I love credit cards so much!

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I have enough Reserve points for flights to Hawaii so I thought about adding 5-6 days in China. My husband already has the SW and Preferred card- can he also get the Reserve card? Or should he transfer his Preferred rewards to SW account and close Preferred account then apply for Reserve? My goal for flights would be:
NY to LA (or some west coast city)- SW points
LA to Bejing- husbands new Reserve points
Bejing to Singapore- ? (probably through a tour company)
Singapore to Hilo- husbands new Reserve points
Hilo to Honolulu- my Reserve points
Honolulu to NY- my reserve points with some to spare

That sounds like an awesome trip!!!

If he isn't at 5/24 my suggestion would be to get the reserve card. Yes, he can get it as well. DH, my mom and I all got the Reserve card while also having the Preferred card. Personally, I would never close both the reserve and preferred as one of them is needed to transfer points to airlines. In our case, DH and I already had the preferred and we knew we'd be keeping the reserve permanently. Our travel and spending habits justify keeping the CSR over the CSP. I downgraded my CSP card to a Freedom Unlimited and DH downgraded his CSP to a second Freedom card a few weeks after we got our reserve cards. My mom on the other hand, also has the CSP and then got the CSR. Her spending habits don't justify keeping the CSR after the first year. So, she is leaving her CSP as is and then when the AF is due next on the CSR she will close it or downgrade.

For our travel hacking we need the collection of Chase UR cards. We were extremely lucky to even get the CSR since both DH and I were at 10/24. Now even that avenue that we used has been closed off by Chase. We use the Ink+ to get 5 UR points/$ via gift cards, we tend to maximize the 5 UR points/$ with the Freedom category bonuses, and I also have the Freedom Unlimited for non category bonus spend and of course the CSR for the 3 UR/$ on dining and travel. With the 5/24 rule I am unable to churn Chase cards as I tend to pick up 5 or more cards each year.

Anyhow, I know that is more than you asked for but I thought I'd write my thought process on what we do and why for anyone else who may be learning how to play this game.
 
A few questions for those of you with the American Express Business Platinum card (the one with the $450 annual fee!). I just used points to purchase a plane ticket for my daughter, going through the "use points" link on my AmEx account. Even though I used points, there is also a charge for the amount of the ticket - but from what I understand, that amount will be credited back at some point? Also, the flight is on American Airlines which is also the airline that is selected for the 50% bonus for that card - so at some point I should see half of the points from the flight added back, even though it was an economy flight?

Finally, any other perks that I should be aware of connected to having used this card for her flight?

I just picked up this card this month and am still trying to learn the ropes. I know you get Gold status with Hilton and SPG which can then be matched at Marriott. You get Priority Pass select and 10 free GoGo passes and Global entry. My understanding is that you do see it post and then it gets credited back. The points also get credited back within a few weeks.

Here is an article on it from TPG http://thepointsguy.com/2016/12/pay-with-points-amex-business-platinum/
 
My mom on the other hand, also has the CSP and then got the CSR. Her spending habits don't justify keeping the CSR after the first year. So, she is leaving her CSP as is and then when the AF is due next on the CSR she will close it or downgrade.

This is where I am at too. I opened the CSR and while I love the card for what it offers, my spending habits do not justify the AF. I also just got a CSP, and already have a Freedom. What card will your mom downgrade the CSR to? I am not sure what to downgrade to.
 
In part because of my lurking on this thread my husband and I both got a Reserve last fall. So thank you!!!

For Amex I want to open the AMEX Everyday or the Everyday Preferred. I want to be able to transfer the membership awards points to Delta Skymiles and also have another card to have as an option for when the Amex offers come up. The sign up bonus on both is not great though (10,000 and 15,000). I have tried to research it but can't seem to find much information. Has anyone seen better bonus offers on either of those two cards? Just trying to decide if I should get one now or hold out a bit and see if an offer pops up.
 


This is where I am at too. I opened the CSR and while I love the card for what it offers, my spending habits do not justify the AF. I also just got a CSP, and already have a Freedom. What card will your mom downgrade the CSR to? I am not sure what to downgrade to.
I thought I wouldn't keep mine but now I think I may. I did the math and being able to get 50% more on Freedom Rewards offsets a decent chunk of the AF. I think I'll probably end up with the Freedom Unlimited (replace my capital one quick silver) too. I'm at 5/24 until May when two drop off then I'm thinking of adding CSP (will only keep for a year) and then Freedom Unlimited.
 
