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asur posted:It's not, definitely get a different card and don't pay the annual fee. If it's reliable, chip/PIN, and has some amount of rewards I can wring out of it without a lot of hassle, it might be worth the 90 bucks. I travel internationally at least every couple of years.
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May 7, 2016 19:20
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slap me silly posted:If it's reliable, chip/PIN, and has some amount of rewards I can wring out of it without a lot of hassle, it might be worth the 90 bucks. I travel internationally at least every couple of years. I think Barclay has a reputation for waiving the fee or giving a credit with that card, so long as you're putting a decent amount of spend on it. I'm on my phone though and don't feel like digging on FT to confirm.
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May 7, 2016 21:20
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The Arrival+ is pretty much bottom tier now after the decrease in refunded points upon redemption as well as the raise in the minimum redemption amount. If it had no AF it might still be considered decent if not good, but you can do a lot better with a variety of other cards that cost nothing.
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May 8, 2016 01:51
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triple sulk posted:The Arrival+ is pretty much bottom tier now after the decrease in refunded points upon redemption as well as the raise in the minimum redemption amount. If it had no AF it might still be considered decent if not good, but you can do a lot better with a variety of other cards that cost nothing. This argument never made sense to me. The difference between 2.1% and 2.05% is minuscule and the redemption threshold is an annoyance and yet peoples opinion, mostly the bloggers, went from raving about it to hating it. I guess they could just hate stuff being taken away, but my guess is that Barclay substantially lowered the amount they got for signups instead. The card has pretty much always been meh since the rise of easy 2% cash back cards. slap me silly posted:If it's reliable, chip/PIN, and has some amount of rewards I can wring out of it without a lot of hassle, it might be worth the 90 bucks. I travel internationally at least every couple of years. There are plenty of cards with similar features that you could rotate though on a yearly basis to rack up some signup bonuses and keep AF free assuming that Barclay won't waive it.
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May 8, 2016 03:12
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How about visa debit cards with chips? Do those have true chip+pin?
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May 8, 2016 03:44
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asur posted:There are plenty of cards with similar features that you could rotate though on a yearly basis to rack up some signup bonuses and keep AF free assuming that Barclay won't waive it.
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May 8, 2016 04:01
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I have a Visa Signature with Regions bank (where I also have my checking and savings accounts). I opened the account about 2 years ago in a credit rebuilding phase, and I don't really use the card. I'm not quite ready yet to close it as I'm still enjoying the lower overall util. ratio I get by having it open. Does anyone know if they are likely to close the card for lack of use, or if my existing banking relationship would be enough to leave it open?
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May 9, 2016 16:11
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gregday posted:I have a Visa Signature with Regions bank (where I also have my checking and savings accounts). I opened the account about 2 years ago in a credit rebuilding phase, and I don't really use the card. I'm not quite ready yet to close it as I'm still enjoying the lower overall util. ratio I get by having it open. Does anyone know if they are likely to close the card for lack of use, or if my existing banking relationship would be enough to leave it open? I've had a low interest (but poor rewards) credit card with my credit union that has no activity on in, like, 5 years or something. I just got a new chip card from them. Most people recommend putting a small recurring charge (like Netflix) on a card to make sure it doesn't get shut down, but I don't think it's as big of a deal when you have other active relationships with the institution.
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May 9, 2016 17:24
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Rated PG-34 posted:How about visa debit cards with chips? Do those have true chip+pin?
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May 9, 2016 17:35
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wyoak posted:If it's from a US bank probably not - debit chip and pin works by sending the PIN to the bank over the wire, and the issuer checks it and either allows or rejects the transaction. In EMV chip and pin, the pin is stored on the card and does not need to be sent over the wire (this allows for offline validation). Not exactly. PIN for mag stripe and EMV work the same way - they are both validated "online" by the card issuers. In some markets, offline PIN is also a CVM option for EMV, but this is becoming very rare, and is subject to transaction dollar amount limits due to increased likelihood of fraud.
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May 9, 2016 23:08
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New 100k platinum offer from Amex. Very tempting to get that plus a card for my wife. Can I use the 200 fee credit to buy stickers on AA? The points are tempting, but travel wise I already get lounge access on international travel and already have Global Entry. Missing part is hotel and car status, but meh, I'd have them if I really wanted them.
