|
Barclays is tough? I just clicked on the apply button and filled out my info and instant approval? Any tips on how to maximize the points from the Arrival+ in terms of travel redemption? Also having the fee waived for one year is pretty nice and the free 40k points
|
#
¿
Jan 24, 2015 20:01
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 15, 2024 08:58 |
|
|
Well, because a point on the travel card can have a value of more than $0.01. And you can redeem them for more than the face value if you don't take it as cash. For example, the Barclay gives you ten percent back (of the two percent)if you redeem it on travel. Or the hotel cards have stuff like redeeming 5k points for a 15k point room, etc. Also if you don't have a Discover or Freedom, those have the rotating five percent cashback categories. Discover also has their cashback portal where you can earn stuff like an extra 5 percent on top of the category. Like this December the 5 percent on the Discover for all online shopping stacked with the ten percent department store cashback through their shopping portal.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 8, 2015 00:37
|
|
|
Guinness posted:You're in the wrong thread if you aren't paying the full statement balance every month. Some people auto pay a certain amount every month just so that they have a "tickler" to pay their bill in full before the bill actually becomes past due.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 11, 2015 20:30
|
|
|
asur posted:What does this even mean? People are dumb. I'm just giving the above poster the benefit of the doubt as to why he wants to pay a set amount each month instead of just paying in full. A dumb reason. But a reason nonetheless.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 11, 2015 22:05
|
|
|
So "unless the card is charging you a fee, continue to do nothing about old cards" is basically still true!
|
|
#
¿
Feb 23, 2015 16:08
|
|
|
If you don't have a foreign transaction fee-free card, isn't that why AAA/your bank/AmEx still issue travelers checks? IIRC, most Asian banks charge something like a $1-$2 fee PER check. That all being said, can you even get cashback from foreign purchases? Are those vendors coded properly to handle anything specific like "this is a restaurant and not a grocery store?"
|
|
#
¿
Feb 25, 2015 22:58
|
|
|
Let the card fit your lifestyle. If you spend a lot of money with Sheraton, sure why not. But if you don't, why bother? If a standard cashback card gets you two percent back.... Well that's good too! And I bet you buy a lot more groceries than hotel stays. Edit: Everyone should probably do the math on the Amex Blue Cash Preferred with the 6% back on groceries and 3% on gas as a good first fee card. Insane Totoro fucked around with this message at 01:26 on Mar 1, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Mar 1, 2015 01:17
|
|
|
Make a purchase once in a while and keep it active. Generally there seems to be no harm in keeping it open but the potential for pain if you close it. Also note that you can get restaurant gift cards at the grocery store.... Just saying. And the Hyatt card gives you a free night a year for.... Just keeping the card open!
|
|
#
¿
Mar 1, 2015 03:02
|
|
|
http://www.amazon.com/Discover-test_model-it%C2%AE/dp/B00AW3IXZO There is still that $100 Amazon gift card offer for Discover card.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 14, 2015 23:13
|
|
|
A credit card that you pay off on time in full is a debt that affects your credit score. A 9000% APR school/house/car loan doesn't magically raise it higher in a significant way.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 16, 2015 19:19
|
|
|
I don't understand the US Airways card. Sure it's 50k miles but that's not really THAT much in terms of airplane tickets. And if you're going to lose out on the companion ticket discount and unless you're literally flying US Airways CONSTANTLY I don't see how you'd make up the $89 annual fee regardless. And looking on Google at the various guides on how to redeem those miles, why bother? I understand the hotel credit cards (annual free nights that offset the annual fee and/or opportunity to book low cost rooms) that tie you to a specific brand (there's always a Hilton/Hyatt/Marriott in a city), but in this day and age who flies exclusively with one airline for domestic travel? Odds are that yeah you can use say 25k points on a plane ticket but then there's a JetBlue/Southwest discounted flight for $199.... so you're actually shooting yourself in the foot by being tied to one airline. It's not like hotels where you can go "hmm, there's the nice Hilton but there's also the cheaper Hilton and my card benefits apply to both!" Edit: The miles are "useless" in the sense that you can't use them freely, whereas hotel points and stuff like Chase Sapphire/Barclay Arrival+ can be used anytime you drat well want to.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 20, 2015 16:32
|
|
|
Fair point. I think it depends on your willingness to expend effort and time on something if you want to try the card out and then potentially cancel/dodge the annual fee later on. And 50k points isn't that much of a savings if you have to eat the annual fee multiple times but if we're working under the assumption that the card will pay off for you over time (since you use that airline so often) or that you're going to just churn the points.... I agree that is completely different. It's also true I hadn't considered that if you want to fly internationally then it's worth the effort. I was just noting that for domestic flights the payoff is kinda minimal. But I guess that I don't like to fly international THAT much and I'm more a domestic travel kind of guy. So I'll amend my opinion to "okay it pays off for international flights but not domestic" and "you really might not like the idea of being tied down to one airline." TL;DR the value of each and every one of these credit cards depends on your lifestyle
|
|
#
¿
Mar 20, 2015 16:51
|
|
|
Some people have really strict vacation schedules and those miles tend to not work out well. (waifu and I are both educators)
|
|
#
¿
Mar 22, 2015 16:11
|
|
|
I know that there's the AA card and a poo poo ton of ways to get AA points. But what are some good ways to earn United points?
