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I'm looking for a good airline/travel rewards card. I recently went on a US Air flight and they were pushing their US Air mastercard pretty hard. I really like the free first bag (I would take advantage of this) and the 50,000 upfront miles. I don't necessarily like the $89 annual fee, but that'd be essentially cancelled if I took 2 round trip flights with a bag per year, which I will probably do ($25/bag each way). Reviews I'm reading aren't very good for this card though. I already have a Pentagon Federal credit union platinum signature visa with the chip/pin and no foreign transaction fees, so I'm really only interested in this other one for perks and airline mileage. I have a Wells Fargo platinum visa that I never use ($0 balance) and the pen fed card that I use for grocery/gas purchases and pretty much everything else I buy (paid off in full every month, $0 balance). When I applied for a car loan, I got the lowest rate and they told me my credit score was excellent at 784. I feel confident I could get whichever card I want, it's just knowing which one is best. Creditkarma.com is recommending the Chase Sapphire Preferred (I don't like the $95 annual fee) and the Barclaycard Arrival World master card. It mentions 20,000 miles after $1,000 in purchases within 90 days, but are these usable with any airline?
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Jan 1, 2015 19:15
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dexter6 posted:That's close, but... Thanks for the tips, I got approved for the USAir card and I'll do the AA citi card in about a month or so. I had been wanting to do the USAir card for a while, so this tipped the scales. When the companies merge in Q2 will the miles combine 1:1? What are the average mileage costs for a domestic flight? USAir says about 40000 for a round trip, does this sound about right?
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Jan 25, 2015 17:08
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I see differing suggestions between closing cards to avoid fees and transferring balances between cards by the same bank (ie Chase). Wouldn't you have to cancel cards to take advantage of the bonuses offered after the 18mo or 2yr waiting period that cards seem to have?
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Jan 31, 2015 17:14
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For the purposes of meeting the spending limits to get rewards, do you have to make actual purchases, or can it be balance transfers as well? Same question for getting points, ie does a balance transfer of $1,000 equate to a purchase of $1,000 to earn points? e: read the fine print at least on the chase sapphire preferred and no, balance transfer =/= purchase Cacafuego fucked around with this message at 15:36 on Feb 7, 2015 |
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Feb 7, 2015 15:28
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^^^^please continue to discuss manufactured spend I now have the USAir MC and have made (and paid off) my purchases and the annual fee. Since this is my 1st rewards card, I'm assuming the bonus miles show up after the 1st billing cycle. The fine print looks like this is the case, correct? I read this post about applying for up to 3 USAir MCs for the bonuses and getting approved through a glitch in the Barclay system. The fine print on the MC paperwork basically says 'if this isn't your first USAir MC, and you receive a bonus for which you're not eligible, Barclay may direct USAir to revoke the bonus miles or charge the card for the fair market value'. Are people going to get surprised by getting their points revoked?
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Feb 15, 2015 16:35
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Say you want to close a card that's has a fee for a card with the same bank. I've heard mention of moving credit between them before closing out. How do you ask about that? Just call and say I want to close X card, please move my credit to Y card (with the same bank)?
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Feb 23, 2015 18:20
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I got the 50k bonus from the Barclays usair MC, the 50k bonus from the citi aadvantage will be complete this month after I complete the $2000 spend. Now that I'll have flights, I want to get a hotel rewards card. Is there anything stopping me from essentially double dipping on rewards and getting both Hilton cards (citi and Amex) for the bonuses (pending acceptance of course)? I ordered an Amex serve card, but unfortunately I'm not in a target red card market, so I'm going to have to look elsewhere to manufacture spending. A valid SSN is all that's needed for additional serve cards right? What's to stop me from getting one for each of my family members (with their permission) and maxing out new CC app bonuses by charging $1000/month on each one? Do the CC companies ever wise up to this stuff? It seems like no, as there are many blogs about it, but I don't know.
