platamama
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2009
Okay I'm ready to start prepping for my next card.
Here is where I am at:
02/19 Chase Sapphire Preferred (met MSR, waiting for reward points) Credit Limit $15000
03/18 Best Buy
07/17 Bank of America ( I used this one for a no fee balance transfer, amount has been paid off) Should I close it? I don't use it.
04/16 Chase SW Priority Credit Limit $12000 (This is my favorite card even with the AF b/c we fly primarily SW) It is losing out to the Sapphire though.
09/15 Citibank (This one was also used for a no fee balance transfer, also paid off and not used) Close it?
11/13 Walmart MC
06/11 Chase Disney (I just lowered my credit amount on this card to $2000) I was thinking of closing it since I don't use it but not sure how much it will affect Credit score if I do.
05/08 Kohls
10/08 Lane Bryant
05/05 Avenue
05/05 Credit Union Master Card
I have had 5 hard pulls since Aug 2017.
We have an Alaskan Cruise coming up in June of 2020. I opened the Sapphire to earn points to use towards flights.
I will be referring my husband for this card in July of this year. He's not big on the churning game, so I have to use him in small doses.
I am thinking I want to do the AMEX Hilton Honors card next because of the low MSR and no AF, and the sign up bonus is 100,000 points. We will probably stay in a Hilton when we fly to Seattle right before the cruise so this seems like the best choice. Also is it 2 or 3 months I should wait since applying for the CSP
Should I go with this card, or am I missing a better opportunity.
I don't want to mess with any business cards right now.
So what do you all think?
TIA
Quoting myself for a quick update. I just caught up on the Chase Freedom 5% categories so I think I should apply for the Freedom first and then the Amex. Does this plan sound okay. I need to wait though b4 applying for the Freedom though correct, since I just got my CSP in Feb?
I think the Chase Freedom is an excellent choice for you, I'd probably wait until April to apply since you got your CSP last month. Looks like that will move you to 4/24 until July.
Then you have to ask yourself if Chase has any cards you want before you leave 4/24 behind.
If you're done with Chase, I'd suggest you consider the Amex (personal) Gold card. Through a Dischurner's support link, you can get 40,000 MRs for $2000 MSR. Did you know 1000 MRs would get you 2000 HH points? In addition you could earn 4xMR at supermarkets, 4xMR at restaurants, 3xMR with airlines, a $120 dining credit, $100 airline incidental credit, $100 Hotel Collection credit, all for the $250 AF.
Then once you have the Amex Gold, you can self-refer to an Amex Hilton card if you want. But before doing that, I'm going to throw out this idea for you:
How attached are you to a lower MSR? If you're flexible on that, I'd be looking at the Barclay Arrival+ 70K sign up bonus for $5K spend for these reasons:
- no AF for the 1st year, then $89 (at that point I personally would cancel the card because it's a loser compared to a $0AF 2% cash back card)
- after the MSR, points worth $800 (70,000 SUB + 10,000 MSR) toward travel expenses
- no foreign transaction fee
- 2x points on all spend (+ the 5% rebate, which has limited value) when applied toward travel expenses; otherwise it's a 1% cash back card
- any travel expense over $100 is eligible to be erased with points
Since you don't have any Barclays cards in your stash, you probably will get approved. But be careful with your timing on application because you want to use those points to erase your 2020 cruise expenses right? I'd wait until T minus 10-11mo to cruise departure to apply.
If you are set on a Hilton card, IMO the Aspire is a better choice.
ETA: I also think you should pc your BoA to the Cash Rewards card if it's not already. 3% online shopping cash back is pretty terrific.
Last edited: