I love credit cards so much!

[CyndiLouWho]

I just looked at my Discover account and apparently I have a 2% bonus on gas and restaurants. When I tried to see about the 5% bonus it said my account was not eligible for activation of the 5% bonus. Any thoughts? I will have to contact them about it on my next off day.

I noticed today my mom's account is the same way. But her Discover card looks different from mine. I wonder if she had a product change and didn't realize it.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I noticed today my mom's account is the same way. But her Discover card looks different from mine. I wonder if she had a product change and didn't realize it.

Looking on Discovers website, there is Discover and Discover Gas & Restautants without the rotating categories

https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/cash-back/

 

[Calfan]

That's so freaky, do you have any suspicions on how they got that info? I purchased something online from a company that operates out of a country with a reputation for shady online behavior so it was kind of like "Of course". It was not as big of deal, just my card # (I hope). Makes me think about signing up for life lock or something.

We signed up for LifeLock after my SSN was stolen and fraudulent tax returns were filed in my name. We hated it. Constant alerts without enough info to know whether there was a problem or not. We were so happy to reach our renewal period and NOT renew. Others might have had a better experience, but I thought it was pretty useless. The Chase fraud alerts are far more helpful.

 

[Alice Sr.]

We signed up for LifeLock after my SSN was stolen and fraudulent tax returns were filed in my name. We hated it. Constant alerts without enough info to know whether there was a problem or not. We were so happy to reach our renewal period and NOT renew. Others might have had a better experience, but I thought it was pretty useless. The Chase fraud alerts are far more helpful.

I confess that is my biggest paranoid concern. Chase can't help you with that though. So there was no way to modify the type of notifications they sent you? I too am happy to rely on the CC fraud alerts but doesn't LL include some guarantee that they handle any issues that do arise, like taxes or any other identity related thefts? My DD's SS was released by the company she worked for, they are paying for 5 years worth of monitoring (not sure by who) and she has never mentioned anything which is interesting as we just bought a house together (actually I bought the house and included her in the process). I'm not aware of her being asked to verify anything over and above what I provided.? Thanks for the info, with adding more CC and having a much higher untapped CL I think there is more opportunity for issues so something to think about.

 

[calypso726]

To the newbies in this hobby: This link is for you!

http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2017/05/05/order-in-which-to-apply-for-credit-cards


I've been seeing a few posts here and there from some of the newcomers in the hobby with regards to which credit cards to get first and some that may well wind up regretting what they got first. OMAAT has a great article on the different issuers, and their rules for application, how many cards you can get etc. Chase 5/24, 2 in 30 days, Amex once per life time bonus, 4 credit, 4 charge cards, Citi one per 8 days 2 max every 65, one bonus per 24 months on any type/family of card per opening or closing and so forth.

Things are very different now with credit card issuers than they were when I started about 5 years ago. If I were starting to play this game now, this article would be the key to helping me learn how to go about amassing the points and miles for the long game. Suffice it to say, despite the fact DH and I maintain over 2 million points/miles, are way beyond 5/24 with no turning back, are plowing through the Amex cards and have picked up the more valuable Citi cards, this article is still valuable to me. My entire Citi strategy must be re-evaluated with the new rules. Therefore, I thought I'd share it here for everyone

 

[kmc8826]

That's so freaky, do you have any suspicions on how they got that info? I purchased something online from a company that operates out of a country with a reputation for shady online behavior so it was kind of like "Of course". It was not as big of deal, just my card # (I hope). Makes me think about signing up for life lock or something.

When DH talked to chase they changed his password. Now we tried to log on and it isn't working. He will need to call but proclaimed last night he wasn't going to deal with it. Once we can get back into the account I am going to go through the reserve statements and see if I can figure it out. It would just make us feel better if we had some idea how it happened.

I agree about making you paranoid. Stuff like that like fraudulent tax returns etc is scary! You can monitor on your own the credit cards you know you have but not knowing what else could be going on out there with your information is pretty frightening. All we have is our credit and bank account numbers; it isn't like we have stacks of money anymore in this digital age. I have thought about life lock too but hate to pay for a service if there is a way to monitor on our own with no cost.

 

[calypso726]

For those collecting American Airlines miles: http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.c...ican-airlines-miles-4-partner-offers-targeted

That's an easy 10,000 AA miles for stuff I was likely going to do anyhow with the exception of the wine. But $42 for 10,000 AA miles is worth it to me.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

For those collecting American Airlines miles: http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.c...ican-airlines-miles-4-partner-offers-targeted

That's an easy 10,000 AA miles for stuff I was likely going to do anyhow with the exception of the wine. But $42 for 10,000 AA miles is worth it to me.

