I love credit cards so much!

[mhartman09]

Since you just got approved for CIP (fingers crossed), chill on that a bit. Hold out for 100 k on Marriott. I got that last summer. Though I prefer SPG, Marriott converts easily to SPG points and vice versa, plus status is matched. If you both get Marriott at higher bonus, you could have 200k points plus double the free nights, at roughly the same time.

Definitely sounds like a plan. I completed my CIP spend last month and got the bonus. If DH gets approved for his CIP, we'll be working on meeting his spend for at least a couple of months. At least the $1800 medical bill will help a lot with that and won't actually cost us a thing since we'll reimburse ourselves through our HSA. The rest should only take a month or so to meet. I'm going to try to do more research on our Hawaii trip before I pull the trigger on another card for either of us, since we'll both still be at 4/24. I'd love to see 100K for Marriott. Any idea if that tends to happen at certain times? Haven't really checked into what the bonuses have been on that card historically.




I've yet to try out Plastiq for our mortgage, but maybe it's something I should check out, at least when I'm meeting spends. I suppose I can try to put through a small payment first to see how it works out. Our home is financed through our local credit union, so I'd imagine they are not in the Plastiq system already. I'll definitely have to look into this more.

 

[calypso726]

Wow, thanks Calyso, for all of the information! Thanks to everyone for your help!

So, I think my course of action should be to

1. Stay current on this thread to learn as much as possible, then

2. Apply for the Chase United MC again. Or can I call and ask them to reopen it? Probably not - I wonder how that would work for the bonus? I had such a good standing with them. They let me close it so easily, too! Never offered me anything to keep it open. The rep was just like, "Yes, we have been closing a lot of accounts due to that incident." I was feeling a little too sanctimonious that day!

Now, I DID apply for the INK (I know, I know! I"m really crashing and burning.) AND the CSR. So I am going full on stupid. So I will have to wait out the credit ding before I apply for the Chase United card. How long should I wait? My FICO score right according to AMEX is 797.

Here's another little fact to add to my situation: I am not actually employed. My dh makes quite a lot but I am a sahm. I had my own business making a good amount until baby 2 came along and I had to fold it due to her being very demanding. She is now nine years old so I am ready to start a new gig.

Calypso, are you a travel agent? All of that travel you do, just curious!

You're welcome! Use your DH's income as the household income on credit card apps.

I'd apply for the Chase United again to get the bonus but you will have to wait since you have two applications with Chase. Some have been able to get around the 30 day rule with 2 personal card apps and one business app but it's very YMMV.

HaHa! I barely have time to plan my own vacations. There's no way I'd be able to plan them for other people. If I were a travel agent, I'd be my only client. I'm a safety consultant and OSHA instructor. So I conduct safety audits, teach various OSHA compliance courses as well CPR, First Aid, AED classes. But, I do love to travel and have new experiences and this little hobby lets me do just that.

 

[Albort]

Here's another little fact to add to my situation: I am not actually employed. My dh makes quite a lot but I am a sahm. I had my own business making a good amount until baby 2 came along and I had to fold it due to her being very demanding. She is now nine years old so I am ready to start a new gig.

i thought the general rule is that the husband is making the money, its "technically" the wife's money...
haha, i jk. You put down your household income.

I've yet to try out Plastiq for our mortgage, but maybe it's something I should check out, at least when I'm meeting spends. I suppose I can try to put through a small payment first to see how it works out. Our home is financed through our local credit union, so I'd imagine they are not in the Plastiq system already. I'll definitely have to look into this more.

they dont have to be added to the system to pay. As long as you have the name and mailing address, it will work. I use platiq to pay rent. Although the account name is the business name. I send it to myself and then deposit it straight to the bank there the account exist.

 

[Dugette]

Yes--my mom and kids and I will be on the Wonder in August (thanks to what I've learned on disboards!).

Hey, we're booked on the Wonder in August 2018! (8/13 week) Not 100% sure we're going yet, as it depends on getting these CC deals and such, but it's looking pretty good so far.

My strategy is Disney GCs and a few cashback cards. I may redeem some UR for cash

If you're looking at cashing in UR points, check first if they offer more value using them to pay for non-Disney excursions. I'm not sure how things compare, but I know that I saw Alaska excursions in the portal. I need to look into this more myself.

