|
pseudanonymous posted:Do not let yourself get FOMOed about credit cards or it will lead to you making bad decisions.
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2023 22:06
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 17, 2024 01:24 |
|
|
Josh Lyman posted:Considering most of my spend is dining, this is really compelling. It seems like I’d need to PC my current CFU to a Flex then apply for a new CFU. Aside from a CSP in May, I haven’t opened a new Chase card in like a decade. I gave a chase freedom unlimited I've had for about 2 years now. So I can just call up Chase and ask them to convert it to a flex, then wait a week or so and try for a new freedum unlimited with the signup bonus?
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2023 03:25
|
|
|
Vice President posted:I gave a chase freedom unlimited I've had for about 2 years now. So I can just call up Chase and ask them to convert it to a flex, then wait a week or so and try for a new freedum unlimited with the signup bonus? You’re only eligible if you have not received a CFF sub within the last 24 months. So if about 2 years is actually less then 24 months possibly not. Otherwise, yes.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2023 03:45
|
|
|
speaking of freedom cards, I sill have the original freedom card (along with unlimited) and is there a reason to keep it versus switching over to flex?
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2023 12:03
|
|
|
OG Freedom (Visa) works in store at Costco as opposed to the Flex (Mastercard), so when Costco is a 5% category the OG Freedom has more utility. Don't know if any other stores have significant Visa/MC preference like that.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2023 13:21
|
|
|
astral posted:Your August card may not have reported right away. Often takes a statement or two, which could easily have landed after 10/8. Hm, I don't see any missed payments or signs of ID theft or anything like that on the report, so it seems like this must be it. But 50 points still seems a bit excessive given that my Experian score only dropped by 25 points last year when I picked up three new cards in the space of about a month.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2023 18:41
|
|
|
Space Fish posted:OG Freedom (Visa) works in store at Costco as opposed to the Flex (Mastercard), so when Costco is a 5% category the OG Freedom has more utility. Don't know if any other stores have significant Visa/MC preference like that.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2023 19:26
|
|
|
Space Fish posted:OG Freedom (Visa) works in store at Costco as opposed to the Flex (Mastercard), so when Costco is a 5% category the OG Freedom has more utility. Don't know if any other stores have significant Visa/MC preference like that. You can get 5% back on Costco in-store with the Freedom Flex by buying Costco Shop cards to use in-store through Costco.com, which accepts both MasterCard and Visa.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2023 01:37
|
|
|
Godzilla07 posted:You can get 5% back on Costco in-store with the Freedom Flex by buying Costco Shop cards to use in-store through Costco.com, which accepts both MasterCard and Visa.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2023 04:57
|
|
|
Warehouse stores was a category on Discover It earlier this year and i bought like a thousand dollars of costco giftcards Then not too much later costco announced they'd no longer accept discover on costco.com lol
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2023 05:32
|
|
|
nice I still use costco regularly so glad I didn't switch
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2023 06:56
|
|
|
I just have both Freedom and Freedom Flex. This allowed me to get the sign up bonus / 0% APR period on the Flex as a new card rather than converting my OG Freedom to a Flex. Flex is generally superior unless MasterCard isn't accepted eg Costco. I'll use the Freedom in that situation, and also when there's a category like PayPal or Amazon where I might max out the 5% spend on the Flex in which case I'll switch to the Freedom until (if) I also max the 5% spend on it as well.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2023 11:57
|
|
|
Godzilla07 posted:You can get 5% back on Costco in-store with the Freedom Flex by buying Costco Shop cards to use in-store through Costco.com, which accepts both MasterCard and Visa. Note that you can do the opposite too - you can get Costco.com gift cards to use in store to hit minimum spend on MasterCards.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2023 15:10
|
|
|
Very random they only take one card type in store and two card types online. Must be some odd exclusive deal they have with Visa.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2023 15:19
|
|
|
So I'm looking at getting a travel card (or two) and I'd like to have a gut check if I'm being extra. I'm planning to travel a lot more in the coming years and would like your expert opinions The perks on the American Express Platinum are great. I would love the lounges, the credits for Uber, CLEAR, Global entry and the like. I would primarily envision using this for gold status, lounge access and some of the credits However, the points system on Chase Sapphire reserve look to be fantastic. I'd use this one to book flights and max out my points. The system looks seriously generous I guess my question is: is it too extra to have both of them? I recognize the high annual fee it would take but I feel like using them both would upgrade my travel experiences.
