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Baddog
May 12, 2001
There isn't any need to close them if they have no fees, doesn't look like any of them do. No fee cards will help your credit score as the average age of your account goes up.

The percent utilization is what impacts your credit rating, so the more credit you have the better (until a bank tells you you have too much with them, then you can move credit line from old cards to new). You should actually charge something soon on the quicksilver to keep it open before they close it on you. Two-three years is about when a bank will close an inactive account.

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becoming
Aug 25, 2004

Ol' Limber Legs posted:

I have more credit card accounts than I use anymore and am looking for some advice as to what to do with them. My inclination is to close some of the accounts, but two of the cards I no longer use are my oldest revolving accounts, so I'm a bit leery of messing up my credit score. According to creditkarma, my Transunion score is 786 and my Equifax is 775. I'm not going to be in the market for a mortgage or car loan anytime within the next 2 years. I'm thinking about applying for a Chase Freedom for the 5% categories. Other than that, I'm not looking at any credit cards other than the new Costco-branded card next year. Any insights?

Card names with credit limits and open dates.

These are the cards I'm thinking of closing:

CapitalOne Quicksilver: $5,500, opened 3/2005 - I haven't used this card in 2 years.
Bank Americard Rewards: $10,000, opened 5/2006 - I haven't used this card in a year.
Chase Slate: $4,500, opened 3/2014 - used this for a balance transfer, paid it off, don't see myself using it ever again.

These cards I use, based on maximizing cash rewards. All get paid in full monthly:

Costco Amex: $5,400, opened 9/2010
Discover It: $6,500, opened 4/2014
Amex Blue Cash Preferred: $8,500, opened 5/2015
Citi Double Cash: $6,500, opened 10/2014


Thanks!

Closing the Quicksilver and the Bank Americard will negatively impact your credit score. Your AAoA will be under two years and your FICOs will take a poo poo. Keep those open by charging something to them every so often. A good idea is to put, say, Netflix on one and Spotify on the other. Set them up to pay automatically and you're done. I know you're not planning on getting a mortgage or car loan in the next few years, but closing your oldest accounts will take your oldest account from ten years to five. Lenders actually look at that. Keep those two open.

Chase has gotten really funny about new cards; make sure the Freedom is the Chase card you want, because that will be your fifth card in the last two years, and Chase won't give you another card until next spring. Agree that the Slate isn't really worth keeping open, so after you get the Freedom, ask about transferring your credit line from the Slate onto the Freedom, and then close it. No reason to give up available credit.

I'm not sure anyone knows what AmEx is gonna do with the Costco card; that's your third-oldest account, and if you can convert it into a no-fee AmEx when the time comes, it's probably worth doing. Losing old accounts can tank your scores.

Bisty Q.
Jul 22, 2008

becoming posted:

Closing the Quicksilver and the Bank Americard will negatively impact your credit score. Your AAoA will be under two years and your FICOs will take a poo poo. Keep those open by charging something to them every so often. A good idea is to put, say, Netflix on one and Spotify on the other. Set them up to pay automatically and you're done. I know you're not planning on getting a mortgage or car loan in the next few years, but closing your oldest accounts will take your oldest account from ten years to five. Lenders actually look at that. Keep those two open.

average age of account includes closed accounts, so all of this is wrong

becoming
Aug 25, 2004

Bisty Q. posted:

average age of account includes closed accounts, so all of this is wrong

Please provide sourcing for this. Here's my anecdote to back up what I wrote: when I closed an old account, I dropped 50-80 points on all three FICOs.

It probably depends on the scoring model, and closed accounts will definitely age off your credit report and eventually not count at all, which will again shorten your credit history, which will negatively impact your score.

Edit for clarity - FICO 8 are the scores I'm referring to, as provided by myfico.com.