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Mar 3, 2015 05:00
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nickutz posted:Looks like there is now less than a month left to apply for the Barclaycard US Airways Dividend Miles card with 50,000 point sign up bonus (after first purchase and annual fee payment of $89). It's becoming the AAviator MC which will be unavailable for anyone but current USAir Barclaycard holders. And I believe all purchases are 2x miles until June on this card through the transition. e: Is anyone familiar with Amex Serve? Is the monthly online load limit refreshed on the beginning of the calendar month? Cacafuego fucked around with this message at 21:14 on Mar 13, 2015 |
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Mar 13, 2015 21:03
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SiGmA_X posted:I started using it last month. It's refreshed on the first of the calendar month. I use it to pay my power bill now, if I could load over a grand I'd pay rent too... MS it! It's not difficult
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Mar 13, 2015 22:22
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Bisty Q. posted:You better hurry, Serve is shutting down CC loads online for non-Amex cards on 4/1. drat, that must've literally happened today, I hadn't read anything about it as of yesterday. I'll stop at target and get a redcard when I'm in PA soon.
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Mar 14, 2015 00:16
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dexter6 posted:I'm less concerned about which airline I fly and more concerned about having enough miles. So lets say I want a 50k flight and only have 40k BA miles, I can't dip into the 100k I have for AA to book the flight, right? From the previous post though, it sounds like you can book the 50k BA flight with the 100k AA miles though, correct? If so, I may be getting the BA card next.
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Mar 22, 2015 17:14
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If I was an authorized user on an Amex card years ago (account closed last year - a joint card with my now ex-wife), can I have the date on my current card change to reflect that? Will that help increase my AAoA with Amex?
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Mar 23, 2015 02:02
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Can you sign up for 2 tiers of the same card (ie Citi AAdvantage platinum and Citi AAdvantage gold) to get each bonus (50k and 25k)? I don't want to waste a hard pull if not.Cacafuego posted:If I was an authorized user on an Amex card years ago (account closed last year - a joint card with my now ex-wife), can I have the date on my current card change to reflect that? Will that help increase my AAoA with Amex? In case anyone is interested, they are sending me a new card with "member since 2012". I'm still unsure whether this actually affects my AAoA or not.
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Mar 25, 2015 02:32
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Called Amex today because I received an Amex HHonors no AF card earlier this month with the 40,000 point bonus for $750 spend in 3 months. I met that, received the points and saw today that I didn't do my homework earlier and that there was a 50,000 point offer for the same card when I applied. I chatted with Amex this afternoon and while the 1st rep couldn't do anything, I asked to escalate. The next rep first offered 3000 extra points (couldn't give me 10,000, she said) and that I would've had to apply using the 50,000 point page to get that deal. I told her I wanted 10,000 as everything was the same, but I didn't know the link was available. I threatened to close and get the HHonors no AF card from Citi (which has a 60,000 HHonors point bonus available). Then, I asked for an upgrade to the Amex HHonors Surpass (50,000 points with $3k/3mo spend). She told me she couldn't do the upgrade (which she said I can do when targeted), but because of my good history with Amex since 2011 (I paid off/closed my gold card last June) that, yes they will give me the 10,000 points! Cacafuego fucked around with this message at 23:46 on Mar 29, 2015 |
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Mar 29, 2015 23:43
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nickutz posted:Yep, looks like the US Airways card is gone for good now. I know Barclaycard took it off their list a while back but you could still apply through US Airways website. USAirways.com has links to the Citi AAdvantage now. I was surprised how quick it was, before the first statement I believe, as long as you buy something and pay both it and the fee right away.
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Apr 2, 2015 03:57
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Boris Galerkin posted:
When you get the card in the mail it comes with the terms that you got the card for. No email, just paper, or you could call and ask I guess.
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Apr 2, 2015 12:24
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nickutz posted:Barclaycard's Ring gives 1% as statement credits on balance transfers with no fee. Only issue I know of with that card is ridiculously low limits. And 8%APR, isn't it?
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Apr 2, 2015 23:19
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FISHMANPET posted:I got a Ring with a $10k limit but then they very quickly dropped the limit to $5k, thankfully after I'd moved my $10k onto it. Did they give rationale for the drop?
