How Many Credit Cards Do You Have?

[steve dave]

zero :-(

[Mikeyis4dcats]

SD how many rewards did you rack up when you put the 'ole jeep on the CC and then paid off that monthly bill, like a boss. (Am thinking about signing up for like 5 to 6 new cards next time I buy a new car and then meeting the min spend on them all when I buy the car then paying them off and raking in the rewards)

a dealer will, at most, allow you to put $3-5k on a card when buying a vehicle.

[wetwillie]

Anyone  remember the American Express gold card bonus promotion?  I just found out that the bonus codes I used were denied due to me not being targeted.  I was told on two separate occasions that I would be awarded the codes and points but was denied officially via mail by the membership rewards program after I hit the spend.  Anyone else ever have this happen? 

[steve dave]

Anyone  remember the American Express gold card bonus promotion?  I just found out that the bonus codes I used were denied due to me not being targeted.  I was told on two separate occasions that I would be awarded the codes and points but was denied officially via mail by the membership rewards program after I hit the spend.  Anyone else ever have this happen? 

yeah, happened to me too.  ended up with 25k only.  huge meltdown thread on FT about it. 

[Trim]

It looks like I may be getting 20K-50K SPG points I shouldn't be getting.

[Dr Rick Daris]

It looks like I may be getting 20K-50K SPG points I shouldn't be getting.

good call. they aren't yours. i'll take them and do away with them for you.

[yoga-like_abana]

cancelled my priority club card the other day before the annual fee and I was a little shocked at how easy it was. And this was part of my hesitancy to get more cards.

[Dr Rick Daris]

cancelled my priority club card the other day before the annual fee and I was a little shocked at how easy it was. And this was part of my hesitancy to get more cards.

yeah, i mean you just call and say cancel and then they cancel. not that hard p90x.

[Trim]

cancelled my priority club card the other day before the annual fee and I was a little shocked at how easy it was. And this was part of my hesitancy to get more cards.

You get another free night after a year.

With SPG you don't, so I cancelled.  Not supposed to get the bonuses again when you get a new card, but I gave it a shot anyway.  Instantly got 10K points with first purchase.  I've now gotten another 20K before I get to $4500.  Not sure if they miscounted or if they gave me 20K for no reason and I'll get another 20K when I hit $4500 or what.  In any event, very glad they didn't give me 5K points or something to keep me when I threatened cancellation and I've been able to rebonus.

[yoga-like_abana]

yeah I just didn't think the price point was right for the annual fee and the one free night.  and daris you are invited to join the workout pak anytime you want to.

[steve dave]

The Chase SW 50k card bonus is back for a limited time for anyone interested.  Will get you roughly 2 1/2 RTs to Vegas if you don't mind flying SW.

[ChodoCat]

Fairly new to the CC's, but here is what I have and what I've done over the last 3 months. I'm ready to take this to the next level.

 - Myself - SW Chase card (have had for a year), Priority Club Card (received 80k bonus points for signing up ). I use my SW card for literally everything and it shells out about 3,000 to 6,000 points a month. I have Mrs. Chodo use the priority club card for gas and groceries b/c that provides double points.
 - Mrs. Chodo - SW Chase Card (received 20k points when shen signed up in July, which greatly pisses me off since it is now at 50k for signing up) that is never used and I will cancel before the next annual fee is charged. She also has an AMEX card for Costco shopping. I don't think she gets any points on that. It has "Costco" on the card if that helps.

We have a friends wedding in May 2012 that will either be in Jamaica or Cabo. I want both of us to fly for free. What should I do? I'm willing for both of us to get a new card to make this happen. Both of us have great credit and neither has been rejected by an application. Although, I don't care about our credit score right now b/c we refinanced and we don't plan to purhcase a new vehicle for a few years.

Also, is there something else I should be using daily other than my SW card? I'm happy with it b/c I've probably gotten 4-6 free round trip flights out of it over the course of the year of owning it and we like to fly SW and travel often.

Lastly, should we have a different AMEX card for Costco purchases to rake in some better point action?