Edit edit - Equifax only dropped 37 points, so "50-80" isn't quite right, but closing that account absolutely positively did tank all three of my FICO 8 scores.

becoming fucked around with this message at 06:06 on Aug 30, 2015

THF13
Sep 26, 2007

Keep an adversary in the dark about what you're capable of, and he has to assume the worst.
Closing a credit card in good standing will drop your credit score, but this should only be due to having a lower credit limit available and a higher utilization as a result. Closed accounts in good standing are supposed to stay on your credit report for ~10 years. This might be changing in FICO9 though, so I would still recommend just keeping them open.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Closing-Credit-Cards/m-p/347190?jump=true
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/Closing-Aged-Accounts-Yes-It-Is-Ok/m-p/15526
http://www.doctorofcredit.com/how-average-age-of-accounts-is-calculated-affects-your-credit-score/

Devian666
Aug 20, 2008

Take some advice Chris.

Fun Shoe

Xandu posted:

Amex platinum is $1200 in Australia? I assume Australian dollars, but that's a lot of money for a credit card. Do you get different benefits?

It is expensive but there are different offers. Basically you pay for all of the benefits you get so you really need the spending for MR points or platinum benefits to justify getting the card. AMEX have better offers in Australia/NZ on their other platinum branded cards.

Blinky2099
May 27, 2007

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
e: nvm, found answer in another thread

Blinky2099 fucked around with this message at 18:26 on Aug 31, 2015

Tewdrig
Dec 6, 2005

It's good to be the king.
I'd like to get advice on the best credit card for my situation. I'm taking a new job where I will be flying from BFE to DCA about once a month, with other travel maybe once a month or once every other month. I expect the flights to/from DCA to be on AA/USAir (direct flights), but the other flights would really depend (I don't live in a hub and value half a day over flying circuitous routings for loyalty points). On my trips to DC, I will be staying at a Westin close to the main office. In other locations, I have a reimbursement maximum of $200 (more in certain high cost areas). I could also pick a different hotel in DC, but realistically, I'm not going to based on the location/quality. The DC trips would earn me about 10,000 miles a year, so not a ton. About 36 nights a year at the Westin, and again maybe another 10-15 nights elsewhere. All told, I expect to put about $10,000 on the DC trips a year, and who knows how much on other trips, but assume another $5,000. My personal spending is about $30,000 per year on credit cards. Estimate $45,000 total spend a year on the card/cards.

I would like either perks during travel (like if there were a Centurion lounge in DC), or else some other benefit that would be useful for travel with a family of four (which miles tend not to be), or simply cash back. I generally take two one-week vacations or one two-week vacation a year, and a few smaller long weekends. I've tended to drive and stay in Hilton properties on the shorter ones (Embassy Suites or Homewood Suites being great for young children), and fly and rent a condo for the longer ones (which have been to Miami the past couple years, also an AA hub, but who knows in the future). I actually like Delta for service the most, so American isn't my number one preferred airline, though usually I'll fly whatever is cheapest. This is my first job that calls for significant travel (to me anyway) instead of once or twice a year, so travel previously was generally on my own dime.

I think the Citi Prestige might be the best option, since I can use the TYP on AA at 1.6c/point, fourth night free, and AA lounge access during my business travel (does this work at USAir lounges too?). Alternatively, perhaps the SPG since I will have a lot of nights there, though it would be a stretch to get platinum, and I don't expect my leisure travel to be there. An AA cobranded card would be nice for the priority check-in and boarding (such as it is), but baggage fees will be reimbursed by work making that only useful on family trips, I think. I've considered a lot of the other cards, but they do not seem as good for my situation as these do.

Am I missing anything by going with the Prestige?

pig slut lisa
Mar 5, 2012

irl is good


Tewdrig posted:

flying from BFE

Wikipedia says this is a small German airport but I'm guessing that's not what you mean :confused:

becoming
Aug 25, 2004

pig slut lisa posted:

Wikipedia says this is a small German airport but I'm guessing that's not what you mean :confused:

I think he means "Bum gently caress, Egypt". As in, some small regional airport.

daishan14
Mar 6, 2004
I'm really sad I missed that Amex deal. Guess that's what I guess for only checking this thread once a month.

Tewdrig
Dec 6, 2005

It's good to be the king.

becoming posted:

I think he means "Bum gently caress, Egypt". As in, some small regional airport.

Yeah, it may as well be a small airport in Germany. It's middle of nowhere without many flight options. Just to/from hubs once or twice a day.