 

[Lain]

Now, I DID apply for the INK (I know, I know! I"m really crashing and burning.) AND the CSR. So I am going full on stupid. So I will have to wait out the credit ding before I apply for the Chase United card. How long should I wait? My FICO score right according to AMEX is 797.

WHY?!?!?!?

So, I think my course of action should be to

1. Stay current on this thread to learn as much as possible, then

2. Apply for the Chase United MC again. Or can I call and ask them to reopen it? Probably not - I wonder how that would work for the bonus? I had such a good standing with them. They let me close it so easily, too! Never offered me anything to keep it open. The rep was just like, "Yes, we have been closing a lot of accounts due to that incident." I was feeling a little too sanctimonious that day!

1. Please take our advice, or at least seriously consider our suggestions before you pull the trigger on anything and possibly make another mistake. I'm not trying to be mean; I'm really just trying to help. Several people advised you not to apply for the CSR because Chase's new rules meant you won't get approved for the card or you won't be eligible for the bonus. Several people then told you to wait to apply for the CIP because Chase's rules for business cards require you to have no other application in the last 30 days. You ignored all our sound advice, and now you're talking about applying for the United MileagePlus Explorer Visa (not MasterCard).

2. Please note that the United MPE Visa currently has a public signup bonus offer of only 40k MileagePlus miles. The public offer was 50k miles about two months ago, and people were being targeted with 70k miles offers then. The MPE has a 60k targeted offer right now. If you haven't been targeted for the higher 60k offer, there are numerous tricks to get yourself targeted for the better offer. But if you rushed carelessly into another application, you might have settled for the lower 40k offer without even knowing it.

But like @calypso726 said, you're going to have to wait to apply for the United MPE because you've already submitted two applications in the last 30 days. 30 DAYS! Please take this time to read up, ask questions, take advice, explore different credit cards and rewards programs, flights and prices, learn the rules for approval from the different banks, and formulate a strategy that works for you.

I'd apply for the Chase United again to get the bonus but you will have to wait since you have two applications with Chase. Some have been able to get around the 30 day rule with 2 personal card apps and one business app but it's very YMMV.

 

[Lain]

they dont have to be added to the system to pay. As long as you have the name and mailing address, it will work. I use platiq to pay rent. Although the account name is the business name. I send it to myself and then deposit it straight to the bank there the account exist.

I've seen contrary DPs that say sending a check for rent to yourself to pay your landlord can get you a call or email from Plastiq to send in a copy of your lease. Even with that, I've seen reports that Plastiq has told people they can't have a rent check sent to themselves and they'll have to have it sent to the landlord directly. I guess more YMMV?

 

[Dugette]

Biding my time until one of us is under 5/24 by opening checking accounts lately. I didn't really plan to get into this at all, but I can't pass up $1300 in free cash for minimal effort! We each opened a US Bank account with their $200 summer offer (opened online, no direct deposit needed, just set up a couple $25 bill payments). Then we got a mailer for TCF wanting to give us $250 for merely using their debit card for $250 of purchases, so I opened that one (did have to go to branch, but no issues - this said one per household). And since I was having a good time we both opened BMO Harris accounts for the $200 bonuses also (required two $300 direct deposits, but I found my payroll could easily be changed online to do this). And then today we got ANOTHER TCF mailer for another $250 - and this is a different offer (other just expired) which only requires using their bill-pay. So, I'm thinking DH can do this one - different offer, so I don't think it breaks the one per household rule. Oh, one other note - the BMO Harris offer is still valid if you are in one of the states they are in (we are) and you can apply online and fund up to $1000 with a credit card - great for meeting spend and counted as a purchase on CSR. One caveat - the bonuses count as bank interest income, so I am saving a chunk of them for tax time in case we owe a bit more. Still worthwhile for us, though.

My 5/24 drops off on 12/1. I did some searching and have seen some data points that I could apply on 12/2 and get approved. I really don't want to push it off a whole month until January. Will look into it again for updated data points between now and then. Was planning to get CSP, but some of the talk about business cards make me wonder if I should get CIP instead (or could I get both at 4/24??? but that's a LOT of spend...) I have recently been considering starting up my independent contractor business again (as a side gig), but I haven't done much for a few years with it - probably good enough for Chase that I'm genuinely considering it? We would transfer any UR points I get to DH's CSR to use through the portal for 1.5x. DH does have a legitimate side business, but he is at 5/24 until mid-2018 - he can't get CIP until he's at 4/24, correct? If so, not sure I'm willing to wait that long for other cards. Will have to think on that some more.

