I love credit cards so much!

[disneedee]

Ok, question on AUs. I don't think I should get AU cards for DH and I on each other's cards, right? But we could really both use access for trying to meet spends. Could i get an AU card(s) in our middle names or something. Don't want them to count towards our 5/24. Situation at post office this am, where DH has the CIP that needs the spend but he has the card. Got me thinking....

i've heard of some people just getting a duplicate card and using that for the spouse. might not work with post office, they are kind of picky.

 

[Albort]

I have a question about American Airline credit card points. I see the current offer is 60K. Does AAAdvantage ever offer a better bonus?

the AA card with citi has an advantage of not having a bonus timer. ie, you can apply for multiple cards and get 60k each every time within a year. You would need to find the language omited from the TC. This card is very churnable.

I understand this for personal cards but have you seen DPs against this for the CIP? When the card doesn't count against you for 5/24, why would it count against an AUer? We've not done it but I've read DPs that it's ok with chase business cards. Just trying to understand..

It is SOP in this game to not do AUs with your spouse. There is no advantage to it since both have the card. What happens if Chase does what Capital One does and starts reporting business cards on the personal side toward 5/24? Then those that are an AU on a spouses card will suddenly have another card against them (with some companies) even if it is dropped off after the fact. This game changes quickly- and for us there is too much downside. Too many people that travel hack believe the game is static and what is 'truth' or 'fact' today will be that way tomorrow as well. This rarely is the case- and the game is going to continue to tighten. We have never done AUs, and never will. That said, everyone plays differently. I just have a 'many year- big picture' outlook and short term rewards aren't worth a potential downside later. Most of the more experienced folks here are good at looking at all angles- this 'hypothetical' is just another angle that could realistically happen.

CIP AU is def a weird one, i havent seen any DP of it. I do believe it doesnt count as CIP, you add employee cards instead of Authorized users. I believe the card number is also different too. I did do a reddit search and only found one person who stated that it doesnt count.
I wouldnt be too worried about AUs adding. ive seen many people who cancel their AU, then force the credit bureaus to remove it off the reports. For Chase, if you do get hit by the 5/24, you can ask them to void counting it manually, but thats def ymmv.
At the end, if someeone cant make the minimum spendings without enabling the 2 player mode, i would suggest doing the AU to make the bonus than to risk not getting the bonus. thats my 2 cents.

 

[Happy_2_B]

At the end, if someeone cant make the minimum spendings without enabling the 2 player mode, i would suggest doing the AU to make the bonus than to risk not getting the bonus

Yep- there are multiple ways to look at it. We have our philosophy- and it won't change- but for others it might work out. With so many cards to juggle, and mileage and points programs to keep track of- we do as little as possible to prevent time sinks like (for example) spending a boatload of time on the phone having Chase void a count (even though this is a non issue for us- just an example). We have the same philosophy with price matching. Not gonna waste a boatload of time buying something now, then get stuck in a time sink trying to get credited back for something I can wait until Black Friday for.

As mentioned before- we have been doing this a long time- and in our 'timeline' the CIP has been on the market for like a second Chase doesn't have gaming language as severe as AmEx yet- but if they are keeping tabs and flagging people- this is one area where that 'gaming flag' is going to fly high in the sky. No one but a gamer is going to ask for a void. There are serious stakes for those that get burned- my advice will continue to be to play the game cautiously, less you get 'checkmated' and can't play anymore. I am guessing we will start to hear accounts on the various boards of people being locked out of being able to get AmEx cards very soon.

 

[wendow]

@kayteekt I still feel adding yourself as an AUer on the CIP is fine. However, another option to meet the spend easier would be using plastiq to pay your mortgage (if you have one). Or other bills you may have. We did that with my CIP and I will be doing that with my dh's CIP. @Lain has been able to successfully use his CIP for quite a few different spends and gotten the 3x coding.

 

[wendow]

CIP AU is def a weird one, i havent seen any DP of it. I do believe it doesnt count as CIP, you add employee cards instead of Authorized users. I believe the card number is also different too. I did do a reddit search and only found one person who stated that it doesnt count.
I wouldnt be too worried about AUs adding. ive seen many people who cancel their AU, then force the credit bureaus to remove it off the reports. For Chase, if you do get hit by the 5/24, you can ask them to void counting it manually, but thats def ymmv.
At the end, if someeone cant make the minimum spendings without enabling the 2 player mode, i would suggest doing the AU to make the bonus than to risk not getting the bonus. thats my 2 cents.