Residency Evil
Jul 28, 2003

4/5 godo... Schumi

daishan14 posted:

I'm really sad I missed that Amex deal. Guess that's what I guess for only checking this thread once a month.

FWIW, I think it comes around fairly often. I definitely remember a similar one last year.

Insane Totoro
Dec 5, 2005

Take cover!!!
That Totoro has an AR-15!
FYI I just successfully downgraded my Arrival+ to the normal Arrival Mastercard. The customer service rep who picked up the phone had no idea what I wanted when I said I wanted to downgrade the card. She insisted that I had the best product available from them thus I couldn't downgrade. So I had to escalate it to a manager, who was apologetic and took care of it for me.

Apparently there's no downside to downgrading since your points transfer 1:1 from the Arrival+ to the Arrival. And as far as I can tell the only major rewards difference is you lose the 2x points on any purchase but you still get 2x for travel and restaurants (is anyone using this card for anything other than international purchases?)

becoming
Aug 25, 2004

Insane Totoro posted:

FYI I just successfully downgraded my Arrival+ to the normal Arrival Mastercard. The customer service rep who picked up the phone had no idea what I wanted when I said I wanted to downgrade the card. She insisted that I had the best product available from them thus I couldn't downgrade. So I had to escalate it to a manager, who was apologetic and took care of it for me.

Apparently there's no downside to downgrading since your points transfer 1:1 from the Arrival+ to the Arrival. And as far as I can tell the only major rewards difference is you lose the 2x points on any purchase but you still get 2x for travel and restaurants (is anyone using this card for anything other than international purchases?)

It was my default card when a purchase wasn't in a category bonus, but I've backed off it since the nerfing was announced. Lately AmEx PRG has been my go-to. Glad to hear that the downgrade was easy though, I'll be doing that when my annual fee comes due. Really sad at how they've effectively destroyed this card.

Residency Evil posted:

FWIW, I think it comes around fairly often. I definitely remember a similar one last year.

The 100k Platinum bonuses are, if I'm not mistaken, almost always targeted, meaning that AmEx has to really want to get you as a customer. What was cool about this last go-round was that anyone could get the Special Offer to show up and thus get the 100k bonus. I'd expect to see a targeted 100k bonus a few times a year, but the open bonus, I'm not so sure.

Residency Evil
Jul 28, 2003

4/5 godo... Schumi

becoming posted:

The 100k Platinum bonuses are, if I'm not mistaken, almost always targeted, meaning that AmEx has to really want to get you as a customer. What was cool about this last go-round was that anyone could get the Special Offer to show up and thus get the 100k bonus. I'd expect to see a targeted 100k bonus a few times a year, but the open bonus, I'm not so sure.

Ah, gotcha. I signed up for the Ameriprise platinum card deal last year. I'm out for future Platinum personal bonuses right?

becoming
Aug 25, 2004

Residency Evil posted:

Ah, gotcha. I signed up for the Ameriprise platinum card deal last year. I'm out for future Platinum personal bonuses right?

I've read that AmEx treats them as separate products, and thus you would still be eligible. I can't personally confirm that, but that's what I've read.

Barry
Aug 1, 2003

Hardened Criminal
They are separate products.

Pompous Rhombus
Mar 11, 2007
Finally had a chance to sit down and spend the afternoon rounding up my mileage balances, figure out which cards, I had... and realised I won't be able to hit most of those minimum spends until February when tuition's due anyways :doh:

Anyhow, had a few miles-related questions:

I cancelled the Citi Aadvantage Platinum Select in January of this year, before the annual fee hit. Realised if I'm lucky and Citi doesn't take too long to approve it/can expedite it, I'll be eligible for it again just in time for my last semester (~$6k spend). I do remember BA's card through Chase took like 2+ weeks with me following up constantly, due to BA's sluggishness in generating an FF account, hopefully Citi won't be like that since I already have an AA account to link it to.

-Am I probably OK (assuming great credit), even if I'm applying basically the instant my 18 month waiting period expires?
-Does the 50k signup on it hold pretty constant, or does it dip down to 30k periodically? (Maybe I'm thinking of another card.)

