Hi, all. Seems I only pop on here every so often when we need to figure out a new strategy. But I always get good advice, so here I am again! I just reviewed our credit reports and did some research, but I'd love any feedback on our next steps.
We haven't had a minimum spend bonus to work on for a while, but have taken several trips on "leftovers" from our previous go-rounds. We're squeezing out one more with the scraps of points/rewards/deals we can - driving from MN to WDW over our daughter's Spring Break in March. We've got 11 nights of (reasonably nice) accommodations for about $550 total (there's three of us), so I'm satisfied with that, given that we just decided to do this and don't have time to get new bonuses before booking everything. But we are literally cleaning out all of our rewards programs to make this happen. And, since we're hoping to upgrade our Disney tickets to Annual Passes (so $$$, ugh), we really need to pile up some more rewards to cover hotels and travel for at least one more WDW trip later in 2020. We are in MN and mostly fly Delta (though we tried out super cheap fares on Frontier recently and I would do that again for a short trip!). We both have the Delta AmEx Platinum Business and get annual companion passes. There are 2 adults and a 7-year-old in our party, so at least we can get one freebie out of that. But our Skymiles balances are minimal right now (less than 20K/each).
Looking to figure out the next card for both myself and DH. I'll start with DH. I'm thinking maybe the Chase Ink Business Preferred for him because of the 80K UR point bonus. He does technically have a freelance business - not very active, but legitimate. He's only had three new cards in the last 2 years - one in March 2019 and two in July 2019 (one of which is Chase). He has an existing CSR that we can transfer URs to. He is mostly using his CSR now for everyday spending. Oh, also, I am taking classes and have a $2K+ tuition payment coming up, so I could put that on whatever card he gets, if that changes anything.
For myself, I'm looking at maybe the Hilton Business AmEx with 130K Hilton point offer (we stay at Hilton brands fairly often when we travel). I already had the CIP and converted it to a Chase Ink Business Cash after a year to avoid the annual fee. I have had my own business in the past and could always start it up again, so that seems to work fine (at least w/Chase) to get a biz card. Not sure if AmEx is any different. I, however, have opened 5 cards in the last 24 months. The oldest two were both on 4/6/18 (double dipped Chase Sapphires). I got a Hilton AmEx (free, personal) in Nov. 2018, along with a Barclay Arrival + at the same time. Last card is a bank cash back card in March 2019. Thinking I would wait until May to apply, due to this (and that gives us time to hit DH's spend first). I am mostly using my Barclay Arrival+ for everyday spending right now.
I can go through more of our cards/info as needed, but I think those are the most relevant things. If you'd direct me to something else for hotel and/or flexible travel rewards to help with WDW trips, please share. I am pretty sure I applied for the Cap One Venture about a year ago and got turned down. But both our credit scores are over 800, no issues, just slow-paced churning.
One other question. As I reviewed our cards, I realized that my CSP is probably no longer necessary. I have the CIC and that earns URs. I transfer all my URs to DH's CSR. Would you recommend I do a product change on my CSP? If so, to what? Would love to be rid of an annual fee.
Thanks for any feedback and happy travels in 2020!