Any help would be appreciated. TIA.

[ben ji]

WSJ Giving you guys some love

Do you want 500,000 frequent-flier miles for free?

It can be done, fairly easily.

Hard-core frequent-flier junkies are churning credit card sign-up bonuses into first-class trips to exquisite destinations. This week’s Middle Seat shows how some of them are doing it, how it can affect your credit score and why banks are offering such a bonanza and making it easy to cash in.

Mileage ploys are a whole area of “travel hacking,’’ where promotions can be churned into free miles or at least very inexpensive miles that can be turned into expensive tickets. The all-time greatest scheme happened three years ago when the U.S. Mint offered dollar coins with free shipping in an effort to put more into circulation. All you had to do was order a box, or thousands of boxes, get the miles on your credit card and deposit the coins into your checking account to pay the bill. Free miles. (This story on the coin craze was one of the most read stories of the year on WSJ.com.)

Today, the best thing going is the credit card sign-up bonus. If you have good credit and actively use charge cards, your mailbox is probably full of offers. Airlines push the cards of their partners, and offers can be easily be compared on the websites of card issuers. Another good source: Rick Ingersoll at FrugalTravelGuy.com tracks card bonus offers closely.

Consider Sean Colahan, a video journalist and editor for a New England cable channel. He worked a Capital One Venture card promotion in March for 100,000 free miles for himself and another 100,000 for his wife, a teacher. He’s scored 14 sign-up bonuses on various cards, including a 75,000-mile offer from Citibank that was no longer advertised but offered to him when he asked.

This fall, he’s taking his wife to Paris for her 30th birthday, with three nights of luxury hotel rooms covered as well as airline tickets. The couple has already been to Puerto Rico, dropping 70,000 miles for first-class upgrades. Plans are in the works for a South Pacific trip as well.

The only way he could do that is by working the credit-card bonuses. “Travel is what is important to us,’’ Mr. Colahan said. “I’d rather travel at this point in my life than have a nice house in suburbia or a nice car.’’

And he’d rather travel for free.

http://blogs.wsj.com/middleseat/2011/10/20/miles-for-nothing-and-your-trips-for-free/?mod=google_news_blog

[raquetcat]

The Chase SW 50k card bonus is back for a limited time for anyone interested.  Will get you roughly 2 1/2 RTs to Vegas if you don't mind flying SW.

Here's the link: http://www.mychasecreditcards.com/southwest/octaffiliate?AFFID=PPkX79_c.b0-XFTHyggXn5NsEUhw6xBWAg&pvid=164437FOF497191863

No min spend either that's kind of nice  $69 annual fee is pretty cheap for 2 RT tickets

Question: Can you get the 50K bonus for Chase Sapphire Preferred and 25K for Regular Chase Sapphire

[wetwillie]

This news was just too good to be kept a secret! We’re pleased to confirm that starting this Saturday, October 1, 2011, all SPG Award stays and eligible nights will now count toward elite Gold and Platinum status qualification. It’s a change to the program for SPG Award stays and eligible nights on or after October 1 and includes Free Night Awards, Cash & Points Awards and Awards earned during promotions (e.g. a Free Resort Night earned during the SPG Getaway Free promotion).

Don't think I saw this here yet,  seems like pretty good news

[steve dave]

yeah, good news about the SPG award stays. thought I had posted it but may have forgotten.  should keep me in gold this year.  just got back from 5 night award stay 

[steve dave]

We have a friends wedding in May 2012 that will either be in Jamaica or Cabo. I want both of us to fly for free. What should I do? I'm willing for both of us to get a new card to make this happen. Both of us have great credit and neither has been rejected by an application. Although, I don't care about our credit score right now b/c we refinanced and we don't plan to purhcase a new vehicle for a few years.

Also, is there something else I should be using daily other than my SW card? I'm happy with it b/c I've probably gotten 4-6 free round trip flights out of it over the course of the year of owning it and we like to fly SW and travel often.

Lastly, should we have a different AMEX card for Costco purchases to rake in some better point action?