-As far as those business cards go (looking at United's), do people just make up a business? Dunno that I'm comfortable with that, although I have been kicking around the idea of creating an LLC or whatever for freelancing. On the other hand I haven't done any in the recent past, so my "revenue" would be zero if I'm being honest. May be a moot point as I have an upcoming purchase I could use to hit the $1k min spend on the personal, but the $2k for the business would be a stretch. If I was doing the business one I'd have to wait until tuition time, and not sure I can split the payment between two cards. Actually, could I do personal and then apply for the business one later?

-Does applying for cards with the same bank (but different carriers/programs) carry a greater risk of being turned down? Eyeing the United card (which is with Chase) nowish as well as the Chase Sapphire for early next year, which does 1:1 points transfer into United.

-Finally, BA. I haven't used any Avios yet (have 80k), but I already kinda hate them. Is there any sort of trick for getting a real estimate on what a partner airline flight will cost (in terms of Avios and fees), other than calling their reservation number? Their asinine website assumes you're flying out of London and won't let you tell it otherwise, and avios.com is another annoying limeycentric mess.

asur
Dec 28, 2012
I wouldn't lie on a credit card application. You can sign up as a sole proprietor using your own SSN and most people have something that would qualify as a business according to the credit card company. Most common would probably be selling stuff, desire to start a business, or expenses for work. Low or zero revenue doesn't seem to be an issue at least with a sole proprietorship as I believe it also asks for your income. Business cards are almost always separate products so receiving the signup bonus for a personal card should have no effect on your eligibility for the signup bonus on the business card.

Maybe, depends on the company and their policy. Amex limits the number of cards you can have so you may have to call reconsideration and close a card to be approved for another. Chase has added strict limits to the number of credit cards you can apply for. Citi has time limits on the number of approvals.

You can definitely use the BA award search for flights from anywhere. There are issues with it showing availability of all the airlines that you could potentially book and I think it may not show if there is a BA flight. Avios cost should be known using the great world mapper to determine distance, and fees should be low if you book on the partners that don't have the fuel surcharge.

pig slut lisa
Mar 5, 2012

irl is good


This map is the best resource for planning an Avios trip, in my opinion anyway

becoming
Aug 25, 2004

Pompous Rhombus posted:

-Does applying for cards with the same bank (but different carriers/programs) carry a greater risk of being turned down? Eyeing the United card (which is with Chase) nowish as well as the Chase Sapphire for early next year, which does 1:1 points transfer into United.

As asur noted, and I will elaborate on, Chase has radically changed their approval algorithms in an attempt to limit churning. If you have opened five or more cards in the past twenty-four months, they absolutely will not approve you for an Ultimate Rewards-earning card, and some reports are that they won't approve you for branded (United, BA, etc) cards either. I have not heard of a single person getting around this. I first found out when I got denied for a card; called recon and was very politely informed that I could go gently caress myself; wrote a letter and was very curtly informed that I could indeed commence on the self-loving. Do not waste a hard pull if you have five or more new cards in the last twenty-four months. (Bolded for anyone that might just be scrolling past this, because that's something that I wish I knew before I applied.)

... and yes, Chase will only approve a customer for so many cards within a certain period of time. I have read that the numbers are "two" and "sixty days". I have been approved for two Chase cards on the same day, so that is (was?) certainly possible. Word on the street is that if you're going for three, you are probably waiting for the third. I had read about some folks having success calling reconsideration and getting a third account approved, but after Chase's June changes, I wouldn't personally bother.

asur posted:

Amex limits the number of cards you can have so you may have to call reconsideration and close a card to be approved for another.

Just to clarify this for others reading, my understanding is that American Express limits a customer to four credit cards, but there is apparently not a limit on the number of charge cards one can have.

becoming fucked around with this message at 14:31 on Sep 3, 2015

asur
Dec 28, 2012

becoming posted:

... and yes, Chase will only approve a customer for so many cards within a certain period of time. I have read that the numbers are "two" and "sixty days". I have been approved for two Chase cards on the same day, so that is (was?) certainly possible. Word on the street is that if you're going for three, you are probably waiting for the third. I had read about some folks having success calling reconsideration and getting a third account approved, but after Chase's June changes, I wouldn't personally bother.