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May 10, 2016 14:11
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god mother loving dammit e: I JUST got the Mercedes-Benz 75k points offer and there's no way I can (responsibly) do 6k spend in 3 months if I apply for the 100k non-MB card. 
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May 10, 2016 14:28
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overdesigned posted:god mother loving dammit Welp, don't worry too much, the links from yesterday are already showing as expired. I'll jump on the next one if there is one I guess.
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May 10, 2016 15:33
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Sort of related: Anyone ever done a big damage protection claim as a benefit of a card? I've done some small claims with two different cards before (Chase lost item, Citi missed event) but both were under $100. I had a couple large purchases ($1000+) in the last month that were damaged in a bike accident last week. How was the process?
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May 10, 2016 15:41
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FunOne posted:New 100k platinum offer from Amex. Very tempting to get that plus a card for my wife. Can I use the 200 fee credit to buy stickers on AA?
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May 11, 2016 05:27
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Amex is dead.
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May 11, 2016 12:58
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I'm a student, senior (sticking around the same school for one more year to do a master's), looking for a credit card to start building credit. Signed up for Credit Karma, and my score is 629 TransUnion/671 Equifax, which seems to be okay for someone with only some student loans. I took a year off for health reasons and made timely payments before going back, so I suppose that's why I even have a history; the dings seem to be short history, few accounts, and no actual credit. My only hard pull is my credit check for grad school loans, and I didn't need a cosigner. I don't need a certain score right away or anything, my apartment lease didn't do a check and I'm certainly not in the market for any big purchases in the next few years, but I probably will at some point in the next decade, so might as well start now. I was thinking I could get a credit card from somewhere, put my Spotify payments, groceries, and other things on it, and pay it off every month. I'm just using my debit card so it seems like a waste to not build credit now. My current bank is Bank of America for checking (I have one of those old online only accounts) and they keep sending me preapproval offers for this card, Bank Americard Cash Rewards: https://www.bankofamerica.com/credi...k-credit-card/. I don't drive but cash back on groceries sounds nice even if it's a pittance and no fee is great. I know from reading a bit of the thread that the Chase Freedom card is good for first-timers. Chase Slate seems better (free monthly FICO  ) because I don't plan on spending $500 right away when I get the card just for the bonus. I am probably missing something though.Rewards-wise, I'm not entirely sure what I want. My base for the foreseeable future is the Boston area, so Logan would be my home airport. I plan on flying back to Houston where family is at least once a year and I do it on Southwest, so something that could give me points there would be nice. I have plans not too far into the future to visit Canada, Sweden, and Vietnam (family, probably in the next three or four years spread out) so chip and pin would be great and maybe miles on an airline that could go to all those places + Houston but that seems like a lot to ask for (I also have vague plans of visiting Istanbul and other European countries when I'm in Sweden but probably not the greatest idea at this moment in time). I think I'd probably prefer miles over cash back in the long run (both would be lovely ) but I don't even know if I could spend enough to amass enough points for miles on an airline by the time I go and also have no idea where to start looking other than the Credit Karma listings.So I guess my questions are: - What card should I get or you guys can steer me towards given all the above? Hard requirements are no annual fee and at least $500 limit for emergencies. If rewards are miles, something that can be used with Southwest at least, hopefully internationally (I have no idea what airlines are good to Canada/Sweden/Vietnam). - What's a balance transfer fee? Transferring the balance of another card onto the current one (like to take advantage of a low introductory APR or something)? Not applicable to me but I just want to make sure I don't get dinged for anything.
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May 11, 2016 22:41
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Mecca-Benghazi posted:stuff Miles cards generally only make sense on top of existing travel. If you already travel for work with Delta then also get the Delta credit card kind of thing. Plus, you're not going to put 200-400k of spend onto one of those cards to generate the required mileage to get the awards you're talking about. Honestly, the easiest would be the BofA Travel card, chip, no fee, 1.5points/dollar, points are worth 1 cent against travel expenses, so effectively a 1.5% card, this goes up the more $ you have at BofA. Plus it'd be on your current BofA login for moving money around and keeping track of spend. You'd be able to credit those points against purchasing any ticket you buy, so airline wouldn't matter. I'm sure they've got some special where you get a boat load of points to start with as well with some immediate spend.
