I love credit cards so much!

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LOL

Do you guys cancel cards once you use the benefits?

I haven’t had any cards come up with their second annual fee yet. You should keep the card for at least a year so you don’t piss of the banks. When the second annual fee hits a lot of people call asking for a retention offer. That’s my plan when my Southwest annual fee posts. If they don’t waive it I will cancel.
 
I’d like to know this as well. I’m thinking we would cancel after our Japan trip is booked because we won’t be traveling much after that.

I wouldn't cancel in your shoes, but I would product change to a no fee card. In addition, I would seriously consider at least you or DH getting the CSP as well and then product change that to a no fee card at a year when the AF hits. Here is my reasoning. While you may not travel much, at some point, you will. In the meantime, you might as well earn Chase UR points and let them pile up. If I did not travel much and I did not want to open up credit cards left and right, nor pay AFs here is what I would consider. When the CIP AF hits next year, call Chase and ask to product change it to the no fee CIC. The bonus categories are 5x for internet, cable, phone and office supply stores. You can purchase 3rd party merchant gift cards at office supply stores. I do this with my Ink+ (old card no longer available). My GC purchases include Disney, Amazon, Macy's, Bed Bath Beyond etc. It would be nice to have a card that will be earning you 5x with no fee.

The CSP application will give you a cushion and jump start to your next big adventure, if you do not use it for this one, which you could of course and that would be an additional 54,000 points to your stash worth 1.25 pp ($675). When the AF hits a year later, product change that one to the Chase Freedom no fee card. If that doesn't work for you, then straight up apply for the Chase Freedom no fee card. I think it is currently $150 for $500 spend. The card has rotating 5x bonus categories every quarter. This quarter it is groceries, pay pal, chase pay etc. Then, when you are getting ready to plan your next trip whether it is a a year, 2 or 5 from now you will have been earning those valuable Chase URs. Think of them like a mini savings account that you don't have to worry about and you would not have been paying AFs. When you begin planning your next adventure, you already know more or less how this game works and you can apply for one of the premium Chase cards with an AF that you can get a new bonus with worth over $500 or transfer to airlines and you can transfer all the URs you have been earning to that account and make them just as valuable. Keep in mind you can only get a bonus on a card if you have not received a bonus previously from that card in 24 months. Hope this helps :flower3:
 
I wish I had looked into this earlier. We are leaving for Hawaii Friday for 10 days and when we come back she leaves 36 hours later.
I will remember this in the future. Thank you
The accounts are all set up online, it’s a pretty quick process. You could open the account today, you link another checking account to it at the time you open it I believe. Then by the time you get back they should be verified and you’ll be able to transfer the funds. You could even finish it up in HI if you have access to a computer/internet for a few minutes.

ETA: Forgot about the debut card piece of it. If you open the account today, the debit card should be delivered by the time you get from HI. You could even call them and ask to have it expedited to be safe.
 


The $550 AF does give me pause. It is a $5k spend (we have big expenses in June, plus spend $5-7k monthly, so minimum spend is not an issue).

Fly out of Hartford Bradley airport, so limited airlines. SW is only direct option to Orlando (DVC members, fly free on SW points at least once a year)

I do travel 2-3x year international for work, must use work card though

That is an amazing offer! I'd be all over that. So, with regards to the $550 AF, keep in mind it comes with an annual $200 airline credit. You mention you travel SW. If you get this card and you first choose SW as your preferred airline, you can then purchase a SW e gift cards which doesn't expire in the amount of $200 and it will be credited back to your account. Other airlines have only certain amounts that trigger the credit. DPs show that SW will trigger at the full $200. My preferred airline is AA and it only triggers at $100 increments. So, now your $550 AF is a net $350 AF.

You get gold SPG/Marriott/Hilton status and the value is subjective. However, for me it did have real value on a trip to Iceland last Thanksgiving. We booked the Hilton in Reykjavik Thanksgiving week on points. When we checked in, since we had this gold status, we were upgraded to a Club level room. Food in Iceland is very expensive. The club level room upgrade allowed us to have free breakfast in the dining room or the club as we preferred. The majority of our lunch and dinners we had in the club room for free during the week. This saved us a ton of money over the week which we decided to use and splurge at 2 nicer restaurants for dinner which we had not planned to do.