You and I probably read the same DP on it I do wonder why there isn't more chatter about it. Surely with a spend of 5k, a lot of people have needed multiple people spending or maybe the ones getting the CIP for the bonus are doing more MS'ing.

 

[trenty]

I have also been looking at accumulating some more AA miles for some future international flights. Many here have said they are not always the best value but the flights work well for me.
Here is a link to their awards chart - aadvantage-program flight-award-chart
Here is a chart to check for current and recent offers - Current & Recent Credit Card Signup Bonuses

I am planning to get Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Red before their current offer expires on 11/30. It is for 60,000 after first purchase for $95 AF (see the this Doc of Credit link about a possible extra 500 miles). Then possibly follow it up with a Citi card for another 60,000.

Thank you. I will look into the Barclays card too. I don't think I am ready to apply yet. I think I want to wait until after the anniversary of my SW card, cancel that card, then start looking into cards with miles for AA. Barclays looks like a good place to start.

 

[Albort]

You and I probably read the same DP on it I do wonder why there isn't more chatter about it. Surely with a spend of 5k, a lot of people have needed multiple people spending or maybe the ones getting the CIP for the bonus are doing more MS'ing.

adding more DP. -->

Chase business cards do not show up on your personal credit report unless deliquent for either you or AUs.

It does not. Chase doesn't add business cards to your personal credit report

 

[trenty]

I think that 60K is a pretty good bonus. Not the highest bonus ever but better than their 40K, 50K offers that are more prevalent. And if a higher bonus comes along within a certain time period (I don't recall exactly, sometime between 30-90 days? you'd have to google that) you can always see if they'll match the offer. I got DH an AAdvantage card with a 60K bonus, but they matched to a 75K offer (which is kind of funny because it wasn't even the same credit card, but whatever, I'll take it.)

The biggest complaint I see about AAdvantage is the lack of availability of SAAver fares, whereas Southwest has wide open availability. So just because they tout a one-way fare of 7,500 or 12,500 points doesn't mean you're ever going to find one. I would poke around American's website (there's a box to click for "Redeem Miles" when searching flights) to see what is available and how many miles it would take. American is definitely nowhere as flexible as Southwest, but at least there's no change fee for dates as long as origin/destination remain the same within 12 months from original booking. If, however, you cancel the award ticket and want the miles back, it will cost you $150 unless you have some elite status with them.

ETA: It's really easy to earn Southwest RR points through Chase's UR program as long as you have a card that allows transfers to partners (CSR, CSP, and I think one of the Inks). Obviously you can earn an AA mile with each $1 spent on the AA card but that is much less flexible than a UR pt.

Thank you. It is good to know that AA is somewhat flexible when needed to change flights.

Yes - Chase UR is wonderful. I have been using Southwest exclusively up until this point. I will continue to use the Chase Sapphire and Freedom to continue to use SW.

 

[Albort]

Thank you. I will look into the Barclays card too. I don't think I am ready to apply yet. I think I want to wait until after the anniversary of my SW card, cancel that card, then start looking into cards with miles for AA. Barclays looks like a good place to start.

you would want to max out your chase cards first if you value them higher. so both freedom cards, ink, marriott, United, etc. anything with the 5/24 rule.

 

[afan]

Yay! I got my vacation for next year approved so now I can plan.

I'm at 2/24. With Hyatt, Alaska being the 2 and then I have discover and barclay AA.

I'm going to apply for the csr and while I'd love to do the csp at the same time I can't meet that much spend. I was thinking if I'm instant approved for csr that I would apply for the freedom u to have 1.5 back on everything else. I already have discover and don't max out the rotating categories so I think this would work.better.

Does it seem nuts to waste a spot? I'm putting most spend on my Alaska card since they aren't as churnable. So I would love it from that to the cfu to help build my urs.

 

[Lain]

@kayteekt I still feel adding yourself as an AUer on the CIP is fine. However, another option to meet the spend easier would be using plastiq to pay your mortgage (if you have one). Or other bills you may have. We did that with my CIP and I will be doing that with my dh's CIP. @Lain has been able to successfully use his CIP for quite a few different spends and gotten the 3x coding.