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May 11, 2016 22:52
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If you don't spend $500 in 3 months for the Freedom then you aren't going to spend enough on pretty much any credit card to rack of miles or points for anything. The way to get a lot of miles or points is to either spend a ridiculous amount, 100k+, or get a sign up bonus and the majority of those are $3k in 3 months.
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May 11, 2016 23:10
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I calculated it out and if I put every purchase (groceries, subscriptions, etc) on my new credit card I could definitely swing the Chase Freedom intro offer and get really close to the BoA Travel offer (I'd be like ~$100 short but my Surface needs a new keyboard anyway). I have the cash, I guess part of me is just wary of doing all credit. Which is dumb because I know credit cards get more protection than debit, but that's how my brain goes. BoA Travel and Travel for Students seem identical reward-wise, but I'd probably be way more likely to be approved if I apply for the latter, right? Any downsides? And I wasn't expecting a ton of points/miles, but it would have been nice in the long run. With BoA Travel I would get enough to not actually pay anything other than the traveler's fee for my yearly flight to and from Houston, which is great.
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May 11, 2016 23:27
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Mecca-Benghazi posted:
Apply for the normal one and if you get rejected then tell the reconsideration number to consider the student version. They should do that automatically anyway, at least that is what they told me the brief time I worked there.
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May 12, 2016 02:31
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Does anyone have any experience with the new Charles Schwab cards from American Express? I'm eying the 1.5% cash back card. The rewards obviously aren't best in class, but I've been really happy with my other Schwab accounts, and feel like it'd be nice to have all of my accounts in one place. More importantly, how widely accepted is Am Ex? I've never had a card issued by anyone other than Visa before. In 2016 are there still places in the United States that won't take these?
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May 18, 2016 20:10
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Possible Dumb Question: The Citi Double Cash Rewards information packet they sent me mentions that one of the benefits is a "free pass on your first late fee." Why are there late fees on a credit card? Wouldn't they just charge the APR? Does this just mean that if you miss the first payment date that they won't apply the APR?
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May 18, 2016 20:14
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Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:Possible Dumb Question: The Citi Double Cash Rewards information packet they sent me mentions that one of the benefits is a "free pass on your first late fee." APR is applied if you don't pay the bill in full by the due date. A late fee is applied if you miss the minimum payment.
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May 18, 2016 20:16
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asur posted:APR is applied if you don't pay the bill in full by the due date. A late fee is applied if you miss the minimum payment. Duh. Somehow I didn't think of that. Thanks.
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May 18, 2016 20:20
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Blakkout posted:Does anyone have any experience with the new Charles Schwab cards from American Express? I'm eying the 1.5% cash back card. The rewards obviously aren't best in class, but I've been really happy with my other Schwab accounts, and feel like it'd be nice to have all of my accounts in one place. AmEx is my favorite issuer and I tend to make pretty heavy use of them. I rarely run into a place that won't take my AmEx - and yet, it does still happen on occasion. It's usually a smaller family-owned shop or restaurant; most bigger places accept it (as do most smaller places, really). If you can only carry one card, it probably shouldn't be an American Express. I carry several cards so it's not a problem for me - on the rare occasion I get turned away, I pay with something else. becoming fucked around with this message at 21:20 on May 18, 2016 |
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May 18, 2016 21:17
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Amex charges the highest merchant fees, so thats why small mom/pop places that are running close to the bone don't take them. I just carry a minimum of two cards (actually more like 4 credit cards plus a shitload of gift cards these days!) Fidelity is replacing its no-fee amex 2% card with a 2% visa btw, just in time for the costco cutover.
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May 18, 2016 21:55
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Also I think the Schwab cards are Amex-issued, not just Amex network like Fidelity. I assume you would still be paying through the Amex website or app by ACH, not like paying a Chase card from your Chase checking.
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May 19, 2016 04:31
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Also depends where you're at. Small 1500 person town a few hours outside the city that isn't a tourist spot? Bring a backup or some cash. Otherwise most every place in the city/suburbs take Amex, and unless it's an amazing place, I just don't go back again if they don't.
