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I cancelled my AMEX Premier Rewards Gold card today. The $175 annual fee was coming up on my next statement and I can't justify paying that for the membership rewards bonuses that I wasn't taking advantage of. The only benefit I was really getting was compliments from friends on having such an "affluent" card, which is cool but definitely not worth the high fee. Hopefully in the next year or so they send me another 50,000 point sign up offer with a waived annual fee. Next up on the chopping block will be my Starwood Preferred Guest card, only a $65 annual fee but I haven't been using that card either (but I have used my Starpoints on a free stay at a Sheraton suites next month). With the combination of my Amex Blue Cash, Chase Freedom and Discover It, I can pretty much maximize my rewards through those three cards. To add to rewards chat: Anyone done anything cool with their points lately?
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Dec 18, 2013 00:11
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nickutz posted:To add to rewards chat: Anyone done anything cool with their points lately? I just redeemed my 4th flight segment using some of the 100k BA points I got a few years back. It'd be better if BA didn't have such terrible flight availability, but I've gotten lucky a few times and still have 58k points left. 
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Dec 18, 2013 03:26
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nickutz posted:To add to rewards chat: Anyone done anything cool with their points lately? Paid off 3k of student loans.
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Dec 18, 2013 11:45
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Why isn't there a list of what counts as a grocery store for that 3/6% Amex card?
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Dec 18, 2013 14:20
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I've got a plain 'ol Discover Card, is there a way I can "convert" it to a Discover It card, or should I just apply for the It card?
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Dec 18, 2013 18:23
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Pretty sure you should be able to do that. Can't hurt to call them up and ask.
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Dec 18, 2013 23:35
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Yeah, just call them. I had a regular Discover that converted to a More a while back, and converting it to It was just a phone call. Super easy. You'll even keep the same number/expiration date and everything, so no weird changeover or delay while you wait for them to send you a new card.
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Dec 19, 2013 01:07
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nickutz posted:
I took a free honeymoon in Hawaii, flights and all.
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Dec 19, 2013 23:11
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Boris Galerkin posted:Why isn't there a list of what counts as a grocery store for that 3/6% Amex card? Probably for the same reason that AMEX and every other card company doesn't even mention the rewards program in their contract that you sign. Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Kroger all do count as grocery stores. Sam's Club, Costco, and Walmart don't. They consider them warehouse stores or something. And the bodega down the street? Who knows? Just shop there and find out!
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Dec 19, 2013 23:51
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sublyme posted:I took a free honeymoon in Hawaii, flights and all. Go on! How did you get the points for it?
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Dec 20, 2013 15:19
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Initio posted:Probably for the same reason that AMEX and every other card company doesn't even mention the rewards program in their contract that you sign. Sure, but I don't see why that would stop other people from making such a list already. When I Google "amex blue cash grocery store list" the top hit should be a website with a list of standalone grocery store. Instead I get message board hits about how it's being capped at $3000/$6000.
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Dec 20, 2013 18:22
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1) It depends how the stores merchant code is setup. You occasionally see people talking about how a movie theater is setup under groceries. 2) Most people know what grocery stores are.
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Dec 20, 2013 18:57
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Grocery store chains can be pretty regional, so there would have to be an aggregation of every grocery store chain nationwide. Also this: Harry posted:2) Most people know what grocery stores are.
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Dec 20, 2013 20:17
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Dantu posted:Go on! How did you get the points for it? First off, I had the benefit of planning this thing for awhile. Secondly, I did exaggerate a little, as not all of my hotel stay was covered; I have the benefit of having married a woman who works for a high-end five star hotel who enjoys comp nights at their other properties. That said, I signed up for the Chase United Explorer Card, the American Airlines Citibank card, and the Marriott Card and successfully met the spend for each. The end result was 50 or 60,000 miles for each airline, and about the same amount of points for the Marriott card. At first I was stumped over the airlines, as I didn't have enough points for 2 free roundtrip flights, but then I figured out I had enough for a one way flight for two people with each card. So we flew one way to Hawaii on American Airlines, and then we flew one way home on United. Each flight card also gave us free checked luggage and access to their airport lounges. As for Marriott, I used that to supplement our hotel nights in between the high-end resort properties, and got about 3 or 4 free nights at a Marriott in Maui. Yes, I would have had to pay out of pocket for the other hotel nights if I didn't have my wife, but the good news is, I did have her, so it worked out pretty well 
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Dec 20, 2013 23:12
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We're going to Disney in about 16 months and I'm starting to think about some way to hit the point bonuses up to try to get some free flights. I have Amex offers for 50K Delta Gold and 50K Gold charge right now. I don't have a CSP card either. I really really don't want to drive there.
skipdogg fucked around with this message at 23:25 on Dec 20, 2013 |
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Dec 20, 2013 23:22
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Pretty much the only completely reliable way I've found to figure out what AmEx considers a standalone grocery store or gas station is to watch the rewards breakdown on my statements and try to match the amounts with transactions. Is there a better way?