I thought I wouldn't keep mine but now I think I may. I did the math and being able to get 50% more on Freedom Rewards offsets a decent chunk of the AF. I think I'll probably end up with the Freedom Unlimited (replace my capital one quick silver) too. I'm at 5/24 until May when two drop off then I'm thinking of adding CSP (will only keep for a year) and then Freedom Unlimited.

You bring up what I have been trying to put a monetary value to...how much is that 1.5x redemption into the UR site worth?? If the AF is really only $150 b/c of the $300 travel credit, then that is hardly more than the CSP AF and it does seem like I could make up that difference pretty easily with even the minimal eating out we do. I have until Aug to decide. Maybe I keep the CSR and downgrade the CSP to a FU.
 
LA to Bejing- husbands new Reserve points
Bejing to Singapore- ? (probably through a tour company)
Singapore to Hilo- husbands new Reserve points

if your willing to sacrifice comfort, LA to Beijing will probably be cheaper to pay $$ than to use points. fly one of the China(not to be confused with China Airlines) based airlines.
 


I thought I wouldn't keep mine but now I think I may. I did the math and being able to get 50% more on Freedom Rewards offsets a decent chunk of the AF. I think I'll probably end up with the Freedom Unlimited (replace my capital one quick silver) too. I'm at 5/24 until May when two drop off then I'm thinking of adding CSP (will only keep for a year) and then Freedom Unlimited.

One thing to consider with the Freedom Unlimited v. the Capital One Quicksilver is that the Quicksilver has no foreign transaction fees, while the Chase card does. This was a deal breaker for me between the card because we travel to Canada often.
 
One thing to consider with the Freedom Unlimited v. the Capital One Quicksilver is that the Quicksilver has no foreign transaction fees, while the Chase card does. This was a deal breaker for me between the card because we travel to Canada often.
But csr doesn't, right?
 
This is where I am at too. I opened the CSR and while I love the card for what it offers, my spending habits do not justify the AF. I also just got a CSP, and already have a Freedom. What card will your mom downgrade the CSR to? I am not sure what to downgrade to.

She already has the Freedom so she will downgrade to the Freedom Unlimited, like I did with my CSP. Neither of us would be able to maximize the category bonuses on two Freedom cards. DH is able to maximize the Freedom category bonuses so he got a second Freedom card. If you are able to max out 2 Freedom cards then that's what I'd recommend. If not, then pick up the Freedom Unlimited for non category spend.
 
I just got the CSR because I thought we were going to have a major purchase on the horizon which would cover the $4000 needed for the bonus. Well that purchase is postponed so I'm trying to find different ways to come up with it. I have my regular utilities and groceries and I'll prepay my insurance for a few months but if still come short can I buy an Amex gift card to count toward the total? Or are gift cards not eligible toward the bonus spend? Thanks!
 
I just got the CSR because I thought we were going to have a major purchase on the horizon which would cover the $4000 needed for the bonus. Well that purchase is postponed so I'm trying to find different ways to come up with it. I have my regular utilities and groceries and I'll prepay my insurance for a few months but if still come short can I buy an Amex gift card to count toward the total? Or are gift cards not eligible toward the bonus spend? Thanks!

When grocery shopping, add gift cards to your regular order. I think I bought 5 $100 cards to hit my $4000 at my local grocery store, Wegmans.
 
I just got the CSR because I thought we were going to have a major purchase on the horizon which would cover the $4000 needed for the bonus. Well that purchase is postponed so I'm trying to find different ways to come up with it. I have my regular utilities and groceries and I'll prepay my insurance for a few months but if still come short can I buy an Amex gift card to count toward the total? Or are gift cards not eligible toward the bonus spend? Thanks!

As Sara mom said, add to groceries. Also gift cards direct from restaurants or airlines count as 3x points
 
Do you guys think i should go for an amex card? :P

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yes... was a collection of 6 months though...
Heavens! We get a lot, but I've never saved them to see how many. I shred ours but we also get quite a few from previous homeowners, which is interesting because we bought this house pre-short sale.
 
Fairmont card arrived. Chase has officially discontinued the card so I'm glad i grabbed it when I did. As I said, we plan to redeem our 2 free nights at the Georgetown D.C location. I changed our dates. Don't know what I was thinking booking the nations capital on July 4th. It's likely to be super crowded and traffic would be worse. Changed to a weekend in early June.i also found two nights of parking at the Westin Georgetown for $16. It's a minute from our hotel so such a super good deal.

Gonna ease up on the applications unless it's an amazing deal.
 
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