I love credit cards so much!

[Artygal90]

I also appreciate your input. My BFF and I were planning on a long weekend trip to Santa Fe last year, I didn't get around to researching so we canceled. This is great, will have to reschedule in the future.

Glad it's helpful! If you're doing a longer trip and have the cash, Ten Thousand Waves is an amaaaazing Japanese-style hot spring spa in the mountains outside Santa Fe. A bit pricey, but so worth it. The attached restaurant is good too. I wouldn't take the time if you only have one day, but if you want to do a spa day with your BFF, that would be a good choice.

 

[GlamMistress]

Wait..."per trip"? Can you get the $20 more than once?

ETA: I see in the post above mine that you can, every 24 hours? Awesome! And we are talking about Dosh/Sams Club, right?

Yeah Dosh/Sams and you can repeat over and over. I'm owed money regardless because I bought groceries, not just giftcards. It's worked for me on gift cards in the past tho.

 

[Teal03]

Are you sticking with cash back cards only?

Are you under 5/24?

If the answer is yes to both of the above, then consider Chase Freedom (CF) in addition to the Chase Freedom Unlimited (CFU). Both offer $150 sign up bonuses for spending $500 in the first 3 months. Which card to pick depends on if you would gain more from the rotating 5% categories on the CF (this quarter it's wholesale clubs/department stores/ChasePay) vs 1.5% on everything on the CFU.

I would look at the Chase cards first if you're under 5/24, and then move on from Chase once you're over 5/24 or have no use for Chase cards.

Of the other cards you list, the BoA Cash Rewards card seems to earn the most on gas and groceries and has a good signup bonus of $200 on $500 spend within first 3 months. I don't have experience with this card, but one thing that bugs me about my BoAPR card is that I can't set up autopay unless I have a BoA checking account (which I don't). So I have to remember to schedule a payment from my checking account to pay off my balance each month; there's just a higher risk of a late payment because of this since I can't set it and forget it like I can with Chase, Amex, US Bank, Discover, Barclays, & Citi.

Alternatively, do you have a Discover It or Discover It Miles card? Both have no annual fee. Both match your cash back in the first year. The Discover It card has a $50 sign up bonus for 1 purchase within 3 months, and you could earn 2% for the first year on everything (and 10% on the rotating categories - this quarter they are Amazon and Wholesale clubs) - this card is similar to CF with the 5% rotating categories. The Discover It Miles works out to 3% on everything the first year (and after the first year it would earns 1.5 on spend like the CFU); I don't believe there is a sign up bonus on this card.

Alliant CU has a Visa that is no AF the first year and earns 3% on everything the 1st year but has no sign up bonus, and after the first year there is a $59 AF and the cash back drops to 2.5%.

Citi Double Cash is a 2% on everything card, no AF. Sometimes it has a signup bonus, I don't think there is one on it right now.

Thank you for your suggestions and yes I’m under 24. Thanks for the tip of the CF.

I only have 2 cards, a WF student card and an Angel credit card. I applied for the WF card in November 2015 and the Victoria’s Secret Card in August 2015. I misused both but seriously the Angel card and Comenity finally closed it at the beginning of the year. I paid off the WF card a few months ago.

I’m applying for a better personal credit card in 2019 but this card is to put my medical bills on there until my settlement comes in few months and get some bonus money for discounted plane tickets during Black Friday.

I’m going to print off each benefits page of each card and highlight them and see what’s best.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Card #2 is almost paid off and out my life for awhile so I’m ready for Card #3.
The bulk of what’s going on the card are my medical expenses which will be paid off in a few months with my settlement. I don’t want a medical credit card since they don’t offer any rewards.

I think I’ve narrowed it down to 4 cards: The Amex Propel by WF, Amex Blue Cash Everyday Card, Chase freedom unlimited and MC Bank of America Cash Reward card. My main priorities are cashback for medical bills and gas, signup bonus, and no annual fee.

Any suggestions on what card out of the 4 I should pick or any other options?

EDIT: advice changed. See a few posts down!

 

[Albort]

Thank you for your suggestions and yes I’m under 24. Thanks for the tip of the CF.

I only have 2 cards, a WF student card and an Angel credit card. I applied for the WF card in November 2015 and the Victoria’s Secret Card in August 2015. I misused both but seriously the Angel card and Comenity finally closed it at the beginning of the year. I paid off the WF card a few months ago.

I’m applying for a better personal credit card in 2019 but this card is to put my medical bills on there until my settlement comes in few months and get some bonus money for discounted plane tickets during Black Friday.

