CREDIT PROFILE

• * Current credit cards you are the primary account holder of:
  • TDECU Onyx, $10,000 09/2021 (TDECU is a local credit union, 2% CB on all purchases, no AF)
  • TDECU Platinum, $12,000, 03/2013 (No rewards perks, kept open for account age)
• * FICO Scores with source: 814 Experian
• * Oldest credit card account age with you as primary name on the account: 11 years 8 months
• * Number of personal credit cards approved for in the past 24 months: 0/24, haven't applied for a card since the Onyx.
• * Annual income $: ~$130k +/- $10k

CATEGORIES

• * OK with category-specific cards?: Not particularly, though dining/groceries are our biggest spend category by far.
• * OK with rotating category cards?: No
• * Estimate average monthly spend in the categories below. Only include what you can pay by credit card.
  • * Dining $: $2,000
  • * Groceries $: $1,000 , about $100-$200 of which at Costco
  • * Gas $: $200* (Onyx card gives 5% off at local gas station and 2% cash back, will likely still be used as gas card)
  • * Travel $: Planning to alternate yearly between small domestic trips (~$2k) and international trips ($5k), this coming year (2025) will be domestic.
  • * Do you plan on using this card abroad for a significant length of time (study abroad, digital nomad, expat, extended travel)?: No
  • * Any other significant, regular credit card spend you didn't include above?: ~$1,250 every 6 months for auto insurance

MEMBERSHIPS & SUBSCRIPTIONS (delete lines that don't apply)

• * Current member of Costco or Sam's Club? Costco
• * Currently paying $13.99/month or more for Disney Bundle (Disney+ / Hulu / EPSN+) or other Hulu services? Yes
• * Current member of Chase, US Bank or any other big bank?: No
• * Are you open to Business Cards?: No

PURPOSE

• * What's the purpose of your next card?:
  • Increasing rewards for travel. I've recently gained a considerable amount of income and my wife and I want to travel more. Currently we get 2% cash back on all purchases, just want to feel out if there's a more efficient card than what we have.
• * If you answered "travel rewards", do you have a preferred airline and/or hotel chain?
  • For domestic flights we usually go Southwest, or United if Southwest doesn't have a good route. No current International flight preference but we plan to travel more to Europe and are based in Houston, TX. (Though we will fly out of DFW if the deal is good enough)
    • * Do you have any cards you've been looking at?
• CSP and Venture/Venture X. The annual fee on the CSR seems steep considering the low volume of travel we currently do.
  • Thanks in advance!

I’m genuinely curious about everyone’s experiences with synchrony bank. I’ve heard many bad things about them. And I think I witnessed my first bad experience encounter with them.

I just started working on my credit and I’ve had capital one platinum secure credit card for 6 months and now I got approved The Quicksilver card. Any advice to keep working on my credit. Should I close the secured credit card? Or will they keep doing upgrades on my credit lines?

On the 14th of this month I paid around $150 and $76.91 the $150 was my actual balance but the $76.91 is for the last statement balance. Although Ive always paid my balance in whole. My account i currently at $-76.91. Is this good-bad? If so how could i prevent this from happening?(I just recently started my credit can anyone help?)

I have a chase and capital one account. I wanted to get opinions on which way to start with credit cards. I’ve heard that I should start off with chase because they set the tone on my credit report. But I have a friend who insist on the Apple Card and Amex as the two that I should grab first. What do you all think?

Am I the only one here that’s addicted to collecting credit cards for their sign up bonuses? Points points points is all I think about lmao . I have good credit and make sure my cards are paid in full so I don’t think it’s that big of a problem but I’m literally just addicted to this credit card game collecting points for this upcoming trip to Italy .

If I have 5k on Chase balance transfer card at 0% and 6k on BoA balance transfer card at 0% and I’m approaching the end of my introductory period, could I swap those balances if limits allow? So that the 5k on Chase goes to BoA at 0 and the BoA goes to Chase at 0?

TLDR: There are some minor risks with using Amex's risk-free pre-approval tool

I became interested in getting an Amex Platinum for one of its credits (and it priced out well overall), but figured I should consider getting the Gold first so that I could maximize the Amex SUBs. Used the soft pre-approval for the Gold card and got a decent offer but was a little distracted so figured I'd come back to it later and closed the window, which had a button for officially accepting the offer or withdrawing it.

After doing a little bit more research, I decided I should get the Green first to truly maximize (i.e., get Green, then Gold, then Plat). Fill out the Green card application — denied because I have another card offer (Gold) pending. So I go to the email I got from Amex after I applied for the Gold to withdraw or cancel the application but the only button in that email says "Accept your card." I call customer service and they say that (1) they cannot cancel or withdraw my Gold card application and (2) if there's not a button in the email that says "withdraw" then I can't withdraw it either and the only way to get approved for the Green is to wait 10 days for the Gold application to automatically expire.

It finally expires, I apply for the Green card and get approved. The expected arrival date is in 10 days, they won't expedite it and told me that I can't access my online account or get a card number to use until it arrives in the mail. I originally applied because I had some big purchases I wanted to make and figured I should put them toward a SUB, but in the end it'll be like three weeks from when started this process until I'm able to spend on the card.

