I love credit cards so much! v3.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[trenty]

I had no idea. Thanks!

from https://millionmilesecrets.com/guid...-help-you-get-approved-for-more-credit-cards/:

Most banks set a limit on the TOTAL credit amount which they will extend to you. This limit is based on the bank’s internal risk-taking (or underwriting) policy, your income, length of credit history, and other variables on your credit report.

You may reach this total limit with 2, 3, or 4 or more credit cards, depending on the credit limit assigned to each credit card.

Once you reach this limit, banks will no longer extend you any new credit because doing so will increase the bank’s risk exposure.

The article does go on to warn that lowering credit limits could hurt credit score. But I believe that it would be a temporary drop since the new card should bring the credit limit back up. The article does give an alternative:

Instead of lowering his line of credit on his Chase Sapphire Preferred in advance, Leighton could just apply for the Chase Freedom card.

He can then call and ask to transfer credit from his Chase Sapphire Preferred card to his Chase Freedom card.

That way he gets to keep his total credit line and get approved for a new card.

I personally did lower credit limits with Chase and did not notice any significant change in my score. My DH just had two cards cancelled by the issuers for non-use. I was worried that his score would decrease because of lower credit limits and lower average age of cards (they were old cards). But I saw no significant change in his score.

ETA: I just skimmed the rest of the article and saw this:
On the other hand, decreasing his credit line by $5,000 will likely have a very, very, small impact on his credit score if Leighton has 15 open credit cards!

So if he doesn’t want to call and trade credit lines, Leighton could reduce the credit line on one of his cards, and then apply for a different card from the same bank.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Hi all!!! We are back from our amazing trip to HI and I am hopelessly behind on this thread. Some thoughts from our trip:

- Direct flight from East Coast to Honolulu was perfect flying with younger kids. So glad we didn't do a layover. Standard Hawaiian Air seats are TIGHT but we did fine.

- Thanks for the tip to sign up for Dollar car rental rewards. The general line was out the door, but the rewards line only had 1 person ahead of us!

- I read mixed reviews of Hilton Hawaiian Village and Waikiki in general, but I am glad we did the split stay. Yes, HHV is older, but very well maintained. Staff was friendly. Things were a bit cheaper than Aulani. Good location for sight seeing on the Eastern side of the Island.

- Aulani felt like home (DVC members) and the kids loved it, but the resort felt cramped and was SO CROWDED (school vacation week). I am not a crowd person, so I didn't enjoy the crowded pools, but we liked everything else and definitely plan to return.

- Dukes Waikiki was very over rated. We didn't have a great meal in Waikiki at all, but some of that was due to having younger kids and jet lag and where we chose to eat for convenience.

- Ama Ama was lovely, we ended up there 2 out of 4 nights. We had planned on Roys steakhouse one night but switched bc my son was sick and we didn't want to send him to the kids club to share germs. Noe at the Four Seasons was also beautiful, but $$$.

- Aulani spa 100% worth the cost!!! DH joined me for the water garden after my treatment while the kids did a program at Aunties.

- Aulani Luau was OK, but I have a feeling I'd say the same for any of them. Glad we did it, probably won't do one again.

- Polynesian Cultural Center was a huge hit with the kids, definitely a full day affair. I felt slightly uncomfortable with the cultural representations as tourism (more of a personal.issue in general rather than reflection of PCC), but the Breath of Life show was phenomenal. Much better than Aulani Luau. The Prime Rib dinner was horrible, much better and cheaper options by the main gate. The Ambassador package was helpful - we had a guide to make sure we got to see the most of the PCC and great seating for the show.

- My kids did great at Pearl Harbor. I was nervous they wouldn't "get" it, but the memorial is very well done and led to good conversation. My 4th grader learned about WW2 this year in school, so especially timely.

- Hanuama Bay was our favorite. Not too crowded after lunch time and my daughter learned to snorkel there. My favorite day of the trip. The snack bar was absolutely disgusting though!

- Chase travel/UR rewards portal excursions were great. We did Ocean Kayaking, scuba dive and dolphin snorkel boat trip. Hubby loved Dive Oahu so much he booked a 2nd trip with them.

This got longer than I planned! Thanks to everyone who shared advice on CC syrategy and Hawaii in general. This trip wouldn't have happened without you!

Hanuama Bay was where I learned to snorkel ... in 1987 (college boyfriend was stationed at Pearl)

 

[miztressuz]

I'm still learning all if this, but what is the benefit of lowering limits? I always thought higher limits were better in the credit world? But I've seen a few people here mentioning having low limits.