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Apr 3, 2015 03:58
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nickutz posted:There's a huge thread on the MyFico forums if you feel like wading in: Must be within the past 30 days because they did it for me as of 3/3. e: yeah, as of 3/21 if it's correct
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Apr 6, 2015 22:11
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For anyone that doesn't know, banks give out $$ to start new accounts. If you are a new customer, or if you have not gotten the bonus in a certain time period (usually 18-24 months) you can take advantage of the offers. The best part is, you can usually fund them when you open the account with a rewards credit card, although, check to see if they will be a cash advance. I've recently completed this Chase promo offer and received $300 after a direct deposit (or variety of other ways Chase sees a deposit as a 'direct deposit') is made to the account (it must stay open 6 months and the $12 monthly fee can be waived with additional 'direct deposits' of $500/mo; ie ACH deposits from another bank).  I've also done this PNC bank promo (can be done all online) to receive another $300 using the same method of direct deposit (total of $5,000 in DD to receive max of $300, account open 6 months, $500 DD/mo to waive monthly fee)  You will get taxed on the bonuses! After the 6 months, I close the account and resume using my original checking account.
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Apr 14, 2015 03:40
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asur posted:Can the Chase offer be done online? When I looked at it last month it seemed like you had to stop by a Chase branch to open the accounts. Have to go in for the chase, unfortunately.
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Apr 14, 2015 12:59
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After the announcement today, the crying over Target redcard not taking CC loads starting tomorrow is pretty funny.
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May 5, 2015 23:04
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This guy on frequentmiler:quote:Man this is really bad. Just ordered 20k amex gift card this morning via TCB. I am calling right now to cancel it… lol
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May 6, 2015 02:45
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Hobo de los Muertos posted:
Visa GC with debit on serve, yes. Amex GC that swipes as credit, no. The key is finding a place that you can use AGC to buy VGC, then load serve. You may be able to use radpad to pay mortgage with a credit card, can't remember if that still works...
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May 9, 2015 17:51
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As with all rumors, won't know until it happens, but lol if target stops taking GC for redcards on Friday as rumored on FT. You may want to liquidate those GCs quick. I was faithful to serve, don't break my kates
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May 13, 2015 05:11
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I applied for the BofA Alaska air card, instant approval for $14k. Applied immediately after that one for a targeted BofA cash back card to combine hard pulls, it basically said "unable to complete at this time, wait 30 days for a response". I called, 1st CSR said I have to wait. Called again 2nd said essentially same thing, but that it was approved, they're just waiting to determine a credit line. Called today in business hours, approved with split credit limit $5k from Alaska air card to the second card, no other questions. Will the hard pulls still be combined?
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May 26, 2015 17:07
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I've never understood the insane love for the CSP and Arrival+. So the sign up bonus is worth about $400 in travel, right? For example: the 50000 points I got from the citi AA platinum is worth a round trip ticket to Europe (40k milesaaver) +10k extra points. It's tough to find a RT Europe ticket for <$1000, right? My WF propel bonus is 40k points which I can redeem for $400 cash or use for even more value in travel. Both of those seem like a greater deal than the CSP and arrival. What am I missing that people constantly push those 2 cards and say they have the best bonuses?
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Jun 23, 2015 03:03
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pig slut lisa posted:The value with the CSP comes from the multitude of travel partners and the excellent non-point benefits. Makes sense. I don't doubt they're good, I just didn't know why those were the 2 that are suggested everywhere. Perhaps because I churn and really only MS for the min spends, I think of things in terms of best bonus and not what is actually spent on the card. Like, I can clearly see how the ink is superior, I just wasn't thinking about it in terms of normal spending on a card like CSP or arrival.
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Jun 23, 2015 03:23
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SiGmA_X posted:What do you do MS wise these days? I miss easy MS'ing. I have a Wells Fargo propel world Amex that earns points for the easy $1000 serve load/month, then Simon mall/sunrise GCs to load up to $5k/month. I don't get too crazy, don't have the time for it.
