How Many Credit Cards Do You Have?

[steve dave]

She would have to get a different number.  I'm not familiar with how Marriott handles their points as I have shunned the program.  SPG will let you transfer points to household members at no charge.  Hilton will not.

[Saulbadguy]

right now i've got:

chase Marriott rewards (sign up bonus is long gone)
SPG Amex (nearing the end of the sign up bonus but I use this one the most so I accumulate points fairly quick)
chase Southwest (never use, using all of the sign on bonus in november)

We are tapped out for vacations this year, would need something I can use the bonus for next year.

thoughts/strategies? Wife is warming up to the idea of signing up for cards under her name now

[steve dave]

If she's absolutely on board you've got a world of possibilities with only those cards/history.  I would suggest:

round 1:
-refer her to the SPG from your SPG once the 30k offer comes out (supposedly this summer sometime).  may have to send amex a message requesting a referral link.  you will get 5k and she will get the regular bonus.
-both of you sign up for both AA cards.  They each require $3k in spend in 4 months so maybe just one of you sign up for both and the other signs up for both later in the year.  Two browser trick thing.
-both get US Airways Mastercard.  only one purchase required.
-both get Hawaiin Airlines card.  transfer points to Hilton.

I could really go on forever.  It is going to depend on what you can spend in 3 months.  There are tricks like you can each transfer $1k to each other via Amazon for free each month but I've never done this. 

[Dr Rick Daris]

If she's absolutely on board you've got a world of possibilities with only those cards/history.  I would suggest:

round 1:
-refer her to the SPG from your SPG once the 30k offer comes out (supposedly this summer sometime).  may have to send amex a message requesting a referral link.  you will get 5k and she will get the regular bonus.
-both of you sign up for both AA cards.  They each require $3k in spend in 4 months so maybe just one of you sign up for both and the other signs up for both later in the year.  Two browser trick thing.
-both get US Airways Mastercard.  only one purchase required.
-both get Hawaiin Airlines card.  transfer points to Hilton.

I could really go on forever.  It is going to depend on what you can spend in 3 months.  There are tricks like you can each transfer $1k to each other via Amazon for free each month but I've never done this.

i'd also say that it kind of matters what is important to you or what do you need points for. at first i just wanted to fly places. tons of places around the us for quick vacation getaways. signing up for southwest as well as the AA cards and usair cards that sd mentioned made sense so i did it. i also got the british airway cards since you can use them to book american flights and the old continental cards which is now united. anyway, i know have like 600k airline miles and almost no hotel points, so my last round of credit card apps were for nothing but hotel. i'll get close to 500khhonors and hopefully (cross fingers) 140k ritz carlton points (which you can also use to book marriott.) i signed up for those because i'll need places to stay when i fly somewhere on my miles. 

so...what/why do you want/need points?

[Saulbadguy]

Yeah she's like 50% on board. Doesn't quite understand, thinks we will get in trouble, etc. The Marriott 70k deal perked her ears up though. spending 3k in 4 months won't be a problem. I think she doesn't understand that the rewards program (SPG, Marriott, etc) is independent of the credit card.

If the SPG 30k comes out i'll get her to do that.

If you had to select 1 of your choices from round 1, which would you do?

[steve dave]

Yeah she's like 50% on board. Doesn't quite understand, thinks we will get in trouble, etc. The Marriott 70k deal perked her ears up though. spending 3k in 4 months won't be a problem. I think she doesn't understand that the rewards program (SPG, Marriott, etc) is independent of the credit card.

If the SPG 30k comes out i'll get her to do that.

If you had to select 1 of your choices from round 1, which would you do?

one of the churnables because then the clock starts again.  like, I think you can get the US Airways card every 4 months.  at least I did.  So when you get it the clock starts for the next time you can.  The AA personal cards are every 18 months and give you 50k.  depends which you could more easily use though.  if you fly SW a lot you could get your wife the SW card as well. 

