How Many Credit Cards Do You Have?

[Dr Rick Daris]

sd- hhonors are horrible value but there are like a billion hhonor cards and some are churnable and churnable pretty quickly. for a few hundred dollars in fees and then some minimum spends a couple could rack up around 500k hhonors pretty quickly. i think i'm devoting the rest of the year towards this. you also get axon awards or whatever so a cat7 four night would only be like 140k. thoughts. i've totally flipped my credit card thinking/strategies in the last month of so. going to start churning the churnable cards and pretty much stay away from chase.

Yeah, I've got 200k HH doing this with the Hilton Amex and Hawaiin BOA.  Going to stay five nights on an axon in Paris in November with them.

boom. sold. also, the barclay website was kind of an eye opener. they have a crap ton of cards. some with no fees and no spends. not great ones, but still.

[Stupid Fitz]

I refuse to stay at any Marriott

I'm still trying to figure out which hotel points to focus on.  Daraius is high on the SPG Amex because of the elite hotels and cash + points option, so that's the way I'm leaning.  Every other hotel chain seems like you have to use a shitload of points for a couple nights in a nice/decent hotel. 

The only one I don't participate in is Marriott.  You have to be either a Marriott or Hilton person imo (or possibly PC).  Hyatt and SPG have more resort/high level properties and are great for travel.  Hilton and Marriott are your every day business programs.  I chose Hilton.  I don't remember why but I'm sticking to it.

This is true.  I chose Marriott and it has worked out fine for me. 

[Rams]

EDIT:  or a "GLON" I get them confused

EDIT2:  Yeah, it's a GLON.  AXON are the ones for the Hilton Amex cardholders and aren't as good.  Here is the GLON chart:

I'm starting to come around to the hhonors line of thinking because of exactly what rd said...but wtf is this AXON and GLON you speak of? 

EDIT: nevermind...found a FT thread (I'll read it, but I'm not jumping into that shark tank  )

[steve dave]

just blew the 200k at this place for 5 nights in November

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187147-d291544-Reviews-Hilton_Arc_de_Triomphe-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

[ChiComCat]

just blew the 200k at this place for 5 nights in November

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187147-d291544-Reviews-Hilton_Arc_de_Triomphe-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

Staying in the rich, fancy area, eh?  Looks like a winner.  Also, thing I was surprised to learn when I was there, a lot of Paris is surprisingly walkable.  Like, when you get a big tourist map, its about 30-40 minutes from the highway that circles the city to the center of the map.  And there are a bunch of little bakery places on the way probably. 

[yoga-like_abana]

so I dont stay at hotels very often, but when I do I obviously want to stay for free. The PC rewards things was great for me because the annual fee was waived the first year and all I had to do was use it once. Any card out like that now?

[steve dave]

so I dont stay at hotels very often, but when I do I obviously want to stay for free. The PC rewards things was great for me because the annual fee was waived the first year and all I had to do was use it once. Any card out like that now?

your best bet would be to get the Hawaiin Air card (or both of them) and transfer those points to Hilton at a 2:1 ratio.  I think the Hyatt Chase card requires just one purchase and then you get two nights at any hyatt in the world.  you would want to make sure you are going to Paris or NYC or Kauai or somewhere elite to get your value on that though.  cancel both before the annual fee comes in 12 months.

[Rams]

sd- hhonors are horrible value but there are like a billion hhonor cards and some are churnable and churnable pretty quickly. for a few hundred dollars in fees and then some minimum spends a couple could rack up around 500k hhonors pretty quickly.

Could you expand on this a little bit for a n00b?  I'm planning on getting the BOA Virgin card, but what are the other good Hilton cards right now?  Also, anybody have any idea how fast you can churn the BOA Virgin card?

[steve dave]

sd- hhonors are horrible value but there are like a billion hhonor cards and some are churnable and churnable pretty quickly. for a few hundred dollars in fees and then some minimum spends a couple could rack up around 500k hhonors pretty quickly.

Could you expand on this a little bit for a n00b?  I'm planning on getting the BOA Virgin card, but what are the other good Hilton cards right now?  Also, anybody have any idea how fast you can churn the BOA Virgin card?

also get the BOA Hawaiin card (or cards, there are two).  they also transfer to Hilton.  Hilton has, like, three cards of their own that are also churnable. 