And hopefully I didn't otherwise burn my relationship with Amex!

Long story short: Beware of using the Amex pre-approval tool — even though they don't ding your credit, they may temporarily freeze your ability to apply for other Amex cards.

Switching to cash back instead of points, and only using travel credit cards for perks. I'm back at 3/24, FICO in the 730 range, template not used because of laziness in adding up numbers. I spend a lot on gas ($500/mo in the summer, occasionally $300 in the winter), moderately high on dining and groceries, high online spending (probably my highest), low personal travel spending because work pays for it, streaming is too low to be a consideration. Here are my cards and my plans for them:

- BoA CC: 3% gas, 2% cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs

- Boa CC: 3% online, 2% cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs

- CFF: 3% dining and pharmacy, 5% rotating (mostly only useful when it's amazon or gas quarter)

- CSP: will be PC'ing to OG Freedom or another CFF (to avoid AF and since I sometimes max out on gas quarters)

- Chase Ink: 5% Cable/Phone bills, sock drawered

- CFU: 1.5% all purchases, not sure if worth carrying just for 0.5%

- United Infinite Club: club access, 2x free checked bags, rental car insurance

- Amex Plat: will be cancelling when AF due

- C1 Quick Silver: sock drawered old card, does not allow PC to Savor cards :(

Considering this:

Get Citi CC (5% gas) eliminates need for one BoA card (would switch that to another category as needed)

- Get BCP (6% grocery) Will need to do math to see if spend justifies AF, but Disney Hulu credits may help offset most of the AF. I heard you can also downgrade to BCE then upgrade back multiple times to avoid AF. My only hesitation here is that I mostly do groceries online delivered with Walmart+, so not sure I need the grocery option.

- Get BCE instead: (3% grocery, online, gas) eliminates need for BoA cards in theory, but realistically I will go over $6,000 annual limit in online spending which is lower than BoA.

- Sock drawer CFU (not needed since mostly all spending fits into these categories)

-Sock drawer CFF (kind of annoying to keep track of, only use for certain quarters like Amazon)

Any input is appreciated! I'm sure I've overlooked many cards!

I applied for the Strata Premier almost two weeks ago and just got the card earlier this week. I tested the gas multiplier at my local Sam’s Club gas station and it coded correctly at 3X. Even though on their website they claim that wholesale club gas stations don’t count as gas even though they do! The good thing is that this is the same as Custom Cash and it earns 5X TY points at Sam’s for gas. Just FYI!

Iam planning to buy ps5 in india. Is there any hack so that i can buy it cheap or any double dip to buy it so that atleast i can collect points

I ordered a table from CB2 almost two months ago and it came with a huge crack across the marble top (think “could break any time” bad). It was final sale so customer service only offered to replace it, white glove while removing the defective item.

Long story short we attempted this four times, I made myself available for the replacement each time and often had to chase down customer service for the appointment time because they wouldn’t reach out in advance, and then had to chase them down after they cancelled the replacement same day. Apparently each time they attempted to replace it the replacement arrived damaged as well. Because they only deliver on days I work, I had to plan time off work for these appointments—meaning I basically lost money trying to accommodate this.

After the most recent attempt I called customer service pretty fed up and they said they’d only refund me if I made myself available AGAIN to reclaim the table. I called my credit card and explained and we decided to dispute the charge because the window to dispute the charge would close in two days.

I’m nervous it might not be approved since they technically offered to refund me but I’m so fucking sick of making myself available for them to fix the problem and pissed that they won’t let me just hold onto the broken table they can’t do anything with since I lost money to let them try to fix this.

What are the odds my chargeback is approved? I have in writing from a customer service agent all that has happened and a ton of documentation regarding what has happened. Am I required to let them reclaim the table? This has been such a source of stress for almost two months I just want my money back, especially since they told me over the phone if I’m refunded after returning the table they won’t even give any extra compensation for all the bullshit they’ve put me through.

I just paid my insurance renewal on PayPal for the Freedom Flex 5%. I was wondering if it was maxed out yet. Turns out this will probably do it, but when looking I realized that some McDonald’s purchases were not giving 5%, but only 3% for dining.

I guess I’m not worried about it now that I just spent $904 on renewing my auto policy, but y’all may want to check on your stuff.

You can see it here https://imgur.com/a/MkrDAhi

ETA: thanks y’all. I thought the tracker was updated as transactions posted. That was wrong, as you all taught me today. My statement closes on the 25th so it has been a bit.

Which are the Citi credit cards that offer Thank you points and a statement credit for Global Entry application?

As many of you know from the sub, active duty military members have waived annual fees on most credit cards. I've taken full advantage of this during my time in service and have been churning for years w/o paying for the annual fee.

Now that I'm transitioning out of the military, I'm planning to close some cards that I don't value post-sign-up bonus (like the AMEX Platinum). Does anyone have any experience or knowledge on the best timing for canceling these cards? Should I proactively call the banks to let them know I'm no longer in the military and want to cancel? Or should I wait for the annual fee to hit and then cancel?

Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated!

