I love credit cards so much!

[hsmamato2]

I feel like I am doing this kind of thing every other day now. I'm distracted and busy lately and having trouble keeping it all straight!

yesssss I have to slow down a bit too

 

[gottalovepluto]

Hi guys. I am planning to get a Chase Sapphire and planned to apply for the Reserve, but saw that Preferred had the 80,000 points offer for the $20k spend. I think that the preferred seems more worth it if I am getting the card just for travel hacking. The Priority Pass benefit is not essential as we have Amex Platinum in the household. Am I correct to think this, or am I missing something and should totally just go for the Reserve? Thanks for helping this beginner out!

Ink Preferred? That’s the biz card, and only $5k spend & you should def grab it. Won’t count towards 5/24 so you can still get CSR/CSP in a few months. If you want to travel hack the CSP/CSR double dip is recommended to bank both bonuses (Chase Sapphire Preferred, Sapphires are personal cards). You could end up with 180k URs for $13k in spend by the time you’re done. You need to time it out right & take your other credit cards goals into account. We’re happy to help you analyze if you want, we just need to know what cards you have, what you’ve been approved for in the last 24 months, what your goals are (any specific airlines, like SW companion pass?) & are you interested in business cards? (Many of have “businesses”, like my eBay biz and some even have legit businesses too.)

 

[miztressuz]

I have a question on booking a package with Disney and then transferring it to Chase within 30 days. Does the transfer affect my access for doing my ADR reservations in any way? The 30 day transfer date and the 180+10 date are about the same time.

No, it shouldn't, since ADR's are made by you it wouldn't matter who holds the reservation at the time. It won't go in limbo or anything and since as long as the reservation exists the +10 is good.
Can also make sure the transfer is completed before the ADR date if that would make you feel better.

I do remember the discussion but not the names. I think it’s on the reddit-DIS-Churners site. One other thing I remember reading is that we have to make any changes to the package before the transfer to Chase. This is giving me some stress though, so if anyone knows differently, then I’d be happy to hear it, lol. So, my understanding is, if room discounts come out, we’d have to cancel and rebook.... Not sure about lesser changes like dining packages, ticket upgrades, etc? I’m trying to nail it down the best I can today because my 30 days is almost up. I feel like trying to book a second identical package today just to start the 30 day ticker again to give myself more time, lol.

When using a travel agent, I like to remember what things are in my control by where they take place in the trip. If it's something outside of the trip, or happens before the trip/directly related to the trip (changing dates, changing room types, adding or removing parts from a package, prepaid trip costs like deposits, package or cruise payments, ground transfers, maybe insurance, stuff like that) the TA is in control and they need to make changes. Ancillary stuff that happens on the trip you still control and can make changes (dining reservations, excursions, tours, balance of a room only ressie, stuff like that)

So a ticket upgrade if bought from the TA or as part of the package, then yes the TA would need to make that change. Same with dining if it's part of the package.
​

We need to un-freeze our credit report. Does anyone know which bureau(s) Chase uses for credit checks?

We must be on the same wavelength! I fired up my laptop to ask *exactly* this same question since I'm re-applying for the CIP next week. Trying to unfreeze at all three bureaus and Experian wants $10.83 to thaw or cancel my freeze. Highway robbery...I'm hoping I can get approved without needing to cough up even more money to Experian. Any idea?

DoC started a list but the data points for the Ink cards are sparse, I'm not sure how kept up it is but might give you an idea of their inclinations. Link: Which Credit Bureau Does Chase Pull?
And sometimes they randomly like to pull from 2. I had 2 pulled when I did the Sapphire but I kinda expected it from the DoC's list there. But I think @Lain had 2 pulled for his CIC app and I only had 1.

Thanks so much for the help, guys (particularly speedyfish, gottalovepluto, and Albort) giving me the contact info. I was able to get the approval via telephone in just a matter of minutes, so thank you! I never would have called had you guys not encouraged me to do so.

Thanks for the guidance!

Approval party, congrats!

 

[hsmamato2]

Just noticed while adding this morning's Amex Offers that Amex reduced the CLs on my SPG Biz and Personal cards, likely to reallocate to my new Hilton Biz.

I can't even find my CL on Amex page....where do I look? Oh! Also...is it true I'm limited to only 5 amex cards total,including biz cards?

 

[jimitrout]

Thanks. I think you are correct about payment being due 30 days before arrival. It's been a long time since we've been to WDW and an even longer time since we booked a package, but free dining was too tempting to pass up (I would trade it for a room discount, but it's definitely better than no discount, which is what I was expecting).