Is this suppose to be Citi? The numbers I've read are that Citi will deny any applications beyond the first in the same day and will only approve 2 cards within 65 days. Recon may get you around both these limits, but you'd probably have to get lucky with the rep or call multiple times. I'm unsure if Chase has similar polices.

Barry
Aug 1, 2003

Hardened Criminal

becoming posted:

If you have opened five or more cards in the past twenty-four months, they absolutely will not approve you for an Ultimate Rewards-earning card, and some reports are that they won't approve you for branded (United, BA, etc) cards either.

I don't think it's quite that absolute - I had more than 5 cards in the last 24 months but my credit report wasn't showing one of them on whatever bureau Chase pulled from, so I was able to get the Sapphire Preferred. I've also read reports of being able to get the Ink/Ink Plus once you're past the "limit" so you might get lucky. That being said if you have your eye on a UR card, it's probably worth getting sooner rather than later.

While they might have tightened up their standards for issuing the co-branded cards, they aren't included in that 5/24 "rule".

SiGmA_X
May 3, 2004
SiGmA_X

becoming posted:

If you have opened five or more cards in the past twenty-four months, they absolutely will not approve you for an Ultimate Rewards-earning card, and some reports are that they won't approve you for branded (United, BA, etc) cards either. I have not heard of a single person getting around this. I first found out when I got denied for a card; called recon and was very politely informed that I could go gently caress myself; wrote a letter and was very curtly informed that I could indeed commence on the self-loving. Do not waste a hard pull if you have five or more new cards in the last twenty-four months. (Bolded for anyone that might just be scrolling past this, because that's something that I wish I knew before I applied.)
I discovered this when I went to sign up for an Ink. I read mixed posts elsewhere on the Internet. It's not mixed, they just won't approve you. Don't waste a hard pull!

Insane Totoro
Dec 5, 2005

Take cover!!!
That Totoro has an AR-15!
Regarding Chase, does the "five" include authorized user cards?

Are there even five Chase UR cards to apply for?

Insane Totoro fucked around with this message at 16:26 on Sep 3, 2015

Desuwa
Jun 2, 2011

I'm telling my mommy. That pubbie doesn't do video games right!
It's not five Chase cards, it's five cards period, from any issuer.

becoming
Aug 25, 2004

Insane Totoro posted:

Regarding Chase, does the "five" include authorized user cards?

Are there even five Chase UR cards to apply for?

So, yes and no. They will initially deny you if you have five new card accounts on the report that they pull for you (Barry is correct, if it's not showing on your file yet, you should be fine). However, if you call recon and point out that, say, two of the accounts are authorized user accounts, and thus you only have three new accounts, you can get your card approved. I had read that online, and sure enough, my wife had the exact same experience: she had three new cards in the last twenty-four months, plus I had added her as an AU on two of my cards; they denied her initially, but a call to recon was successful.

As Desuwa points out, it's not five Chase UR cards or even five Chase cards, it's five cards at all. If, in total from all issuers, you have five or more new cards in the last twenty-four months, and Chase knows about them (sees them on the report they pull), you are not getting a Chase card approved. (I have read mixed reports on whether that's limited to UR earning cards such as CSP, Freedom, and Ink, or whether it also applies to other cards such as the United, Southwest, and BA cards.)

asur posted:

Is this suppose to be Citi? The numbers I've read are that Citi will deny any applications beyond the first in the same day and will only approve 2 cards within 65 days. Recon may get you around both these limits, but you'd probably have to get lucky with the rep or call multiple times. I'm unsure if Chase has similar polices.

No, I meant Chase, but that is just from what I've read. I have never tried to get three Chase accounts approved within two months. I have gotten two Chase cards in the same day (this past March); my father has done the same, but then tried two weeks later for a United card and was told that he needed to wait for some amount of time, which I am recalling was sixty days, but I could be mistaken. No experience with Citi, only have applied for one of their cards.

