, 2013 18:56
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What is EMV? Chip and pin?
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Oct 31, 2013 21:09
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I was taken to Cancada for my birthday and it was funny having people look like you are insane when a piece of paper comes out of the machine to sign. 90% of the time, no one had pens.
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Oct 31, 2013 21:29
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Lowness 72 posted:What is EMV? Chip and pin? Yes, although in the US it typically still has a magnetic strip and is more of a chip and signature deal. I think USAA sent me a PIN for mine, but I don't plan on being in the UK anytime soon so I filed it away. E: In other news myFico forums are a buzz, Chaser is over-nighting CSP EMV cards and several posters will have them tomorrow.
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Oct 31, 2013 22:16
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Lowness 72 posted:What is EMV? Chip and pin? EMV is a standard for chip transactions. Chip and PIN, Chip and Signature, and Chip and No Cardholder Verification are all types of chip transactions. Contactless is also based on EMV. Contactless is enabled by NFC radios on phones or radios embedded in the plastic on Contactless cards.
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Oct 31, 2013 22:21
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Apparently in Europe, /you/ can be liable if there's a fraudulent charge with a chip-and-pin transaction. I assume this isn't an issue for chip-and-signature?
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Oct 31, 2013 23:45
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CSP with EMV is here! Also, United Miles apparently have been devalued, glad I just got my Mileage Explorer last month. http://boardingarea.com/mjontravel/2013/11/01/my-chase-sapphire-preferred-card-with-emv-chip-signature-arrived/
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Nov 2, 2013 15:45
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Dantu posted:CSP with EMV is here! Also, United Miles apparently have been devalued, glad I just got my Mileage Explorer last month. What matters here is when you use the miles, not when you got them. FWIW, if you book before February 1 or so, you can use the old chart.
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Nov 2, 2013 19:51
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Well he's probably referring to the fact that he'll be able to get the signup bonus AND spend the miles before the devaluation since he just got the card. If you think about the logistics, if you were approved by today, you've got exactly three months to clear the spending threshold for the signup bonus. You'd have to meet it faster than that if you want to meet it AND get the miles in your account to spend them by Feb 1 next year, so if you really want to book business or first class on United next year you need to get the card nowish. For those not in the know, United it making it waaaaay more expensive to fly first or business using miles, especially if it's using an alliance member's flight instead of United. They're not changing the amount of miles to get an economy award (or at least not by much, where they actually are), so that shouldn't be an issue.... however, I imagine that you'll have to find and book economy awards a LOT earlier now. Since I'm guessing the cost of business and first class travel is going to make all of the people that used to book those awards start booking economy awards now...
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Nov 3, 2013 17:39
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Points are being devalued at a lot of places. Sign up bonuses are less juicy/more infrequent as well.
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Nov 4, 2013 01:35
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What's a reasonable way to figure out how much to ask for in credit line increases? Is there a general formula they used based on income/credit already open, or do they take other factors in to account? I'm asking because I called to ask for a credit line increase for my Fidelity Visa and the agent made a point of saying he couldn't suggest how much I should ask for. I went from a $5k limit to a $20k limit but have no idea if that was too little or not.
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Nov 5, 2013 05:23
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Residency Evil posted:What's a reasonable way to figure out how much to ask for in credit line increases? Is there a general formula they used based on income/credit already open, or do they take other factors in to account? I'm asking because I called to ask for a credit line increase for my Fidelity Visa and the agent made a point of saying he couldn't suggest how much I should ask for. I went from a $5k limit to a $20k limit but have no idea if that was too little or not. That's a huge increase. I don't know anything about Fidelity, but I do know about Amex. They will go up to triple your current limit once every six months, up to $25,000. Once you hit that point they won't let you go any farther without tax forms showing you have the income to support such a large line. Check out this thread for more info: http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/The-Definitive-Amex-3X-CLI-Guide/td-p/1811071 Unfortunately most other companies are not as clear about their CLI policies.
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Nov 5, 2013 09:21
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Yeah, $20k is a great limit. If you want more for utilization purposes I would add another card or two. Many people will never have a card with a CL that high. Sounds like you are doing stuff right.
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Nov 5, 2013 14:35
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I have recently just signed on as a salesman for an oil and gas equipment company. This new job will involve a lot of taking clients out for lunches/dinners/golfing/snowboarding/sporting events/concerts/drinks and the odd trip here and there. Since I get to utilize my own personal credit card/charge card/etc. for these purchases and will be fully reimbursed by my employer, I would like to maximize my return potential. My goal would be to rewarded in the following categories: 1) Flight Rewards - I want to maximize my reward miles and take essentially get a free trip once per year-ish. 2) Entertainment - I will have to entertain quite often in this position - if there is a card that gives me front of the line access to a lot of events (Amex?), heads up on tickets, etc. 3) Access to VIP lounges
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Nov 6, 2013 00:12
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I'd go for the Amex Platinum if you can convince your employer to pay for the fee somehow.
