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Blinkman987 posted:6 - If you ever wanted the CSP, you have to do it before you have 5 apps in 2 years total across all credit card companies. Chase will deny your application if you have that many apps with no reconsideration.Therefore, it's the best card to start with. Just as a finer point, I believe it is not apps but new accounts, and the number is definitely "five in the last twenty-four months". I know this because, before I applied, I did not know it! So when I called Chase reconsideration, I was told that, due to having more than five new accounts in the last twenty-four months, they are not able to approve me. They denied my wife as well, but since three of her "new accounts" were as an authorized user on cards of mine, they approved her. Anyway, the difference between "apps" and "new accounts" is probably "nothing" for most people that are looking at the CSP, because if you're not getting a new account for every application, you're probably not getting a CSP anyway, but I thought it might be worth mentioning/clarifying.
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Jan 11, 2016 21:29
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BlueFootedBoobie posted:I'm a current Bank of America customer who uses its Cash Rewards cards for all purchases, paying in full in month (about 800 FICO). I also have an old BOA points rewards card and a Barclays card that I just used for an apple purchase, neither of which I still use. Looks like you've already decided to go for the CSP, but lemme throw this out there: the Arrival+ is getting (in my opinion) significantly worse this year, and I don't think really anyone is still recommending it. (Are they?) I have one, and I've been happy with it, but they sent me a letter detailing all the changes that were coming to my account in 2016 and it basically read like "hey, all the things that made this card great, we are getting rid of them". I guess the one thing it still has going for it over the CSP is that sometimes card readers that pull the card in can get confused/dicked up with a CSP and won't read it, whereas the Arrival+ is just another credit card.
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Jan 11, 2016 21:33
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becoming posted:Looks like you've already decided to go for the CSP, but lemme throw this out there: the Arrival+ is getting (in my opinion) significantly worse this year, and I don't think really anyone is still recommending it. (Are they?) I have one, and I've been happy with it, but they sent me a letter detailing all the changes that were coming to my account in 2016 and it basically read like "hey, all the things that made this card great, we are getting rid of them". Thanks- I'm already now waiting for my CSP to come in the mail, but I did see how Barclay's is dropping the mileage reimbursement from 10% to 5%. CSP beat out the Arrival+ in most places, but it seemed pretty close overall so I wasn't sure. Regarding the card reader issue, apparently the card used to be 100% metal, but that was causing issues so now it's metal sandwiched in plastic? I'll always have a backup anyway.
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Jan 11, 2016 21:38
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Depending somewhat on what airline you use (and it seems like you don't have a specific one) I'd go with the CSP. Other potential options are the AmEx Premier Rewards Gold (though it's a once per lifetime bonus and is only at 25k MR right now) or the Citi Prestige. I don't think you really travel enough to recoup the cost of the more significant AF's but hey, options. The Citi Premier is worth looking at too. e: Looks like you went with the CSP, good choice!
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Jan 11, 2016 21:42
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BlueFootedBoobie posted:I'm a current Bank of America customer who uses its Cash Rewards cards for all purchases, paying in full in month (about 800 FICO). I also have an old BOA points rewards card and a Barclays card that I just used for an apple purchase, neither of which I still use. Are you qualified for preferred rewards /w BofA? That ups the earning power of the card considerably. If you aren't on a loyalty program with a specific airline that you need benefits for or are looking to do the points to miles transfer game then the BofA Travel card + Preferred Rewards can be a very high earning card.
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Jan 11, 2016 21:55
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One other thing about the CSP that makes it pretty popular is how it pairs with the Chase Freedom. The Freedom has 5% rotating categories, but if you have both you can use the rewards from the Freedom to book travel through the Sapphire Preferred's Ultimate Rewards where the points are worth 25% more, effectively making your cash back rate on the rotating categories 6.25%.
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Jan 11, 2016 21:56
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BlueFootedBoobie posted:Regarding the card reader issue, apparently the card used to be 100% metal, but that was causing issues so now it's metal sandwiched in plastic? I'll always have a backup anyway. I've still had it fail to read in some machines, so I don't think the issue is totally fixed with the newer design (which I have), but if you've got a backup then no problem.
