I love credit cards so much!

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Thanks!! Yes, I'll cut it down. If I ever charged up 67K then I'd be in big trouble!

Agree that the credit limits you have been extended prevented you from getting the CIP. There is debate on if it is better to proactively lower limits or be denied and then recon and offer to lower limits. However, business cards aren't really ones you want to recon unless you can really 'defend' your business. I did proactively lower my personal limits. My credit score took a small ding when I did that but it's still over 800.
 
:offtopic:

Maybe someone can help with this - I can't get Barclays to load properly in Mint. I just keep getting an endless loop of "Barclays needs you" and I address the security concerns... and nothing. I gave up on Mint a year ago and just thought maybe it was better but man... it also double-loaded some of my credit cards. I have a lot of those obviously. I'm looking at a zillion $0 balance accounts - it's chaos.

Any advice on Barclays and Mint is appreciated.
 
Agree that the credit limits you have been extended prevented you from getting the CIP. There is debate on if it is better to proactively lower limits or be denied and then recon and offer to lower limits. However, business cards aren't really ones you want to recon unless you can really 'defend' your business. I did proactively lower my personal limits. My credit score took a small ding when I did that but it's still over 800.
Does anybody here try to pay their cards off early prior to applying for a new card (like a week or 2 ahead)? I'm not even sure it has any bearing, but I do it sometimes, LOL in the event that it shows my utilization at 0% and that helps.
 
Does anybody here try to pay their cards off early prior to applying for a new card (like a week or 2 ahead)? I'm not even sure it has any bearing, but I do it sometimes, LOL in the event that it shows my utilization at 0% and that helps.

I do that and also switch around how much credit is on each card with Chase. For example I have 7k on my new IHG right now. I just met the spend. Once I make the payment and put it away I am going to lower it down to 3k and put that 4k back on the Freedom so I can maximize it out this quarter.
 


Agree that the credit limits you have been extended prevented you from getting the CIP. There is debate on if it is better to proactively lower limits or be denied and then recon and offer to lower limits. However, business cards aren't really ones you want to recon unless you can really 'defend' your business. I did proactively lower my personal limits. My credit score took a small ding when I did that but it's still over 800.

i think shes at the point of needing to call since she got the letter of denial. its all or nothing with recon now.

Does anybody here try to pay their cards off early prior to applying for a new card (like a week or 2 ahead)? I'm not even sure it has any bearing, but I do it sometimes, LOL in the event that it shows my utilization at 0% and that helps.

i did exactly that for my Marriott when i applied in Jan. I made sure all my balances were at 0 before i applied. i still got the 30 days though, then approval on mon. I applied on a friday though.
 
Just caught up from the thread from yesterday afternoon 10+ pages. Love the Discover talk, just got my DiscoverIt and found great value in the 5% and during your first year cash back match, makes it an excellent card IMO! I maxed out gas by buying giftcards at Speedway, mainly bought their gift cards but they also carry numerous other gift cards--just from what I got I know Lowes and Petco. If you are a speedy rewards member you also get speedy points for all the purchases that can be used for gift cards as well. Right now working on groceries probably buy gift cards at the end of the quarter to max out the category.

Still trying to figure out this whole SPG and Marriott situation, have both the SPG personal that I'm working on the retention spend, and Chase Marriott personal that the AF should be posting soon...will be keeping the SPG personal for now given the recent retention bonus and unsure about the Marriott. Will be interesting to see how the categories play out, hoping for the best in that regard.
 


:offtopic:

Maybe someone can help with this - I can't get Barclays to load properly in Mint. I just keep getting an endless loop of "Barclays needs you" and I address the security concerns... and nothing. I gave up on Mint a year ago and just thought maybe it was better but man... it also double-loaded some of my credit cards. I have a lot of those obviously. I'm looking at a zillion $0 balance accounts - it's chaos.

Any advice on Barclays and Mint is appreciated.

I would recommend YNAB over mint. It isn’t free, but it is a much more powerful tool and really helps me keep my cards organized.
 
Does anybody here try to pay their cards off early prior to applying for a new card (like a week or 2 ahead)? I'm not even sure it has any bearing, but I do it sometimes, LOL in the event that it shows my utilization at 0% and that helps.

It would only show your utilization at 0% if in that two weeks it got reported to the credit agencies. Depends on your statement close cycle and all.

I don’t do this unless I have a card that is particularly high for some reason, like over 30% of the credit line for that card. That is when it starts affecting credit scores. I am never usually over 10% for all cards since Chase has given me such high credit lines.
 
Hi! New here but not to DIS or WDW. We’ve been 4 times since 2013. But as our family grew and prices climbed we started looking elsewhere to vacation. Until I found cc hacking! We were planning on a trip in Nov 2020 but feared the SPG changes and bumped it up to Nov ‘18! We’re staying the 3rd-8th either at either SWAN or Dolphin (any preferences?) for 9,600 + 5th night free. I’ll then have 2 adult and 4 kids tickets (4 day base), roughly $800 in food, $130 in parking, and $200 in gas to cover this trip. I do have 73k (working on another 53k) UR points but I’d like to use those as a last resort. What ways would you go about tackling this? I’m leaning towards a travel eraser card or bank account opening bonuses. Thoughts?