You mentioned that you travel internationally for work a couple of times a year. Do you already have Global Entry? If not, the card will reimburse you for GE. Every time I see the looooong lines coming back into the US to get through customs, I am grateful to not waste an hour or 2 in those lines. I love going to the GE kiosk and being out of there in less than 5 minutes. Anyhow, that is another $100 savings that can also save you some stress and frustration.

Delta and Centurion lounge access come with the card. If your international flights are on Delta, you can access the lounge for free with the card. If your flights happen to connect you at an airport with a Centurion lounge you can access that for free. Hello Miami Intl airport Centurion lounge and free 15 minute massage!


LOL

Do you guys cancel cards once you use the benefits?

Well, here is where you'd get a bunch of different answers ranging from "absolutely! #churnlife" to "no way, I want ongoing benefits." So, it all depends on the individual situation. I'll give one example below.

Chase UR cards:
For those who stay under 5/24, they will likely cancel certain Chase cards, especially in 2 player mode so they can get the card again in 24 months. For those like DH and I who will never be under 5/24, we don't cancel UR earning cards from Chase. We can't get them again because we won't stay under 5/24. Getting the bonus again in 2 years will never be an option for us. With our current spending patterns and categories we earn between 80,000 to over 150,000 UR points per year by strategizing our spending across the CSR, Ink+, CF and CFU cards. AFs between 2 Ink+ cards and 2 CSR cards are a net $490 per year. My 100K annual URs are worth $1500 minimum and we tend to get more value than that thanks to the Plane Princess who wants lie flat seats up front. I have no problem giving Chase $490 a year when they are giving me back $1500.

Other cards with AFs may offer certain benefits that outweigh the fee. Marriott has a free night every year which we each use, so we keep it as does IHG. Now, changes are coming to Marriott and whether we keep the cards after the changes remains to be seen. IHG had new changes and I will keep it at least another year and then re-evaluate.

Hope that helps :flower3:
 
I had my new CIP expedited and received it yesterday. Can't wait to start my MSR!

I don't see the CIP along with my other cards on the Chase website. Is that because it's a business card? Is there a way to see the account on-line?

Congratulations again!

You’ll need to set up a new online account for the CIP. The account will be a Chase for Business site with a different interface designed to help manage a business. You can call/SM Chase to merge your personal account details with your new business if you want (and you can also tell Chase to keep the personal account open), but a lot of us just keep the personal and business accounts separate.
 
So the Atm's in Europe charge no fee? Our bank charges 5 dollars so are you saying that will be it ?

I did a quick search for some more recent data points and didn't find anything yet that indicates otherwise, but if you went to a bank's ATM they didn't charge a fee like we do in the US :) Now, stand alone ones in a store or whatnot might charge the convenience or usage fee. I made sure I used one either attached to a bank or with the bank's name on it and we weren't charged any fees. I forget the name of the bank but it was big because we used it in two different cities. We used about 200 euros in Rome, but that was 2 people over 3 days. (and now I'm trying to remember what we spent it on considering I thought we used credit for all our various tickets :eek: )

I think you asked about ATM's being in English and yes they had a couple of language choices. English had to be one of them because I don't know enough Italian to work one and I did it twice successfully :)
 


That is an amazing offer! I'd be all over that. So, with regards to the $550 AF, keep in mind it comes with an annual $200 airline credit. You mention you travel SW. If you get this card and you first choose SW as your preferred airline, you can then purchase a SW e gift cards which doesn't expire in the amount of $200 and it will be credited back to your account. Other airlines have only certain amounts that trigger the credit. DPs show that SW will trigger at the full $200. My preferred airline is AA and it only triggers at $100 increments. So, now your $550 AF is a net $350 AF.

I’d reiterate that the airline credit is a calendar year benefit, which means @LB002 can buy a $200 SW gift card in 2018 and another $200 SW gift card in 2019 before her second year’s AF rolls around, so the price of the first year AF is a net $150. This doesn’t include all the other benefits @calypso726 and I discussed, or the value of 100,000 MR points. It’s a really good offer!
 
The possible downside to going with 200E is that she may end up with some leftover if she doesn't use it all. But that can be a souvenir, or she can save it for her next European adventure, or she can gift it to her friend! ETA: or convert back to dollars at the airport at a really bad exchange rate.