Barry posted:

I've also read reports of being able to get the Ink/Ink Plus once you're past the "limit" so you might get lucky. That being said if you have your eye on a UR card, it's probably worth getting sooner rather than later.

I hadn't seen anyone have success with the business cards, and in fact had read the opposite (including from Sigma, above), but if true, that is good news. I'll need to dig more into that.

Barry
Aug 1, 2003

Hardened Criminal

becoming posted:

I hadn't seen anyone have success with the business cards, and in fact had read the opposite (including from Sigma, above), but if true, that is good news. I'll need to dig more into that.

Yeah I wouldn't blanketly take my dumb word for it and I don't think I could easily pull some sort of a source, I just remember reading some comments at reddit or Flyertalk after this all went down of people getting approved for the biz cards somehow. YMMV.

e: As to the five accounts deal, I had gotten a Barclays US Airways, Citi AA Plat, Citi AA Business, Chase IHG, Chased United and an AmEx SPG all in the 24 months prior to getting the Sapphire Preferred. I remember looking at credit karma and there only being 5 new accounts on there (even though the last was opened more than a month before I applied) so I gave it a shot and got approved.

Barry fucked around with this message at 18:12 on Sep 3, 2015

dexter6
Sep 22, 2003
I'm going to come up short on a sign-on bonus in one more cycle. Anyone doing MS these days?

Looks like the RedCard from Target and the Amex Serve can't be loaded by credit cards anymore. Any thoughts?

becoming
Aug 25, 2004

dexter6 posted:

I'm going to come up short on a sign-on bonus in one more cycle. Anyone doing MS these days?

Looks like the RedCard from Target and the Amex Serve can't be loaded by credit cards anymore. Any thoughts?

There are still ways to do it; TraderStav posted a write-up earlier in this thread with the new post-June 15 Redbird MS process. I haven't done it myself, but he has, so I assume it's still possible.

Insane Totoro
Dec 5, 2005

Take cover!!!
That Totoro has an AR-15!

becoming posted:

So, yes and no. They will initially deny you if you have five new card accounts on the report that they pull for you (Barry is correct, if it's not showing on your file yet, you should be fine). However, if you call recon and point out that, say, two of the accounts are authorized user accounts, and thus you only have three new accounts, you can get your card approved. I had read that online, and sure enough, my wife had the exact same experience: she had three new cards in the last twenty-four months, plus I had added her as an AU on two of my cards; they denied her initially, but a call to recon was successful.

As Desuwa points out, it's not five Chase UR cards or even five Chase cards, it's five cards at all. If, in total from all issuers, you have five or more new cards in the last twenty-four months, and Chase knows about them (sees them on the report they pull), you are not getting a Chase card approved. (I have read mixed reports on whether that's limited to UR earning cards such as CSP, Freedom, and Ink, or whether it also applies to other cards such as the United, Southwest, and BA cards.)


No, I meant Chase, but that is just from what I've read. I have never tried to get three Chase accounts approved within two months. I have gotten two Chase cards in the same day (this past March); my father has done the same, but then tried two weeks later for a United card and was told that he needed to wait for some amount of time, which I am recalling was sixty days, but I could be mistaken. No experience with Citi, only have applied for one of their cards.


I hadn't seen anyone have success with the business cards, and in fact had read the opposite (including from Sigma, above), but if true, that is good news. I'll need to dig more into that.

Exactly how the heck is this good for their business? Wouldn't this just drive people who are applying for cards to other banks?

becoming
Aug 25, 2004

Insane Totoro posted:

Exactly how the heck is this good for their business? Wouldn't this just drive people who are applying for cards to other banks?

That was my initial thought too, but they have undoubtedly had some beancounter run the numbers and determined that this was a better course, financially, for them. If it weren't, they wouldn't have changed it.

My argument to them - which happened to be totally true - was that I was planning on switching away from my Arrival Plus due to Barclaycard ruining it, and since I'd had good experiences with Chase, I intended to make the CSP my "everyday spend" card. The rep was sympathetic, but said "there is just no way I can make it happen, the system will not allow me to do it. I want to approve you, but I can't." I was skeptical, but after reading online, that seems to be the Official Word From The Chase Gods. Again, I have read of exactly zero people getting a UR-earning card approved when Chase sees five or more new credit card accounts in the previous twenty-four months. No one is having success with recon. Apparently this change happened in June. I applied in July.