Do you happen to know who at Chase to call to transfer the reservation? I think there was some discussion a ways back about a certain person at Chase who was knowledgeable about transfers (or maybe it was tickets . . .).

I don't remember who to give credit to on this board for this post. But I copied this when it was mentioned here for my future reference.

""chase cruise / touring department

If anyone would like to do this I highly recommend talking to Melissa, her extension is 4179 (Call 855-234-2542 and ask for the Travel and Cruise Dept, then her extension). She said that they do get credit for the bookings and that it was alright to share her info.""

There have been other discussions about different extensions, but that shoud lbe the number and dept.

 

[Lain]

We must be on the same wavelength! I fired up my laptop to ask *exactly* this same question since I'm re-applying for the CIP next week. Trying to unfreeze at all three bureaus and Experian wants $10.83 to thaw or cancel my freeze. Highway robbery...I'm hoping I can get approved without needing to cough up even more money to Experian. Any idea?

Second question for the group, especially anyone with business cards: I am applying for the CIP as a sole proprietor. I have a couple little side hustles - for example, this week I'm making $30 petsitting, $50 babysitting, and also need to finish up some clothing alterations that will make me about $75. I also have a business idea that could grow to $1k this year, if I work at it. No EINs, no employees, just me making a bit of side cash. I asked Reddit about which business I should put on my app for the best chances of approval. They said I should add up the years I've been in business and my revenue from all my business income streams and put all of it on the app. I want to double-check here before I follow their collective advice because I trust you guys more, lol, and I also want to apply for a couple more business cards down the line. (my fault for asking in r/churning! I take everything with a fistful of salt!)

You're in California, right?

In California, Chase usually pulls Experian, but occasionally pulls both Experian and Equifax (Chase pulled EX for my CIP, EX+EQ for my CIC). If Chase decides to pull from Experian, and there’s a freeze on your Experian credit report, you won't receive automated approval. The application will remain pending since Chase wasn’t able to access your credit report. If that happens, you could call into reconsideration to ask whether they can manually pull a different report (Equifax or TransUnion) and approve your application based on that. Otherwise, Chase may let you provide them with a temporary PIN to access your report. Not sure if this latter option will cost you any money with Experian. But for both options, they require you to talk to a human, which you may not be comfortable doing on a "business" card application.

The advice you got from /r/churning is sound. If you are applying as a sole proprietor, you are a single legal entity. Think of "Artygal90" as a store that offers a menu of services including petsitting, babysitting, and clothing alterations. Revenue from all these services come into the one legal entity, you as a sole proprietorship. So yes, include revenue from all these services, and even projections of where revenue from these services may hit this year. For years in business, I don't know about adding up years you've been doing each service, but you can definitely count from when you first started your oldest service and treat it like you added services you provide along the way.

Good luck!

 

[miztressuz]

Hi guys. I am planning to get a Chase Sapphire and planned to apply for the Reserve, but saw that Preferred had the 80,000 points offer for the $20k spend. I think that the preferred seems more worth it if I am getting the card just for travel hacking. The Priority Pass benefit is not essential as we have Amex Platinum in the household. Am I correct to think this, or am I missing something and should totally just go for the Reserve? Thanks for helping this beginner out!

Are you still seeing the 20k offer out there? When I pulled it up it says 30k now.

If you can make the 20k (or 30k) spend in the first year and don't care about the travel redemption rate (1.25 cpp for Preferred vs 1.5 cpp for Reserve) and aren't planning to double dip to get both of them, then it doesn't sound bad.

If later you decide you want the Reserve for a redemption or Priority Pass or another ancillary benefit you could upgrade then. Or if outside of 24 months from getting the bonus, downgrade the Preferred to not have a Sapphire any more and then apply for the Reserve.

ETA: I should probably ask, what's your ultimate goal for the points? That may make a difference in the decision.

 

[1st*toright]

Another DP:

Got 15% off Starbucks on my SPG, SPG Biz, MB Plat, and PRG.
Also got 10% off Starbucks on my SPG Biz.
Got the $60 off $300 SPG stay on my SPG Biz, MB Plat, and PRG.

Question on SPG offer - do you think it has to be in one stay, or just $300 cumulative over the life of the offer?

 

[Lain]

Please elaborate on this..... where have you done this successfully towards Amex MSR? thanks....

I'll usually buy a $500 VGC at Safeway while doing regular grocery shopping. Safeway doesn't send L3 data, so for all Amex knows I'm catering a company picnic.

 

[amalone1013]

I swear there was a similar SPG offer last year, that also ended right before our trip...