My problem is all the restaurants in their network around here are crappy places I wouldn't go otherwise. There's one mediocre Chinese restaurant we go to occasionally but that's it.
ETA: found a new brunch place in their network, which I have a Groupon for, but is blocked on weekends. Since I work full time of course brunch during the week is kinda out

 

[Alice Sr.]

To the newbies in this hobby: This link is for you!

http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2017/05/05/order-in-which-to-apply-for-credit-cards


I've been seeing a few posts here and there from some of the newcomers in the hobby with regards to which credit cards to get first and some that may well wind up regretting what they got first. OMAAT has a great article on the different issuers, and their rules for application, how many cards you can get etc. Chase 5/24, 2 in 30 days, Amex once per life time bonus, 4 credit, 4 charge cards, Citi one per 8 days 2 max every 65, one bonus per 24 months on any type/family of card per opening or closing and so forth.

Things are very different now with credit card issuers than they were when I started about 5 years ago. If I were starting to play this game now, this article would be the key to helping me learn how to go about amassing the points and miles for the long game. Suffice it to say, despite the fact DH and I maintain over 2 million points/miles, are way beyond 5/24 with no turning back, are plowing through the Amex cards and have picked up the more valuable Citi cards, this article is still valuable to me. My entire Citi strategy must be re-evaluated with the new rules. Therefore, I thought I'd share it here for everyone

Thanks for this, I had been reading reddit extensively and really thought (despite your warning) that I was just now with United 3/24 but it appears I am now 4/24 (CSR, SW bus and personal and United). Once I complete the spend for United I guess I will apply for CIP, over CSP (provided the existing bonus is the same). The 30k more points plus I can use if for cable/internet/phone/travel(DVC Dues) which I could attribute to my (side) business. I think since I will not have the opportunity to apply for CF for quite sometime (years) I will apply for Discover IT and AMEX (the one that has the 6% for groceries so I can buy Disney GCs).

 

[CyndiLouWho]

When DH talked to chase they changed his password. Now we tried to log on and it isn't working. He will need to call but proclaimed last night he wasn't going to deal with it. Once we can get back into the account I am going to go through the reserve statements and see if I can figure it out. It would just make us feel better if we had some idea how it happened.

I agree about making you paranoid. Stuff like that like fraudulent tax returns etc is scary! You can monitor on your own the credit cards you know you have but not knowing what else could be going on out there with your information is pretty frightening. All we have is our credit and bank account numbers; it isn't like we have stacks of money anymore in this digital age. I have thought about life lock too but hate to pay for a service if there is a way to monitor on our own with no cost.

I would tell him to call ASAP. If the password doesn't work, it may be hacked again. It might be ok (DHs business AA card is all sorts of problems like this) but it may not

 

[AmyAnne]

Even more so now that Amex decided to do away with the 50% points back on the business platinum card after those who applied recently have had it for a year. I'll likely cancel that one and keep the personal one instead. Good timing.

I agree about the loss of the 50% points back on the business platinum--that definitely counts against keeping the card. I'm wondering if I should go ahead and sign up for the personal platinum now or wait? I got the business platinum card at the end of November 2016. Any advice about the best "exit strategy"?

 

[calypso726]

My problem is all the restaurants in their network around here are crappy places I wouldn't go otherwise. There's one mediocre Chinese restaurant we go to occasionally but that's it.
ETA: found a new brunch place in their network, which I have a Groupon for, but is blocked on weekends. Since I work full time of course brunch during the week is kinda out

We've been lucky and periodically they add a new restaurant that is really good. We will get gift certificates to use at restaurants we like too. So if it is blocked on a weekend, pop over on a week day and get a gift card/certificate. It's also a great way to try out new places too.

I agree about the loss of the 50% points back on the business platinum--that definitely counts against keeping the card. I'm wondering if I should go ahead and sign up for the personal platinum now or wait? I got the business platinum card at the end of November 2016. Any advice about the best "exit strategy"?

If you have never had the card before, I'd wait for a 100k bonus to pop up. If you don't currently have an Amex card that earns MR points then I'd suggest what I used as an exit strategy when I had the personal platinum card the first time. About a month before you are going to cancel, open an Everyday Amex no fee card. This way when you cancel the platinum card you will have an existing MR earning card and will not lose your MR points. Do make sure you also got your $200 airline credit a second time. It is calendar year.

