Thank you! This clarifies quite a bit. I currently have 4 chase cards. I think I read there is a limit of 5. Is that correct? One of the cards is a duplicate Disney visa I seldom use, so I could close that out to get the CIP & CIC, but...do the business cards count in the 5 card rule? Also, should I apply for 2 at the same time or wait a few months in between? Both DH and I have credit scores over 800 and I don’t want to hurt our credit. Our next trip in January is already covered, but I was looking at expanding the cards we use to better serve our needs. I currently have a Marriott rewards, Amazon rewards, Disney Visa 2% and Disney Visa 1%. DH has 2. He also has a Disney visa and another chase card that is never used. We have not been super thrilled with the Marriott rewards lately. I’m a Gold member, but have lately found we are staying more at Hilton properties. The recent SPG & Marriott merger was anything but smooth and our last experience reserving with Marriott rewards was a nightmare—to the point where I found myself wondering how it made any sense to have points I was never able to use?
We find, with 4 kids, we spend the most money yearly on groceries, and family trips. Our last 4 trips included driving 15 hours to Myrtle Beach, flying to Disney, driving to Hershey Park and Canada’s Wonderland, multiple trips to Syracuse and Lake Placid. We’re planning on trying Pigeon Forge area after another Disney trip in January. I do have a small business but it isn’t very lucrative. It’s one of those home based businesses that I signed up more for the discount benefit than the commission, but there is certainly business related costs with it. Anyway, if you were me, which route would you go? Annual fees don’t both me IF I am getting at least the cost of the fee out of the card. We have 2 with annual fees now—Disney Visa $49 and Marriott for $85. We live 30 minutes from Canada, so no foreign transaction fee cards are preferable.
What card to do first will depend on what will get you the best return in the first year at least. It's a little bad form to change your card before the 1 year anniversary, so assuming you don't get another card in that first year, math it out like
@calypso726 outlined. It's going to be a little different for everyone depending on your spend abilities. If you have little spend probably the biggest sign up bonus gets you the best value, if you have a lot of spend or can max out a bonus category that might get the best value even having a lower sign up bonus.
Which brings me to the other side of the equation, how much spend do you have to meet the MSR? The CIP has the biggest sign up bonus but it also has the higher spend requirement, 5k in 3 months. For some that's a drop in the bucket, for others it's a stretch. The CIC and CIU are both 3k in 3 months for their bonus. (and all things being equal, the CIU does not make sense as a first card if you can use a bonus category on the other two. The CIU makes a good complementary card, but if you can put any bonus category spend at all on the others you should come out ahead. As with everything there are exceptions but in general I wouldn't suggest it as a first card.)
Since the CIP is designed as a business travel card, it offers the no FTFs benefit in addition to some travel insurance and such. The other benefit I hear most often is the cell phone insurance, if you pay your cell phone service bill with the CIP it provides insurance for the phone (like you would normally buy from the service provider or SquareTrade and the like). Without knowing all the nitty gritty of your financial life, I'd probably try for the CIP first. If you can make that spend, it's got the highest sign up bonus, it gives you 3x on travel expenses while not charging FTF's, and you get some extra insurance on travel and cell phones. If 5k is a stretch, then the CIC is not a bad alternative as an earner since it's 5x on office supply stores (think 3rd party gift cards
) and phone/internet/cable and 2x on gas and restaurants. You can then pair that with a personal travel card, the CSP or CSR, to get the additional travel insurance and extra earnings on the travel expenses without FTF's.
Oh, then yes, I’m definitely confusing the rule. I’ve had the Marriott and Amazon from Chase for more than 10 years, and I’ve had both of the Disney Visa cards for more than 2 years. I don’t think we’ve opened any new cards (except DH’s Disney Visa—maybe) in the past 2 years. But...would I still be limited by Chase? And should I still proceed slowly with opening new cards? You said your wife has all 3–CSR, CIP, and CSP, which do you find benefits you the most of the 3? Or, do you use them together to benefit? I thought I was being savy and saving our family money with the Disney visa only to learn we were traveling to Canada and not using our Marriott or Amazon, which both have zero transaction fees. I bet we spent $60 or more just in foreign transaction fees on that trip. I’m realizing I have a lot to learn.
Two schools of thought for CC points 1. always be meeting MSR for sign up bonuses (benefits schmenefits
) and 2. blending a mix of sign up bonuses with on going spend categories. The reason to get both a CSR and CSP is for the sign up bonus, pure and simple. Unfortunately, Chase figured that one out and implemented a series of rules to prevent that... for good this time (for now at least).
The reason to have a CSR or CSP and a CIP is the different bonus categories. The CIP is a hybrid of the CSR and CSP (earns 3x travel like CSR, has AF and redemption value like CSP) with extra bonus spend categories thrown in. The CSR gets 3x on travel and dining only, the CIP gets it on travel plus other business expenses like phone/internet, shipping, etc. But the CSR has the 1.5 redemption value for travel through Chase whereas the CIP is only 1.25 (plus some other benefits like a credit for Global Entry/TSA precheck).
Eventually you'll hear people talk about the Chase tri-or quad-fecta, where you get 3-4 UR earning cards and funnel them all into one to get the best value. CFU or CIU for 1.5x on all non-bonus category spend, CF for rotating 5x categories each quarter, CIC for 5x (and 2x) categories, and a CIP/CSP/CSR for the travel categories and benefits and to use the UR. But then other's talk of getting their sign up bonus, sock drawer the card, and move on to the next one
Have to decide which school of thought you more prefer.
For Chase, and other CC issuers, you want to go slow enough that you don't look like a risk or are trying to game them for the sign up bonuses, but not too slow that you miss out on what you need to meet your goals. Personally I'd think you would be good to get a business card and then in a month pick up a personal card, and then maybe 2-3 months you can look at another personal card. But you also have to take into account your spend velocity too, that can slow you down naturally so that you look like a customer and not someone just out for the free money
Meanwhile if you can make the spends you can look at other issuers in between Chase cards. You said you spend a lot in groceries, aside from a CF category quarter there's not much from Chase for that. But AmEx has cards that give higher returns on grocery store purchases. I'm sure others do too but I can't think of them off hand.
I don't really know what to do at this moment....do I sit and wait a couple of months,or do I start digging out phone numbers and trying to call credit score companies? I've never experienced this before.....
. On Friday, my wife asked if I could grab dinner on the way home. I stopped by a Thai restaurant that also didn't take Amex! 
-- and I didn't have my CSR!
