I love credit cards so much!

[MikeRes]

Oh gosh, I didn't mean to come off like grab them all at once When you get the cards will all depend on the timing of your spend available to complete them and then when you plan to use them, pacing is important. Like you've said, you just recently got the CIP so that 5k will keep you busy for a bit (I hope )

PC is abbreviated for Product Change, like a downgrade. Since you can only hold one Sapphire product at a time, in order to apply for a new bonus you'll have to remove your existing one. Rather than cancel it, ask for a product change to a Freedom card. This will keep your age of accounts open and you get a 5x UR earning card to pair with your travel cards (the CIP and CSR) without having to pay an annual fee. Chase allows you to transfer UR points to any card in your household (for now), so you can earn UR on the Freedom then transfer it to the CIP or CSR to redeem it for travel or transfer to partners to get an increased value. When you do this will depend on a few factors, like are there still redemptions you need to make with it? are you counting on trip insurance or other benefits for an upcoming trip that it was used for? If so, it makes sense to hang onto it and then PC it after you're done. I believe they may still be doing prorated refunds of the annual fee (AF) so you may be able to PC it before it comes up for renewal again.

Also because of the one Sapphire rule, some people double dip the sign up bonus for the CSR and CSP at the same time. There's a loophole if you are approved for both cards on the same day, you get to hold both products and get both bonuses. That's 50k each for 100k + spend and other bonuses like adding an AU to the CSP or doing a referral from your existing card. The down side to this is you have to meet both spend requirements in the same 3 months, so 8k of spend. If you can pull it off for either you or your wife, it's pretty awesome, cuz then you could double dip the double dip Player 1 (P1) gets the double dip, then the next year P1 refers P2 to both cards and repeats; getting now both the sign up bonuses and the referral points. If you can time it right around a big spend it's a pretty nice bang for the buck. But it's not always for the faint of heart

If you can't meet that kind of spend or it's too much risk, no worries, you can each pick up just one instead. Maybe P2 gets the CSR next time and you apply for the CSP after PCing the CSR to a Freedom. There's a number of ways you can play this.

Maybe it looks like this:

8/18 P2 has the CIP [1/24, I'm assuming the AmEx you mentioned is the Delta card]
11/18 P1 gets the CIP (referred by P2) [2/24]
3/19 P2 gets the CSR (referred by P1) [2/24]
6/19 P1 gets the CSP (after changing the CSR)[3/24]
8/19 P2 tries for the CIC or CIU (right now both have sign up offers for 50k, maybe it'll still be around) the PC's the CIP to a CIC/CIU if you want to avoid the AF [2/24]

If you can do a faster spend velocity, maybe in between there you throw in some airline cards. You want to go cross country, maybe the airfare guru's can suggest award flights to get you there. Are you married to Delta? If so, maybe a few more Delta cards. There was just discussion back a few pages ( do a search for DeltaHostage, that should put you in the right place; there's lots of people and we talk a lot. keyword searches are helpful, hehe) about the benefits of their card lines. One is a companion fare on the card anniversary. If you fly Delta a lot that can be a good value. As for others, AA has two card issuers, you could get some AA miles from each card. United gives some extra availability and perks with their cards. Southwest, while not luxurious, has the companion pass. If you each get two cards from them for the right sign up bonus the kiddies can fly free immediately without waiting

Or maybe the UR covers the airfare and you pick up some hotel cards. There's a few chains like Marriott/SPG and Hilton that have 100k point offers on their cards; and there's multiple cards in the line so you can multiply that. Reasonable rooms are 35-50k per night, so if you get a couple of cards the sign up bonus can take care of a week of stay.

I think you've done very well to start and I hope this helps to get you started on replenishing the UR stash. With some research you might be able to shift some spend from your current rewards cards to a few new ones to get that bigger bang for the buck to jump start other points stashes. Now is a good time to get started on the 2020 plans, that gives you time to save up to have points in place when booking windows open next year to get the best chance at cheap awards or just availability in high demand areas. ​

Wow! Thank you for such a thorough and detailed explanation. I’m going to get cracking on the PC and researching some additional airline cards and some hotel cards. I’m getting hooked on this thread and I don’t understand why more people don’t “play” this game.

 

[kmc8826]

Update to the 1980s Ramada: it appears our shower isn’t draining at all. Not convinced Hilton is my brand, guys...

I am sorry! That’s part of the reason I hesitated to get on the Hilton Amex bandwagon. One bad experience right?!?

 

[GlamMistress]

This one is tempting me, too -- at least on the alternate days that I am not toying with the possibility of trying to get back under 5/24 for Chase. I can't decide if the Chase cards I might get are really better than the other cards I could more easily get. I need a 2-year SouthFayetteFan plan . . .