For anyone who uses their Amex Offers- $60 off $300 SPG stay showed up on my SPG card (whoo hoo!) as well as others AND both 10% and 15% off at Starbucks, up to $5. Not sure if they'll apply the 15% or 10% first or simultaneously. DD is hooked on SB so it's a win at this house

SB should stack, that's awesome! I didn't even notice there were different amounts, I'm looking back through and only have 15% so far (still okay with that).

So a ticket upgrade if bought from the TA or as part of the package, then yes the TA would need to make that change. Same with dining if it's part of the package.

Question... for ticket upgrade, are you meaning if I decide before getting down there I want to do 7 days instead of 5? Or something like that?

I'm thinking of doing room + tickets through Chase for our trip, but might upgrade to APs in person with those tickets, that'd probably be okay?

 

[miztressuz]

I clicked on your link to check out the items and noticed an ad for a Discover Credit card with $75 after 1st Amazon purchase plus the 5% category and 10% match after your first year, just in case someone was looking at Discover - I hadn't seen any up front bonus for this card but I also don't pay much attention to it.

Yes, it's a Amazon only offer if you apply for it through their Credit Card services page. There's a bunch of credit cards you can apply for through amazon and some give you a slightly different bonus than a normal offer, like the It cards. I'm not sure I can link it because they definitely get paid to do it But if you search for that offer you would get to the Amazon page with all the cards you can apply for through them.

I considered it when I was applying for my Discover but it was a lower credit then. So it made more sense to go for one from a support link when they were still giving out the bonus as cashback rather than a statement credit.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

I discovered there is no fee to *temporarily* unfreeze our credit reports in our state. What time period should we choose for an application? 30 days? Or fewer?

Does this beginning Chase strategy make sense: one of us applies for CSP or CSR (not dd) and the other either CFU or CF? (I'm leaning toward the CFU in this case because of the 1.5x but some of the CF 5x categories look tempting.) And then we'd refer each other to the other when ready?

Off to regular life now so I'll be seeing replies later today. Thanks as always

 

[Lain]

I can't even find my CL on Amex page....where do I look? Oh! Also...is it true I'm limited to only 5 amex cards total,including biz cards?

5 Amex credit cards; charge cards don’t count.

 

[miztressuz]

Question... for ticket upgrade, are you meaning if I decide before getting down there I want to do 7 days instead of 5? Or something like that?
I'm thinking of doing room + tickets through Chase for our trip, but might upgrade to APs in person with those tickets, that'd probably be okay?

Right, if you want to make changes before you actually have the tickets in hand you'd make the change with the TA. So if they were part of the package then you'd have to have the TA update the package with what you want. Really that mostly only involves packages, I probably shouldn't have said it like that, because most times if you were buying tickets only there's not too many changes you'd have done before receipt. (But since the Funjet debacle a couple folks on here experienced it's probably something to consider when thinking about changes. )
And once you have the tickets you can do as you like with them yourself. (With the same caveat about knowing what type of tickets you're buying and the individual restrictions on those, etc etc, which shouldn't apply to Chase as they should be buying you the same public tickets you buy from Disney and not weird convention ones or something) So upgrading to AP's later at the park should be a-okay.

Editted: I accidentally posted before finishing my thoughts

 

[Judique]

Ink Preferred? That’s the biz card, and only $5k spend & you should def grab it. Won’t count towards 5/24 so you can still get CSR/CSP in a few months. If you want to travel hack the CSP/CSR double dip is recommended to bank both bonuses (Chase Sapphire Preferred, Sapphires are personal cards). You could end up with 180k URs for $13k in spend by the time you’re done. You need to time it out right & take your other credit cards goals into account. We’re happy to help you analyze if you want, we just need to know what cards you have, what you’ve been approved for in the last 24 months, what your goals are (any specific airlines, like SW companion pass?) & are you interested in business cards? (Many of have “businesses”, like my eBay biz and some even have legit businesses too.)

I think the OP is talking about the CSP offer of 50k plus 30 k that is on the Chase website. For the extra 30K you have to spend 20 grand.

Edited to addd: I saw this yesterday. It's gone this morning.

 

[virtuoso1989]

Ink Preferred? That’s the biz card, and only $5k spend & you should def grab it. Won’t count towards 5/24 so you can still get CSR/CSP in a few months. If you want to travel hack the CSP/CSR double dip is recommended to bank both bonuses (Chase Sapphire Preferred, Sapphires are personal cards). You could end up with 180k URs for $13k in spend by the time you’re done. You need to time it out right & take your other credit cards goals into account. We’re happy to help you analyze if you want, we just need to know what cards you have, what you’ve been approved for in the last 24 months, what your goals are (any specific airlines, like SW companion pass?) & are you interested in business cards? (Many of have “businesses”, like my eBay biz and some even have legit businesses too.)