[Saulbadguy]

If she's absolutely on board you've got a world of possibilities with only those cards/history.  I would suggest:

round 1:
-refer her to the SPG from your SPG once the 30k offer comes out (supposedly this summer sometime).  may have to send amex a message requesting a referral link.  you will get 5k and she will get the regular bonus.
-both of you sign up for both AA cards.  They each require $3k in spend in 4 months so maybe just one of you sign up for both and the other signs up for both later in the year.  Two browser trick thing.
-both get US Airways Mastercard.  only one purchase required.
-both get Hawaiin Airlines card.  transfer points to Hilton.

I could really go on forever.  It is going to depend on what you can spend in 3 months.  There are tricks like you can each transfer $1k to each other via Amazon for free each month but I've never done this.

i'd also say that it kind of matters what is important to you or what do you need points for. at first i just wanted to fly places. tons of places around the us for quick vacation getaways. signing up for southwest as well as the AA cards and usair cards that sd mentioned made sense so i did it. i also got the british airway cards since you can use them to book american flights and the old continental cards which is now united. anyway, i know have like 600k airline miles and almost no hotel points, so my last round of credit card apps were for nothing but hotel. i'll get close to 500khhonors and hopefully (cross fingers) 140k ritz carlton points (which you can also use to book marriott.) i signed up for those because i'll need places to stay when i fly somewhere on my miles. 

so...what/why do you want/need points?

quick extended weekend getaways, coupled with ksu games. We are doing the Seattle thing on points but paying for airfare. Would have been nice if I had points to do the airfare too. I know the cruise credit cards suck, but part of the value of the flight/hotel thing is you can get the pre/post hotel free as well as the airfare. But only really do a cruise once per year.

[Dr Rick Daris]

Yeah she's like 50% on board. Doesn't quite understand, thinks we will get in trouble, etc. The Marriott 70k deal perked her ears up though. spending 3k in 4 months won't be a problem. I think she doesn't understand that the rewards program (SPG, Marriott, etc) is independent of the credit card.

If the SPG 30k comes out i'll get her to do that.

If you had to select 1 of your choices from round 1, which would you do?

try to explain that the credit card companies are giving away points in an attempt to entice you to get and use their cards. kind of like when they used to give out t-shirts or whatever or when banks would give out toasters for opening a checking account. those banks can't force people to get their cards and use them, but they can offer up things that people might want as a signup bonus and then hope that you keep using their card because you are lazy or get hit with late fees from them or carry a balance.

[steve dave]

saul, you wouldn't have wanted to use points with the airfare you got for that seattle flight. 

[Saulbadguy]

Yeah she's like 50% on board. Doesn't quite understand, thinks we will get in trouble, etc. The Marriott 70k deal perked her ears up though. spending 3k in 4 months won't be a problem. I think she doesn't understand that the rewards program (SPG, Marriott, etc) is independent of the credit card.

If the SPG 30k comes out i'll get her to do that.

If you had to select 1 of your choices from round 1, which would you do?

one of the churnables because then the clock starts again.  like, I think you can get the US Airways card every 4 months.  at least I did.  So when you get it the clock starts for the next time you can.  The AA personal cards are every 18 months and give you 50k.  depends which you could more easily use though.  if you fly SW a lot you could get your wife the SW card as well. 

thanks. I think I just need to start reading this thread from the beginning.

[steve dave]

I'll provide you with a beginners guide to points and credit cards within a week   

[Saulbadguy]

I'll provide you with a beginners guide to points and credit cards within a week   

my favorite part about this is obviously refining my cc tracking spreadsheet

[Saulbadguy]

i've noticed w/ signing up for cc's, sometimes you can find an elite "landing page" or application that gives you better crap. The first US Airways card app I found is for 30k bonus signing up, anything better atm?

