I love credit cards so much! v7.0 - 2025 (see first page for add'l details)

[gottalovepluto]

so great minds here....between apps, do you freeze your credit and add fraud alerts? or just a freeze

I just freeze

 

[PrincessGidget]

so great minds here....between apps, do you freeze your credit and add fraud alerts? or just a freeze

I just freeze

I am still new to this. Can you tell me the pros and cons of freezing credit?

 

[IFlossU]

Instant approval for CIC. $5k limit.
I canceled 2 Ink cards approximately 10 days ago (at the 1yr mark) leaving me with an active CIP & CIU. This is my 3rd Ink in a rolling 12 month period. Last Ink approval was my CIU in November. Just over 3 months ago.

 

[becauseimnew]

so great minds here....between apps, do you freeze your credit and add fraud alerts? or just a freeze

I just freeze mine. I only do it for a piece of mind, so many sites have been compromised that I just want to be safe. It's super easy to lift the freeze. I usually only lift it for a day.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

so great minds here....between apps, do you freeze your credit and add fraud alerts? or just a freeze

It's easy to do so why not? You'll know that for sure nobody is applying for credit in your name. Just make free accounts with each of the three credit reporting agencies and you can do it online. You can also call and do it with the automated system if you prefer (DH did so last night, finally, after being alarmed by recent news).

The only con is you have to remember to unfreeze when applying for new credit

 

[afan]

I just freeze mine. I only do it for a piece of mind, so many sites have been compromised that I just want to be safe. It's super easy to lift the freeze. I usually only lift it for a day.

Same, though I did have someone try and open a chase Amazon card that they stopped that caused me to freeze everything. It's been frozen since before covid I think. It's an extra step but not a big deal.

I've forgotten to unfreeze or picked the wrong one when chase changed which they pulled and have had to call in which was painless. Now I just open them all, it's easier. Amex I don't unfreeze for since they rarely hard pull once you have a card.

 

[Shannon G]

I could never find an appt at bradley- are they opening up a bit?

I’ve found that if you just keep checking several times a day, appointments pop up.

 

[spacerangerqueen]

I'm starting to think about booking a Japan trip for March 2026 during DS's spring break. I went to the reddit page and I don't see anything in the Japan section about booking flights. I've poked around the internet and it looks like the cheapest is using Virgin to book ANA. Are there any write-ups you guys recommend on how to do this? I'm not sure about checking availability etc. Hoping to book 3 biz class seats. It will be me, DH and DS who will be 11 by then. Currently, we have 280,112 URs DH has 295,715 MRs and I have 194,447 MRs. Does Virgin/ANA sound like the best bet for those types of points? We live closest to MCO, but can position to anywhere using SW or JetBlue points. I'm open to whatever.

 

[djmeredith]

so great minds here....between apps, do you freeze your credit and add fraud alerts? or just a freeze

I also just freeze. Then I do a 1 day "thaw" (temporary unfreeze) for all of them when I apply for a card.

 

[mmmears]

I'm starting to think about booking a Japan trip for March 2026 during DS's spring break. I went to the reddit page and I don't see anything in the Japan section about booking flights. I've poked around the internet and it looks like the cheapest is using Virgin to book ANA. Are there any write-ups you guys recommend on how to do this? I'm not sure about checking availability etc. Hoping to book 3 biz class seats. It will be me, DH and DS who will be 11 by then. Currently, we have 280,112 URs DH has 295,715 MRs and I have 194,447 MRs. Does Virgin/ANA sound like the best bet for those types of points? We live closest to MCO, but can position to anywhere using SW or JetBlue points. I'm open to whatever.

We used BA Avios (from Amex MRs) to book on JAL. You can book JAL through AA for fewer points, but they open up the flights a few weeks after BA does and it was hard enough to find something we could use through BA.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Dh is really trying to convince me to do London this summer instead of waiting until next year. He’s thinking we go for about 5 days and if we like it a lot we could go back again next year and explore out of the city more. We’re looking at flying premium economy out of Boston or New York with either Virgin or BA. Virgin has a 30% Chase transfer bonus that ends today.

Flying BA looks like it’ll be 42k each way. With the Chase transfer bonus Virgin will be 53k (70k if we miss the transfer). Is Virgin worth that much more points than BA?

You probably already made a decision on this. I haven't flown PE on either, but are the taxes similar?

From what I recall, I thought the taxes on BA and Virgin were so much, I'd just rather pay cash. There's lots of econ dates available nonstop RT for sub $700/pp. I'm sure PE would be more...

 

[Haley R]

You probably already made a decision on this. I haven't flown PE on either, but are the taxes similar?

