I love credit cards so much! v5.0 - 2022 (see first page for add'l details)

[havaneselover]

Hilton Amex cards--should I go for the Surpass and downgrade next year if I think it's not worth the $95 annual fee? No specific plans to use the bonus points. Just trying to diversity my hotel points stash.

 

[HuskyGal]

You do not, I used my CIC. Gift cards delivered no issues.

Thank you for this! I just bought some and you’re right! I was able to use my CSP!

 

[HuskyGal]

You have to have a red card for the offer to appear but can use any payment.

Did mine in store to get a variety of physical cards for gifts. Used the coupon, charged to a different card, cashier didn't blink and system still gave the discount.

I had a red card in the past, but I don’t currently have a red card (they closed it due to inactivity) and I got the offer in my app. It clearly said for red card holders. Not sure why I could pay with my CSP (I used the app). Didn’t it need to be paid with a red card in past 10% target gc deals?

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

I had a red card in the past, but I don’t currently have a red card (they closed it due to inactivity) and I got the offer in my app. It clearly said for red card holders. Not sure why I could pay with my CSP (I used the app). Didn’t it need to be paid with a red card in past 10% target gc deals?

Honestly, I can't remember. But, those weren't target circle, were they? It was just a general sale that happened for 1-2 days near Black Friday / Cyber Monday. Maybe they were target circle in 2021?

 

[georgina]

I did not pay with my red card in the past. i have to remember to use my red card once a year so they don't close it! I use almost exclusively discounted Target gift cards to pay for my regularTarget spend, in past years I bought $300 in store and $300 online with other credit cards. Last year I just got the $500 they offered.

 

[calypso726]

Great start to a churner weekend here! Instant approval for another CIC for me and for P2. I got a 10x spending bonus offer for gas on the Hyatt card on up to $1500 spend starting today through the end of year. Wound up saving $70 on Disney GCs with the last round of Chase offers and all have posted and credited. Lastly, I'm at 58 nights with Hyatt and will be hitting Globalist again before the month is out! Really looking forward to my first Miraval stay in the Berkshires later this month too.

 

[becauseimnew]

Went around town yesterday using all the usable Chase offers for DGC.
Was able to buy gift cards at Lowe’s and Home Depot’s self checkout. It is so nice not dealing with cashiers.
I haven’t done the Target GC offer, I try to avoid target at all costs because I always leave there with a bunch of stuff I don’t need.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

DH was approved for a new CIC on 9/18. Waiting for card to arrive. Today I log in and see 'account closed' under his new account.
Anyone have this happen before? Any idea why? I have sent SM.

 

[afan]

Update on the Barclays card I got approved for last week Fri. AF posted yesterday but later in the day since I've been checking each morning. Made my payment since I had made a purchase last weekend using google wallet. No statement date yet so we'll see when I get the AA miles. Informed del shows the cars in the mail today.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Great start to a churner weekend here! Instant approval for another CIC for me and for P2. I got a 10x spending bonus offer for gas on the Hyatt card on up to $1500 spend starting today through the end of year. Wound up saving $70 on Disney GCs with the last round of Chase offers and all have posted and credited. Lastly, I'm at 58 nights with Hyatt and will be hitting Globalist again before the month is out! Really looking forward to my first Miraval stay in the Berkshires later this month too.

Double Congrats

 

[punkin]

I'm considering my next big trip. I want to do Australia and New Zealand for 3 weeks. I haven't done any research yet... it's just in the very beginning planning stages, but what points currency an i likely to need? I wonder if I can swing business class for 2 since 24 hours in economy is the stuff of nightmares? Anyone done this?

 

[Maryrachel713]

Here goes! I'd like to open a new credit card. I have only one (we over-downgraded when we got married and had like 13; my other one was closed to inactivity).
I don't know if I need to tell you anything about my spouse if the credit is in my name only (he has gotten two new credit cards in the past 2 years, but I'm not on either; I think they're Marriott and United. There are no plans to add me to them.)

I have a Citi Costco Visa (which I use for almost everything) and Target store card. We bank with Chase.

We are high earners, never carry debt and have high credit scores. We probably put between 6000 and 7000 on a credit card monthly. All routine expenses, college savings, who the heck knows what else). We are not big into dining out so our grocery budget is higher. I shop primarily at Costco (with that card) and Aldi. Sometimes I add in Target for entertainment/specific items.

We fly out of O'Hare or Midway and Southwest serves both.

My husband travels Marriott for work so we prefer that. FF with United, American & Southwest (my husband, United is most). He's a consultant so will likely start traveling more and more. I think mine have all basically expired but Southwest.

Family is us and our seven year old twins (4).

Specific goals are to be able to go to Hawaii in the next couple years, visit Disney again, eventually go to Europe. So I supposed mostly travel related, but I'm fine with good old fashioned cash back too. I need a hobby, and I figured one centered on not buying (additional) stuff might be a good choice so I'm ok with some level of complication. Oh and I need to get Global Entry (already planning to but have not yet) by end of December. (I know some cards offer that).

What else do you want to know?