You may also be able to exchange it back to your bank, most likely with fees, in a worse case scenario. Have to see which is worse, the bank fees or the cruddy exchange rate at the airport :rolleyes:
 
Okay good to know. The 1.5x on everything would probably be more valuable to me in the long run. Any DPs on whether a personal code helps bypass the recon?

Don’t you still have the old Chase Ink Plus card? There’s significant overlap between the Ink+ and the CIC.

I don’t think personal codes do anything to circumvent Chase’s approval process. But you’re putting the cart before the horse, because fingers crossed you might not even have to recon.
 
That is an amazing offer! I'd be all over that. So, with regards to the $550 AF, keep in mind it comes with an annual $200 airline credit. You mention you travel SW. If you get this card and you first choose SW as your preferred airline, you can then purchase a SW e gift cards which doesn't expire in the amount of $200 and it will be credited back to your account. Other airlines have only certain amounts that trigger the credit. DPs show that SW will trigger at the full $200. My preferred airline is AA and it only triggers at $100 increments. So, now your $550 AF is a net $350 AF.

You get gold SPG/Marriott/Hilton status and the value is subjective. However, for me it did have real value on a trip to Iceland last Thanksgiving. We booked the Hilton in Reykjavik Thanksgiving week on points. When we checked in, since we had this gold status, we were upgraded to a Club level room. Food in Iceland is very expensive. The club level room upgrade allowed us to have free breakfast in the dining room or the club as we preferred. The majority of our lunch and dinners we had in the club room for free during the week. This saved us a ton of money over the week which we decided to use and splurge at 2 nicer restaurants for dinner which we had not planned to do.

You mentioned that you travel internationally for work a couple of times a year. Do you already have Global Entry? If not, the card will reimburse you for GE. Every time I see the looooong lines coming back into the US to get through customs, I am grateful to not waste an hour or 2 in those lines. I love going to the GE kiosk and being out of there in less than 5 minutes. Anyhow, that is another $100 savings that can also save you some stress and frustration.

Delta and Centurion lounge access come with the card. If your international flights are on Delta, you can access the lounge for free with the card. If your flights happen to connect you at an airport with a Centurion lounge you can access that for free. Hello Miami Intl airport Centurion lounge and free 15 minute massage!




Well, here is where you'd get a bunch of different answers ranging from "absolutely! #churnlife" to "no way, I want ongoing benefits." So, it all depends on the individual situation. I'll give one example below.

Chase UR cards:
For those who stay under 5/24, they will likely cancel certain Chase cards, especially in 2 player mode so they can get the card again in 24 months. For those like DH and I who will never be under 5/24, we don't cancel UR earning cards from Chase. We can't get them again because we won't stay under 5/24. Getting the bonus again in 2 years will never be an option for us. With our current spending patterns and categories we earn between 80,000 to over 150,000 UR points per year by strategizing our spending across the CSR, Ink+, CF and CFU cards. AFs between 2 Ink+ cards and 2 CSR cards are a net $490 per year. My 100K annual URs are worth $1500 minimum and we tend to get more value than that thanks to the Plane Princess who wants lie flat seats up front. I have no problem giving Chase $490 a year when they are giving me back $1500.

Other cards with AFs may offer certain benefits that outweigh the fee. Marriott has a free night every year which we each use, so we keep it as does IHG. Now, changes are coming to Marriott and whether we keep the cards after the changes remains to be seen. IHG had new changes and I will keep it at least another year and then re-evaluate.

Hope that helps :flower3:
Plane Princess :rotfl2:
 
I wouldn't cancel in your shoes, but I would product change to a no fee card. In addition, I would seriously consider at least you or DH getting the CSP as well and then product change that to a no fee card at a year when the AF hits. Here is my reasoning. While you may not travel much, at some point, you will. In the meantime, you might as well earn Chase UR points and let them pile up. If I did not travel much and I did not want to open up credit cards left and right, nor pay AFs here is what I would consider. When the CIP AF hits next year, call Chase and ask to product change it to the no fee CIC. The bonus categories are 5x for internet, cable, phone and office supply stores. You can purchase 3rd party merchant gift cards at office supply stores. I do this with my Ink+ (old card no longer available). My GC purchases include Disney, Amazon, Macy's, Bed Bath Beyond etc. It would be nice to have a card that will be earning you 5x with no fee.