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Jan 11, 2016 22:01
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Barry posted:Depending somewhat on what airline you use (and it seems like you don't have a specific one) I'd go with the CSP. Other potential options are the AmEx Premier Rewards Gold (though it's a once per lifetime bonus and is only at 25k MR right now) or the Citi Prestige. I don't think you really travel enough to recoup the cost of the more significant AF's but hey, options. The 50k offer should be pretty easy to get if he's a new Amex customer an/or willing to futz a bit with incognito mode-I can pull up all the big sign up bonuses with Amex on my work computer no problem. Still, CSP is the highest it's been in a while (ever?) so it's probably the better choice for now. With a credit score like that, he might be able to find the Amex 100k platinum if he wanted it. The arrival plus has a good sign up bonus, but beyond that I don't know what barclay is thinking- there are now at least two no fee/no category restriction 2% cash back cards out, DeceasedHorse fucked around with this message at 22:40 on Jan 11, 2016 |
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Jan 11, 2016 22:37
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The Arrival+ is fine. It's just mediocre compared to the redemption rate on the CSP + Freedom so it's in the "eh, might as well do the BoA card and not eat an annual fee" situation.
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Jan 11, 2016 22:54
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Insane Totoro posted:The Arrival+ is fine. It's just mediocre compared to the redemption rate on the CSP + Freedom so it's in the "eh, might as well do the BoA card and not eat an annual fee" situation. I think the situation is worse than that. The 2.2%, the low redemption threshold, and the annual TripIt subscription used to be pretty nice perks; now it's 2.1% effectively, and the annual fee of $89 means you need to spend over $89k annually on the card for it to make sense over a no-fee 2% card - and you still can only redeem against travel expenses of $100 and over, so a $95 hotel/motel stay can no longer be redeemed against. I feel like the card used to be competitive and now is nowhere close. Or it could be that I'm still just bummed because this was my first rewards card and I'm still sentimental about it.
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Jan 12, 2016 00:21
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We were chatting about chip+signature cards recently. I tried to use my chip at a Kroger last weekend and it didn't respond and I had to slide. Then I tried to slide at Home Depot and it made me stick it. The chip+sig worked great but drat it was slow!THF13 posted:Have you actually loaded your Serve account this month? I only got notified that the account was disabled when I went to load it this month. I may give them a call, or say gently caress it. We'll see if it lets me load next month, it let me schedule loads for next month but that doesn't mean much I assume. becoming posted:Yeah, I just load from my checking account. Didn't know about a third-party AmEx, might be worth looking into.
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Jan 12, 2016 00:30
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As someone who loves Amex's customer service-- what the gently caress is happening to their card portfolio?!?!?!
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Jan 12, 2016 00:51
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USAA has a non AMEX AMEX
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Jan 12, 2016 01:05
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Blinkman987 posted:As someone who loves Amex's customer service-- what the gently caress is happening to their card portfolio?!?!?! They lost Fidelity and CostCo? The only thing that would really get me bent out of shape would be if they lost SPG.
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Jan 12, 2016 01:54
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Barry posted:
hate to break it to you....
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Jan 12, 2016 02:03
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Barry posted:They lost Fidelity and CostCo? The only thing that would really get me bent out of shape would be if they lost SPG. More like Sheraton is gonna get eaten by Marriott....
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Jan 12, 2016 02:22
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Baddog posted:hate to break it to you....
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Jan 12, 2016 02:47
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Eh, I'm not ready to put the nail in the coffin yet. We're probably at least 6 months left until the merger goes through, and then probably at least another 3-6 until the rewards program changes. I kind of doubt it, but it's possible AmEx has some version of a Marriott card (ala Hilton with Citi and AmEx) that might be decent. Mergers never make rewards programs better but I sort of doubt they totally gut SPG.
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Jan 12, 2016 03:32
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Barry posted:Eh, I'm not ready to put the nail in the coffin yet. We're probably at least 6 months left until the merger goes through, and then probably at least another 3-6 until the rewards program changes. I kind of doubt it, but it's possible AmEx has some version of a Marriott card (ala Hilton with Citi and AmEx) that might be decent.
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Jan 12, 2016 09:00
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Yeah, that will absolutely be the worst part - the earning rate on Marriott CC's is garbage. SPG is my non-category daily driver. I'll really miss those 4k-7k redemptions.
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Jan 12, 2016 16:49
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The Luxury Card site (http://luxurycard.com/) has been updated and you can now be the proud owner of a 24K-gold-plated credit card for only $995 a year.
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Jan 12, 2016 19:22
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triple sulk posted:The Luxury Card site (http://luxurycard.com/) has been updated and you can now be the proud owner of a 24K-gold-plated credit card for only $995 a year. This may actually be a good card for active duty US service members, BarclayCard apparently waives all annual fees for them. No idea if this card would be an exception since it isn't offered through BarclayCards site directly. (Don't apply for the card unless you know for sure it is waived)
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Jan 12, 2016 22:23
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Barry posted:Yeah, that will absolutely be the worst part - the earning rate on Marriott CC's is garbage. SPG is my non-category daily driver. I'll really miss those 4k-7k redemptions.