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Dec 21, 2013 07:26
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Chase now tells you what the rewards were for each transaction. It's really great (though I feel like this is a feature that should be standard and expected from all credit cards)
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Dec 21, 2013 14:35
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I currently have a PenFed Platinum Rewards card with a $14000 limit. It's my only card, but since I've had it my lifestyle has changed and now the majority of my expenses are groceries and dining/bars (don't own a car, so no gas). I'm looking for a good rewards card that gives more points for dining/groceries... In addition, I have a large business trip coming up in a few weeks that will be over 3000 in reimbursed expenses. Are there any good bonus offers out there on travel cards that might help me take advantage of that? I have stellar credit and should be able to get any card I want. Thanks for any advice!
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Dec 21, 2013 16:19
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skipdogg posted:We're going to Disney in about 16 months and I'm starting to think about some way to hit the point bonuses up to try to get some free flights. I have Amex offers for 50K Delta Gold and 50K Gold charge right now. I don't have a CSP card either. I really really don't want to drive there. I actually just signed up for the Delta Gold card a few days ago. I got the same 50k offer you did. Unfortunately they couldn't convert my current Blue Cash so I'll end up closing that one and taking a little hit on average account age. Oh well. I'm traveling right now and my connecting flight got delayed for 3 hours, so maybe I should take advantage of the discounted sky club pass!
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Dec 21, 2013 21:35
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Is the fidelity Amex a "real" American Express card? Does it have all of the regular features associated with Amex cards such as extended warranties? I'm trying to figure out what card would best complement my fidelity visa.
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Dec 21, 2013 21:53
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Residency Evil posted:Is the fidelity Amex a "real" American Express card? Does it have all of the regular features associated with Amex cards such as extended warranties? I'm trying to figure out what card would best complement my fidelity visa. No. It just uses the amex network, the card is actually issued by FIA. FIA might offer some of the same perks though. The only real Amexes are ones listed on the amex site.
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Dec 21, 2013 21:59
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You can use the special offers through twitter for it.
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Dec 22, 2013 00:45
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Dirk Diggler posted:I actually just signed up for the Delta Gold card a few days ago. I got the same 50k offer you did. Unfortunately they couldn't convert my current Blue Cash so I'll end up closing that one and taking a little hit on average account age. Oh well. You actually WON'T take a hit, because your new card will get the same open date as your first Amex cards. Only Amex does that... open your first card in 2010, and if you open a card in 2030, that new card will still show up on your credit as open since 2010. Amex kinda rules as far as that goes.
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Dec 22, 2013 21:51
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Brian Fellows posted:You actually WON'T take a hit, because your new card will get the same open date as your first Amex cards. Only Amex does that... open your first card in 2010, and if you open a card in 2030, that new card will still show up on your credit as open since 2010. Amex kinda rules as far as that goes. Well that's pretty loving cool then. Thanks for pointing that out.
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Dec 24, 2013 00:56
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Is it a crime to lie about your income on a credit card application? I don't plan to do it but on a credit forum people were saying it is and others saying it's not. I'm thinking it's not and the bank could ask for proof if they really cared (most seem to not ask for verification) and at worst they would just close the account if they found out later (like when amex selects you for a financial review). When I financed my car they didn't even ask for proof of income so I'm guessing it's not a big deal if your credit score is high enough?
Amphion fucked around with this message at 19:02 on Dec 24, 2013 |
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Dec 24, 2013 07:44
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I believe that it technically is a crime. The chances of you ever being caught or facing any kind of punishment other than account closure is basically none.
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Dec 24, 2013 16:11
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I'm pretty sure that they call this particular crime fraud. But I'm not really a lawyer - I've just watched a bunch of law and order.
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Dec 24, 2013 16:47
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By itself it isn't fraud. They could close your card for it, but it isn't fraud by itself. Now, if overstating your income was part of a larger plan to rack up huge debts and then skip out, that could be considered fraud.