|
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2023 15:56
|
|
|
Seth Pecksniff posted:So I'm looking at getting a travel card (or two) and I'd like to have a gut check if I'm being extra. I'm planning to travel a lot more in the coming years and would like your expert opinions The Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR) has a $300 annual travel credit with it, and their definition of travel is pretty broad, so think of the CSR as having an annual fee $300 lower than it is. I would start with that and see how you like managing credit card rewards before pushing into the Amex Plat.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2023 16:01
|
|
|
Seth Pecksniff posted:So I'm looking at getting a travel card (or two) and I'd like to have a gut check if I'm being extra. I'm planning to travel a lot more in the coming years and would like your expert opinions How much do you travel?
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2023 16:01
|
|
|
Seth Pecksniff posted:So I'm looking at getting a travel card (or two) and I'd like to have a gut check if I'm being extra. I'm planning to travel a lot more in the coming years and would like your expert opinions "the points system" on the CSR is shared by most of the UR cards.. so you can get the much cheaper CSP, Ink Preferred, etc. for much of the same bonuses. Booking flights is actually better on the Plat (5x), since the CSR bonus is locked to using their travel portal only. I find having a Platinum and CSR somewhat redundant unless you're churning. I got the plat and Ink Pref and utilize perks from both ecosystems. along with 13 other cards 
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2023 16:19
|
|
saintonan posted:The Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR) has a $300 annual travel credit with it, and their definition of travel is pretty broad, so think of the CSR as having an annual fee $300 lower than it is. I would start with that and see how you like managing credit card rewards before pushing into the Amex Plat. This is a good thought and I hadn't considered thinking of it as $300 less! I'll admit I've never used credit card rewards beyond the Costco executive card cash bacj system so maybe baby's first CC rewards would be a good step before committing to the higher price Medullah posted:How much do you travel? At the moment not much. Next year I'm planning a heavy travel year and depending on how I feel it may be subsequent years too so that's why I wanted to get a jump on it mightygerm posted:"the points system" on the CSR is shared by most of the UR cards.. so you can get the much cheaper CSP, Ink Preferred, etc. for much of the same bonuses. Booking flights is actually better on the Plat (5x), since the CSR bonus is locked to using their travel portal only. What's the difference between the Ink pref and the CSR? I hadn't looked into that one yet. Appreciate the help!
|
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2023 16:25
|
|
|
The Ink Preferred is a business card. That doesn't mean you can't get it and use it personally, though; if you don't have a business (as most people don't), you can still apply as a sole proprietor. It has a fantastic signup bonus at the moment, as do the other Ink cards, and it gives you 3× on travel with a $95 fee, but you do miss out on a bunch of the CSR bonuses. If you have a Platinum, some of those bonuses would be redundant anyway. FWIW, I'm currently looking into getting more heavily into rewards, and the consensus I've seen, though it's not at all universal, is that Chase UR are best for hotel redemptions, Amex MR are best for flights. Chase's cards are better to keep, though; many people treat the Platinum and the Business Platinum as "get for the signup bonus, keep for a year, cancel when the second annual fee hits." Also note that Amex changed their signup bonus eligibility language recently, too, and if you get a (personal) Platinum card to start with, you will not be eligible for signup bonuses on the Gold or Green if you later want those, unless you luck out and get a targeted offer. If you are interested in those bonuses, you have to go up the ladder; getting the Green first doesn't currently leave you ineligible for the other two bonuses, and getting the Gold does not leave you ineligible for the Platinum bonus. If you haven't used rewards before, I agree with saintonan that you probably shouldn't drop over a grand on annual fees right off the bat.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2023 16:36
|
|
|
disaster pastor posted:FWIW, I'm currently looking into getting more heavily into rewards, and the consensus I've seen, though it's not at all universal, is that Chase UR are best for hotel redemptions, Amex MR are best for flights. I think this is airline dependent. Generally speaking I think that transferring points (MR/UR) to an airline often works out better than using either the Chase or Amex travel portals. So if your home airport is a Delta hub, Amex will be your jam. If it's United or Southwest, then Chase will be easier for you. If it's American, then neither one is great (American's card is through either Citibank or Barclay, neither one of which have a well developed ecosystem or a flagship luxury card, although rumors are that Citi is trying).