The CSP application will give you a cushion and jump start to your next big adventure, if you do not use it for this one, which you could of course and that would be an additional 54,000 points to your stash worth 1.25 pp ($675). When the AF hits a year later, product change that one to the Chase Freedom no fee card. If that doesn't work for you, then straight up apply for the Chase Freedom no fee card. I think it is currently $150 for $500 spend. The card has rotating 5x bonus categories every quarter. This quarter it is groceries, pay pal, chase pay etc. Then, when you are getting ready to plan your next trip whether it is a a year, 2 or 5 from now you will have been earning those valuable Chase URs. Think of them like a mini savings account that you don't have to worry about and you would not have been paying AFs. When you begin planning your next adventure, you already know more or less how this game works and you can apply for one of the premium Chase cards with an AF that you can get a new bonus with worth over $500 or transfer to airlines and you can transfer all the URs you have been earning to that account and make them just as valuable. Keep in mind you can only get a bonus on a card if you have not received a bonus previously from that card in 24 months. Hope this helps :flower3:
Thank you! That is all great information!! So all we have to do is call and they will switch our CIP to a CIC? I didn't know it was so easy to change to a different card.

Is it hard to transfer over UR?
 
You guys are amazing! This info has all been so valuable. Being able to double dip the airline credit and get $400 SW GC for future travel PLUS the points makes it more valuable. While I will certainly use the lounge access and Global Entry, but those are more "nice to have". $400 in airline credit and 100k points ($1000ish) is more concrete for my analytical mind!

As for canceling old cards, I can see keeping the CSR for the higher earning power and $300 travel credit. And, if I hang around here long enough, downgrading the CSP to a Freedom for the points categories. We currently have a handful of cards we use for various purposes, but too many cards is overwhelming. Is there a point where it impacts your credit?

My real question about cancelling is the SW cards because we want to be eligible for their next big bonus, whenever that comes around. It's been about 4-5 years since I got my bonus and DH just got his last year (x2 - one business and one personal).
 
Can I join in on the party?

I applied for the CIP yesterday and got the approval message this morning and already called to have it expedited.

This makes my 3rd biz card. I was a bit nervous because I'm sitting at 4/24 (I know generally that's ok) with healthy credit lines on 4 other Chase credit cards two of which are Chase (retired) biz cards in addition to 2 HELOCS (on rentals). I wasn't sure if they were really going to look at the 'big' picture or not. With the credit cards alone I am not at 50% but with the HELOCs :rolleyes1So, about two weeks ago, I called and had one of the biz cards limit reduced by half. I probably should have cancelled it but I wanted to make sure the CIP would be secured first. :)
 
You guys are amazing! This info has all been so valuable. Being able to double dip the airline credit and get $400 SW GC for future travel PLUS the points makes it more valuable. While I will certainly use the lounge access and Global Entry, but those are more "nice to have". $400 in airline credit and 100k points ($1000ish) is more concrete for my analytical mind!

As for canceling old cards, I can see keeping the CSR for the higher earning power and $300 travel credit. And, if I hang around here long enough, downgrading the CSP to a Freedom for the points categories. We currently have a handful of cards we use for various purposes, but too many cards is overwhelming. Is there a point where it impacts your credit?


My real question about cancelling is the SW cards because we want to be eligible for their next big bonus, whenever that comes around. It's been about 4-5 years since I got my bonus and DH just got his last year (x2 - one business and one personal).

I don't cancel older cards for that reason. I PC them if I can. If not, I just fork out the fee if there is one, but most of my oldest cards don't have fees. Having too many cards doesn't seem to be problematic on the credit unless they are all "new" and bring down the average age of accounts or all have balances.

As for SW, you can get the bonus every 24 months but can no longer have more than 1 personal card at a time. So one personal bonus every 24 months is it. I am still sad about this because my SW Prem is from 2012 and I am going to have to cancel it to get CP again. It is an older account I didn't want to cancel.
Your DH may want to wait and see what their new premium card is going to offer. As for you, you can get another 24 months after your last bonus...but you can close the card anytime. Usually you want to wait til the anniversary points post then cancel.
 
This is all so helpful, thanks so much. We really appreciate everyone's input.
We have a private Reddit group where we document some of our best tips. You also could support another DISer by using their link when you apply (I know a bunch of folks have given you some helpful advice :)) If you want to join just send me a PM Here on the DIS.
 
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