From what I recall, I thought the taxes on BA and Virgin were so much, I'd just rather pay cash. There's lots of econ dates available nonstop RT for sub $700/pp. I'm sure PE would be more...

We actually went ahead and booked PE with Virgin. The taxes and fees were pricey but we wouldn’t have wanted to do economy. We decided to fly to MCO on the way back so it’ll be a longer flight (9 hr 45 min) but then we don’t have to deal with a positioning flight.

Now trying to figure out where to stay in London and if we want to do a hotel or an Airbnb.

 

[becauseimnew]

I'm starting to think about booking a Japan trip for March 2026 during DS's spring break. I went to the reddit page and I don't see anything in the Japan section about booking flights. I've poked around the internet and it looks like the cheapest is using Virgin to book ANA. Are there any write-ups you guys recommend on how to do this? I'm not sure about checking availability etc. Hoping to book 3 biz class seats. It will be me, DH and DS who will be 11 by then. Currently, we have 280,112 URs DH has 295,715 MRs and I have 194,447 MRs. Does Virgin/ANA sound like the best bet for those types of points? We live closest to MCO, but can position to anywhere using SW or JetBlue points. I'm open to whatever.

I think ANA only releases one or 2 seats in J. We booked ours on JAL via BA and AA.
Look at flying out of DFW or ORD. BA will releases 2 J seats, then a few days later will release another 2.

 

[hsmamato2]

how reliable is CreditKarma for listing closed accounts/cc? I just got a paper bill in the mail on an Amex biz cc that I closed 5 years ago..... with a stupid charge of like $30 on it. I had to call in to even figure out what this card was,and when I closed it (I know,I know) on ck, there's no record of this card closing on that date.... or even close. I know I used to have this card- but is it odd that ck isn;t showing it?

 

[wanderlust7]

how reliable is CreditKarma for listing closed accounts/cc? I just got a paper bill in the mail on an Amex biz cc that I closed 5 years ago..... with a stupid charge of like $30 on it. I had to call in to even figure out what this card was,and when I closed it (I know,I know) on ck, there's no record of this card closing on that date.... or even close. I know I used to have this card- but is it odd that ck isn;t showing it?

Most biz cc don't report to your personal credit report, that's why you won't see the account on Credit Karma.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Just back from vacay and catching up reading trying to prepare to open 2-3 more cards, with Chase being so hard on people these days I need to take a deep dive and check all my available credit etc, they love to give me very high limits. I have appliances to buy, cabinets to buy and we will owe probably 25k in taxes come April.

Also, this might be able to be discussed so if not tell me and I will edit my post. Im always scared of shutdowns, even tough I dint do anything crazy with my cards. DOC posted shutdowns at Amex but gave a riddle for the reason being rhyming with "news" I doubt Im doing this but still always wanting to keep up on things so I dont do it.

 

[afan]

Just back from vacay and catching up reading trying to prepare to open 2-3 more cards, with Chase being so hard on people these days I need to take a deep dive and check all my available credit etc, they love to give me very high limits. I have appliances to buy, cabinets to buy and we will owe probably 25k in taxes come April.

Also, this might be able to be discussed so if not tell me and I will edit my post. Im always scared of shutdowns, even tough I dint do anything crazy with my cards. DOC posted shutdowns at Amex but gave a riddle for the reason being rhyming with "news" I doubt Im doing this but still always wanting to keep up on things so I dont do it.

Nevermind my original thought but heres a link https://milesearnandburn.com/index....om-the-big-axe-american-express-2025-edition/

 

[VGCgroupie]

Nevermind my original thought but heres a link https://milesearnandburn.com/index....om-the-big-axe-american-express-2025-edition/

Okay a new DOC comment I think figured it out. And the pic at the end of the link you posted was enough proof for me. I thought about signing up for that app because my flight deal subscription always shares deals with them but I have just not had time. I think I am just sticking to getting new cards for new subs when I actually need to spend money ie: new fridge etc not to buy GC

 

[elgerber]

Nevermind my original thought but heres a link https://milesearnandburn.com/index....om-the-big-axe-american-express-2025-edition/

LOL I have no idea what that means. I have so few Amex accounts, and have been in pop up jail for years, so it's not a concern to me, but I am curious.

 

[VGCgroupie]

LOL I have no idea what that means. I have so few Amex accounts, and have been in pop up jail for years, so it's not a concern to me, but I am curious.

Im not sure why DOC made it a riddle. I think it's tied to the app Fluz. (I will edit and delete this if its needed, but unsure why it would need to be not talked about)