With Chase it gives you a better chance at approval, and under 50% CL to income increases the chances at an instant approval. Credit issuers will only extend so much credit so when you get close to their limit they'd just deny you a new card. Chase doesn't have any limits on number of cards you can hold so they limit their risk by credit extended. Other issuers like AmEx put limits on credit cards you can have (5 credit cards total for AmEx but that doesn't include charge cards. You can have any number of charge cards with them.) and if you get close to the amount of credit they will extend you, they may just take it from another open card to keep you within their acceptable risk range. Chase on the other hand will usually just deny you a card. You may be able to recon and ask to move credit to open the new one, but it's not guaranteed to work and who wants to talk to a person So the recommendation is usually to take the proactive approach of lowering existing credit limits to try to look like a good credit prospect.

Chase is only looking at credit they extended to you, so when you calculate your CL to income just add up all Chase cards, both biz and personal. If the limits are less than 50% of reported income (usually household income, but whatever income you are declaring on the application is what they are using) you have a shot. You want to take into consideration how much the new minimum CL will impact that ratio and perhaps lower accordingly. Chase will extend more than 50% in CL but it can get tougher to be approved once you hit that number.

Chase tends to give me up to 60%. I have been lowering my limits into the low 40s% before applying. I usually get bumped back to 50-60% after approval.

 

[Judique]

hey hey hey....family snagged boarding group 86 this morning and they are in the park and excited to get their ride!

I've spent a lot of my time over in Reunion this trip but did some MK last night and then finished up in Epcot. I'm finding the parks very crowded - all of them!

My niece who comes down here at least once per year and often more, had not even heard of ROTR until I told her on the phone before they arrived. A quick tutorial thanks to @SouthFayetteFan 's dedication to the other thread and they were up to speed. Someone on the other thread thinks the app opened a few seconds earlier this morning. In any case they were successful and are happy! If I can get myself motivated I might walk on over to catch them as they exit.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Our very own @georgina got BG 9 Today and was off of RotR by 8:35am!!

 

[WVMomof3]

I'm still learning all if this, but what is the benefit of lowering limits? I always thought higher limits were better in the credit world? But I've seen a few people here mentioning having low limits.

As a general guideline we usually say that Chase will extend about 50% of your income or about $80k max if you are a high income earner. DD is still in school and is a very very low income earner. lol I think with her 3 cards she may be at 100% of her stated income. That is definitely not the norm. Sometimes they will deny, but you can call in and move around credit between cards if needed. If you want autoapproved, best to have them lowered at least a month before a new application so it has time to report to your credit report.

 

[punkin]

Trying to get DD home for spring break and OMG the prices. I guess I'll bite the bullet and use up half of the AA points I have left. The AA points were really useful to me this year.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Gah....disappear and come back to 40 pages to read through. If only Reddit worked on our school network. GRRRR.

I know at least one person on here bashed me for asking about flying my 14 years and 11 mos old daughter on Delta as a "15 year old" to avoid the unaccompanied minor fee. Her dad took her to the airport on Friday (I was in CLE for hockey). She did TSA herself and then walked the VERY LONG DTW McNamara Terminal down to her gate solo. She was actually 1.5 hour early as there was no line at TSA. I texted with her until the plane took off, and again once she got the messaging working on the plane. The family she was meeting was there to get her on the other end with no issues as well. On the way back, the same results.

Considering she's 28 days away now from being 15, I won't have to worry about this issue again. She showed her school ID at TSA, but I did give her a copy of her birth cert too. I also gave her one of "her" credit cards and told her if anything happened at the gate (like they asked to see her birth cert) that she was allowed to pay the added fee.

Again, I talked in depth w/ her about it and she was comfortable flying solo. I talked to the pilot I'm dating about it as well, and he also said to go for it. So while I know others might be upset we scammed the system, she was 30 days away from not requiring the $300 fee. This past summer we didn't fly her to see my sister (her aunt) because I wouldn't have tried "faking her age" then. I wouldn't do this with her really at any younger age, or with my son. But I know I flew at 14 solo, with less flights under my belt then she has. So I wasn't too worried about her being able to do this being 1 month away from the cut off. And TBH, she was over 10 days late when I had her, darn stubborn kid wasn't coming out on her own, LOL. She wanted that St. Patrick's day bday.

 

[Psychodisney]

Gah....disappear and come back to 40 pages to read through. If only Reddit worked on our school network. GRRRR.

