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becoming posted:They get hundreds or thousands of applications every day. If this were a big problem, you'd hear about it. Instead, there are a few people here and there bitching that they did not get their sign-up bonus, and my guess is that these people did not actually go through their referral links. Looks like US Airways Dividends MasterCard got expressed mailed to me and it did come with a piece of paper saying I should receive 50k miles after paying the dues and making a purchase. Still waiting on the other card to come in. OK so next question, and I probably should have asked this before, but I only have an American Airlines account. When I get my 50k miles on this US Airways card, how do I link it to my AA account? I don't see any options on the barclaycard website for this. e: Also when do I have to pay the annual fee? I've never had a card with one before so I don't know if it's averaged out, or if it comes in the first statement of the year or whatever. Boris Galerkin fucked around with this message at 14:09 on Apr 4, 2015 |
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Apr 4, 2015 14:07
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pig slut lisa posted:Thanks. I was thinking about calling reconsideration, but I've heard (at least wrt other cards) that calling recon can draw too much attention to your profile. Have you had this happen with BoA before? I've used BOA recon twice with no problems. I don't do anything they wouldn't like (no MS, for example), though. A pending from most issuers is a no, so it can't really hurt to call in advance and try to get it fixed before the letters go out.
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Apr 4, 2015 14:35
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Boris Galerkin posted:Looks like US Airways Dividends MasterCard got expressed mailed to me and it did come with a piece of paper saying I should receive 50k miles after paying the dues and making a purchase. Still waiting on the other card to come in. They made a Dividend Miles (or AAdvantage account, maybe) for you. The number will appear on your first statement, and you can then call AA and ask them to merge that account with your 'real' one. You have to pay the annual fee all at once before you get the miles. The AF will show up on your first statement and not be due for another 20+ days after that, and you won't get the points until you pay for it and the subsequent statement (plus at least one purchase) generates. I'd recommend making a small purchase you know the amount of, then sending a bank bill pay to the card for $89 + that purchase amount, to accelerate the miles posting if you're in a hurry.
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Apr 4, 2015 14:38
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becoming posted:Are you planning on churning a boatload of BofA cards? If you're worried about it, wait for the denial letter and then call. At that point, you really have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. There are tips out there for calling recon, but the basic gist of it is to have a solid explanation for why you want the card ("I want the points" is not solid). Bisty Q. posted:I've used BOA recon twice with no problems. I don't do anything they wouldn't like (no MS, for example), though. A pending from most issuers is a no, so it can't really hurt to call in advance and try to get it fixed before the letters go out. Thanks both of you. Recon appears to be closed on the weekends, so I'll try on Monday and report in about how I do. Update Just called the application status line and a robot told me my application was approved and I should be getting my card in the mail soon 
pig slut lisa fucked around with this message at 14:26 on Apr 6, 2015 |
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Apr 4, 2015 15:31
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Doesn't look like AMEX will be "backdating" any new cards that existing customers apply for as of last month. For those of you who didn't know, any time you added an AMEX account they would report the card to the agencies as opened in the same year and your first AMEX card. Myself as an example, I had an AMEX green charge card in 2006, but applied for many of their products in 2012/13 for sign up bonuses, and all those showed on my credit report as opened in 2006. This was the ultimate credit score gaming so I'm not surprised to see it go.
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Apr 6, 2015 17:45
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Where do you see this change? I can't find anything in Google search resulting indicating a change if you are the account owner. I think there was a change where they weren't automatically back dating for people who were added as authorized users.
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Apr 6, 2015 19:23
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There's a huge thread on the MyFico forums if you feel like wading in: http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Amex-No-Longer-Backdating-to-Credit-Bureau-s/td-p/3907659
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Apr 6, 2015 19:36
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nickutz posted:There's a huge thread on the MyFico forums if you feel like wading in: Must be within the past 30 days because they did it for me as of 3/3. e: yeah, as of 3/21 if it's correct
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Apr 6, 2015 22:11
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Cacafuego posted:Must be within the past 30 days because they did it for me as of 3/3.
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Apr 6, 2015 22:25
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Oh that's too bad. They in the past actually used to be more generous and would backdate Authorized Users to the date of the account opening, which meant the credit card my parents gave me for emergencies while I was in High School gave me a credit history older than I am.
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Apr 6, 2015 22:33
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I know that there's the AA card and a poo poo ton of ways to get AA points. But what are some good ways to earn United points?
