I love credit cards so much!

[Lain]

and we never know if amex one day decides the plastiq doesnt count towards MSR... :\
PS, all the people who know how to MS say MS sucks in the bay area... lol

Yes, I've looked into MSing and it looks like a lot more trouble than it's worth. A lot of the grocery stores I frequent carry Metabank VCGs, which I understand can't buy MOs at the PO; I'd have to use them at WM. There's ONE WM between San Francisco and San Jose, without having to cross a bridge and pay toll -- in Mountain View -- and I'm not even sure if that location is MS friendly.

 

[wendow]

the benefit of applying for the SPG business now is it's available even if you're over 5/24 and doesn't count against 5/24.

I think @wendow and @Albort already voiced their reservations. I'd also have trouble meeting the spending thresholds by just moving my 1x spend to the SPG business. I don't know if I want to move our rent, student loans, daughter's tuition et al. from the CIP to the SPG for 2-3 months, and lose out on ~30k UR as they're currently coding 3x on Plastiq. And who knows if CIP will still be earning 3x through Plastiq when I'm finished with the SPG spend?

Not counting against 5/24 is what makes the offer attractive. I'm stuck right now but I want more Chase cards so I have to just wait it out. My dh will be 3/24 in 1-2 mos which actually is timed pretty good to have my mortgage done on the Arrival+ and I can *hopefully* get my dh the CIP and move my mortgage to that. If I do the SPG biz, I'd need the mortgage so I'd have to push out the CIP. UR points are just way too valuable and I've used a lot of mine lately so I need to focus on that.

It sounds like you are racking up a ton of UR points. Losing out on 30k is basically $450 travel dollars, correct? So, are the 35k SPG worth more than that to you? And how long will your CIP gravy train last is definitely a legitimate concern. I am guessing this SPG offer won't go away any time soon. Especially since it really isn't some amazing deal.

 

[Albort]

Yes, I've looked into MSing and it looks like a lot more trouble than it's worth. A lot of the grocery stores I frequent carry Metabank VCGs, which I understand can't buy MOs at the PO; I'd have to use them at WM. There's ONE WM between San Francisco and San Jose, without having to cross a bridge and pay toll -- in Mountain View -- and I'm not even sure if that location is MS friendly.

have u looked into Vanilla VGCs?

 

[Lain]

have u looked into Vanilla VGCs?

I have, but I haven't found variable load ones that go up to $500. $50 and $100 VCGs aren't worth the trouble.

 

[Lain]

It sounds like you are racking up a ton of UR points. Losing out on 30k is basically $450 travel dollars, correct? So, are the 35k SPG worth more than that to you? And how long will your CIP gravy train last is definitely a legitimate concern. I am guessing this SPG offer won't go away any time soon. Especially since it really isn't some amazing deal.

Well, moving $10k of spend from the CIP --> SPG that otherwise would earn 3x through Plastiq = 30k UR. I suppose I could make the case that 35k SPG > 30k UR so that may be how I rationalize the decision. I believe the SPG biz offer ends 11/1/17, so I've got this month to think about it and put this month's (and maybe even November's) expenses on the CIP before hitting the SPG MSR requirement hard.

ETA: I guess it would actually be 45k SPG (35k bonus + 10k from spend) > 30k UR ($10k spend x3)

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Thanks for your thoughts! I agree. It's so much spend for so little points. I was enticed by it cause I do want to begin accruing SPG points and I am over 5/24 so I am exploring other options. But I think I am going to wait for a better offer and just focus on building my UR back up. I could meet the 10k spend (my mortgage alone is $2100) but it'd take away UR points.

Agreed. SPG did have a 35k offer for personal card last year & I think it was only 4K spend.

 

[GPC0321]

I saw this last week and with the rate I read some were churning the Alaska air card amongst others this doesn't surprise me.

People like that are the reason we can't have nice things.

 

[tink1970]

You know, I almost immediately regretted my earlier post. First, because it came off a bit like humblebrag. Even though we complain about the Bay Area's high cost of living all the time, the one silver lining is it allows us to meet minimum spends organically quite easily. I know not a lot of people have the same problem/upside, and $10k is a lot of money to throw at one card in 6 months to the exclusion of others. Second, because I had a feeling what you meant was the high spend for this bonus compared to previous/other offers. I know the personal SPG had a 35k points offer and the personal Marriott had a (roughly equivalent) 100k points offer, both a few months back with a lower spend. But those offers are no longer available and would've counted against 5/24, so the benefit of applying for the SPG business now is it's available even if you're over 5/24 and doesn't count against 5/24.