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May 19, 2016 16:10
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In the Twin Cities area, when Delta (with an Amex rewards card) bought hometown airline Northwest (not-Amex rewards card) a bunch of new merchants started accepting Amex because there were enough people with airline cards for it to make a difference. Just a fun little anecdote about Amex acceptance.
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May 19, 2016 16:38
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Though I just shelled out a bunch of money this week for vet bills and a home inspection and neither of them took amex 
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May 19, 2016 16:39
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Thufir posted:Though I just shelled out a bunch of money this week for vet bills and a home inspection and neither of them took amex I bought a bed and a recliner of course neither shop took amex. I have to live with the slightly lesser rewards on the visa.
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May 19, 2016 23:12
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I thought Southwest was down to offering 25k points per card, but if I log into my Rapid Rewards account, it offers both 50k cards. e: guess that's for everyone again. No Butt Stuff fucked around with this message at 00:13 on May 20, 2016 |
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May 20, 2016 00:05
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My new United Mileage Plus Explorer comes in the mail in a week. Is there a gimmick with Mileage Plus X to meet the spending requirement and eek out some extra value? Edit: Buy Amazon gift cards for +2 mi/$1 in the app and then the +2 mi/$1 from the credit card itself? Blinkman987 fucked around with this message at 08:47 on May 21, 2016 |
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May 21, 2016 08:38
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Blinkman987 posted:My new United Mileage Plus Explorer comes in the mail in a week. Is there a gimmick with Mileage Plus X to meet the spending requirement and eek out some extra value?
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May 21, 2016 12:42
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Thanks. Found this as well, and can easily replace MileagePlus Shopping with whatever portal I want to use.
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May 21, 2016 18:39
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I've been using the Citi Doublecash as my only credit card for over a year now but I have a couple large purchases coming up in the near future and think it would be a good time to expand into a travel card. From reading around a bit it seems like the Chase Sapphire Preferred would be good if I can hit the sign up bonus (plus it looks soooo sexy) but I've also read some things about how it works best with a Freedom card (or freedom unlimited)? Is that true or is it fine to use the CSP alone as a main card? Should I get two? Or three? Hard not to fall down the rabbit hole
Virtue fucked around with this message at 07:32 on May 22, 2016 |
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May 22, 2016 07:10
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Virtue posted:I've been using the Citi Doublecash as my only credit card for over a year now but I have a couple large purchases coming up in the near future and think it would be a good time to expand into a travel card. From reading around a bit it seems like the Chase Sapphire Preferred would be good if I can hit the sign up bonus (plus it looks soooo sexy) but I've also read some things about how it works best with a Freedom card (or freedom unlimited)? Is that true or is it fine to use the CSP alone as a main card? Should I get two? Or three? Hard not to fall down the rabbit hole The CSP is likely (but not definitely!) a good first travel rewards card for you to branch out into, and the Freedom would be a good card to pair it with if you want to get a second (not so sure about the Freedom Unlimited, personally...maybe someone else here is?). Here are some reasons to get the CSP+Freedom:
Here are some reasons to maybe not get these cards, at least right now:
If you want to post a little more info about what your travel goals are, we can help you decide for certain whether this is the best option for you. pig slut lisa fucked around with this message at 13:58 on May 22, 2016 |
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May 22, 2016 13:49
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pig slut lisa posted:The CSP is likely (but not definitely!) a good first travel rewards card for you to branch out into, and the Freedom would be a good card to pair it with if you want to get a second (not so sure about the Freedom Unlimited, personally...maybe someone else here is?). I travel US domestic for work ~1-2 times a year so being able to use points to upgrade to first for some of the longer flights would be nice. I also try to travel internationally for vacation once every year or two, primarily to Asia but I'd like to hit Europe eventually. In the past I've used mostly Delta and United with no real preference either way so I wouldn't lose any sleep if I had to stop using Delta/British Airways/Southwest. Googled the 5/24 rule and don't think it will be a problem since I'm only looking at 2 or 3 chase cards right now (CSP, Freedom, Freedom Unlimited). Remembering to check up on the quarterly 5% category bonus is doable -- it will probably just go on my calendar. Virtue fucked around with this message at 14:38 on May 22, 2016 |
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May 22, 2016 14:28
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You want to use personal miles that you can (and should) use for vacation to upgrade your domestic work flights?
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May 22, 2016 15:13
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