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Dec 25, 2013 00:10
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Magic Underwear posted:By itself it isn't fraud. They could close your card for it, but it isn't fraud by itself. Now, if overstating your income was part of a larger plan to rack up huge debts and then skip out, that could be considered fraud. Actually yes it is. Not sure where you live but just about every state has a "Fraud to obtain credit" code or similar law. That almost always would include making materially false statements on an application. Now whether they report it or not is up to them as they would be a potential victim of the fraud and the first ones to detect it. In some states it could actually be multiple crimes. Untagged fucked around with this message at 02:43 on Dec 25, 2013 |
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Dec 25, 2013 02:39
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IIRC, in some states those numbers can be used against you if sued or in divorce court.nickutz posted:To add to rewards chat: Anyone done anything cool with their points lately?
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Dec 25, 2013 11:21
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How often should I be requesting credit line increases from each of my cards? My utilization rate averages ~1% as I pay in full every month but heard it helps your credit score the higher your limit is. How much does it help your score and what is the best strategy for requesting limit increases? If they ask how much you want to increase it by how much should you request?
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Dec 25, 2013 22:31
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Swingline posted:How often should I be requesting credit line increases from each of my cards? My utilization rate averages ~1% as I pay in full every month but heard it helps your credit score the higher your limit is. How much does it help your score and what is the best strategy for requesting limit increases? If they ask how much you want to increase it by how much should you request? If your utilization never breaks 10% then I doubt there's much to gain from just having additional credit available. Unless you're planning on applying for a loan, there's no reason to worry this much about your credit score.
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Dec 26, 2013 08:23
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Hey guys I scanned through the thread and didn't find what I was looking for. I currently just have a citicard and am looking to branch out. I'm looking for a decent cash back card, preferably AMEX and saw some mentions about the blue cash. Most of my spendings go to things like restaurants, grocery stores, and gas. Any suggestions?
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Dec 27, 2013 22:15
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Victorian Gentleman posted:Hey guys I scanned through the thread and didn't find what I was looking for. Discover It, Chase freedom, or amex blue cash. Discover It and Chase freedom have rotating 5 percent bonus categories, I believe they mirror one another, and it covers restaurants for one or two quarters. The amex blue cash everyday gives three percent on groceries, two on gas, and one on everything else. If you spend a lot, pay an 90 dollar yearly fee for the blue cash preferred, which doubles those benefits. Amex also gives you free shoprunner and lots of little merchant perks, single purchase discounts mostly. Discover It gives you your fico score on every statement. I'm not to familiar with the Chase
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Dec 27, 2013 23:21
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I'm filling out an application for an Amex Blue card, and I'm in between jobs, but the next job starts on Jan 2nd. Should I go ahead and fill all of the employer info now, or should I wait until my first day?
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Dec 28, 2013 20:51
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yoyodyne posted:I'm filling out an application for an Amex Blue card, and I'm in between jobs, but the next job starts on Jan 2nd. Should I go ahead and fill all of the employer info now, or should I wait until my first day?
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Dec 29, 2013 11:32
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Juice Box Hero posted:Discover It, Chase freedom, or amex blue cash. Another Discover perk (I don't know if any other card does this too) is that you can pay on Amazon with your Discover cash back balance.
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Dec 29, 2013 16:52
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i barely GNU her! posted:Another Discover perk (I don't know if any other card does this too) is that you can pay on Amazon with your Discover cash back balance. The Chase Freedom lets you do this too with ultimate rewards points. You can also pay with Amex membership rewards points, but the conversion rate is terrible. e: forgot they let you do this with Citi thank you points but I don't know the conversion rate. I would assume it's in line with Discover/Chase point values.
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Dec 29, 2013 18:33
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How do people feel about Premiere Rewards Gold vs Chase Sapphire Preferred? Googling them turns up lots of articles comparing the earn rates (2x travel/dining and 7% dividend on CSP and no FTF, 3x airfare and 2x gas/groceries on PRG plus 15k bonus at $30k spend), I'm wondering about the more ancillary parts. Ultimate Rewards seems heavily dependent on just a couple of transfer partners.
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Jan 2, 2014 18:50
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Sweet Tsunami posted:How do people feel about Premiere Rewards Gold vs Chase Sapphire Preferred? I find UR points to be way more useful - United, Amtrak, Southwest, IHG, etc. I also like spending them at 1.25 cents apiece (I know I know, max value is on first/business redemption at 8-15 cents per point) to buy airfare if a miles ticket isn't available. Member rewards points just aren't useful to me without a US partner unless you want to go through the hassle of redeeming Korean Air points or what have you to get alliance air awards.
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Jan 2, 2014 21:10
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