Barry
Aug 1, 2003

Hardened Criminal

Insane Totoro posted:

Exactly how the heck is this good for their business? Wouldn't this just drive people who are applying for cards to other banks?

I think it's pretty safe to assume that a vast, vast majority of credit cards users aren't opening greater than 5 cards in a 2 year span. This is basically targeting the churners, who they are (debatably) losing money on when you just get the signup bonus and on to the next one.

Baddog
May 12, 2001

becoming posted:

There are still ways to do it; TraderStav posted a write-up earlier in this thread with the new post-June 15 Redbird MS process. I haven't done it myself, but he has, so I assume it's still possible.

I'm too lazy to completely maximize, so I just buy $10k of $500 gift cards at the mall for 80 bucks ($4 per card). Makes $120 cash (200-80) on a 2% cash card, or more depending on how you value points. I've been loading up on SPG if I don't have minimum spend to do. Its a big letdown from how it used to be, but still worthwhile if you don't have to go out of your way.

Insane Totoro
Dec 5, 2005

Take cover!!!
That Totoro has an AR-15!

becoming posted:

That was my initial thought too, but they have undoubtedly had some beancounter run the numbers and determined that this was a better course, financially, for them. If it weren't, they wouldn't have changed it.

My argument to them - which happened to be totally true - was that I was planning on switching away from my Arrival Plus due to Barclaycard ruining it, and since I'd had good experiences with Chase, I intended to make the CSP my "everyday spend" card. The rep was sympathetic, but said "there is just no way I can make it happen, the system will not allow me to do it. I want to approve you, but I can't." I was skeptical, but after reading online, that seems to be the Official Word From The Chase Gods. Again, I have read of exactly zero people getting a UR-earning card approved when Chase sees five or more new credit card accounts in the previous twenty-four months. No one is having success with recon. Apparently this change happened in June. I applied in July.

This is still dumb because I travel a lot and have good credit. So I have a Hyatt card (for hotels) and a United card (for flights). And since it seems work likes to send me places and family likes to go overseas I had to get a Sapphire for international purchases.

And then I got an Amazon store card a little less than two years ago and I got the Amex Blue for actual everyday purchases.

So what the message to me is.... "Take your money elsewhere" if I wanted to do business at Chase for something like a Marriott card (another chain I frequent often).

I guess this means then I should stick to Sheraton and gently caress Chase partner hotels? If I was Marriott I'd be annoyed that a customer just got told "Yeah suck it, go stay at the Sheraton instead because of a dumb rule."

Just dumb. Even if it saves them money.

Insane Totoro fucked around with this message at 00:51 on Sep 4, 2015

becoming
Aug 25, 2004

Insane Totoro posted:

Just dumb. Even if it saves them money.

They have a duty to their shareholders. I get it. I'm not thrilled about it, but I get it. I'm not sure I'll ever have four or fewer in two years (I've got nine new cards in the last six months), so if I ever want another Chase card, I'll need to lay off of everything else. So yeah, disappointed for sure, but I understand, and it's probably the smart business play for them; if it's not, they'll reverse course.

pig slut lisa
Mar 5, 2012

irl is good


The Chase 5/24 rule only applies to Chase-branded cards offering UR points. It doesn't apply to partner cards like Hyatt, Southwest, etc.

SiGmA_X
May 3, 2004
SiGmA_X

pig slut lisa posted:

The Chase 5/24 rule only applies to Chase-branded cards offering UR points. It doesn't apply to partner cards like Hyatt, Southwest, etc.

I've read mixed reviews of that fact. I'm not sure what to believe. What I am sure of is that if you're applying for a UR card, and have opened 5 new credit accounts in the last 24 months, you're definitely SOL.

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kazr
Jan 28, 2005

Would it be possible to convert the Chase Amazon card to a Freedom and keep the age of the account the same?

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