Wouldn't worry about a different card for Costco.  Does SW not fly to Jamaica or Cabo?  I have no idea what their route map is outside of the US (if any).  You and the wife could each sign up for an AA Citi 50k card or the 50k Sapphire card to get there and back.  You will want to get on this asap as reward flights to vacation destinations are hard to come by.  Check for availability of award seats on AA for your dates before getting the cards and cross your fingers you get the points before they sell out.  May be too late for May 2012 on some carriers.  The good thing about the Sapphire card is 50k points will also get you about $650 towards a flight if you book through Chase.  Probably your best option at this point.  Also a great card.  double miles on dinining and travel and the points transfer to many different carriers.

[steve dave]

The Citi Premier card is now available for no first year fee (normally $125) and comes with 50k points after $2,500 spent in the first 3 months.  It is similar to the Chase Sapphire Preferred in that you can book travel through them with the points to get >$600 in travel or exchange for other stuff like $500 in gift cards.  However, you can't transfer the points to hotel/airlines like you can with Chase.  Also, it doesn't have double miles for anything but does have 1.2 miles for groceries and some other categories.  Here is a link to all their cards.  I can't get the link to the specific card to come up:

https://creditcards.citi.com/credit-cards/view-all-credit-cards/?m=f

[ChodoCat]

We have a friends wedding in May 2012 that will either be in Jamaica or Cabo. I want both of us to fly for free. What should I do? I'm willing for both of us to get a new card to make this happen. Both of us have great credit and neither has been rejected by an application. Although, I don't care about our credit score right now b/c we refinanced and we don't plan to purhcase a new vehicle for a few years.

Also, is there something else I should be using daily other than my SW card? I'm happy with it b/c I've probably gotten 4-6 free round trip flights out of it over the course of the year of owning it and we like to fly SW and travel often.

Lastly, should we have a different AMEX card for Costco purchases to rake in some better point action?

Wouldn't worry about a different card for Costco.  Does SW not fly to Jamaica or Cabo?  I have no idea what their route map is outside of the US (if any).  You and the wife could each sign up for an AA Citi 50k card or the 50k Sapphire card to get there and back.  You will want to get on this asap as reward flights to vacation destinations are hard to come by.  Check for availability of award seats on AA for your dates before getting the cards and cross your fingers you get the points before they sell out.  May be too late for May 2012 on some carriers.  The good thing about the Sapphire card is 50k points will also get you about $650 towards a flight if you book through Chase.  Probably your best option at this point.  Also a great card.  double miles on dinining and travel and the points transfer to many different carriers.

Thanks SD. I did look at AA flights in May using rewards and it was around 50-60k for one roundtrip flight, depending on which airport in Jamaica. As of now you can get tickets so hopefully that will still be the case in a few months. I went ahead and applied for 2 AA cards, one being a Visa and one being AMEX under my wifes name. I found a website that said if you apply for both on the same day, it won't recognize you as a previous account holder and will allow you to get 100k points in total, 50k for each. She was approved for both. Each card requires $2,500 to be spent in 4 months. I'll sub the AA Amex for the costco Amex that she currently has, and then switch all of my auto drafts to the visa and both spending requirements should be met by January. We'll probably only be able to use the points on one of our roundtrip flights but it's better than nothing. I figured if I also got 2 cards under my name to get the 100k, I probably wouldn't be able to meet the spending requirements on all 4. Once hers is met, I'll either apply for the Sapphire or do the exact same AA application, getting 2 cards on the same day.

Regardless, if I can't use her 100k points in May, we'll find use for them later and possibly get 4 roundtrip domestic flights out of it.

[Dr Rick Daris]

We have a friends wedding in May 2012 that will either be in Jamaica or Cabo. I want both of us to fly for free. What should I do? I'm willing for both of us to get a new card to make this happen. Both of us have great credit and neither has been rejected by an application. Although, I don't care about our credit score right now b/c we refinanced and we don't plan to purhcase a new vehicle for a few years.