I’m going to print off each benefits page of each card and highlight them and see what’s best.

if your gonna ride money on a card, i wouldnt suggest churning. Also, what is your credit score like? When u said Finally closed, was it closed with a balance or closed with no balance.
You should find a card that do not charge a buttload of interest. Most of these rewards cards are upwards of 15% or more... a card you can consider is a Chase Slate card. i think its like 0% interest rate for 15 months. I think that might be more suited for you before u delve into the churning world.

 

[Alice Sr.]

Definitely not the norm. If you're within the 30 days, you can cancel, and the AF would've been automatically refunded to your statement within a few days. (I just canceled my wife's CIP via SM, after the AF had posted and before the 30 days were up.) Alternatively, you can PC the CIP to a CIC or CIU (although, if you're under 5/24, it's probably better to apply for the CIC and/or CIU directly to get their bonuses). Even after 30 days, I believe you can still PC the CIP to a CIC/CIU and get a prorated refund of the AF (this works on personal cards, but I'm not up to date whether it works for biz cards).

Was it 30 days from when the fee posted though? If it's outside of that, a PC should give a pro-rated refund but I think there were reports that the CSR's say no refund at all but in reality a pro rated one is credited anyway (like it should ).

I was within 30 days of the statement closing that the AF was posted on. I missed the month it posted because I had a credit balance and hadn't charged anything so didn't look at the statement. I think the AF posted on the August statement and I didn't see it until the September statement was issued but not yet due. I called to see if I could get a credit if I closed or PCed the card and she said "No, is there anything else I can help you with today?" She was definitely the gruffest Chase rep I have ever spoken with, not that I have spoken to that many.

 

[platamama]

Thank you for your suggestions and yes I’m under 24. Thanks for the tip of the CF.

I only have 2 cards, a WF student card and an Angel credit card. I applied for the WF card in November 2015 and the Victoria’s Secret Card in August 2015. I misused both but seriously the Angel card and Comenity finally closed it at the beginning of the year. I paid off the WF card a few months ago.

I’m applying for a better personal credit card in 2019 but this card is to put my medical bills on there until my settlement comes in few months and get some bonus money for discounted plane tickets during Black Friday.

I’m going to print off each benefits page of each card and highlight them and see what’s best.

Depending on your credit score, the cards I suggested may not be available to you. In general, the rewards cards require excellent credit, and if your misuse of your previous cards banged up your credit, it may be more of a "beggars can't be choosers" reality for you until your credit score improves. Sorry I can't be of help with that.

 

[platamama]

If anyone is getting in on the 1% bonus with Ally, the enrollment ends tonight at 11:59PM EDT.

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

I can’t get the Sam’s/Dosh thing to work for me. My closest Sam’s is an hour away so I wonder if that’s why?

Lately I’ve been doing the Happy cards at HD. My grocery store had $10 of groceries and I could get a gc at self checkout.

Waiting to apply for CIP for P2. Then going to go for CIC for me for December. We are both 4/24. I’m thinking of getting the BBP in the meantime and then looking at our next move. Maybe arrival + or Amex EDP. Looking for a good grocery return but nothing’s really pulling me..

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Card #2 is almost paid off and out my life for awhile so I’m ready for Card #3.
The bulk of what’s going on the card are my medical expenses which will be paid off in a few months with my settlement. I don’t want a medical credit card since they don’t offer any rewards.

I think I’ve narrowed it down to 4 cards: The Amex Propel by WF, Amex Blue Cash Everyday Card, Chase freedom unlimited and MC Bank of America Cash Reward card. My main priorities are cashback for medical bills and gas, signup bonus, and no annual fee.

Any suggestions on what card out of the 4 I should pick or any other options?

Not sure what type of settlement it is your waiting on...but from experience...we had a lawsuit from a car accident take over 3 years to settle..our lawyer thought it would take a year....insurance companies don’t like to pay even when it’s 100% their clients fault....so really wouldn’t advise getting any credit card unless you know everything is settled and your just waiting for the check

 

[gottalovepluto]

Depending on your credit score, the cards I suggested may not be available to you. In general, the rewards cards require excellent credit, and if your misuse of your previous cards banged up your credit, it may be more of a "beggars can't be choosers" reality for you until your credit score improves. Sorry I can't be of help with that.