@kayteekt,

The great thing about using CIP on Plastiq to meet spend or otherwise is that so many (if not all?) categories code for 3x UR. I use it to pay rent, utilities, student loans, preschool tuition for my DD — all code as 3x. (If your card doesn’t work for your payee, people have had luck changing the name of the payee slightly so they’re not blocked.)

Plastiq charges a 2.5% fee, so the 3x UR (equal to 3¢/$1) already puts you ahead if you decide you want to redeem your UR points (1 point = 1¢) for cash to pay off those fees. Basically you are buying 1 UR point worth 1¢ for 0.83¢. If you decide to keep the points and transfer them to the CSR, they are worth 50% more when redeeming on the UR portal, so 3x effectively becomes 4.5x worth that more than offsets the 2.5% fee. That’s a good deal!

Just a word of caution, Plastiq has changed the way it codes on certain credit cards before (like mortgages and rent on the CSR from 3x to 1x), but it’s still coding 3x for the things I mentioned when using CIP right now.

 

[Lain]

I'm trying to use up my wife's CSR travel credit. With her company covering commute and pretty much everything travel related, she's used all of $6 of her $300 credit that expires next month. I'm finally getting around to using this credit to buy Disneyland park hoppers for our DD for our trip next week through LMTClub, which I understand codes as travel.

However, I can't seem to buy only a Child park hopper; the lowest amount for Adults is default to 1. Does anyone know a way around this, or any other alternative that'll code as travel?

ETA: As an alternative, could I buy an Adult park hopper for my child and redeem it for a park hopper DD could use once at Disneyland?

 

[trenty]

you would want to max out your chase cards first if you value them higher. so both freedom cards, ink, marriott, United, etc. anything with the 5/24 rule.

Good point. I was thinking of getting Freedom Unlimited at some point. I should probably do that before any AA cards.

 

[Lain]

Load $20 or more in the Starbucks app using Chase Pay, receive 300 Bonus Stars. 125 Stars = 1 Free Drink or Food Item.
http://www.Starbucks.com/chasepay

ETA: you can find a direct link to this offer in the Inbox of your Starbucks app. I have Chase Pay set to use my CSR because I think this should code as Dining.

 

[Albort]

damn it... 5x UR + 3x Jetblue or 7x UR...

first world problem im having...

 

[Lain]

damn it... 5x UR + 3x Jetblue or 7x UR...

first world problem im having...

Amazon?

 

[Albort]

Amazon?

5x UR +3x Jetblue - Amazon
5x UR + 2x shop through chase - Walmart.

ended up doing the walmart route haha.

 

[Lain]

5x UR +3x Jetblue - Amazon
5x UR + 2x shop through chase - Walmart.

ended up doing the walmart route haha.

JetBlue is of limited use for us out of SFO, but since the points are there for clicking through -- why not? I guess we could use them for a trip to LAS one day.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I have also been looking at accumulating some more AA miles for some future international flights. Many here have said they are not always the best value but the flights work well for me.
Here is a link to their awards chart - aadvantage-program flight-award-chart
Here is a chart to check for current and recent offers - Current & Recent Credit Card Signup Bonuses

I am planning to get Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Red before their current offer expires on 11/30. It is for 60,000 after first purchase for $95 AF (see the this Doc of Credit link about a possible extra 500 miles). Then possibly follow it up with a Citi card for another 60,000.

I have both Citi AA and Aviator. I thought the Aviator was a great deal needing only 1 purchase plus AF paid. I can't speak much to international travel though I've been researching Vancouver and see MilesAAver & Business sAAver awards on some dates I've been looking. Haven't had issues with awards for domestic but they aren't always SAAver awards.

 

[afan]

I have both Citi AA and Aviator. I thought the Aviator was a great deal needing only 1 purchase plus AF paid. I can't speak much to international travel though I've been researching Vancouver and see MilesAAver & Business sAAver awards on some dates I've been looking. Haven't had issues with awards for domestic but they aren't always SAAver awards.

I've used my AA miles for Alaska flights before. They do a rolling calendar on Alaska but can book one ways without using more miles.