As a couple we’ve opened 2 CsP, 2 Spg, and 1 IHG since Jan ‘18. Hoping to work SW companion pass early next year.
 
Hi! New here but not to DIS or WDW. We’ve been 4 times since 2013. But as our family grew and prices climbed we started looking elsewhere to vacation. Until I found cc hacking! We were planning on a trip in Nov 2020 but feared the SPG changes and bumped it up to Nov ‘18! We’re staying the 3rd-8th either at either SWAN or Dolphin (any preferences?) for 9,600 + 5th night free. I’ll then have 2 adult and 4 kids tickets (4 day base), roughly $800 in food, $130 in parking, and $200 in gas to cover this trip. I do have 73k (working on another 53k) UR points but I’d like to use those as a last resort. What ways would you go about tackling this? I’m leaning towards a travel eraser card or bank account opening bonuses. Thoughts?

As a couple we’ve opened 2 CsP, 2 Spg, and 1 IHG since Jan ‘18. Hoping to work SW companion pass early next year.

Do you have other plans for the UR or are you just hoarding them? If this is your big trip for a while, then I would use your points because 1) they can always be devalued in the future and 2) you can earn more points for future trips, so you shouldn't feel like you have to horde them indefinitely. I would say using UR for the park tickets might be a good idea. Since you have the CSP, you get a 25% bonus when you redeem using that card. This is enough to cover all 4 of the kids tickets. Once you get the 53k UR, then you can redeem all of those points for $1575 in value. You could also consider getting a CSR card and get another 25% increase on your UR points value. You would get another 54k for hitting the MSR and your points would be worth $2700, enough to cover the cost of all of your tickets. For park tickets, I believe that you have to call Chase travel to purchase them.

You could tackle the food, parking and gas with a combination of travel eraser cards and bank bonuses. Getting other cards will affect your 5/24 status, so that is something you want to consider in your plan. Bank bonuses can be great (I am using them to help towards a new DVC contract), but you generally have to have enough money in savings to float for several months. So something to consider.
 

Restaurants are hard but do you have any gas stations that sell 3rd party gift cards? Might not be able to max it out but at least you'd get something if they sell stores you'd shop at anyway.
I did that this quarter but at Best Buy. I wanted to buy stuff at Bed Bath and Beyond but I went to Best Buy to buy a gift card to BB&B first so I could use Chase Pay and get 5% back on that purchase. Little round about but not terribly inconvenient, so it seemed worth it.

This is great. I never thought about that. I live in So Cal and really just the usual suspects are near
me. Shell Arco Chevron. Do you know if any of those sell them? I have never even heard of gas stations
selling gift cards but might be willing to drive further if one exists. Thanks!
 
Some 7-11 codes as gas stations. My local 7-11 does have an actual gas station, but some of them that dont sometimes code as gas stations. worth a test run.
also, u would need to test to see if they would let u buy gift cards on CC or not.

So you bought a gift card at your 7-11 that had a gas station and it coded as gas? What kind of gift cards
did they carry? thanks
 
OK, so i could use some more help. Now that WDW is booked and waiting for 5-31 to book SW. i can't wait till November. i am looking for the next big vacation. I just found out last night that i will be heading back to the burgh... Pittsburgh..... got to love it. I am going to need to stay in downtown for a few days. then again in august for a few days. I don't really do a lot of hotels. Only a few a year. Last year it was only spg because of the card. Here is my situation: I am not sure what to do for hotels. I have the SW premier (will close soon so i can work on CP next year), CSP,CSR, SPG, CIP. i am currently 4/24, being the CIP was opened in 3/18. Should i open a card that will help with my 2020 plans for Hawaii and stay at that hotel or do i put the spend on a current card. I finally have my wife on board as 2 player mode. she is 2/24 with it being the CSP and i cant believe but a JC Penny card. lol i was shocked..... i told her there goes a valuable chase slot and she said but i save 65 dollars on the kids clothing. LOL i have not read our Reddit page about Hawaii yet so i will soon. i wasn't sure if doing a Marriott vacation page would work or stay at a Hilton in Hawaii. i know this planning is very early but i would like to maximize all and any points. thanks.
 
You could also consider getting a CSR card and get another 25% increase on your UR points value. You would get another 54k for hitting the MSR and your points would be worth $2700, enough to cover the cost of all of your tickets. For park tickets, I believe that you have to call Chase travel to purchase them.
They can’t get the CSR as they both just got the CSP. It might be a good idea to upgrade one of the CSPs to CSR.
 
Wow - I would have never realized you weren't hitting up some URs. However, I'm one to talk. Prior to the CIP this month my last UR earner application was in NOVEMBER 2015!! It's amazing to me how many people I've advised to get UR cards over 28 months while I myself was not applying for any hahahah!

Yeah, no UR's here for awhile. Once we drop below LOL/24 this fall, my goal is to, hopefully, double dip SW to get a CP (assuming this works with the SW card). Then I supposed once I meet those MSRs early next year, I could get a UR card for DH...
 
I'm not suggesting this is the best use of SPG points, but if you were thinking of converting any to AAdvantage points there is a 25% promo going until May 31st.

So if I understand correctly 20000 SPG plus 5000 transfer bonus usually gets you 25000 AA points. With this promo AA give you an extra 25% so 20000 SPG effectively becomes 31,250 AAdvantage Miles.
 
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