Also, is there something else I should be using daily other than my SW card? I'm happy with it b/c I've probably gotten 4-6 free round trip flights out of it over the course of the year of owning it and we like to fly SW and travel often.

Lastly, should we have a different AMEX card for Costco purchases to rake in some better point action?

Wouldn't worry about a different card for Costco.  Does SW not fly to Jamaica or Cabo?  I have no idea what their route map is outside of the US (if any).  You and the wife could each sign up for an AA Citi 50k card or the 50k Sapphire card to get there and back.  You will want to get on this asap as reward flights to vacation destinations are hard to come by.  Check for availability of award seats on AA for your dates before getting the cards and cross your fingers you get the points before they sell out.  May be too late for May 2012 on some carriers.  The good thing about the Sapphire card is 50k points will also get you about $650 towards a flight if you book through Chase.  Probably your best option at this point.  Also a great card.  double miles on dinining and travel and the points transfer to many different carriers.

Thanks SD. I did look at AA flights in May using rewards and it was around 50-60k for one roundtrip flight, depending on which airport in Jamaica. As of now you can get tickets so hopefully that will still be the case in a few months. I went ahead and applied for 2 AA cards, one being a Visa and one being AMEX under my wifes name. I found a website that said if you apply for both on the same day, it won't recognize you as a previous account holder and will allow you to get 100k points in total, 50k for each. She was approved for both. Each card requires $2,500 to be spent in 4 months. I'll sub the AA Amex for the costco Amex that she currently has, and then switch all of my auto drafts to the visa and both spending requirements should be met by January. We'll probably only be able to use the points on one of our roundtrip flights but it's better than nothing. I figured if I also got 2 cards under my name to get the 100k, I probably wouldn't be able to meet the spending requirements on all 4. Once hers is met, I'll either apply for the Sapphire or do the exact same AA application, getting 2 cards on the same day.

Regardless, if I can't use her 100k points in May, we'll find use for them later and possibly get 4 roundtrip domestic flights out of it.

the southwest cards would give you a shot at it as well because southwest is acquiring airtran and airtran flies to montego bay. the question is will they be able to roll airtran into southwest by may of next year? maybe. maybe not.

[steve dave]

We have a friends wedding in May 2012 that will either be in Jamaica or Cabo. I want both of us to fly for free. What should I do? I'm willing for both of us to get a new card to make this happen. Both of us have great credit and neither has been rejected by an application. Although, I don't care about our credit score right now b/c we refinanced and we don't plan to purhcase a new vehicle for a few years.

Also, is there something else I should be using daily other than my SW card? I'm happy with it b/c I've probably gotten 4-6 free round trip flights out of it over the course of the year of owning it and we like to fly SW and travel often.

Lastly, should we have a different AMEX card for Costco purchases to rake in some better point action?

Wouldn't worry about a different card for Costco.  Does SW not fly to Jamaica or Cabo?  I have no idea what their route map is outside of the US (if any).  You and the wife could each sign up for an AA Citi 50k card or the 50k Sapphire card to get there and back.  You will want to get on this asap as reward flights to vacation destinations are hard to come by.  Check for availability of award seats on AA for your dates before getting the cards and cross your fingers you get the points before they sell out.  May be too late for May 2012 on some carriers.  The good thing about the Sapphire card is 50k points will also get you about $650 towards a flight if you book through Chase.  Probably your best option at this point.  Also a great card.  double miles on dinining and travel and the points transfer to many different carriers.

Thanks SD. I did look at AA flights in May using rewards and it was around 50-60k for one roundtrip flight, depending on which airport in Jamaica. As of now you can get tickets so hopefully that will still be the case in a few months. I went ahead and applied for 2 AA cards, one being a Visa and one being AMEX under my wifes name. I found a website that said if you apply for both on the same day, it won't recognize you as a previous account holder and will allow you to get 100k points in total, 50k for each. She was approved for both. Each card requires $2,500 to be spent in 4 months. I'll sub the AA Amex for the costco Amex that she currently has, and then switch all of my auto drafts to the visa and both spending requirements should be met by January. We'll probably only be able to use the points on one of our roundtrip flights but it's better than nothing. I figured if I also got 2 cards under my name to get the 100k, I probably wouldn't be able to meet the spending requirements on all 4. Once hers is met, I'll either apply for the Sapphire or do the exact same AA application, getting 2 cards on the same day.

