I love credit cards so much! v4.0 - 2021 (see first page for add'l details)

[Alexle2007]

DH and my BOA Biz cards arrived today! DH doesn’t remember applying for it

 

[platamama]

Thinking about adding DH as an AU on the Citi Visa. Thoughts?

I think i’ll Just give him my Costco Visa card to use for gas only.

FWIW, if your Costco Visa is older than 24 months old, adding him as an AU will not affect his 5/24 status. Citi backdates to the original opening date of the primary cardholder, and so does BoA, I've added DH as AU to my old BoA and Citi cards and can see from his Experian account that they post as the original opening date. I've read Chase does the same (though I haven't tested that myself).

 

[elgerber]

Hope it was something you enjoyed

No she took it away. Didn’t find out for half an hour or so it was sons, when he messaged me

 

[alryan]

DH and my BOA Biz cards arrived today! DH doesn’t remember applying for it

Neither does mine! Thanks to your and @happ instant approvals I decided to try myself today. Instant approvals for both of us. I already have one from 2/20. I had to recon an Alaska Biz in Nov. DH was denied for the Biz Cash last April and Alaska Biz in November. So I was surprised to get approvals for both of us. I even decided to push my luck and tried for Alaska Biz for DH, since they combine pulls. Figured no harm in trying, but he was denied for that. Oh, well. I'm quite happy to have gotten 2 of the Biz cash. I'd been planning on paying down on my mortgage so I'll do Plastiq towards that for the MSR.

 

[Hoosier John]

FWIW, if your Costco Visa is older than 24 months old, adding him as an AU will not affect his 5/24 status. Citi backdates to the original opening date of the primary cardholder, and so does BoA, I've added DH as AU to my old BoA and Citi cards and can see from his Experian account that they post as the original opening date. I've read Chase does the same (though I haven't tested that myself).

That's interesting. And GREAT information. Thanks!

 

[platamama]

That's interesting. And GREAT information. Thanks!

Sure thing. Warning: do not do this with Amex, apparently it will count toward 5/24 from what I've read.

 

[Hoosier John]

Sure thing. Warning: do not do this with Amex, apparently it will count toward 5/24 from what I've read.

Gotcha. Making a note (that hopefully I will find when I need it)

 

[alryan]

Ok, I feel completely lost and I'm a bit rusty on things, so I'll just do one of these:

P1 2/24
super old CF
2/19 CIP
5/19 CSR
5/19 CSP
8/19 Biz Pref
10/19 Amex Bonvoy
1/21 CIU (denied because I'm a dummy)

P2 3/24
1/19 Chase Disney
4/19 CIP
7/19 Biz Pref
1/20 SWPremier
1/20 SWPlus (CP good through 21)
2/21 CSP

We have a WDW trip at the end of April and would like to start replanning our Scotland anniversary trip that is now 2 years later than it should be. We also have talked about a Costa Rica trip with the kiddos next Christmas (do we think SW will resume travel there by then?), but that's more of a wish list item. URs are our fave, but currently we have no MR so willing to look into that too. I also have yet to use my Bonvoy points (90K) or my free night cert because I can't figure out how to find these elusive 35K night places that are actually somewhere I want to go. Thanks!

I feel like I'm never great at these, because I'll try. Have you looked at what airlines you'd use for Scotland? If any of the AmEx transfer partners would work I'd give serious consideration to the personal Plat for you. It doesn't get any better than 100K MR + 10x on gas and groceries for 6 months. Or even 125K if you can find that. Of course it has that hefty annual fee, but if you can use the airline credit for SW that helps. I don't remember what your reason was for CIU denial in January, but depending what it was I'd also consider one of the Inks.

 

[vgd07]

I heard Chase is particularly stingy about doling out instant approvals- has this been anyone's experience? Applied for Freedom Flex today because I want the card, but was also secretly hoping to take advantage of the BJ's 5% this quarter, which now won't happen (ends march 14th.) Got the "under review message." Have excellent credit and my last credit card I opened was (The Chase/Amazon) ~3 years ago.

 

[afan]

I heard Chase is particularly stingy about doling out instant approvals- has this been anyone's experience? Applied for Freedom Flex today because I want the card, but was also secretly hoping to take advantage of the BJ's 5% this quarter, which now won't happen (ends march 14th.) Got the "under review message." Have excellent credit and my last credit card I opened was (The Chase/Amazon) ~3 years ago.

It's not as unusual as it was before. Having great credit and not having gotten a card in three years aren't the only thing they look at. They look at the amount of credit you have on chase cards over all, the balances on all of your cards, your income to debt ratio, so also other loans, and hard pulls.