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Jan 13, 2016 01:41
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THF13 posted:This may actually be a good card for active duty US service members, BarclayCard apparently waives all annual fees for them. No idea if this card would be an exception since it isn't offered through BarclayCards site directly. (Don't apply for the card unless you know for sure it is waived) I'm not gonna roll the dice, I'll just get an Amex Platinum if I want a free luxury travel-focused card. Which I should really get around to doing.
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Jan 13, 2016 01:52
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Small White Dragon posted:Aside from SPG (and maybe Hyatt?), hotel points aren't worth a whole lot, although at least Hilton gives you a minimum 2 or 3 points per dollar on CC spend, and more on a variety of bonus categories. I wish Chase did the same. IMO, Hilton only works if you're staying there and spending on a Hilton card to get the 10/$1 rate. Hilton redemption practically starts at 20k from my experience. 30k if you want to stay in a midrange major city and not at some shabby Hampton Inn in the middle of nowhere. The Reserve card does give you a free night upon paying the fee for the year but only if you've spent $20k on the card for the year. Garbaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaage Also, I have found that if you are staying there, they will spam you with so many points multiplier promos and special offers that you'll actually be able to get to a redemption-- but, stuff like that sets off the "this is a scam, they are trying to trap you into some scam" alarm going off in my head. I think I'm currently getting 15 pts/$1 on Hilton spends on my card and double United miles for the partner earning.
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Jan 13, 2016 02:38
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I'm going to be going to Spain in the fall. Any suggestions for a credit card to get some free nights? I just signed up for the IHG chase card and am planning on doing some of the contest entries to get more points. I already got the SPG personal card a few years ago, maybe SPG business or the Citi Hilton card?
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Jan 13, 2016 18:16
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Well, it sounds like you need points soon to book rooms for the fall. Can you complete the minimum spends on a bunch of new cards quickly? Second, check to make sure there are hotels that you would want to stay at near where you're going to be. A couple free nights may not be worth it if you're paying a fortune to get around town because the hotel you chose is too far away from everything. I believe Hyatt, Fairmont and Hilton all have cards that give you 2 free rooms as the sign up bonus.
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Jan 13, 2016 22:10
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Blinkman987 posted:IMO, Hilton only works if you're staying there and spending on a Hilton card to get the 10/$1 rate. Hilton redemption practically starts at 20k from my experience. 30k if you want to stay in a midrange major city and not at some shabby Hampton Inn in the middle of nowhere. The Reserve card does give you a free night upon paying the fee for the year but only if you've spent $20k on the card for the year. Now if we compare earn, the annual fee Hilton cards 3x the number of points on general spend, 2.5-3x on bonus categories, and 2-2.4x on their hotel spend. My points is that the Hilton card might be comparatively more beneficial for general spend, although frankly, I wouldn't put spend on either.
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Jan 14, 2016 01:01
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Is there a time limit to claim cash-back rewards on cards? I have a couple hundred dollars in rewards sitting on my Citi Double card and my Chase Freedom card. I like that I'm above the minimum required on both cards to redeem cash-back and that I can take the money at any time - is leaving it there as rainy day money a terrible idea?
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Jan 14, 2016 02:13
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EugeneJ posted:Is there a time limit to claim cash-back rewards on cards? I have a couple hundred dollars in rewards sitting on my Citi Double card and my Chase Freedom card. I like that I'm above the minimum required on both cards to redeem cash-back and that I can take the money at any time - is leaving it there as rainy day money a terrible idea?
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Jan 14, 2016 03:20
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EugeneJ posted:Is there a time limit to claim cash-back rewards on cards? I have a couple hundred dollars in rewards sitting on my Citi Double card and my Chase Freedom card. I like that I'm above the minimum required on both cards to redeem cash-back and that I can take the money at any time - is leaving it there as rainy day money a terrible idea? According to Citi, the double card cash back only expires if you don't earn any cash back for 12 months.
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Jan 14, 2016 05:50
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Just applied for Chase Sapphire Preferred, said they need more time to review my application (probably should have fudged my income and gone with previous job, rather than the part-time salaried one I'm starting at the end of the month :-\). How bad are my chances? Coincidentally I woke up to an email from Barclay's this morning saying my credit score had changed, up to a bit over 800 now. Edit: actually, it may have been putting my rent down as $1 (parents' address, I live overseas), doh. Should not be doing this before coffee in the morning. Pompous Rhombus fucked around with this message at 21:41 on Jan 14, 2016 |
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Jan 14, 2016 21:24
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Pompous Rhombus posted:Just applied for Chase Sapphire Preferred, said they need more time to review my application (probably should have fudged my income and gone with previous job, rather than the part-time salaried one I'm starting at the end of the month :-\). How bad are my chances? Coincidentally I woke up to an email from Barclay's this morning saying my credit score had changed, up to a bit over 800 now. Call the Chase reconsideration line and ask. If you have another card with Chase it's probably just that they don't want to offer you more credit, but they should be able to move the credit limits around on your existing cards and get you approved.