I know. I've been toying with making a plan to get under 5/24 but I just can't decide if it is worth it or not. There are so many other good bonuses to go around and there's no guarantee how long these deals will be around.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Just checked into our Homewood Suites near the airport for our 5:40 AM flight to Tulsa. DH is referring to our hotel as the “1980s Ramada.” It is pretty outdated in here. The lobby looked really nice and all the rooms have digital keys (worked no problem this time, @disneymagicgirl!), but the updates clearly stopped at the exterior and lobby.

Oh no! I am OCD when I choose our hotels. I spend way too much time reading trip advisor. I’m all about choosing the newest or most newly remodeled. I guess since you wanted near the airport, that was the priority. Hopefully it was cheap at least! I find homewoods, doubletrees, and hamptons to be very hit or miss....check reviews. Garden inns are generally safe.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I am sorry! That’s part of the reason I hesitated to get on the Hilton Amex bandwagon. One bad experience right?!?

Second run of bad luck in two weeks with hilton lol.

Oh no! I am OCD when I choose our hotels. I spend way too much time reading trip advisor. I’m all about choosing the newest or most newly remodeled. I guess since you wanted near the airport, that was the priority. Hopefully it was cheap at least! I find homewoods, doubletrees, and hamptons to be very hit or miss....check reviews. Garden inns are generally safe.

Yeah I didn’t look too carefully, but I’m staying near the airport for free and not waking up at 3:00 to drive to the airport, so oh well. The shower has almost drained now...

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Update to the 1980s Ramada: it appears our shower isn’t draining at all. Not convinced Hilton is my brand, guys...

I am sorry! That’s part of the reason I hesitated to get on the Hilton Amex bandwagon. One bad experience right?!?

I think the issue is some are corporate run and some are franchised and lacking oversight by the corporation. You just have to look for new...there are a lot of new hamptons spring up all over and the Jr suites are so spacious...or read the reviews. Often if a building is really old I won’t book it even it it has been renovated because of things like plumbing issues or crappy a/c.
I tend to over-research everything though...just my nature.
I have no clue how any of this compares to other major chains since we don’t frequent any others. I think our only Marriott stay was the Marco JW and it was obviously nice since it is a JW.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

You Like me...You REALLY LIKE ME!!

I've topped 10,000 Likes and I have to imagine the VAST majority of them have come from this thread! Thanks @DisneyMandC for being my 10,000th like

How do you even know that? I have no idea how many likes I have.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I think the issue is some are corporate run and some are franchised and lacking oversight by the corporation. You just have to look for new...there are a lot of new hamptons spring up all over and the Jr suites are so spacious...or read the reviews. Often if a building is really old I won’t book it even it it has been renovated because of things like plumbing issues or crappy a/c.
I tend to over-research everything though...just my nature.
I have no clue how any of this compares to other major chains since we don’t frequent any others. I think our only Marriott stay was the Marco JW and it was obviously nice since it is a JW.

Looking back, I’ve honestly had bad luck with basically every hotel stay I’ve had this year lol. Really bad Marriott stay in April, soaking wet carpet at a Marriott two weeks ago. Got locked out of my hotel room and the door had to be completely rekeyed at another one. Hopefully my Marriott in Tulsa is decent considering it’s a Cat 1

 

[miztressuz]

How do you even know that? I have no idea how many likes I have.

Click on your profile pic, a little box pops up with info and one is you Likes Received count, another is your post count.
(It's also a little creepy as it tells the viewer where you were last seen... not stalkerish at all, no)

 

[PolyRob]

@PolyRob and others on the issue of AU’s for my IHG Chase card I got in April there was a point bonus for the AU. I added my oldest and then put the card away intending to use it once at some point. Before I got around to it noticed the bonus posted. So just a datapoint that the card doesn’t even need to be actually used. YMV though.

Maybe grandma or someone doesn’t care if you add her as an AU?!?

Very interesting. I think I need to add the AU just to find out when the bonus posts!

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Jeez I really need to pay better attention to things, I just realized Citi gave me a $20,000 CL on the AA biz

Also, I haven't paid my bill in a while...
View attachment 343799

Well for sure don’t close that one. Your LOA will go way down.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Mine closed yesterday too! Now just need to finish my MSR for my AA biz spend and I'll have about 129k AA points with no plan on what to do with them!