Have you gotten other cards in the last 3 years, they look at more than just chase. Also, did you call the recon line to get the message there as that will give a bit more insight into the reason. 800-432-3117.

 

[vgd07]

It's not as unusual as it was before. Having great credit and not having gotten a card in three years aren't the only thing they look at. They look at the amount of credit you have on chase cards over all, the balances on all of your cards, your income to debt ratio, so also other loans, and hard pulls.

Have you gotten other cards in the last 3 years, they look at more than just chase. Also, did you call the recon line to get the message there as that will give a bit more insight into the reason. 800-432-3117.

No other cards within 3 years, and utilization is usually always below 30%, never carry a balance. Only debt is student loans? Phone line still says “30 day message” which seems to be placeholder. Maybe worth calling on Monday to see?

 

[afan]

No other cards within 3 years, and utilization is usually always below 30%, never carry a balance. Only debt is student loans? Phone line still says “30 day message” which seems to be placeholder. Maybe worth calling on Monday to see?

It can change on the weekend, you can wait until Monday but if you are like the rest of us, not knowing your time zone, you'll call at least 3 more times before bed tonight and again in the morning when you get up if it didn't change tonight.

30% is a lot if that's where you're at when you applied, even with paying it off each month. And high student loans and a low income have done it to others. No one here can predict as I'm sure you've seen with others, how things that seemed like they'd be approved before aren't now or vice versa. All you can do is wait and call the status line to see what it changes to.

 

[Alexle2007]

Neither does mine! Thanks to your and @happ instant approvals I decided to try myself today. Instant approvals for both of us. I already have one from 2/20. I had to recon an Alaska Biz in Nov. DH was denied for the Biz Cash last April and Alaska Biz in November. So I was surprised to get approvals for both of us. I even decided to push my luck and tried for Alaska Biz for DH, since they combine pulls. Figured no harm in trying, but he was denied for that. Oh, well. I'm quite happy to have gotten 2 of the Biz cash. I'd been planning on paying down on my mortgage so I'll do Plastiq towards that for the MSR.

Congrats! I think we have a Biz trip to HI this week so they can get some use

 

[wanderlust7]

I heard Chase is particularly stingy about doling out instant approvals- has this been anyone's experience? Applied for Freedom Flex today because I want the card, but was also secretly hoping to take advantage of the BJ's 5% this quarter, which now won't happen (ends march 14th.) Got the "under review message." Have excellent credit and my last credit card I opened was (The Chase/Amazon) ~3 years ago.

I've never gotten an instant approval on Chase cards. Some people get it sometimes, who knows why. It's more the exception than the rule though. You can ask them to expedite it after you're approved. It comes UPS 2 day for me. Hope you get it in time!

 

[mfly]

Does anyone have recommendations for Puerto Rico? Planning a last-minute trip there for our spring break (all late 20s adults). We’ll all be fully vaccinated by then so we wanted to go somewhere fun, but not international.

Flights are booked, but we honestly don’t have any plans in between. I’ve been to San Juan (as part of a cruise) and liked it enough, but definitely don’t want to be there the whole time.

Anyone have hotel /Airbnb / general location recommendations? Activity recommendations or any other tips?

 

[wanderlust7]

Does anyone have recommendations for Puerto Rico? Planning a last-minute trip there for our spring break (all late 20s adults). We’ll all be fully vaccinated by then so we wanted to go somewhere fun, but not international.

Flights are booked, but we honestly don’t have any plans in between. I’ve been to San Juan (as part of a cruise) and liked it enough, but definitely don’t want to be there the whole time.

Anyone have hotel /Airbnb / general location recommendations? Activity recommendations or any other tips?

This was many years ago, but we did a day trip from San Juan where we went to El Yunque, ate at the food stalls in Luquillo, then kayaked at the bioluminescent bay in Fajardo. The last part was especially memorable. The one on Vieques is supposed to be even better if you can make it there. The bioluminescence is best seen during a new moon.

 

[kmc8826]

Do Annual Passes purchased from Disney code as travel expenses with CS or with Amex?

Also, do tickets purchased from third party vendors code as travel with CS or Amex?

I did a quick search but could not find an easy answer.

In my experience AP’s will not code as travel. Tickets not direct from Disney usually do code as travel. So probably would code on one of the chase cards probably would not on Amex ( only chance would be personal Green).

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

New targeted welcome offer for the AmEX Blue Business cards reported:

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/lyyjxi/_/gpz9jc6

Blue Business Plus card from AmEx
50k MR points for $15,000 of spend but over the first 12 months plus the 0% APR on purchases still.