I know at least one person on here bashed me for asking about flying my 14 years and 11 mos old daughter on Delta as a "15 year old" to avoid the unaccompanied minor fee. Her dad took her to the airport on Friday (I was in CLE for hockey). She did TSA herself and then walked the VERY LONG DTW McNamara Terminal down to her gate solo. She was actually 1.5 hour early as there was no line at TSA. I texted with her until the plane took off, and again once she got the messaging working on the plane. The family she was meeting was there to get her on the other end with no issues as well. On the way back, the same results.

Considering she's 28 days away now from being 15, I won't have to worry about this issue again. She showed her school ID at TSA, but I did give her a copy of her birth cert too. I also gave her one of "her" credit cards and told her if anything happened at the gate (like they asked to see her birth cert) that she was allowed to pay the added fee.

Again, I talked in depth w/ her about it and she was comfortable flying solo. I talked to the pilot I'm dating about it as well, and he also said to go for it. So while I know others might be upset we scammed the system, she was 30 days away from not requiring the $300 fee. This past summer we didn't fly her to see my sister (her aunt) because I wouldn't have tried "faking her age" then. I wouldn't do this with her really at any younger age, or with my son. But I know I flew at 14 solo, with less flights under my belt then she has. So I wasn't too worried about her being able to do this being 1 month away from the cut off. And TBH, she was over 10 days late when I had her, darn stubborn kid wasn't coming out on her own, LOL. She wanted that St. Patrick's day bday.

That is a ridiculously long walk! Glad it all worked out for you.

 

[punkin]

Well well well. I got a CP! What do I do now? Do I call Southwest?

 

[hsmamato2]

RIP ⚰

well I said that last round and it still (somewhat) worked this round.... it's slowly dying a certain death

 

[Haley R]

I'm late to the party but Kona is one of our favs. We've had breakfast and dinner there multiple times. Kona and The Wave are our fav breakfast onsite -when it's just dh & I. You should definitely try it sometime!

We’re doing lunch though. Do they serve breakfast that late?

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

The Southwest 75,000 point links are still pulling up a valid application page from support pages. If you or a friend/family member are master procrastinators, be aware that this offer was set to expire yesterday and will likely stop working in the next few days (as is typical with Chase on these limited time offers).

EDIT: now DEAD!

These are now DEAD! That didn’t last long...

 

[WVMomof3]

Just did a survey for Plastiq, thought it might say something interesting. Ummm, they asked me what I thought about their logo?? What do you like about our logo - I have no idea what your logo looks like. What do you dislike about our logo - see answer above. Lol Who cares about their logo? Not me, I guess.

 

[hsmamato2]

We have never eaten at Kona for lunch but have at Grand Floridian Cafe twice...it’s a brunch so breakfast and lunch choices...we have enjoyed it each time

I need opinions about where to eat for lunch. We plan to go to MK close to rope drop so we can get pictures with hopefully less people nearby. I have a FP for Mickey at 11:40-12:40 and am trying to figure out where we should eat lunch after. I'm thinking at one of the monorail resorts since we'll be so close to the park exit and I might be tired at that point. I see ADRs for Grand Floridian Cafe or Kona Cafe (those are the only two that interest us). Otherwise, Captain Cook's might be an option even though it's QS. What do some of you think?

The Wave at CR

 

[trenty]

The Wave at CR

One of my favorites. Love The Wave. Only been for dinner, but I am sure lunch is great too.

 

[hsmamato2]

hey hey hey....family snagged boarding group 86 this morning and they are in the park and excited to get their ride!

I've spent a lot of my time over in Reunion this trip but did some MK last night and then finished up in Epcot. I'm finding the parks very crowded - all of them!

My niece who comes down here at least once per year and often more, had not even heard of ROTR until I told her on the phone before they arrived. A quick tutorial thanks to @SouthFayetteFan 's dedication to the other thread and they were up to speed. Someone on the other thread thinks the app opened a few seconds earlier this morning. In any case they were successful and are happy! If I can get myself motivated I might walk on over to catch them as they exit.

say hi to my Mom who is buzzing about the parks solo this week!

 

[hsmamato2]

One of my favorites. Love The Wave. Only been for dinner, but I am sure lunch is great too.

I've only done the brunch and it's now my fave

 

[Haley R]

The Wave at CR

We’ve already eaten there for lunch otherwise I would consider it. We loved our meal there! We like to try new places each time

 

[Psychodisney]

Well well well. I got a CP! What do I do now? Do I call Southwest?

You should be able to add your companion information on your SW account without having to call.