 

[elgerber]

I had a red card in the past, but I don’t currently have a red card (they closed it due to inactivity) and I got the offer in my app. It clearly said for red card holders. Not sure why I could pay with my CSP (I used the app). Didn’t it need to be paid with a red card in past 10% target gc deals?

No, you have never had to use the Red card for the discounted deals. Which is great, because it's great help for MSRs.
I used the flash deals today at CVS, HD and Best Buy. Hopefully they post faster than the last round.

 

[calypso726]

Success! I've booked our flights to Spain for a Med cruise on Virgin Voyages next year. I've been checking AA to get an idea of what the award flights will cost in miles or in money. They have lost their minds. The average seems to be about 135k per person, one way for business lie flats on either a non stop or a flight with a connection. In money it's over $4k per person! One way! That's a hard no from me.

I had a bunch of Avios with BA thanks to cancellations made in 2020. I was able to transfer those to Iberia Avios. Although I've never flown Iberia, I've had a FF account with them for some years. Good thing too since you can't transfer BA Avios to Iberia Avios unless your account is at least 90 days old. No non stops, so I'm connecting in Madrid. The business class flights were 51.5K per person with $139.50 in taxes and fees per person. Not bad if you ask me.

 

[calypso726]

I'm considering my next big trip. I want to do Australia and New Zealand for 3 weeks. I haven't done any research yet... it's just in the very beginning planning stages, but what points currency an i likely to need? I wonder if I can swing business class for 2 since 24 hours in economy is the stuff of nightmares? Anyone done this?

It was a gazillion years ago but we positioned and flew Quantas out of LAX.

Here's a recent blog post from Upgraded Points. He's a bit spammy with cc links like TPG but the info is usually pretty solid.

https://upgradedpoints.com/travel/best-ways-to-fly-to-australia-with-points/

 

[Best Aunt]

Here goes! I'd like to open a new credit card. I have only one (we over-downgraded when we got married and had like 13; my other one was closed to inactivity).
I don't know if I need to tell you anything about my spouse if the credit is in my name only (he has gotten two new credit cards in the past 2 years, but I'm not on either; I think they're Marriott and United. There are no plans to add me to them.)

I have a Citi Costco Visa (which I use for almost everything) and Target store card. We bank with Chase.

We are high earners, never carry debt and have high credit scores. We probably put between 6000 and 7000 on a credit card monthly. All routine expenses, college savings, who the heck knows what else). We are not big into dining out so our grocery budget is higher. I shop primarily at Costco (with that card) and Aldi. Sometimes I add in Target for entertainment/specific items.

We fly out of O'Hare or Midway and Southwest serves both.

My husband travels Marriott for work so we prefer that. FF with United, American & Southwest (my husband, United is most). He's a consultant so will likely start traveling more and more. I think mine have all basically expired but Southwest.

Family is us and our seven year old twins (4).

Specific goals are to be able to go to Hawaii in the next couple years, visit Disney again, eventually go to Europe. So I supposed mostly travel related, but I'm fine with good old fashioned cash back too. I need a hobby, and I figured one centered on not buying (additional) stuff might be a good choice so I'm ok with some level of complication. Oh and I need to get Global Entry (already planning to but have not yet) by end of December. (I know some cards offer that).

What else do you want to know?

You will get much better advice from others on here. I will just mention my recent experience which was: it's like all of the cards want you to be jumping-up-and-down excited about what they offer. But what they're offering might not match up with your life.

So you have to calmly think things like, "Well, it's lovely that you are doing big cash back on gas, but I work from home now so that's not a big benefit for me."

Or, "It's nice that you offer a big cash back on groceries, but I buy my groceries at Walmart and they aren't included."

Or, "Yes, that's wonderful for people who are gym members. But I haven't set foot in a gym since 12th grade and have no intention of starting now. So that's not a big benefit for me."

You get the idea.

 

[reliev]

Great start to a churner weekend here! Instant approval for another CIC for me and for P2. I got a 10x spending bonus offer for gas on the Hyatt card on up to $1500 spend starting today through the end of year. Wound up saving $70 on Disney GCs with the last round of Chase offers and all have posted and credited. Lastly, I'm at 58 nights with Hyatt and will be hitting Globalist again before the month is out! Really looking forward to my first Miraval stay in the Berkshires later this month too.

nice all i got is the amazon one

 

[Psychodisney]

Here goes! I'd like to open a new credit card. I have only one (we over-downgraded when we got married and had like 13; my other one was closed to inactivity).
I don't know if I need to tell you anything about my spouse if the credit is in my name only (he has gotten two new credit cards in the past 2 years, but I'm not on either; I think they're Marriott and United. There are no plans to add me to them.)

I have a Citi Costco Visa (which I use for almost everything) and Target store card. We bank with Chase.

We are high earners, never carry debt and have high credit scores. We probably put between 6000 and 7000 on a credit card monthly. All routine expenses, college savings, who the heck knows what else). We are not big into dining out so our grocery budget is higher. I shop primarily at Costco (with that card) and Aldi. Sometimes I add in Target for entertainment/specific items.

We fly out of O'Hare or Midway and Southwest serves both.