Other than the big UR bonuses, I don't see us needing any other 5/24 cards. We live in a Delta hub, so don't see a great need for Southwest or United. Don't have any immediate need for Marriott. After grabbing the UR bonuses, are we okay to move on to other cards or am I missing anything?

I'm thinking that new Bank of America Premium Rewards would be good to grab. DH has a Barclay Arrival Plus, but I still need one (bummed the bonus just went down, though!) In general, I'm thinking that anything that will give me a wad of cash is good right now. Our immediate needs are discounts on things that can't really be bought on points: Disneyland Paris package and Disney Cruise (both next summer). We also need to get airfare for the cruise (MSP-Vancouver), so if the Delta AmEx bonus goes up again, might be good to grab. We should be getting two free Hilton nights in March and two free Hyatt nights in June and were thinking we'd use one of those for hotel in Vancouver, but I'm not sure if that is cutting it too close to our August cruise. And then we also are hoping to add a Disneyland/cousin wedding in LA area trip in October 2018. Need to find ways to get flights/hotel/tickets as cheap or free as possible. That's like the bonus round for churning. Hoping we can find a way to pull it off!

Anyway, writing this all out partially for me to organize my thoughts and also for any feedback/advice from this group. Thanks again for all the info that's gotten us this far!

 

[wendow]

@Alice Sr. My credit score has gone up 40+ points and is now back over 800 That didn't take long! Hopefully yours has done the same.

 

[Albort]

I've seen contrary DPs that say sending a check for rent to yourself to pay your landlord can get you a call or email from Plastiq to send in a copy of your lease. Even with that, I've seen reports that Plastiq has told people they can't have a rent check sent to themselves and they'll have to have it sent to the landlord directly. I guess more YMMV?

well, for me, its paid to a companies name that i have access to. but basically, i have it sent to my house. Been doing it since March haha. I saw one DP where guy sent himself a check, they just refunded his money back to his card... haha. im not sure about personal ppl name though. i wouldnt know who to send it to anyways.
Radpad asked for a lease, i just made one up and sent it back and was approved. haha. i know radpad is not a ton stricter with that. no more unverified landlord.

 

[calypso726]

Thanks for your input! You guys are all so helpful on here! I don't think I'd want to use up a Chase app on Freedom either. It's surely an option for a card downgrade in the future though.

Discussed CIP with DH tonight and he said to go ahead and apply for it, since we'd get 100K UR with my referral! So of course I ran to the computer and did the app before he could change his mind. As I expected, it went pending. Now to try to stay patient (as if) and call the status line next week to see if he's approved. When it's time to downgrade the card I'll definitely look into the CIC for that.

Now he'll still be at 4/24 after this, so that will leave some spots open. We're not really able to work on minimums on a bunch of cards at once, so I've got a little time to think about what's next for both of us.

Marriott does seem to be a good option since we do stay there. We both got emails for the 80K offer on this card. Those points could be beneficial on lots of trips. I honestly haven't even started planning out the Hawaii trip because I've been so busy planning all these WDW trips. I really need to get on that soon. I'll have to check out my options as far as flights and hotels. I've been so focused on UR earning cards that I hadn't really sought out info on hotel or airline cards, but I suppose it's time for me to branch out to those.

Whenever you do get around to Marriott don't forget to make sure both you and DH get you own card during the same month to give you a free weekend out of it.

Biding my time until one of us is under 5/24 by opening checking accounts lately. I didn't really plan to get into this at all, but I can't pass up $1300 in free cash for minimal effort! We each opened a US Bank account with their $200 summer offer (opened online, no direct deposit needed, just set up a couple $25 bill payments). Then we got a mailer for TCF wanting to give us $250 for merely using their debit card for $250 of purchases, so I opened that one (did have to go to branch, but no issues - this said one per household). And since I was having a good time we both opened BMO Harris accounts for the $200 bonuses also (required two $300 direct deposits, but I found my payroll could easily be changed online to do this). And then today we got ANOTHER TCF mailer for another $250 - and this is a different offer (other just expired) which only requires using their bill-pay. So, I'm thinking DH can do this one - different offer, so I don't think it breaks the one per household rule. Oh, one other note - the BMO Harris offer is still valid if you are in one of the states they are in (we are) and you can apply online and fund up to $1000 with a credit card - great for meeting spend and counted as a purchase on CSR. One caveat - the bonuses count as bank interest income, so I am saving a chunk of them for tax time in case we owe a bit more. Still worthwhile for us, though.