|
|
#
¿
Apr 7, 2015 01:59
|
|
|
Also Chase UR transfers direct to it right?
|
|
#
¿
Apr 7, 2015 05:11
|
|
|
Small White Dragon posted:The SPG transfer ratio is not good. If you really need another sign up bonus to transfer to United, consider Marriott. Isn't Marriott to United still basically "four Marriott points" becomes "1 United point" sort of a situation:?
|
|
#
¿
Apr 8, 2015 18:42
|
|
|
Pissingintowind posted:Actually, it can be quite a good rate if you redeem for a flight and hotel package. These packages are by far the best use of Marriott points. Unfortunately I need to take the wife to Asia. And Marriott isn't a big presence out there.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 9, 2015 02:36
|
|
|
I got an offer for 50k points on the business version of the United Mileage Plus card. Isn't that what they usually offer??
|
|
#
¿
Apr 21, 2015 20:58
|
|
|
Doesn't being set up as an authorized user on his card essentially have that usage apply to his account while also bumping up your credit score? It was my understanding (I am not a financial advisor) that this was how it works.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 26, 2015 15:55
|
|
|
Hashtag Banterzone posted:Being an authorized user on someone else's credit card doesn't impact your credit at all. Really? I'm pretty sure my wife has had authorized cards show up on her credit report. Is it just that the authorized cards show up but they don't impact the actual score? Edit: http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/tips/credit-score/credit-card-authorized-users-build-credit/ TL;DR it depends Insane Totoro fucked around with this message at 20:48 on Apr 26, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Apr 26, 2015 20:40
|
|
|
So in summary, it affects my wife's score and my own based on the cards we are using (at least according to the site I cited) since we are mostly a Chase issued card family. That being said, for the UK goon a few posts above me, most of the Chase Ultimate Rewards cards transfer points 1:1 to United points so any of those might work better for you!
|
|
#
¿
Apr 26, 2015 21:50
|
|
|
Buy gift cards to stores you already use. Think of it as prepay for groceries, gas, coffee, Five Guys, almond lattes, or whatever it is goon couples spend money on monthly. I burn through the last of my required spend (if I need to) also by paying my utilities with my card. And I also offer to buy my mom a grocery gift card so she doesn't have to carry around cash (she pays me back). Have any friends talked about buying a new TV/laptop/whatever? Offer to put the charge on your card and they give you the cash immediately. Insane Totoro fucked around with this message at 15:13 on May 9, 2015 |
|
#
¿
May 9, 2015 15:10
|
|
|
I just wanted to make sure I got this correct. My father has a Chase Sapphire Preferred (just like myself) and he would like to transfer the points to my United Mileageplus account. Can he transfer them directly to my Mileageplus account? Or is that verboten? Meaning that he would have to transfer them to HIS Mileageplus account and then "gift" them to MY Mileageplus account?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 4, 2015 14:40
|
|
|
I don't see how they would even tell since we have the same last name?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 4, 2015 20:25
|
|
|
What about if you want to travel for work and they don't give you a company card? Does that count?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 10, 2015 03:01
|
|
|
That's too bad. Good thing I'm planning on selling used books again!