[Dr Rick Daris]

sd- hhonors are horrible value but there are like a billion hhonor cards and some are churnable and churnable pretty quickly. for a few hundred dollars in fees and then some minimum spends a couple could rack up around 500k hhonors pretty quickly.

Could you expand on this a little bit for a n00b?  I'm planning on getting the BOA Virgin card, but what are the other good Hilton cards right now?  Also, anybody have any idea how fast you can churn the BOA Virgin card?

also get the BOA Hawaiin card (or cards, there are two).  they also transfer to Hilton.  Hilton has, like, three cards of their own that are also churnable.

i love sd's commitment to the cc thread. bombs exploding left and right and people with shrapnel sticking out of their face. fire currie. fire everyone. how can frank do this to us? why south carolina? why now? we want answers. and then there is sd calming explaining about the virtues of hhonor churnable cards. just amazing really.

[steve dave]

I'm honestly not even that worked up about the basketball stuff.  I'd be more upset if Chase cut me off from new apps or something. 

[Rams]

I'm honestly not even that worked up about the basketball stuff.  I'd be more upset if Chase cut me off from new apps or something.

  Keep doing God's work, SD. I'm saving my meltdown for AFTER I realize our next coach sucks.

Thoughts on the best bang for the buck getting HHonors points? Obviously the BOA cards have the highest point bonuses but they also have annual fees.  The Virgin is $90, which is obviously paid for with the 100k points, but is it a better value than churning the AMEX HHonors?  Also, is the AMEX churnable every 3 months?  So many decisions.

[steve dave]

No, Amex takes a long time between churns. Just the citi visa is churnable.

[Rams]

No, Amex takes a long time between churns. Just the citi visa is churnable.

Ah...got it.  So get the AMEX and keep it for the AXON and churn the Citi HHonors and possibly the BOA Virgin (if I can stomach the $90 fee). Have you tried getting the Visa and the Visa Signature at the same time?

[FP TC etc.]

No, Amex takes a long time between churns. Just the citi visa is churnable.

All the citi visas? Like the premiere thank you card?

[yoga-like_abana]

 

[steve dave]

No, Amex takes a long time between churns. Just the citi visa is churnable.

All the citi visas? Like the premiere thank you card?

don't know.  I've just done it with the AA and HH visas

[Dr Rick Daris]

the boa ones are apparently the ones that are really churnable. like every three months. i think the citi would not be as quick. dunno when though.

[Rams]

the boa ones are apparently the ones that are really churnable. like every three months. i think the citi would not be as quick. dunno when though.

That would make sense given the $90 annual fee that they don't waive.  You can get 200,000 Virgin miles in a year but it would cost you $360.  Would still make sense if you wanted a crap ton of HHonors points.  Anybody have a rough valuation of Virgin miles or is it roughly the standard penny/mile?

[steve dave]

If you are worried about paying $360 for 400200k HH miles you may not be cut out for this stuff

[Mikeyis4dcats]

the boa ones are apparently the ones that are really churnable. like every three months. i think the citi would not be as quick. dunno when though.

That would make sense given the $90 annual fee that they don't waive.  You can get 200,000 Virgin miles in a year but it would cost you $360.  Would still make sense if you wanted a crap ton of HHonors points.  Anybody have a rough valuation of Virgin miles or is it roughly the standard penny/mile?

beware the Virgin Atlantic card, the points are NOT at a 1:2 ratio as originally thought
http://millionmilesecrets.com/2011/08/01/70000-hilton-points-with-the-hawaiian-airlines-credit-card/

[FP TC etc.]

So the only miles card I've done is the SW chase card. Which card should I go for next?

[steve dave]

So the only miles card I've done is the SW chase card. Which card should I go for next?

I would start by reading the last 5 pages or so.  then decide from that.

[FP TC etc.]

So the only miles card I've done is the SW chase card. Which card should I go for next?

I would start by reading the last 5 pages or so.  then decide from that.

The past 5 pages are all hotels. I want airlines 

Prolly just gonna go with the Chase Sapphire Preferred

[steve dave]

So the only miles card I've done is the SW chase card. Which card should I go for next?

I would start by reading the last 5 pages or so.  then decide from that.

The past 5 pages are all hotels. I want airlines 

Prolly just gonna go with the Chase Sapphire Preferred

that's a good one. you could also get a couple AA cards