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Jun 23, 2015 12:58
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lampey posted:Penfed has a good card with chip+signature+pin and no foreign currency fee. I have the platinum rewards one with ~4% on gas and ~2.5% on groceries. (1 point is around .88 cents) There is a $5k min balance and you need good credit. I think all of Penfed's cards have no foreign transaction fee. I can confirm the penfed platinum rewards visa lampey posted is both good and a chip&pin with no forex fees. I have heard that you need really good credit to get though. I use mine for all grocery and gas. It also got me 3x points when I bought my PS4 at target, haha.
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Jun 29, 2015 15:05
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asur posted:I've asked and was told no, but I'd ask anyway since there's nothing to lose. Ive asked online by chat and it took about 30 minutes of me threatening to cancel and asking for a supervisor, but they eventually matched the current promo.
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Jul 1, 2015 20:58
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lampey posted:Most credit cards from Penfed. https://www.penfed.org/credit-card-overview/ Correct, my PenFed platinum rewards visa (5x pump gas, 3x grocery) is both no AF/no FTF and is chip and pin. JohnCompany posted:Isn't the WF propel also C&P? I only know because I'm thinking about getting one - yes american express boo, but the WF relationship bonuses are nice. Yes, I have this one as well and it is C&P.
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Jul 5, 2015 23:06
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JohnCompany posted:Can I ask anyone with a Amex how rough it actually is day to day? 'm looking at the Wells Fargo Propel, because the WF loyalty bonuses are sweet and I'm with them anyway, and am just wondering if it'll be accepted often enough, particularly in western Europe, that between it and a debit card I'll be covered? I constantly use Amex and have the WF propel. Like said above, maybe 1/10 they don't accept Amex, but almost never a problem. The $100 travel statement credit is reimbursed very quickly. Chip/pin, no FTF. The AF is $175, so I may not keep it, but it's very good. Rewards points take 1 month to post and the loyalty bonuses are calculated quarterly, but only given 12 months later. I don't have experience with it overseas though
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Jul 24, 2015 17:09
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pig slut lisa posted:Call Citi and say you're going to cancel because the products overlap and you like Barclays better. I just did this and got offered 3,000 bonus miles for $500 spend in 3 months. I SM'ed them and said basically said the same thing. They closed my account without even asking me if it was ok. Probably a good idea to call them and don't SM otherwise they may just close it on you
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Aug 3, 2015 18:06
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Gamesguy posted:It's going to be a boutique shop so none of those promotions will work for me. Good man.
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Aug 3, 2015 22:54
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Blinkman987 posted:SPG Amex 30k points promotion is live, but only through referral. I saw in the rules no "referral gimmicks" so to speak. I feel like this isn't one. So, PM me or otherwise get me your email and I can send some out. $3k spend across 3 months. If this does fall under the rules, then I take it all back >_> I don't think it's referral only, but likewise, with a PM, I can also provide a 30,000 point Amex SPG referral link if someone needs one.
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Aug 11, 2015 18:17
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When the Amex SPG offer went up to 30,000, a couple weeks ago, I applied for it and the PRG at the same time. I have yet to get the SPG card, but the PRG is backdated to 2012. I thought Amex stopped doing that earlier this year?
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Aug 22, 2015 22:00
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Ahh, ok. Thanks for the clarification.
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Aug 23, 2015 02:16
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For anyone interested in signing up now, the chase sapphire preferred bonus has increased to 50,000 points as of yesterday. If you've applied within the last 3 months, it's worth it to SM/call chase and ask for the extra 10k points.
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Nov 17, 2015 03:44
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ilkhan posted:Interesting, but I don't think I have $4k in spending coming up in the next 3 months. Most MS methods have been closed off, right? Redbird is dead, yes, but I still buy gift cards/load to serve, which you can use to cut a check for rent. You can use Plastiq for rent, I believe. Prepay your car insurance, or phone/cable bill. It's Xmas, buy $4k worth of gifts!
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Nov 17, 2015 04:55
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