 

[AmyAnne]

If you have never had the card before, I'd wait for a 100k bonus to pop up. If you don't currently have an Amex card that earns MR points then I'd suggest what I used as an exit strategy when I had the personal platinum card the first time. About a month before you are going to cancel, open an Everyday Amex no fee card. This way when you cancel the platinum card you will have an existing MR earning card and will not lose your MR points. Do make sure you also got your $200 airline credit a second time. It is calendar year.

Thanks--I've never had the personal platinum so I'll wait for a 100,000 point offer. So far as I can recall, I have never gotten a targeted offer from American Express--is there somewhere I can sign up or something I should be doing to try to get those?

 

[calypso726]

Thanks--I've never had the personal platinum so I'll wait for a 100,000 point offer. So far as I can recall, I have never gotten a targeted offer from American Express--is there somewhere I can sign up or something I should be doing to try to get those?

If you currently have an Amex make sure you didn't opt out of email offers, communications etc. Here is a good primer from Frequent Miler
http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.c...et-the-best-targeted-amex-signup-bonus-offers

 

[Calfan]

I confess that is my biggest paranoid concern. Chase can't help you with that though. So there was no way to modify the type of notifications they sent you? I too am happy to rely on the CC fraud alerts but doesn't LL include some guarantee that they handle any issues that do arise, like taxes or any other identity related thefts? My DD's SS was released by the company she worked for, they are paying for 5 years worth of monitoring (not sure by who) and she has never mentioned anything which is interesting as we just bought a house together (actually I bought the house and included her in the process). I'm not aware of her being asked to verify anything over and above what I provided.? Thanks for the info, with adding more CC and having a much higher untapped CL I think there is more opportunity for issues so something to think about.

I just didn't see the benefit of LifeLock for the amount we were paying. I dealt with the IRS and CA franchise tax board (since we were living in CA at the time) myself and was able to put flags on our accounts there. 2014 was the first time fraudulent returns were filed in my name. Ironically, I ended up receiving the fraudster's refund check which I returned to the CA FTB and I did receive the refund to which I was entitled. I wasn't getting a federal refund that year. The fraudster tried again in 2015, but both federal and state were proactive in catching it. Luckily, the fraud/ID theft didn't go beyond the tax thing. Needless to say, I put my bank accounts on lockdown, and I found that the alerts I received from my bank were the same as or better than the ones I got with LL. Same with my cc issuers. The few times LL did pick up something like a credit inquiry (none of which were due to fraud), it sent a vague alert that forced me to have to call in. Personally, I felt like having to deal with the LL alerts was just annoying and for the most part they were duplicative of alerts from my bank or cc issuers. They do promise to help resolve your issues and say they will fund up to $1M to do so, but we thankfully never needed those services and just felt like we were wasting money with LL.

 

[Calfan]

Thanks--I've never had the personal platinum so I'll wait for a 100,000 point offer. So far as I can recall, I have never gotten a targeted offer from American Express--is there somewhere I can sign up or something I should be doing to try to get those?

I got my pre-qualified offer for the personal Amex Platinum with the 100k MR bonus on the website. I was trying to opt in to their offers and tried to register my BofA Amex. I got a message saying I couldn't register that card with Amex because the issuer was BofA, but then I noticed an offers section and the pre-qualified Amex Platinum was right there. Needless to say I jumped on it!

 

[Alice Sr.]

I received a offer from BoA to update my existing rewards CC with them to their new "and improved" rewards card. The letter indicates the card number will stay the same and no impact or affect to my CR. Just checking in to see if anyone has accepted this offer? I'm a little nervous about accepting in case their idea of no affect and my idea of no affect aren't the same. I am 4/24 so don't want to screw up my last Chase card option.

 

[nickle831]

I got a letter from Disney Chase to upgrade to the Premier card and one of the offers is to redeem for a statement credit toward airline travel. Has anyone had this and done it? Was it easy or did you have jump through lots of hoops. Is it for just one ticket or if I bought 3 at once would I get the full credit? I can't find much to help explain it on the letter or website.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Ok so with all the talk of fraud, I checked my Equifax credit report (planning to do one every 4 months). There are only 2 hard inquiries, both related to our mortgage 2 years ago. There are u number of soft inquiries, none of them Chase, of which I have 3. Is that because Chase uses a different credit bureau? Or will all hard pulls show with all 3 credit bureaus?

 

[Albort]

Ok so with all the talk of fraud, I checked my Equifax credit report (planning to do one every 4 months). There are only 2 hard inquiries, both related to our mortgage 2 years ago. There are u number of soft inquiries, none of them Chase, of which I have 3. Is that because Chase uses a different credit bureau? Or will all hard pulls show with all 3 credit bureaus?

depends on state. in California, Chase pulls from Experian. In some states, they pull from Transunion.