|
|
#
¿
Jun 10, 2015 13:53
|
|
|
Do the points from Ink transfer to UR?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 18, 2015 00:10
|
|
|
In my use case, Chase points are great because they transfer to other travel partners
|
|
#
¿
Jun 21, 2015 22:17
|
|
|
Points. Good for hotels, certain public transit, etc
|
|
#
¿
Jun 23, 2015 01:04
|
|
|
lmao zebong posted:Now that the Chase Freedom 5% cashback for restaurants ended, is there another card that has good restaurant rewards? I've just been using my Citi DoubleCash but if there was a way to get more that 2% back on the multitude of takeout I consume that would be awesome. Use the Amex with grocery bonus to buy gift cards for takeout restaurants from the grocery store.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 2, 2015 00:20
|
|
|
THF13 posted:It looks like they are downgrading the Arrival+. It is currently unavailable to apply for, but it will apparently come back with 5% redemption bonus instead of 10%, as well as a $100 minimum for travel redemptions. If you already have the card the existing terms should last until the next time you pay the annual fee. Welp, that says to me to GTFO of that card. OP should note that..... That makes the card go from "cool" to "meh" for long term use.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 2, 2015 21:10
|
|
|
Anyone getting anything special from Arrival+ retentions? I'm seriously looking to downgrade that card but if they sweetened the pot somehow I wouldn't mind.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 5, 2015 21:21
|
|
|
A lot of advice given about credit cards is summed up as "you have to use it to help your credit score" but some people have interpreted it as "you have to have debt to improve your credit score." And then the immediate followup is "but don't carry a balance." Most people miss that last part. From what I understand it is BAD to not use your credit. And it's bad to use too much credit (more than a quarter of what you have available).
|
|
#
¿
Jul 6, 2015 22:15
|
|
|
If you're buying jewelry at Kohls it's the five percent Cashback this quarter with Chase Freedom FWIW
|
|
#
¿
Aug 3, 2015 21:56
|
|
|
Checks cost money. Are you sure he wouldn't break even more with the fee? 
|
|
#
¿
Aug 25, 2015 18:15
|
|
|
FYI I just successfully downgraded my Arrival+ to the normal Arrival Mastercard. The customer service rep who picked up the phone had no idea what I wanted when I said I wanted to downgrade the card. She insisted that I had the best product available from them thus I couldn't downgrade. So I had to escalate it to a manager, who was apologetic and took care of it for me. Apparently there's no downside to downgrading since your points transfer 1:1 from the Arrival+ to the Arrival. And as far as I can tell the only major rewards difference is you lose the 2x points on any purchase but you still get 2x for travel and restaurants (is anyone using this card for anything other than international purchases?)
|
|
#
¿
Sep 1, 2015 21:17
|
|
|
Regarding Chase, does the "five" include authorized user cards? Are there even five Chase UR cards to apply for? Insane Totoro fucked around with this message at 16:26 on Sep 3, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Sep 3, 2015 16:20
|
|
|
becoming posted:So, yes and no. They will initially deny you if you have five new card accounts on the report that they pull for you (Barry is correct, if it's not showing on your file yet, you should be fine). However, if you call recon and point out that, say, two of the accounts are authorized user accounts, and thus you only have three new accounts, you can get your card approved. I had read that online, and sure enough, my wife had the exact same experience: she had three new cards in the last twenty-four months, plus I had added her as an AU on two of my cards; they denied her initially, but a call to recon was successful. Exactly how the heck is this good for their business? Wouldn't this just drive people who are applying for cards to other banks?
|
|
#
¿
Sep 3, 2015 20:20
|
|
|
becoming posted:That was my initial thought too, but they have undoubtedly had some beancounter run the numbers and determined that this was a better course, financially, for them. If it weren't, they wouldn't have changed it. This is still dumb because I travel a lot and have good credit. So I have a Hyatt card (for hotels) and a United card (for flights). And since it seems work likes to send me places and family likes to go overseas I had to get a Sapphire for international purchases. And then I got an Amazon store card a little less than two years ago and I got the Amex Blue for actual everyday purchases. So what the message to me is.... "Take your money elsewhere" if I wanted to do business at Chase for something like a Marriott card (another chain I frequent often). I guess this means then I should stick to Sheraton and gently caress Chase partner hotels? If I was Marriott I'd be annoyed that a customer just got told "Yeah suck it, go stay at the Sheraton instead because of a dumb rule." Just dumb. Even if it saves them money. Insane Totoro fucked around with this message at 00:51 on Sep 4, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Sep 4, 2015 00:49
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 15, 2024 08:58 |
|
|
Barry posted:It's possible the Amazon GC via the MPX app might be done for. I bought a $200 GC via that method the day the 100k Platinum offer became available and still no credit. Which isn't the end of the world to have $200 of Amazon credit. Just means I'll be making my way through $200 of booze on United flights. How will I ever manage. Can someone explain how the MPX app actually works? I've never seemed to be able to get it to work Edit: as in other than the brick and mortar stores you can buy Amazon gift cards? Insane Totoro fucked around with this message at 02:04 on Sep 8, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Sep 8, 2015 02:02
|
|