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Jan 14, 2016 21:34
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If you want an answer, you can call the Chase reconsideration line and give them your application number. Anyone else that churns have difficulty with BoA? I got the travel reward card a couple months ago, but when I applied for the Alaska card they denied it due to too many inquiries. The reconsideration guy on the phone sounded shocked and disapproving when he told me the reason for denial was 15+ inquiries over the past year. asur fucked around with this message at 21:36 on Jan 14, 2016 |
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Jan 14, 2016 21:34
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asur posted:Anyone else that churns have difficulty with BoA? I got the travel reward card a couple months ago, but when I applied for the Alaska card they denied it due to too many inquiries. The reconsideration guy on the phone sounded shocked and disapproving when he told me the reason for denial was 15+ inquiries over the past year. Yeah, about a month before I applied, I decreased my CL with BofA by $7000, hoping for a second Alaska card, I got instant approved for $2000 - only 5000 Alaska miles. I called to get the visa signature (really wanted the extra 20k miles for a TATL flight) and they had to do a hard pull, I said no problem, it was worth it. It was initially declined for too many inquiries, but I talked the guy into increasing it and Got approved for additional $3000 to $5000. I didn't get any extra miles though, so I called and they said you have to be approved for the visa signature upon application to receive the 25k. I cancelled the card immediately, but they haven't taken back the 5000 miles they gave me. I don't like BofA.
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Jan 14, 2016 22:11
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Small White Dragon posted:If we compare the Hilton and Marriott charts, it seems like Hilton redemptions are about 2x Marriott in general; TPG estimates Hilton points at about 0.5 cents each and Marriott at about 0.7. Sure. I must've misunderstood the context of the conversation. Yes, I wouldn't do daily spends on either. asur posted:If you want an answer, you can call the Chase reconsideration line and give them your application number. I've seen that Alaska card get put on all the blogs about how this is one of the few churnable options, so it's possible that they're paying special attention to that card.
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Jan 15, 2016 00:09
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Thanks for the tip on the reconsideration line, I googled that and called them this morning. First two reps I spoke to were nice, the actual Consumer Lending one I dealt with in the end was a bit curt, but I was able to clear up the stuff on my application. She still said it'd be 1-2 weeks processing, which sucks as I was planning on booking some travel for my partner soon. Would it be a bad idea to apply for another card in the meantime? Downside is the other one I was looking at (United) is also with Chase...
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Jan 15, 2016 23:51
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Chase is the only company that will lifetime blacklist people for promo abuse, so I tread carefully with them.
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Jan 16, 2016 00:05
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Blinkman987 posted:Chase is the only company that will lifetime blacklist people for promo abuse, so I tread carefully with them.  Yikes, I will too. Should I not bother with the Chase United card so soon, regardless of the outcome with Sapphire Preferred? I could wait 6mos and do it for my last semester's tuition, but was hoping to apply for another card with American as my 18 month cooldown with them is timed right around then. I was hoping to use the United one (which has a lower min spend) to book her pet's quarantine, I would otherwise have a hard time hitting the min spend on it as I seldom use credit cards for anything other than major expenses like that or tuition, especially since I live overseas and my income will now be coming from the non-US side (regardless of no foreign transaction fees, I still have to move money home to pay it off). I haven't touched AMEX before because I can't pay tuition with them (also, not nearly as commonly accepted here in Australia), however when I go to apply for a work visa early next year I can pay the fees with Amex, which will probably come out to like $4-5k. Downside is government's payment processor charges an extra 2% for processing an AMEX payment, probably not worth it to use for hitting a min spend in that case, right? With the recent-ish cooling off periods on rewards cards I think I'm getting pretty close to the bottom of the barrel of cards that would make sense for me to get (not really interested in cashback or hotels, just miles really), so I am tempted even if it comes out kinda "meh". Pompous Rhombus fucked around with this message at 00:19 on Jan 16, 2016 |
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Jan 16, 2016 00:15
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EugeneJ posted:Is there a time limit to claim cash-back rewards on cards? I have a couple hundred dollars in rewards sitting on my Citi Double card and my Chase Freedom card. I like that I'm above the minimum required on both cards to redeem cash-back and that I can take the money at any time - is leaving it there as rainy day money a terrible idea? Why not pull it out and put it in an account that bears interest?
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Jan 16, 2016 22:05
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