Don't worry, I can only speak for myself and say I wasn't offended in the least. There has to be an upside to living in a high COL area

 

[afan]

People like that are the reason we can't have nice things.

While true I'll admit I was ready to jump on that train once I'd gotten all the chase cards I wanted. But I live in Seattle, it's my preferred airline and to my knowledge short of redeeming other airlines miles for tickets there isn't a good way to rack up miles since they don't transfer from anywhere else.

 

[afan]

Don't worry, I can only speak for myself and say I wasn't offended in the least. There has to be an upside to living in a high COL area

The mortgage on my old house that I now rent out in NC is around $400/mo. I live with my mom because until the market rebounds in NC and I can sell I can't even start thinking of buying where I'm at and rent is insane. I don't make enough to rent as a single person without moving way further from my job. So I'm jealous p.s. those that can make spends with that stuff. But I also remember my one room in a shared apt on San Jose over 10 years ago during college was more than my mortgage. Oiy

 

[calypso726]

What cards count in the 5/24 and do they count in the 5 or do they look at the current 5 when you apply

I'm not sure how to answer the question since I don't know what exactly you are trying to find out so forgive me if I go into detail here.

5/24 rule refers to any applicant that has opened 5 or more credit cards from ANY bank, store, become an authorized user over the previous 24 months, then Chase will deny your credit card application. This will happen regardless of income, credit score, history with Chase etc. This 5/24 rule is not in effect for all Chase credit card applications. It only applies to following Chase card applications:

• Chase Freedom
• Chase Freedom Unlimited
• Chase Sapphire Preferred
• Chase Sapphire Reserve
• Chase Slate
• Chase Ink Cash
• Chase Ink Preferred
• Chase Southwest Plus personal card
• Chase Southwest Premier personal card
• Chase Southwest Premier business card
• Chase Marriott Premier personal card
• Chase United MileagePlus Club Card
• Chase United MileagePlus Club Business Card
• Chase United MileagePlus Explorer personal card
• Chase United MileagePlus Explorer business card

So, if one wishes to be approved for any of the aforementioned cards, they need to make certain that over the previous 24 months, they have opened less than 5 new credit cards. I hope this helps answer your question.

 

[Ngwira]

I received a targeted offer today for the Amex blue for business. 20,000 MR for 3k spend. No annual fee. Just in time for the holiday season since I plan to cancel my Platinum next month.

 

[Ngwira]

I received a targeted offer today for the Amex blue for business. 20,000 MR for 3k spend. No annual fee. Just in time for the holiday season since I plan to cancel my Platinum next month.

Instantly approved for it using myself as a “business” with revenue of $2500 a year. Now I can keep my MR safe when my platinum gets cancelled. Already cancelled the prg.

 

[GPC0321]

Instantly approved for it using myself as a “business” with revenue of $2500 a year. Now I can keep my MR safe when my platinum gets cancelled. Already cancelled the prg.

I hope I have this luck in 2019 (wahhhh....that seems soooo far away) when I'm back under 5/24 and will attempt to apply for the Ink Cash. I'm going to spend the next 2 years turning myself into a business.

This is how desperate I am to earn 5X UR points on my phone and internet bills and at gift card-I mean office- supply stores.

 

[Albort]

Hmm... Marriott or SPG business...
tough call... lol

 

[Lain]

Hmm... Marriott or SPG business...
tough call... lol

Why not both?

 

[peel]

I'm just throwing this out there, it's definitely a YMMV situation. I have a Virgin America Elevate account that I signed up for when I was first getting into this game, and never used it. When the Alaska merger was announced, they automatically opened an Alaska account and gave me 10K miles for doing nothing. About a month ago, I read that they did another round of this, opening up new Alaska accounts to merge with Elevate accounts and crediting 10K miles. I was pretty certain they wouldn't do this a third time, but I signed DH up for an Elevate account for the heck of it. He just got an email saying they assigned him an Alaska rewards number and after entering in some basic info he instantly had 10K miles in his account! So, if you don't yet belong to either of these loyalty programs, give it a shot and sign up for Elevate. You might get 10K miles out of it!

 

[Albort]

Why not both?

a poor college student cant figure out how to spend $11,000 in 3 months, and $4000 in 6 months without going into credit card debt... :]

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

a poor college student cant figure out how to spend $11,000 in 3 months, and $4000 in 6 months without going into credit card debt... :]

Honesty, as a college student, I would have been hard pressed to meet 2k spend in 3 months. I am always amazed at what you seem to do on a "college student income."

 

[Lain]

a poor college student cant figure out how to spend $11,000 in 3 months, and $4000 in 6 months without going into credit card debt... :]

SPG first, Marriott later?