Blue Business Cash card
$500 statement credit after $15,000 in spend over the first 12 months plus the 0% APR on purchases.

Normally the public link has no welcome bonus and support links for BBP show the usual 10k/3k offer. The best offer thus far has been a targeted offer for 30k/5k in 3 months. Other targeted offers have been 20k/5k in 3 months and 20k/3k in 3 months.

The BBC has a similar support offer to the targeted offer, it's just tiered right now. $250 for 5k spend in 6 months and another $250 for an additional 10k within the first year. Ultimately the same result if you would spend $15,000 on the card in the first year, but with the new offer you are committed to the full amount to get anything. If you were looking for a cash card instead, I'd probably look at a support offer for the BBC over this targeted one.

To see if you're targeted you login when you apply. If you get the application screen then congrats, you're targeted! If you get a message "We are sorry. This offer is no longer available" then you are not currently targeted (Like moi)

If anybody is targeted for this BBP offer, AND you have high organic spend or reliable Amex acceptable MS - you should really consider it! You have 12 months to meet the MSR, and you're looking at 80k MRs all-in for $15k in spend with NO AF and a 0% APR on a business card. With a Schwab Plat cash-out you're looking at $1,000 here! My wife and I both have BBPs already so no consideration here. But I just wanted to throw it out there! Thanks @miztressuz for sharing the info - I made sure this went into the News Thread.

BTW - I have been updating the news thread regularly for about a month now. So there's great info there if you have trouble reading every comment here.

 

[GZanta77]

Does anyone have recommendations for Puerto Rico? Planning a last-minute trip there for our spring break (all late 20s adults). We’ll all be fully vaccinated by then so we wanted to go somewhere fun, but not international.

Flights are booked, but we honestly don’t have any plans in between. I’ve been to San Juan (as part of a cruise) and liked it enough, but definitely don’t want to be there the whole time.

Anyone have hotel /Airbnb / general location recommendations? Activity recommendations or any other tips?

Have been to PR a few times as DW has family there. My first rule with Puerto Rico is that hotels will overcharge and underdeliver. Not trying to discourage you, but go with your expectations set accordingly. Some hotels are still recovering from Maria, and the pandemic has forced them to reduce staffing and close many facilities - so do your research. Many of the more recent tripadvisor reviews are fairly horrific. I know because I have been planning a trip to PR for next month. I assume you know that PR still requires a negative PCR Covid test to avoid quarantine and has a number of other restrictions still in place - hopefully they will relax some of them soon.

The best Puerto Rico has to offer is outside of San Juan. As already mentioned bioluminescent bay, El Yunque are probably the most well known draws. Hiking to one of El Yunque's waterfalls and taking a dip in the pool is fun, but I have heard that access remains closed to some of them after Maria. There are many places to go Ziplining - I can recommend Toro Verde, though it is a bit of drive to get there.

On the south side of the island - the Hilton at Ponce was a nice hotel, though it has been about 8 years since we stayed there. In this area, hiking at Guanica Dry Forest offers a stark contrast to El Yunque. Or take a day trip to Coffin Island or Gilligans Island - though we never made it to the latter.

If staying in the San Juan area, then La Concha at Condado would be my top pick for a group in their twenties. It is a bit $$$ though but if you have Marriott points to spare could be a good option. If staying in this area - add paddleboarding/kayaking on Condado lagoon to your list of things to do. Maybe a trip to the Bacardi factory?

Near El Yunque, the Hyatt Grand Reserve is a steal if you have Hyatt points. You would obviously need a car, but I have not found driving in PR to be too bad except in the immediate San Juan area where it can get a bit crazy. That said some of the roads in the interior leave a lot to be desired.

 

[GBRforWDW]

I heard Chase is particularly stingy about doling out instant approvals- has this been anyone's experience? Applied for Freedom Flex today because I want the card, but was also secretly hoping to take advantage of the BJ's 5% this quarter, which now won't happen (ends march 14th.) Got the "under review message." Have excellent credit and my last credit card I opened was (The Chase/Amazon) ~3 years ago.

Lol, was debating telling this story here... I got the Disney Chase card a year and a half ago when I was booking a vacation and pretty sure I got instant approval. Found out later I got a really high limit. Nearly double any other card I had.

Well, last month I got an email about signing up friends and each signup would net me 100 disney rewards points and the friend would get 250$ credit after spending 500$. We don't have enough we can spend in 3 months right now to justify trying a card that requires 3k spend, so decided to sign my wife up for this offer. They made her do income verification and wait a few days before finally giving approval. When the card came, it was a 500$ limit. . Just barely enough to get the rewards. Lol. So anyway, that's our current Chase stingy story.