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2023 17:05
|
|
|
saintonan posted:Generally speaking I think that transferring points (MR/UR) to an airline often works out better than using either the Chase or Amex travel portals. Completely agreed. saintonan posted:So if your home airport is a Delta hub, Amex will be your jam. If it's United or Southwest, then Chase will be easier for you. If it's American, then neither one is great (American's card is through either Citibank or Barclay, neither one of which have a well developed ecosystem or a flagship luxury card, although rumors are that Citi is trying). This is where it gets trickier IMO. It's not just about the big four, it's about their transfer partners as well. Neither Chase nor Amex has American, like you said, but both have British Airways, and you can move your points to BA and book an AA flight through them (this is, admittedly, Advanced Mode for points). United Airlines is in Star Alliance, but Amex has four other partners in Star that can potentially be used to get on a United flight, so missing out on United specifically isn't so terrible. Meanwhile, Delta is part of SkyTeam, and Chase only has one partner in there (Air France, which it shares with both Amex and Citi). And I'll admit that I don't look much into hubs because my home airport isn't one, while both Delta and United have hubs within about three hours of me. Note, however, that I am still a beginner and your literal mileage may vary. If you think you're going to be going this deep into points, absolutely do your own research, don't just listen to internet randos.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2023 17:50
|
|
|
A couple questions: Is there a good resource for how to best leverage AmEx MR points (that isn't cashing them out through the Schwab Plat)? OR Is there a good/better card for food/groceries than the AmEx Gold? Spend of about $12k annually in that bucket, the Gold card has ~no annual fee for me since I use the other benefits. Going to be cancelling my Schwab Plat when the renewal hits next summer. For just about everything else I'm using the Fidelity 2% back card. Looks like the CapOne Savors might be an option? Get both sign-up bonuses for those and then keep the 3% no-AF card.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2023 17:57
|
|
|
For groceries, AAA Daily Advantage has 5% cash back for up to $10k (max $500 cash back per year). $0 annual fee. There are also some 3% categories, which might or might not be useful to you (gas, streaming, warehouse clubs). I'm not aware of a better card for cash back on groceries. I dont think you have to be a AAA member though I dont actually have this card.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2023 18:47
|
|
|
Seth Pecksniff posted:This is a good thought and I hadn't considered thinking of it as $300 less! Take a look at capital one x card. Somewhat similar to CSR but to me it looked more appealing. I think it’s cheaper too at like 395 Chase points are good for travel but when you book for flights their portal is pretty expensive. You can transfer to united for the best flight point rate though but if that’s not who you fly with you should take a look to see if that’s where you want to end up. Additionally you can also transfer to Marriott. Overall it’s fine but the fee is kinda high now so I’m looking to spend my points on it. Transfer the rest to my chase freedom and probably switch over next year.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2023 18:54
|
|
|
disaster pastor posted:This is where it gets trickier IMO. It's not just about the big four, it's about their transfer partners as well. Neither Chase nor Amex has American, like you said, but both have British Airways, and you can move your points to BA and book an AA flight through them (this is, admittedly, Advanced Mode for points). United Airlines is in Star Alliance, but Amex has four other partners in Star that can potentially be used to get on a United flight, so missing out on United specifically isn't so terrible. Meanwhile, Delta is part of SkyTeam, and Chase only has one partner in there (Air France, which it shares with both Amex and Citi). And I'll admit that I don't look