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Apr 7, 2015 01:59
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The United MileagePlus Explorer is basically the same except for United. I believe the current offer is 30k points vs. 50k for AA.
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Apr 7, 2015 02:44
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Insane Totoro posted:I know that there's the AA card and a poo poo ton of ways to get AA points. But what are some good ways to earn United points? https://www.theexplorercard.com/30k50AFWIC 30k + $50 is the best public offer right now.
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Apr 7, 2015 02:49
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Also Chase UR transfers direct to it right?
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Apr 7, 2015 05:11
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Insane Totoro posted:Also Chase UR transfers direct to it right? Both Chase and SPG, yeah 
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Apr 7, 2015 05:22
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You can always do the United Mall or whatever it's called, buy poo poo online and get the bonus points. I double dip my HHonors points for the 10/1 conversion swap.
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Apr 7, 2015 18:31
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I haven't bothered to find one myself but apparently there are targeted 50k point offers for the United card out there that aren't that hard to get.
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Apr 7, 2015 23:45
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Barry posted:I haven't bothered to find one myself but apparently there are targeted 50k point offers for the United card out there that aren't that hard to get. Yup. And if a person is flying, sometimes the kiosks at the airport in the United terminals will have 50K offers. I haven't seen the United card offer 50K openly in some time, so it's probably coming up. I know when I signed up two years ago it was a May/June offer.
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Apr 8, 2015 00:01
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pig slut lisa posted:Both Chase and SPG, yeah
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Apr 8, 2015 08:07
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How often does Amex reduce the platinum yearly fee after the first year? I'd be fine with either a reduction in the fee or miles.
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Apr 8, 2015 12:27
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Residency Evil posted:How often does Amex reduce the platinum yearly fee after the first year? I'd be fine with either a reduction in the fee or miles. They gave me 40,000 points when I threatened to cancel a few weeks ago. That's $50 short of the full fee.
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Apr 8, 2015 13:32
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Small White Dragon posted:The SPG transfer ratio is not good. If you really need another sign up bonus to transfer to United, consider Marriott. But awesome to Delta!
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Apr 8, 2015 13:45
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Small White Dragon posted:The SPG transfer ratio is not good. If you really need another sign up bonus to transfer to United, consider Marriott. Isn't Marriott to United still basically "four Marriott points" becomes "1 United point" sort of a situation:?
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Apr 8, 2015 18:42
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Insane Totoro posted:Isn't Marriott to United still basically "four Marriott points" becomes "1 United point" sort of a situation:?
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Apr 8, 2015 19:05
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Small White Dragon posted:It varies depending on the amount you're converting, but it can approach 2.24 to 1. Chart here. Actually, it can be quite a good rate if you redeem for a flight and hotel package. These packages are by far the best use of Marriott points. http://www.marriott.com/rewards/usepoints/morepack.mi
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Apr 8, 2015 20:33
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Pissingintowind posted:Actually, it can be quite a good rate if you redeem for a flight and hotel package. These packages are by far the best use of Marriott points. Unfortunately I need to take the wife to Asia. And Marriott isn't a big presence out there.
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Apr 9, 2015 02:36
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Got my AA Citi card today and it feels really weird, like it was made of cardboard. Not complaining just saying.
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Apr 9, 2015 18:40
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I need some advice on how to handle the break-up between Amex and Costco. Now that Amex cards will no longer be welcome at Costco as of next April, what are potential repercussions of closing my Amex account? I'll probably have to start paying an annual fee (once the breakup is complete) and I'm just not interested in that. I'd rather replace it with a Costco Visa card if I can't use my current Chase Freedom card to make purchases there. There's also the option of opening up an Amex Blue Cash Everyday card (they've been sending me a poo poo ton of offers to sign up for one) - the cashback program is similar enough and there's no annual fee so I wouldn't have an issue with that. Still, would it negatively impact me if I opened up a Blue Cash and closed my Costco Amex? I'm on the cusp of hitting 800 for all three credit agencies and I don't want to do anything to screw that up. Maybe I'll just replace my Amex with a Blue Cash and dump Chase Freedom for whatever Visa card Costco offers...