My 5/24 drops off on 12/1. I did some searching and have seen some data points that I could apply on 12/2 and get approved. I really don't want to push it off a whole month until January. Will look into it again for updated data points between now and then. Was planning to get CSP, but some of the talk about business cards make me wonder if I should get CIP instead (or could I get both at 4/24??? but that's a LOT of spend...) I have recently been considering starting up my independent contractor business again (as a side gig), but I haven't done much for a few years with it - probably good enough for Chase that I'm genuinely considering it? We would transfer any UR points I get to DH's CSR to use through the portal for 1.5x. DH does have a legitimate side business, but he is at 5/24 until mid-2018 - he can't get CIP until he's at 4/24, correct? If so, not sure I'm willing to wait that long for other cards. Will have to think on that some more.

Other than the big UR bonuses, I don't see us needing any other 5/24 cards. We live in a Delta hub, so don't see a great need for Southwest or United. Don't have any immediate need for Marriott. After grabbing the UR bonuses, are we okay to move on to other cards or am I missing anything?

I'm thinking that new Bank of America Premium Rewards would be good to grab. DH has a Barclay Arrival Plus, but I still need one (bummed the bonus just went down, though!) In general, I'm thinking that anything that will give me a wad of cash is good right now. Our immediate needs are discounts on things that can't really be bought on points: Disneyland Paris package and Disney Cruise (both next summer). We also need to get airfare for the cruise (MSP-Vancouver), so if the Delta AmEx bonus goes up again, might be good to grab. We should be getting two free Hilton nights in March and two free Hyatt nights in June and were thinking we'd use one of those for hotel in Vancouver, but I'm not sure if that is cutting it too close to our August cruise. And then we also are hoping to add a Disneyland/cousin wedding in LA area trip in October 2018. Need to find ways to get flights/hotel/tickets as cheap or free as possible. That's like the bonus round for churning. Hoping we can find a way to pull it off!

Anyway, writing this all out partially for me to organize my thoughts and also for any feedback/advice from this group. Thanks again for all the info that's gotten us this far!

Well done @Dugette - How long did the bank bonuses take to post? You have just given me a good idea for my Iceland intervention. I had been so focused on planning the China trip next year and then making the spend on the unexpected Amex Plat again that I forgot to plan a strategy to pay for my Iceland tours. I need to knock off as much as possible. I'm thinking I may be able to kill two birds with one stone on bank applications, cash bonuses and some MS. Anyhow, thanks for "thinking out loud" here since it just may have helped me too.

 

[Alice Sr.]

@Alice Sr. My credit score has gone up 40+ points and is now back over 800 That didn't take long! Hopefully yours has done the same.

I noticed yesterday when I was on Credit Karma that if I paid $7k (a little more than 1/2 of the Wells Fargo hot tub balance) my score would increase by 68 pnts. It appears @Albort was correct about the utilization theory. Besides the hot tub hit ($12.5 used of a $14.5 credit line) I paid the down payment on my new car with my CIP to meet the spend. Yesterday I did a $9k balance transfer from the CIP (business so not reflected on my CR) to a 0% card with a $10k CL that is personal. Jeez I wonder what that is going to do to my CR . So here I thought I was so clever to get all this free money but it is biting me in the bottom with regards to my quest for additional cards/pnts. Really happy to hear yours bounced back that fast. Not sure I am going to to be able to clean up this mess quick enough to get back in the CC chase for the remaining points I need for all 9 of our flights to HI.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I manually tweeted for Marriott points this morning, but didn't get the Twitter confirmation or the email from Marriott. Anyone else having issues?

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Biding my time until one of us is under 5/24 by opening checking accounts lately. I didn't really plan to get into this at all, but I can't pass up $1300 in free cash for minimal effort! We each opened a US Bank account with their $200 summer offer (opened online, no direct deposit needed, just set up a couple $25 bill payments). Then we got a mailer for TCF wanting to give us $250 for merely using their debit card for $250 of purchases, so I opened that one (did have to go to branch, but no issues - this said one per household). And since I was having a good time we both opened BMO Harris accounts for the $200 bonuses also (required two $300 direct deposits, but I found my payroll could easily be changed online to do this).