Regardless, if I can't use her 100k points in May, we'll find use for them later and possibly get 4 roundtrip domestic flights out of it.

sounds good.  Good luck chodo.

[ChodoCat]

We have a friends wedding in May 2012 that will either be in Jamaica or Cabo. I want both of us to fly for free. What should I do? I'm willing for both of us to get a new card to make this happen. Both of us have great credit and neither has been rejected by an application. Although, I don't care about our credit score right now b/c we refinanced and we don't plan to purhcase a new vehicle for a few years.

Also, is there something else I should be using daily other than my SW card? I'm happy with it b/c I've probably gotten 4-6 free round trip flights out of it over the course of the year of owning it and we like to fly SW and travel often.

Lastly, should we have a different AMEX card for Costco purchases to rake in some better point action?

Wouldn't worry about a different card for Costco.  Does SW not fly to Jamaica or Cabo?  I have no idea what their route map is outside of the US (if any).  You and the wife could each sign up for an AA Citi 50k card or the 50k Sapphire card to get there and back.  You will want to get on this asap as reward flights to vacation destinations are hard to come by.  Check for availability of award seats on AA for your dates before getting the cards and cross your fingers you get the points before they sell out.  May be too late for May 2012 on some carriers.  The good thing about the Sapphire card is 50k points will also get you about $650 towards a flight if you book through Chase.  Probably your best option at this point.  Also a great card.  double miles on dinining and travel and the points transfer to many different carriers.

Thanks SD. I did look at AA flights in May using rewards and it was around 50-60k for one roundtrip flight, depending on which airport in Jamaica. As of now you can get tickets so hopefully that will still be the case in a few months. I went ahead and applied for 2 AA cards, one being a Visa and one being AMEX under my wifes name. I found a website that said if you apply for both on the same day, it won't recognize you as a previous account holder and will allow you to get 100k points in total, 50k for each. She was approved for both. Each card requires $2,500 to be spent in 4 months. I'll sub the AA Amex for the costco Amex that she currently has, and then switch all of my auto drafts to the visa and both spending requirements should be met by January. We'll probably only be able to use the points on one of our roundtrip flights but it's better than nothing. I figured if I also got 2 cards under my name to get the 100k, I probably wouldn't be able to meet the spending requirements on all 4. Once hers is met, I'll either apply for the Sapphire or do the exact same AA application, getting 2 cards on the same day.

Regardless, if I can't use her 100k points in May, we'll find use for them later and possibly get 4 roundtrip domestic flights out of it.

the southwest cards would give you a shot at it as well because southwest is acquiring airtran and airtran flies to montego bay. the question is will they be able to roll airtran into southwest by may of next year? maybe. maybe not.

I've already exhausted the introductory points with SW, both of us have a card. We also just stripped our account of the remaining points, booking a trip to Vegas for March Madness. The only way I'd be able to get points on SW would be the points awarded for monthly spending, which won't get us to where we need to be by May. I think AA is about my only option for getting at least one of us to Jamaica for free (which is the likely destination for the wedding).

[steve dave]

man oh man, tons of goEMAW credit card threaders are going to be in Vegas for march madness

[Stupid Fitz]

The Chase SW 50k card bonus is back for a limited time for anyone interested.  Will get you roughly 2 1/2 RTs to Vegas if you don't mind flying SW.

Question...  I got the elite 100k Chase rewards offer a few months ago.  Every since then, I have probably gotten the 50k reward offer in the mail about eleventy times.  Don't they know I already have the card and that I scoff at the puny 50k offer?

[steve dave]

what 100k offer?  Sapphire?  Because, I got that too.  I also got the SW 50k offer the first go around.  Also the United 50k Chase offer.  Do you think the offfers are by bank?