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Nov 6, 2013 00:19
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Harry posted:I'd go for the Amex Platinum if you can convince your employer to pay for the fee somehow. Yeah, I'll try but I am sure I know what their answer will be. If not, I am thinking the Amex Gold Card. Looks like you can rack up the reward miles on that thing and the first yearly fee is waived.
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Nov 6, 2013 01:08
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Thanks for the tip regarding Amex credit limits. Went on their website, clicked request increase limit, and 5 seconds later I had 3x my old limit.
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Nov 6, 2013 02:31
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ex posted:I have recently just signed on as a salesman for an oil and gas equipment company. This new job will involve a lot of taking clients out for lunches/dinners/golfing/snowboarding/sporting events/concerts/drinks and the odd trip here and there. Since I get to utilize my own personal credit card/charge card/etc. for these purchases and will be fully reimbursed by my employer, I would like to maximize my return potential. That said, if you can't get an Amex platinum, the Chase Sapphire Preferred gives 2x points on all travel and dining, and the regular American Express Mercedes Benz gives 2 points per dollar on dining. All of those cards look fancy, too, which might be helpful to you.
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Nov 6, 2013 02:44
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Small White Dragon posted:I highly recommend you have a separate credit card for all work-related issues, for accounting purposes. Thanks, that Chase card looks attractive since a majority of my expenses will be from dining out. I should have probably added that I reside and do most of my business within Canada. I don't think this will effect anything on the Chase card but the Amex MB card's advantages lie in purchasing from US gas stations and restaurants. Is the Amex Platinum card really worth the $699 annual fee? It seems a little out of hand. The 50k reward miles is nice off the hop but its not like you get that every year.
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Nov 6, 2013 03:24
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I thought the Platinum fee was 400?
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Nov 6, 2013 04:14
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ex posted:Is the Amex Platinum card really worth the $699 annual fee? It seems a little out of hand. The 50k reward miles is nice off the hop but its not like you get that every year. Depends on what you value: 1. 50k points (or if you find a good deal, you can find some better promotions out there, but they're really rare for this card) - $500 worth of points that are transferable 1:1 most often. 2. $200 Airline Rebate per calendar year (so if you open now and get approved, you can potentially get $400 worth of airline rebates. This includes some gift cards) 3. Airport lounge entrance - not sure how valuable you'd think this is, but its not bad. 4. $100 Global Entry Value - useful if you're going international 5. I don't think this one's in the US version but -> if you stay 5 nights at Fairmont, you get added to the Fairmont President's Club Plat Membership (you need at least 10 stays or 30 nights) 6. SPG Gold - 25 nights or 10 stays 7. Gold Elite with Club Carlson (canada only) 8. Plat with Le Club Accorhotels (canada only) 9. Concierge Service - Supposedly this is getting worse but if you're into booking nice restaurants, or any restaurant, you can use the concierge service for reservations. I've been trying to get them to help me with Magic castle reservations  10. Car Rental Upgrades Lowness 72 posted:I thought the Platinum fee was 400? Canadian fee is $700.
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Nov 6, 2013 04:27
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I currently have the Citi Foward card, and get 5 points on resturants/entertaiment. I would like to pick up another card that gets at least 2 points for all categories to pair with it. A sign up bonus would also be nice. Any suggestions?
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Nov 6, 2013 23:11
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ex posted:Thanks, that Chase card looks attractive since a majority of my expenses will be from dining out. I should have probably added that I reside and do most of my business within Canada. I don't think this will effect anything on the Chase card but the Amex MB card's advantages lie in purchasing from US gas stations and restaurants. Linco posted:I currently have the Citi Foward card, and get 5 points on resturants/entertaiment. I would like to pick up another card that gets at least 2 points for all categories to pair with it. A sign up bonus would also be nice. Any suggestions? (Incidentally, they have stopped offering 5 points per dollar on new Forward applications, so it's possible that might be discontinued for current card holders at some point.)
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Nov 7, 2013 00:09
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Small White Dragon posted:(Incidentally, they have stopped offering 5 points per dollar on new Forward applications, so it's possible that might be discontinued for current card holders at some point.) Oh really? My Forward card is the card I put virtually all of spending on, largely because of the 5 points on restaurants, entertainment, and bookstores (i.e., Amazon). If they gut the rewards for existing card holders, I'll be shopping for a new card immediately. The only difficult part will be getting a good rewards card with EMV, since I was able to get an EMV chip on my Forward for free and it has saved me a couple of times abroad. The FTF is brutal, but it's my only card offered with EMV. 
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Nov 7, 2013 00:11
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