My husband travels Marriott for work so we prefer that. FF with United, American & Southwest (my husband, United is most). He's a consultant so will likely start traveling more and more. I think mine have all basically expired but Southwest.

Family is us and our seven year old twins (4).

Specific goals are to be able to go to Hawaii in the next couple years, visit Disney again, eventually go to Europe. So I supposed mostly travel related, but I'm fine with good old fashioned cash back too. I need a hobby, and I figured one centered on not buying (additional) stuff might be a good choice so I'm ok with some level of complication. Oh and I need to get Global Entry (already planning to but have not yet) by end of December. (I know some cards offer that).

What else do you want to know?

Welcome fellow Chicagoan!
It seems that you are starting with a nice clean slate with great potential. With your clean slate, the general advice wold be to start with Chase cards while you are under 5/24 (5 cards in 24 months).

First would be to decide which Sapphire product works best for you. CSP of CSR. I lean to the CSR which would include your GE. It does have a big AF but that can be recouped, eexpecially if you only keep it for a year and then downgrade to a CSP. Those 2 cards earn UR points which work for SW, United, Hyatt and Marriott transfers.

Next, I would watch out for an increased SW card bonus over the next month or two. Research the companion pass and follow the directions to earn the companion pass early in 2023 (valid through 2024).

Looks like your DH would also qualify for business cards, another great way to accumulate UR points.

Get added to our Dischurner thread on Reddit. @SouthFayetteFan can help with that. You’ll find some great info on Reddit and some links for support on our thread.

 

[wanderlust7]

Here goes! I'd like to open a new credit card. I have only one (we over-downgraded when we got married and had like 13; my other one was closed to inactivity).
I don't know if I need to tell you anything about my spouse if the credit is in my name only (he has gotten two new credit cards in the past 2 years, but I'm not on either; I think they're Marriott and United. There are no plans to add me to them.)

I have a Citi Costco Visa (which I use for almost everything) and Target store card. We bank with Chase.

We are high earners, never carry debt and have high credit scores. We probably put between 6000 and 7000 on a credit card monthly. All routine expenses, college savings, who the heck knows what else). We are not big into dining out so our grocery budget is higher. I shop primarily at Costco (with that card) and Aldi. Sometimes I add in Target for entertainment/specific items.

We fly out of O'Hare or Midway and Southwest serves both.

My husband travels Marriott for work so we prefer that. FF with United, American & Southwest (my husband, United is most). He's a consultant so will likely start traveling more and more. I think mine have all basically expired but Southwest.

Family is us and our seven year old twins (4).

Specific goals are to be able to go to Hawaii in the next couple years, visit Disney again, eventually go to Europe. So I supposed mostly travel related, but I'm fine with good old fashioned cash back too. I need a hobby, and I figured one centered on not buying (additional) stuff might be a good choice so I'm ok with some level of complication. Oh and I need to get Global Entry (already planning to but have not yet) by end of December. (I know some cards offer that).

What else do you want to know?

Welcome! This is a wonderful hobby. I'm curious how you're able to fund college savings with a credit card - Gift of College gift cards?

First thing to know is the Chase 5/24 rule. They won't approve you for any of their cards if you've had 5 or more cards on your personal credit report in the last 24 months. Authorized user cards count, so don't add each other. It sounds like you're 0/24.

If you're willing to get business cards, it will significantly prolong your game. A lot of side gigs can count. Reselling is a popular category here. Most business cards don't report to your personal credit report and so won't add to your x/24, but you need to be under 5/24 to be approved for Chase business cards.

You can take a look at the Chase Sapphire Preferred (CSP) and Reserve (CSR) first. If you want both, you'd have to use a loophole. Chase UR are very flexible and can be transferred to United, Southwest, Hyatt, among others. The Hyatt transfer is especially valuable. Can be cashed out too at 1 cent per point, or 1.25 with the CSP and 1.5 with the CSR if you do Pay Yourself Back for specific categories.

If your DH has any flexibility in where he stays for work, Hyatt has the best loyalty program.

 

[reliev]

I'm considering my next big trip. I want to do Australia and New Zealand for 3 weeks. I haven't done any research yet... it's just in the very beginning planning stages, but what points currency an i likely to need? I wonder if I can swing business class for 2 since 24 hours in economy is the stuff of nightmares? Anyone done this?

this is something I'm looking into Air New Zeland is a unicorn space (hard to find) I've looked out of NYC there are Hawaiin airlines and Alaska Fiji combo. United is too out of lax/ If sky pesos has a deal for japan or this is just going.
Searched in expert mode on the united site if you have to chase ultimate rewards.
ANA flies there too I believe out of japan. (with this its the 400$ pp per leg i believe)
You can also fly into Hawaii on Hawaiian airlines
If you are using MR you can do Aeroplan and search via united.
That's all I have for now I wanna say it's 120k round trip if you can find it via aero plan Hawaiian airlines is a few days a week and seems to be dynamic pricing same if you choose Alaska (they just changed). Ben from OMMAT just went and he talked it down the air new Zealand flight said it was one of the most mediocre and most dated experiences he's had. I also remember reading they were weighing people and balancing the plane (for the non-stop) to make sure they would make it so that route id imagine is working some kinks out also.