Agh. Working on AA Biz spend and Amex Hilton and you’re making me want that Barclay Biz (Already got the Aviator with the same deal)

 

[disneybirds]

A couple months ago we used Plastiq to pay off a car loan. I had a Plastiq account that I'd used just a couple times - I don't have a CIP. But we got P2 a CIP for the car payoff. So I referred P2 for Plastiq, made a $500 payment on that account to trigger my 1000 fee free referral dollars on my account, and also the 500 P2 got on their account (after signing up and making $500 in payments). Then we put the rest of the car payments through my Plastiq account to use up those fee free dollars - should have done another $500 on P2s account to use those too! But that's okay, I'll get them used. Just an idea

Thanks for the idea! I finally setup my first Plastiq payment tonight for our DD's apartment rent. I had been dreading setting it up, but is was very easy. Her apt complex has already setup for ACH, so the payments post in 3 days. Her college doesn't have ACH setup, so I figure it is cutting too close for the 8/27 payment.

I paid $500 to activate the referral of $500 fee-free dollars. I then referred my DH and he paid the remaining amount. Hopefully, once these two payments post, I should have $1,500 FFD in my account and $500 FFD in my DH's account - enough to cover almost 2 months rent. Think I can refer my DD and use the same CIP??

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

How do you even know that? I have no idea how many likes I have.

You have 2,924 @Lain keeps track of your likes on his spreadsheet too...

 

[Lain]

You have 2,924 @Lain keeps track of your likes on his spreadsheet too...

Dossier.

 

[magickingdomprincess]

I just got back from the exact same errands, much to my kids' dismay.
I had a pop up from the RMN app for both stores before I got back in the car.

It is almost too good to be true...this RMN thing. It is incredibly easy.

I am happy to report that the staples guy didn't ask for ID to buy a GC with a CC today, so I was able to use DH's amex. I got 2 emails from amex right away...looks like the offers stacked!!
$5/$25 + 10% back from amex AND the $10/$30 from RMN.

I signed up for a RMN account, but not sure how this is supposed to work. Would you mind explaining what the deal is? Do different people/accounts have different deals?

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

...I’m getting hooked on this thread and I don’t understand why more people don’t “play” this game.

Muahaha, we have you hooked now!!

When I talk to coworkers or friends about this game, it’s crazy all the reasons you’ll discover why people don’t do it.

• They don’t payoff cards each month
• They don’t trust themselves to use CC
• CCs are the devil
• They’ve wasted/lost points in the past and now assume they’ll never get any value out of the points
• They don’t understand how CCs work and assume they’ll get charged interest even if they pay the card off each month
• They won’t pay an annual fee even if the sign up bonus more than offsets it.
• They assume the 2% they get back on their double cash is as good as it gets
• They assume that there’s a catch to the game and won’t listen to anything to the contrary
• They think I’m exaggerating about all the “free” travel and that I’m actually deep in CC debt an in denial
• And of course there’s all the assumptions that it wrecks your credit - despite any real world examples I provide.

I could probably come up with more...LOL!

 

[magickingdomprincess]

Agh. Working on AA Biz spend and Amex Hilton and you’re making me want that Barclay Biz (Already got the Aviator with the same deal)

.

I was going to say go for the Barclay, but you already have it? I'm confused, am I missing an AA biz card? Or is there a personal Aviator? I got the Barclay Aviator Biz bonus today, and working on the Citi AA biz now.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I signed up for a RMN account, but not sure how this is supposed to work. Would you mind explaining what the deal is? Do different people/accounts have different deals?

Click on the “cash back” tab on the app.
You will see in store and online cash back offers.
You will want to activate the ones you are going to use.
Also add your credit cards in the app as that is how they know you purchased with an offer.

As long as you activate the offer and pay with a linked card you will be good to go. Just shop like normal.

For ex: activate Walgreens $5 back on $25 offer. Go shop at Walgreens and buy a $25 GC using linked credit card...freedom if you have one because that is the 5x category this month. Then you will see the offer go pending and post a few days later. Voila! $25 GC for $20 plus the 5x points (7.5x if you redeem thru csr portal).

 

[GZanta77]

Muahaha, we have you hooked now!!

When I talk to coworkers or friends about this game, it’s crazy all the reasons you’ll discover why people don’t do it.

• They don’t payoff cards each month
• They don’t trust themselves to use CC
• CCs are the devil
• They’ve wasted/lost points in the past and now assume they’ll never get any value out of the points
• They don’t understand how CCs work and assume they’ll get charged interest even if they pay the card off each month
• They won’t pay an annual fee even if the sign up bonus more than offsets it.
• They assume the 2% they get back on their double cash is as good as it gets
• They assume that there’s a catch to the game and won’t listen to anything to the contrary
• They think I’m exaggerating about all the “free” travel and that I’m actually deep in CC debt an in denial
• And of course there’s all the assumptions that it wrecks your credit - despite any real world examples I provide.

I could probably come up with more...LOL!

The one I get all the time........

That sounds like too much effort (or a lot of work)

Maybe I'm explaining it wrong......