You are so lucky. It's a major deal to have my payroll dept change direct deposit. Takes a couple weeks. First a test deposit before the real one. I'm going to change banks to Chase anyway because BMO (current bank) has crap hours.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I manually tweeted for Marriott points this morning, but didn't get the Twitter confirmation or the email from Marriott. Anyone else having issues?

Same Got points last night but not today.

 

[Lain]

My 5/24 drops off on 12/1. I did some searching and have seen some data points that I could apply on 12/2 and get approved. I really don't want to push it off a whole month until January. Will look into it again for updated data points between now and then. Was planning to get CSP, but some of the talk about business cards make me wonder if I should get CIP instead (or could I get both at 4/24??? but that's a LOT of spend...) I have recently been considering starting up my independent contractor business again (as a side gig), but I haven't done much for a few years with it - probably good enough for Chase that I'm genuinely considering it? We would transfer any UR points I get to DH's CSR to use through the portal for 1.5x. DH does have a legitimate side business, but he is at 5/24 until mid-2018 - he can't get CIP until he's at 4/24, correct? If so, not sure I'm willing to wait that long for other cards. Will have to think on that some more.

You need to be under 5/24 to be approved for the CIP, but the CIP does not count against a 5/24 slot. When you're back under 5/24, apply for the CIP. No need to double dip with a CSP if you're worried about meeting the MSR on both cards at the same time, because the CIP won't count against 5/24 and you can apply for the CSP later while still at 4/24 (and maybe double dip then). I've also seen mixed DPs on how soon to apply after a card drops off 24 months, so I can't comment on that.

Just a little background on my CIP application because it sounds a lot like your situation. I did some contracting work between 2013-15, made some money, filed 1099-MISCs, paid taxes. Earlier this year, I was chatting with some old clients who asked if I might be interested in starting up again as they may have some projects for me. That was the basis of my CIP app: resuming my contracting work was my business. I didn't have any business income at the time or from the previous year that I could use, and it didn't feel right about reaching back to 2015 (although I suppose you could make a case for using past income as an estimate). I just applied with my annual salary in the same line of work, total household income, and counted my prior contracting work for a total of 4 years in business. My application went pending, but I was approved after a few days.

If I had to recon with Chase, I would have told them that I did independent contract work a few years ago, and I've had some old clients reach out to me with new opportunities that I'm very interested in pursuing; I need a business card to keep business expenses separate; I have a longtime banking relationship with Chase and the CIP sounds like the perfect card for me; yes I don't have any current income from resuming my business, but I did make money in previous years (and can show proof if requested), and I have personal assets I can rely on if needed to settle business debts. Luckily, it didn't come to that.

Here are some helpful blogs:
https://millionmilesecrets.com/2011/06/09/3-ways-you-may-qualify-for-a-business-credit-card/
https://millionmilesecrets.com/2012/12/12/chase-business-credit-card-application/

Good luck!

 

[Alice Sr.]

There are rumors currently going around that Southwest will soon be flying to Hawaii. This might be a lot better for those with UR points.

Fingers crossed that it happens sooner than later. How would this be better for UR points, lower fares?

I don't know why more people don't do this. It's so much fun!

I need a crybaby emoji despite @calypso726 much appreciated silver lining . I'll just be over in the corner trying to figure out how to spend my .

 

[Psychodisney]

Just curious, any hacking tips on paying for cruise itself? I have AA miles for flight, SPG and Hyatt points for pre/post hotel. Tackling some cashback ideas next.

Another way I've used points to help with cruises is booking excursions through the UR site. Costco also now offers 2% back on cruises booked through them. I usually use our Costco $ for travel...adding to our cash that we take with for the casino

 

[Lain]

I manually tweeted for Marriott points this morning, but didn't get the Twitter confirmation or the email from Marriott. Anyone else having issues?

Just tweeted manually. Checked my Marriott app and +50 points are there.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Another way I've used points to help with cruises is booking excursions through the UR site. Costco also now offers 2% back on cruises booked through them. I usually use our Costco $ for travel...adding to our cash that we take with for the casino

I share a Costco membership with my sister. We usually get a check once a year for $20-30 more than the membership costs, so membership is free. Can you access the rewards more than once a year?

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I share a Costco membership with my sister. We usually get a check once a year for $20-30 more than the membership costs, so membership is free. Can you access the rewards more than once a year?

Costco rewards come just once per year around February, I think.