much into hubs because my home airport isn't one, while both Delta and United have hubs within about three hours of me. This is all true, but honestly too much bullshit for a beginner. Not all BA flights are eligible for AA award travel (for example), and figuring out which ones are takes some arcane wizardry that I would not want beginners to feel like they need to know. CubicalSucrose posted:A couple questions: If you're not cashing them through Schwab or Morgan Stanley, then MR are good for travel, full stop. There aren't any real redemption alternatives. If your annual grocery costs are more than ~ $65/wk and less than $115/wk, consider the Amex Blue Cash Preferred. There's an annual fee, but you get 6% back on groceries up to a $6k cap every year. You also get 6% (uncapped) on streaming services. If you spend more than the $65/wk at grocery stores, then the 6% cb gets you enough additional rewards to offset the annual fee. Depending on how deep down the rabbit hole you want to go, you should get a Citi Custom Cash card to do *something*. The way that card works is that you get 5% back on whatever category you spend the most on in a given month, up to a $500/mo cap. Many people use it as a gas card, but if you don't drive much, using it as a grocery card gets you 5% cb with the same cap the Amex card has, but without the annual fee.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2023 19:07
|
|
|
saintonan posted:If your annual grocery costs are more than ~ $65/wk and less than $115/wk, consider the Amex Blue Cash Preferred. There's an annual fee, but you get 6% back on groceries up to a $6k cap every year. You also get 6% (uncapped) on streaming services. If you spend more than the $65/wk at grocery stores, then the 6% cb gets you enough additional rewards to offset the annual fee. I've got this card and I like it, but the annual fee does reduce the utility. If you use it only for groceries, its effectively a 0% card on your first $1583 of spend per year, then 6% on the next $4417. This is a net cash back rate of ~4.4% if you spend exactly $6000 per year on groceries with the card. Any more or less reduces the effective rate. If you have a lot of streaming subscriptions, youll get a better value. 3% on gas is also nice, but a pretty common category on other cards with no annual fee.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2023 19:23
|
|
|
If you pair a custom cash with a citi rewards it’s another .5% back, but the limit is 500$ in spending per month. It is also possible to get multiple custom cash by product changing another card into one.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2023 19:40
|
|
|
saintonan posted:This is all true, but honestly too much bullshit for a beginner. Yeah, absolutely valid. pseudanonymous posted:It is also possible to get multiple custom cash by product changing another card into one. Note that I have heard from multiple people that Citi won't PC to a Custom Cash anymore if you already have one. I'll probably be trying this week.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2023 19:54
|
|
|
Thanks y'all for the advice! I'm going to go with Chase Sapphire Reserve to start with and see if I can get used to the point system. I have a friend who has a referral code and it does make sense to start with one and work my way to another one if it fits me. Plus, I'm due for a raise and a possible promotion in the next six months-a year which means if this does work out I can tack on another card if I'm feeling extra Thanks for the gut check! And for saving me money
|
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2023 20:02
|
|
|
disaster pastor posted:Yeah, absolutely valid. I did it about 2-3 months ago I did the pc right after I got my first custom cash cuz I was a bit worried about it
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2023 20:04
|
|
|
pseudanonymous posted:I did it about 2-3 months ago I did the pc right after I got my first custom cash cuz I was a bit worried about it Yeah, I heard about it around the beginning of this month. It may depend on the rep you get, but there were suddenly a ton of stories of people being told "you have a Custom Cash, you can't product change to a second one."