[steve dave]

i've noticed w/ signing up for cc's, sometimes you can find an elite "landing page" or application that gives you better crap. The first US Airways card app I found is for 30k bonus signing up, anything better atm?

yep.  it says 60k but it's really 40k unless you hold onto it for 2 years

http://www.mostmiles.com/apply/Landing.action?campaignId=1465&cellNumber=163

US Air miles are kind of a pain to use but you can use them for RTs on United as well.  Do you have any united miles?  If you have even a couple you should be able to get a 60k United offer too (really 50k).  But, you already have 2 Chase cards so if you have high available credit on them you may have to call the reconsideration line to get some of the available credit moved to the new card.  very painless to do.  Instructions how:

http://millionmilesecrets.com/2012/01/05/chase-united-60000-2/

[Dr Rick Daris]

i've noticed w/ signing up for cc's, sometimes you can find an elite "landing page" or application that gives you better crap. The first US Airways card app I found is for 30k bonus signing up, anything better atm?

yes. also re: your wife. if you guys really just need free flights around the united states and it's just the two of you and you like southwest, then i'd maybe have her hold off for just a few more months with the hopes that the southwest 50k signup deals are still around. if they are still there in november, then i'd sign her up. once you spend a 1,000 on each, you get 50k each which would 100k total 102k including her 2k spend to get them. you don't want to have those points hit her account until 2013 though so you'll want to time it smartly. then you spend 8k more on those cards to get her to 110k. if you get 110k in a one year period of time on southwest then you get a free  companion pass that is good for that year and the next year. so if she got the 102k put into her sw account in jan or feb and then another 8k in march you would have the 100k needed for the free companion pass. you would fly for free with her on any award ticket she booked through the end of 2014.


note- you would be signing her up for a 50k personal and a 50k business. this might/probably will require a call into chase telling them why you need both. tell them you want to keep personal and business expenses separate and that should be good enough.

[steve dave]

i've noticed w/ signing up for cc's, sometimes you can find an elite "landing page" or application that gives you better crap. The first US Airways card app I found is for 30k bonus signing up, anything better atm?

yes. also re: your wife. if you guys really just need free flights around the united states and it's just the two of you and you like southwest, then i'd maybe have her hold off for just a few more months with the hopes that the southwest 50k signup deals are still around. if they are still there in november, then i'd sign her up. once you spend a 1,000 on each, you get 50k each which would 100k total 102k including her 2k spend to get them. you don't want to have those points hit her account until 2013 though so you'll want to time it smartly. then you spend 8k more on those cards to get her to 110k. if you get 110k in a one year period of time on southwest then you get a free  companion pass that is good for that year and the next year. so if she got the 100k put into her sw account in jan or feb and then another 8k in march. you would fly for free with her on any award ticket she booked through the end of 2014.

yep, we are going to try to do this with mrs. dave

[Saulbadguy]

 

[steve dave]

and with 110k SW miles you're looking at a lot of award flights

[Saulbadguy]

and with 110k SW miles you're looking at a lot of award flights

So i'd need to cancel my current SW card to get the bonus again next year? From what i'm reading chase is sensitive about how many CC's you can have, how often they are churned?

[steve dave]

and with 110k SW miles you're looking at a lot of award flights

So i'd need to cancel my current SW card to get the bonus again next year? From what i'm reading chase is sensitive about how many CC's you can have, how often they are churned?

no, you can't get the personal card for another couple years.  your wife would have to sign up for the personal and business cards.  the points would be in your wife's account. 

[Dr Rick Daris]

and with 110k SW miles you're looking at a lot of award flights

yeah, that's basically 2k on southwest. if you figure a roundtrip on southwest is $400. then that would be 5 roundtrips with saul flying along for free each time. 10 roundtrips total, no blackouts, etc.

[steve dave]

Hyatt went from Diamond to Platinum today.  Man, what a ride.  Sucks it couldn't hold out until chicago owners meeting. 

[Dr Rick Daris]

Hyatt went from Diamond to Platinum today.  Man, what a ride.  Sucks it couldn't hold out until chicago owners meeting.

oh eff. 

[steve dave]

Hyatt went from Diamond to Platinum today.  Man, what a ride.  Sucks it couldn't hold out until chicago owners meeting.

oh eff. 

yeah, the suites with the pool tables in them are probably off the table.  who knows though, maybe rick daris and steve dave get all loose and conversational with a couple adult beverages over torta frontera and are able to "suite" talk the check in lady into huge upgrades anyway.  regardless, we still get 4 suites. 

[Trim]

Plus, I've still got this expired food & beverage amenity voucher.