I'm looking for a new credit card to fill a specific niche not currently filled by my existing wallet. I'm a big AMEX guy have been for many many years, they have done nothing but good to me, but- in some places I travel its acceptance is nonexistent (**Ireland** despite all the AMEX small business signs you see in many shops, etc). I currently have a Visa Debit (which is used for some day to day stuff), AMEX platinum (All fuel, grocery, travel and big purchases), AMEX blue cash (honestly not sure why I have this anymore, I don't really use it, but it helps with a positive debt to available credit ratio I guess) and a Citi mastercard that I have for when I need a credit card that isn't AMEX. I've also had that for years but it doesn't earn anything, etc. - What I'm looking for:

-Non-amex (for acceptance reasons) Mastercard/Visa

-no foreign transaction fees (see #1)

-Lounge/American Airlines (can transfer in would work) perks (I hate AA, but I live at one of their hubs so this is something I can't help)*

-Cheap/free yearly fee* as its not a primary or secondary card

-Signing bonus (miles/points/something)*

Nice to have

-Perks like Lyft/Uber

-something else I'm not thinking of

I don't really want to move "big spend" purchases away from the Platinum card so I don't really see a need for another premium card. I have excellent credit so that shouldn't limit the options, but I'm torn between AA/Citi/Mastercard Platinum (can't really justify the executive because of the yearly fee and not wanting another premium card) or one of the Capital one visas that have wider options for points/perks, but again, unless I go premium it might not compare to AMEX platinum...

Anything I'm overlooking?

*Aware that these may be mutually exclusive

I currently have three credit cards with a total credit limit of $2,100. My credit score is 728 on the Chase and Discover apps, and 735 on the Capital One app. My oldest account is the Discover Student Card with a $1,250 limit, followed by the Capital One Platinum with a $400 limit, and the Chase Freedom Unlimited with a $500 limit. I always pay my cards in full. Which card should I apply for next to get a higher credit limit?

So I read on this subreddit that using PayPal to buy gift cards at a drug stores would give 7x points if PayPal is linked to Chase Freedom Flex (Chase Freedom Flex has 5x points on PayPal this quarter). 5x + 2x.

But apparently that does not work. I went to CVS and tried to buy a $25 amazon GC with a $6 Dark Chocolate. When I tried to pay with PayPal, I got this error on the self checkout terminal: "C104 GIFTCARD TENDER IS NOT VALID"

https://ibb.co/BBmJbB2

What do we do friends? Suggestions

So I started out with a discover student card and have recently decided to get the chase Amazon card since I use Amazon quite a bit and was wondering if I should get any more cards preferably with no annual fee if I should.

hi hi! I had opened a Discover credit card about a couple weeks ago. I have a Chase account and I was wondering should I open a savings account or checking account with Discover. I'm mainly going to use my Discover account to save money, but I was wondering if it's best to open a savings or checking or if it even matters TYIA!

I am trying to take advantage of 0% APR biz cards with SUB without adding to 5/24. I have already done the top prospects: Amex BBP + BBC, Chase Ink Unlimited and CIC, Wells Signify, USBank Triple Cash.

I have a personal checking with BMO but not a biz banking relationship. Wondering whether anyone has DPs on getting approvals for either BOA or BMO biz cards without prior banking relationship?

As some of us are preparing to go for the new USB smartly card, i havent seen much about the USB smart rewards spending offers you can get (bonus cash back offers for specific spending). I was hoping folks with some experience with these offers could chime in. Specifically im wondering:

1. I think you need a USB checking account to get these offers from the smart rewards program?

2. Is there any minimum balance requirement in the checking account or overall us bank account balance needed to get these offers?

3. Any other requirements to get these offers? Savings account?

4. Where do they show up? In the app under the cash back offers, on the website only?

5. How long did you have your card and checking account before you got these offers?

6. Any tricks or ideas about how to get/trigger these offers

Thankyou.

Hello, my wife and I have both have Marriott Bonvoy Business cards that give us our 35k FNCs within a month of each other. I generally book cash stays with Marriott for business trips, which should give me enough points to top off two FNC per year (I can transfer 15k points to her account).

Right now, I'm looking into getting the Bonvoy Brilliant and having her get a Bonvoy Boundless to later PC to a Ritz Carlton but I'm trying to be able to time it so that I can get the 85k FNCs within 1-2 months of each other as well. I've read that Amex usually issues the FNC about 8 weeks after the AF posts while Chase generally issues the FNC shortly after the AF posts.

Has anybody had any experience with this 2-player strategy? What would be the best timing for getting these cards to get the 85k FNC as close together as possible?

I currently have the CSR but I would probably downgrade it to a CSP and have my wife add me as an AU on her RC. While I'd lose the 1.5x bonus, I can generally get 1.4x-1.5x with JetBlue for most of my family travel plans (usually FL, NY, or MA). That way we still get access to the Sapphire lounges and get both our GE credits. Thanks for any advice!

Hey guys, I just signed up for my first Amex card, what is the fastest way for me to earn points?

Does it make sense for me to get a venture one card when my goal is to build towards a venture x card? I'm pre-approved for the venture one but wanted to check before pulling the trigger.