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Apr 11, 2015 01:00
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Since AmEx are no longer back-dating new cards, you might as well wait to see what they do to your Costco card. My suspicion is that you're gonna get an offer to convert it to a Blue Cash Everyday card. I managed to sneak in a Blue Cash Preferred card application about 6 weeks ago before they stopped back-dating new cards, so that's my escape plan from the Costco card.Karthe posted:Still, would it negatively impact me if I opened up a Blue Cash and closed my Costco Amex? I'm on the cusp of hitting 800 for all three credit agencies and I don't want to do anything to screw that up.
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Apr 11, 2015 01:43
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Star War Sex Parrot posted:Since AmEx are no longer back-dating new cards Wait what? 
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Apr 11, 2015 05:00
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Residency Evil posted:Wait what?
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Apr 11, 2015 05:02
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Star War Sex Parrot posted:Since AmEx are no longer back-dating new cards, you might as well wait to see what they do to your Costco card. My suspicion is that you're gonna get an offer to convert it to a Blue Cash Everyday card. I managed to sneak in a Blue Cash Preferred card application about 6 weeks ago before they stopped back-dating new cards, so that's my escape plan from the Costco card.
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Apr 11, 2015 06:59
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For anyone that doesn't know, banks give out $$ to start new accounts. If you are a new customer, or if you have not gotten the bonus in a certain time period (usually 18-24 months) you can take advantage of the offers. The best part is, you can usually fund them when you open the account with a rewards credit card, although, check to see if they will be a cash advance. I've recently completed this Chase promo offer and received $300 after a direct deposit (or variety of other ways Chase sees a deposit as a 'direct deposit') is made to the account (it must stay open 6 months and the $12 monthly fee can be waived with additional 'direct deposits' of $500/mo; ie ACH deposits from another bank).  I've also done this PNC bank promo (can be done all online) to receive another $300 using the same method of direct deposit (total of $5,000 in DD to receive max of $300, account open 6 months, $500 DD/mo to waive monthly fee)  You will get taxed on the bonuses! After the 6 months, I close the account and resume using my original checking account.
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Apr 14, 2015 03:40
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Cacafuego posted:For anyone that doesn't know, banks give out $$ to start new accounts. If you are a new customer, or if you have not gotten the bonus in a certain time period (usually 18-24 months) you can take advantage of the offers. The best part is, you can usually fund them when you open the account with a rewards credit card, although, check to see if they will be a cash advance. I think we've discussed here that this can backfire because ChexSystems can blacklist you for opening too many accounts in a short period
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Apr 14, 2015 04:12
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EugeneJ posted:I think we've discussed here that this can backfire because ChexSystems can blacklist you for opening too many accounts in a short period 'Too many' is like 15+ in a year though. Highly highly highly unlikely you'll ever get near the thresholds even with significant gaming (since most of the bonuses are one per customer per year at the MOST generous)
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Apr 14, 2015 04:54
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Can the Chase offer be done online? When I looked at it last month it seemed like you had to stop by a Chase branch to open the accounts.
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Apr 14, 2015 08:41
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asur posted:Can the Chase offer be done online? When I looked at it last month it seemed like you had to stop by a Chase branch to open the accounts. Have to go in for the chase, unfortunately.