I have a full time employed position (only source of personal income) so business cards are not an option for me. The only card I received in the last two years was a Costco Visa. That's what I use now for the rewards, and for regular spending I have a Citi Double Cash Card. So until now the only rewards I have been getting significantly are cash from those two.

I do have the Southwest premier card which I only use for southwest purchases now, and a Chase Freedom that I stopped using after I got the Costco card. I am planning on closing the southwest card after I get the Sapphire, and pair the Freedom with the sapphire. Then a regular Disney Visa for disney vacations.

I do have the Amex Blue (way old that I just keep open because it's free), and the Delta Platinum obtained when I lived around Pittsburgh in the past, (live in Chicago now so mostly southwest for flying). I am thinking of closing the delta platinum soon as well.

So yes, I started thinking about this just to upgrade travel. I have never flown first class or business class, and seeing all the posts in the trip reports got me intrigued as to how people can afford to pay thousands of dollars more for them (of course I learned that savvy travelers do not). We are planning an ABD China in 2020 and hoping to fly business or first for that. At the moment all the cash rewards go to the vacations, and I learned from reading here that they would be worth more if used for paying with miles.

Are you still seeing the 20k offer out there? When I pulled it up it says 30k now.

If you can make the 20k (or 30k) spend in the first year and don't care about the travel redemption rate (1.25 cpp for Preferred vs 1.5 cpp for Reserve) and aren't planning to double dip to get both of them, then it doesn't sound bad.

If later you decide you want the Reserve for a redemption or Priority Pass or another ancillary benefit you could upgrade then. Or if outside of 24 months from getting the bonus, downgrade the Preferred to not have a Sapphire any more and then apply for the Reserve.

ETA: I should probably ask, what's your ultimate goal for the points? That may make a difference in the decision.

Yes, it started popping again just last night. Before this, it was the AU spend for 5k points. I just started thinking about doing this to transfer points for reward flights to get business/first class seats. I am not knowledgeable about the travel redemption yet as I thought transferring the points gave them more value, from what I have read people say on here. I still have to read up on all the aspects of the program.

By what you are saying, it sounds like I can get the Preferred and downgrade say to Freedom Unlimited in two years, and then get bonus points if I apply for the Reserve at that time? If so, that's great.

 

[Judique]

I don't remember who to give credit to on this board for this post. But I copied this when it was mentioned here for my future reference.

""chase cruise / touring department

If anyone would like to do this I highly recommend talking to Melissa, her extension is 4179 (Call 855-234-2542 and ask for the Travel and Cruise Dept, then her extension). She said that they do get credit for the bookings and that it was alright to share her info.""

There have been other discussions about different extensions, but that shoud lbe the number and dept.

I think it was DaveL. Unless he's the one that suggested Leon.

 

[miztressuz]

For anyone who uses their Amex Offers- $60 off $300 SPG stay showed up on my SPG card (whoo hoo!) as well as others AND both 10% and 15% off at Starbucks, up to $5. Not sure if they'll apply the 15% or 10% first or simultaneously. DD is hooked on SB so it's a win at this house

Yea!! I finally got an SPG offer on my SPG card! Now to figure out how to use it before Aug 1 and add the nights to hubby's account since 2 more nights won't do anything for me. (although wait, SPG charges will be the same before and after right? 2pts now and it's 6pts later, so it's the same in that aspect?)

 

[Lain]

Question on SPG offer - do you think it has to be in one stay, or just $300 cumulative over the life of the offer?

The terms don't say anything about spending $300+ in one transaction, so I'd assume it's cumulative over the life of the offer.

 

[jhoannam]

I would guess any destination is as pricey as you make it...I've never been to HAwaii, but since we're going in December, hotel/flights/car paid for with points, so that leaves food. I'm researching the best local places with decent food prices,overall it doesn't seem too bad. I know we can get grocery type food easily,and eat breakfast and some snacks etc in our room when we want. We may or may not pay extra for big activities, but I honestly don't see us personally spending a ton on that stuff, we tend to do 'off the beaten path' activities,or more low key. (My AK cruise stops were....interesting but seriously on budget!) I'd say pick whichever appeals to you most,and make it work in your budget. I'd think either choice could be expensive or more frugal depending on your choices.

Thank for that perspective, I really just need to make it work. We will just need to make this trip a few days shorter and do less.