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2023 20:10
|
|
|
disaster pastor posted:Note that I have heard from multiple people that Citi won't PC to a Custom Cash anymore if you already have one. I'll probably be trying this week. Honestly, this makes sense as the Custom Cash probably has a higher than average number of money losing customers on the product due to its flexibility. Multiple cards to the same household makes them even better for the consumer since you effectively get two categories per month @5%, which is really quite good and could fill holes in a lot of cash back plans (at Citi's expense). As someone who enjoys a bank losing money on my account, I should probably get one too
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2023 21:59
|
|
|
saintonan posted:The Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR) has a $300 annual travel credit with it, and their definition of travel is pretty broad, so think of the CSR as having an annual fee $300 lower than it is. I would start with that and see how you like managing credit card rewards before pushing into the Amex Plat. Honestly, I think it's hard to recommend the CSR these days. It's a $550 annual fee with a $300 travel credit, so $250 is out of pocket. The Chase Sapphire Preferred (CSP) is $95 a year, with a $50 hotel credit (if you book through their portal). The main differences -- aside from the annual fee -- are that the Reserve gives 3x on travel while the Preferred gives 2x, and the Reserve lets you redeem towards travel at 1.5 cents per point while it's just 1.25 cents per point on the Preferred. However, if you're transferring to a partner airline/hotel, then there's no difference. How are you looking to redeem the points? If you want to use them as a cash towards travel (rather than transferring), I think you're better off with the US Bank Altitude Reserve. $400 annual fee, but $325 annual travel credit, and 3x points on travel and all mobile wallet transactions (think Apple Pay). You can redeem at 1.5 cents per point (CPP) towards travel. CubicalSucrose posted:Is there a good/better card for food/groceries than the AmEx Gold? The Amex Gold is hard to beat, especially if you can leverage the monthly credits, but the other competitors in that space would probably the Cap1 Savor cards, the Citi Premier, and the Chase Air Canada card.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2023 05:07
|
|
|
Think hyatt may be the best value for chase point transfers? Especially if you like using em on some of those "aspirational" redemptions.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2023 06:02
|
|
|
Josh Lyman posted:Called today to PC my CFU to a CFF. Reddit suggests waiting 1 week before applying for a new CFU. I wonder if I can start that clock today or I should wait until after I receive and activate the CFF. I'm just a little anxious since I don't know how long the double cash back offer will last for. Presumably at least through the end of the month. The interesting thing is that when you click through the link that drk provided and then click on "Sign in to apply", it's a single application page that doesn't mention anything about the double cash bonus, nor the standard $200 SUB. There's only one Reddit post about this from October 19, saying nobody at Chase really knows what's happening since it's a newer promo. However, there WAS fine print saying you wouldn't be eligible if you received a SUB in the last 24 months, so I think it'll be okay? The hiccup is that you don't get the double cash back until after 12 months, so there needs to be some way to check along the way that you're getting the bonus. I guess I can call Chase after a receive and activate the new card to confirm. Hopefully their people know what's going on by then. If it doesn't work out, all it cost me was a hard pull and missing out on the SUB for a CFF, which I probably wouldn't have applied for anyway. The hard pull shouldn't be an issue since the only card I'm thinking about getting anytime soon is the Citi Custom Cash, but I still need to figure out whether it will be substantially additive to my setup. Josh Lyman fucked around with this message at 10:07 on Nov 27, 2023 |
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2023 10:02
|
|
|
Every year I rethink my CSR when the renewal comes up and every year I realize how incredibly valuable the travel insurance is and more than covers the $250 out of pocket for the annual fee. We travel with 4 kids, and usually rent a car, and having all the delay/lost luggage/car rental insurance has more than paid for itself over the years. Plus the doordash credits and other bonuses are gravy. It's still a solid card for us, even though the annual fee does sting.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2023 10:45
|
|
|
Small White Dragon posted:Honestly, I think it's hard to recommend the CSR these days. It's a $550 annual fee with a $300 travel credit, so $250 is out of pocket. CSR also has Global Entry/PreCheck reimbursement and lounge access that CSP does not. Always a good idea to work out all the benefits and see what matches your spending profile. quote:If you want to use them as a cash towards travel (rather than transferring), I think you're better off with the US Bank Altitude Reserve. $400 annual fee, but $325 annual travel credit, and 3x points on travel and all mobile wallet transactions (think Apple Pay). You can redeem at 1.5 cents per point (CPP) towards travel. The problem with USBank cards is that they don't have any transfer partners, so you're locked into their travel portal for redemptions. Since the major value of UR/MR is transferring directly to airlines (or Hyatt in the case of UR, the only hotel transfer partner I'd recommend), this is a pretty big deficiency.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2023 14:16
|
|
|
Are there any cards with really good roadside assistance benefits? My battery died inconveniently last week and I thought I had roadside through one of my cards but couldn't figure out which one.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2023 16:03
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 17, 2024 01:24 |
|
|
Medullah posted:Are there any cards with really good roadside assistance benefits? My battery died inconveniently last week and I thought I had roadside through one of my cards but couldn't figure out which one. All Visa Signature cards include 24/7 roadside assistance for a fixed service fee: https://usa.visa.com/content/dam/VCOM/global/support-legal/documents/roadside-dispatch-card-benefit.pdf Its a similar level of benefit to a basic AAA membership, but with a fixed per-service fee instead of an annual fee.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2023 17:08
|
|