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Apr 14, 2015 12:59
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Here are some things to consider with bank account bonuses. I've been doing them for about a year now: #1) Typically the bonuses require to you do some combination of the below. Be sure to save the requirements of getting the bonus somewhere, as its typically way more complicated than the spend $X get $Y system of credit card bonuses. i) make a minimum opening deposit ii) maintain a minimum or average balance for a minimum amount of time iii) make $X or more of direct deposits (paycheck or gov't benefits) per month for Y months iv) make a minimum number of debit card transactions v) pay X number of bills (minimum $Y per bill) [per month for Z months] with the bank's bill pay service #2) Unlike credit card bonuses/rewards, any bank account bonus is treated as taxable interest. You will get a 1099-INT for it at the end of the year. So, if you get a $100 bonus and your marginal federal+state+local (if you live in NYC like me) tax rate is 40%, then your after tax bonus is only $60. #3) While bonuses are taxable, unfortunately you cannot deduct fees against your bonus. So if you get a $100 bonus, and incur $50 in bank account fees from that account, and your marginal combined tax rate is 40%, you only make  after taxes and fees.#4) Because of #3, it is almost just as important to avoid incurring fees as it is to meet the requirements of getting the bonus. Typically, the criteria for avoiding fees are the same metrics as under #1 above, but with different amounts. So you may need to only do $100/mo of direct deposits for 3 months to get the bonus, but you need to maintain a $500 minimum balance every month to avoid a monthly fee. You should also save down somewhere the minimum criteria to avoid fees as this can also be complicated. Another fee to avoid is an early account closing fee - so find out the minimum amount of time you need to keep it open to avoid that fee, and save down your account opening date. You should rarely go for a bank account bonus if you cannot also ensure that you will avoid the monthly/other fees. Read the fine print, and copy and paste the fine print into a word doc for future reference. If there are fees you cannot avoid, be sure to calculate your after-tax-after-fees net bonus to make sure its still worthwhile. Because of all of the above, many/most bank account bonuses probably aren't worth the time, but I do them anyway because I don't value my time since I'm a goon. In case you're wondering, the IRS doesn't tax credit card bonuses because it views them as "rebates" rather than income since you have to spend money to get them. Swingline fucked around with this message at 02:25 on Apr 15, 2015 |
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Apr 15, 2015 02:19
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Hey guys, I have no credit card besides a single low limit store card that I opened for the sole purpose of getting 0% APR for my wife's engagement ring. I paid it off in 6 months and never used it and will likely never use it again, but naturally I'll keep the account. I would like to get a rewards card for the usual responsible reasons; reducing opportunity cost of having no cash back/travel points on essential purposes, improving long term credit score, that sort of thing. Here are the cards I'm considering: Chase Freedom, Citi Double Cash, AmEx Blue (everyday or preferred?), Discover IT. My circumstances: income of $115,000/yr, $23,000 federal student loan debt, $15,000 liquid savings and $30,000 in retirement accounts, credit rating of around 700 last I checked. My wife and I both fly every year to visit family back home, so a travel rewards card might also be a good idea. Should I apply to all of the cards I'm considering at the same time? I don't want all of them, so can I decline to open an account if my application is accepted? Is there any reason I shouldn't apply to any of the cards if I'm likely to be rejected? I know my credit score is meh so I wouldn't be surprised if I get turned down for some of them, but does getting declined have any negative effect on my credit score? I'm also considering student loan refinancing (I've posted in other threads asking for advice about that), so if I decide to apply for refinancing, should I do it at the same time I apply for credit cards? I'd prefer to only have one hard inquiry on my record if possible.
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Apr 15, 2015 04:08
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Uranium 235 posted:Hey guys, I have no credit card besides a single low limit store card that I opened for the sole purpose of getting 0% APR for my wife's engagement ring. I paid it off in 6 months and never used it and will likely never use it again, but naturally I'll keep the account. Why do you only want one hard inquiry? They roll off pretty quickly. Unless you are looking to secure a big loan (mortgage, car), don't sweat it. Still, I'm going to address your question as written, which is that you only want one hard pull. Each lender is going to be at least one hard inquiry. You have listed four lenders, with a potential fifth (student loan refinancing), so understand that you are not getting more than one new account without getting more than one hard pull. There's no "do them all at once and get only one hard pull". That doesn't happen. Each lender is going to pull your report and score from one of the three bureaus, sometimes more than one (Citi recently pulled both Ex and Eq for me). How you spend your money determines which card is best for you. For the most part, unless you are really planning on hitting travel, you should just get a cash-back card. Most people like the Citi Double Cash card best, as it is straight 2% cash back. If you spend a lot on groceries (at stores that code to AmEx as grocery stores), a Blue Cash Preferred can be a good call - 6% on groceries and 3% on gas can add up, though the 6% on groceries is capped (so 6% on $6k, then 1% after that). I think Freedom is best used in conjunction with Chase Sapphire Preferred to earn Ultimate Rewards, which can be redeemed for travel. If you're only looking to have one hard pull, Citi Double Cash is probably the way to go. If you apply for an account, they are going to open one and report it to the bureaus. Applying for cards you're likely to be rejected for isn't smart, as the inquiry will ding your score and you don't get a shiny new account to show for it. Do it enough and lenders think you are desperate for credit, and are even more likely to reject you. You're new to this, and there is a lot to learn, so my suggestion: pick a single card, apply, and if approved, stop there. (If rejected, call their reconsideration line.) You'll have a new card in a few days, and you should run all your spend through that. If, in a few months, you're feeling like you'd like another one, go for your number two choice.
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Apr 15, 2015 05:48
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