@Teal03 ditto to this. And to @Albort ’s point this probably isn’t quite for you yet. Before you can qualify for any of the great, or even good, rewards cards you’ll probably need to rebuild some of your credit history. Also, you MUST- I’ll repeat that- MUST pay in full EVERY MONTH ON TIME. Otherwise you will pay the bank more than you will make from them very quickly. This game isn’t for everyone- even dipping your toe in can get your entire foot bit off if you screw up (and it looks like you’re aware of how painful that is already!). Medical expenses can balloon fast, sometimes life comes at you hard and you have no other option than your credit card but you need to get out from under all your cc debt before looking for that great rewards card. If the balance you’re carrying/will carry isn’t at 0% maybe your focus should be seeing if you can qualify for a card with a 0% APR & balance transfer offer- I’m not familiar with this area of cc’s but I would look into Chase Slate. No bonus, excellent balance transfer offer. Since you are riding a balance for sure this should be your #1 goal right now. You don’t want to pay in interest what you’ll “save” with a bonus!

 

[gottalovepluto]

I was within 30 days of the statement closing that the AF was posted on. I missed the month it posted because I had a credit balance and hadn't charged anything so didn't look at the statement. I think the AF posted on the August statement and I didn't see it until the September statement was issued but not yet due. I called to see if I could get a credit if I closed or PCed the card and she said "No, is there anything else I can help you with today?" She was definitely the gruffest Chase rep I have ever spoken with, not that I have spoken to that many.

Ugh! Chase reps give out so much bad info! You needed to HUCA. Also, if you downgrade the card even at this point you should get a pro-rated annual fee refund. Some reps will tell you that, many of them will say there is no refund. From my understanding the only way you get no refund after 30 days is if you close the card. Really bad luck you got a bad csr while you were still in your 30 day window

 

[trstno1]

@trstno1 - I know you have the Biz Plat, and I believe the BBP. Both these cards have 15k MR referral bonuses. I'd say generate a referral link from one of these cards, then open that link in an incognito window and see if the elevated offers pop up. If they do, that's a 15k MR bonus to your referring account and whatever elevated signup bonus to the applicant. Although, I think you mentioned you've already held the vanilla Platinums. So what card are you trying to apply for?

Thanks! I'm planning to try for a business platinum for my P2 in late November/December. Also, I just thought it was interesting that I didn't pull up the same offer. My vpn was going through Chicago. I was busy today, but I may try playing with the vpn location.

 

[elgerber]

If anyone is getting in on the 1% bonus with Ally, the enrollment ends tonight at 11:59PM EDT.

Yikes I didn’t pay attention. Luckily DD and I both enrolled Friday!

 

[Lain]

@mmmears - didn’t you say that you shop at Whole Foods a lot? Won’t last long.

Gyft: $50 Whole Foods For $40 With Promo Code WHOLEOCT (Limit 3)

Gyft earns 3x UR by paying with CIP through PayPal checkout, and 5x UR with CIC through PayPal checkout.

DEAD

 

[mmmears]

@mmmears - didn’t you say that you shop at Whole Foods a lot? Won’t last long.

Gyft: $50 Whole Foods For $40 With Promo Code WHOLEOCT (Limit 3)

Gyft earns 3x UR by paying with CIP through PayPal checkout, and 5x UR with CIC through PayPal checkout.

Yes I do. We are still waiting for that CIP card to get here. Looks like I need to look into Gyft tonight. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Artygal90]

Just booked a return flight for my husband for Christmas for $5.60! I'm going to road trip back with my family and have a nice stopover in New Orleans - gotta conserve those points for USO! I love this hobby!

 

[Albort]

Yes I do. We are still waiting for that CIP card to get here. Looks like I need to look into Gyft tonight. Thanks for the heads up!

create an account now... my friend made an account on gyft.com today and got hit by the payment declined...

 

[Tikitoi]

Finally remembered to play for the Marriott points...Got 500!

 

[miztressuz]

Ok, I gotta take a break from skimming r/churning. The last straw has nothing to do with the drama, it's a question about SPG & Marriott cards in the question thread - he's (she's?) got 4 cards and wants to know what 3 to cancel to keep the best one... not really interested in the free nights, never used them, doesn't even know where to find them in the account

To be fair, it's entirely possible they haven't hit an anniversary yet to get one, but really? I know churning is about amassing lots points from CC sign ups (and then doing it again), but if you're paying money to do it, wouldn't you want to use the benefits to the fullest while you have the card? Or even if they managed to get all 4 in the last year on waived AFs, wouldn't you care about a literal free night to have a plan for it?

It's an interesting world out there. I guess not everyone plans out to the nth degree like Disney is programming us to do But it still a head shake when they follow up with "... For curiosity's sake, how exactly do I maximize them, and is it worth the 4 annual fees?"