I love credit cards so much!

[miztressuz]

That worked for me (I did the 10K savings offer last year). Fwiw when you first open an account the monthly fee is waived for the first 2 or 3 months on Chase accounts. That is common practice with almost all banks.

Excellent, thanks! I thought there was usually an exception for the first month, but couldn't find it anywhere on the offer pages. I haven't opened a fee checking account in .... well wait, I don't think I've every opened one I usually get converted into a fee checking account and then I'm off to the next.

 

[kayteekt]

Is sending something as an ACH the same as just transferring money from bank account to bank account? I've been reading the last few days also on how to take advantage of some of these bank bonuses. I read on DOC a lot but I start mentally shutting down cause it's just info overload for me.

I am so glad I'm not the only one

 

[miztressuz]

Did another $50 gift card at bb but paid with $15 savings code plus $35 gift card. I’m thinking this won’t trigger the $5 sb bonus since it may see this as a $35 purchase. Oh well. Probably should have bought a $65 gift card.

Hm, yeah that will be interesting to find out if that works. We'd know for sure if they're looking at the subtotal or final purchase amount.

Where do you find the QR code for BB on SB's?

On the Best Buy shop page there's button to click to generate your QR code. http://www.swagbucks.com/shop/store/10768/best-buy

 

[kayteekt]

Love me a bank account bonus!!! Jealous you've got Suntrust available see @Albort and @SBWB48 already got your ach / acronym and the importance of pushing the money info going!

Warning! I'm going full on bank bonus nerd now:

The best DD is a real DD. If you can do a real DD (paycheck, government payment) that's what you want to use. Just transfer the money out of the account after it hits Suntrust to your hub/main bank account! No need to make Suntrust your permanent bank for any time period. If you do not have the ability to DD then you try to trigger via bank account transfers. I agree you don't want to rely on just one to trigger it (I almost lost a $300 bonus with PNC by doing that!). Best to try a couple banks that have been known to work in case anything has changed from the last DP.

Keep a spreadsheet! List your bonus amount, bonus requirements, earliest allowed closing date without being charged, fees on the account & how to waive the fees. You'll be grateful not only for the info to keep the accounts fee free and nab your bonus but also for tax time next year. Bank account bonus are taxable income and you will/should receive a 1099-INT for the bonus amount. Most banks send these out, but sometimes a bank chooses not to issue a 1099 (I'm looking at you Wells Fargo and you're issuing some people 1099s but not others ridiculousity!), your 1099 gets lost, or they issue an erroneous 1099. Also, the bank may say "we don't 1099s for that" today and then decide it was an error and come back a few months after tax time with your 1099 (HSBC 2016). If you know you owe taxes you can report the proper amounts on your taxes regardless of the status of your 1099-INT with the bank.

Hub account!! Personally I suggest and use Ally. (DoC has one report of it being a HP to open at Ally but I saw a few DPs on reddit that it does not. Don't sign up for overdraft protection! That's usually what triggers a HP when opening a bank account.) If you really want to delve into bank bonuses you need an excellent "hub account". This is one that plays well with other banks basically and Ally does that. You can link up to 20 accounts (it's commonly thought there is no limit but I got really into this last year and discovered Ally did have a limit) and I've never had a problem with any of them and Ally transfers. Ally has mobile deposit, reimbursement of atm fees, no minimum balance req's or monthly fees. They even pay an anemic 0.10% on their interest checking account right now (beats the pants of Chase Savings 0.01% though!). I'd open an Ally and try the DD from there if you have to go that route. Also, all those other banks (ING is no more, never heard of Adventure) run bank bonuses for signing up for new accounts so you'd want to wait to open accounts at those banks but as far as I know Ally doesn't do that. (Especially do not open a Capital One account if you've never had one, very lucrative bonuses when they run them but if you've EVER had that type of account at Cap1 or someone they bought (ING) you won't qualify for their bonus. Don't want to shoot yourself in your bank bonus chasing foot here setting up a hub account.)

Thanks so much for all of this info! Lots to digest. That's a great point on the "hub" account. I will have to look into ally for sure. I was looking at the external transfers today on the suntrust acct, seems they charge a small fee, $3 or 5...but when you're opening just to receive $, hate to pay out. I'll keep looking into it. Thanks again!

 

[wendow]

On the Best Buy shop page there's button to click to generate your QR code. http://www.swagbucks.com/shop/store/10768/best-buy

Thanks! I was trying to find it on the app and couldn't find it anywhere.

 

[miztressuz]

Thanks! I was trying to find it on the app and couldn't find it anywhere.

Np, I hate the app, especially for shop so I tend to do most things mobile web if I'm away from the PC.

 

[havaneselover]

Np, I hate the app, especially for shop so I tend to do most things mobile web if I'm away from the PC.

Same. I do it on safari on my phone from the website.

 

[platamama]

Wow thank you! I had no idea the points are returned if you cancel. Are you sure? I have had a few times where i have changed
my mind and the points/miles i used stayed with the airline "bank" It would be much easier if they went back to chase to
use as i see fit.

Here's what I see when I log into the Chase UR portal and search for airfare:



Please note the NON-TRANSFERABLE and NON-REFUNDABLE section. Unless you buy a refundable ticket (which usually costs gobs more), your fare is non-refundable, and is subject to all the same terms as if you had paid for it as OOP money with the airline, including change fees if you decide to change your itinerary.

As for hotels thru Chase UR portal, if you reserve a REFUNDABLE room then you can have the points returned. There is a box on the left side of the hotel search where you can select REFUNDABLE rates. Doing so will usually result in a shorter list of choices.

If you book with Chase, the refunded points will go back to Chase. In my case I transferred points to Southwest so if I alter those tickets, the points will stay with Southwest which is perfectly fine for me. It all depends on where you do the booking.

Yes, if you do the irreversible transfer of UR points to Southwest's RR program, then airfare booked with those points through Southwest can be altered and points will go back to the Southwest RR account. That is my most favorite thing about the Southwest RR program (no, I take that back, the CP is my most favorite thing!).

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Yes, if you do the irreversible transfer of UR points to Southwest's RR program, then airfare booked with those points through Southwest can be altered and points will go back to the Southwest RR account. That is my most favorite thing about the Southwest RR program (no, I take that back, the CP is my most favorite thing!).

Everything is my most favorite thing about SW RRs!!! Just the fact that they exist is my favorite, lol! They're just soooo easy to understand and sooooo flexible!

 

[platamama]

Quick question for you since you've done this successfully, what's the sure fire way to avoid the fee on the checking account? Is the Chase Savings account a qualified account so the 15k in there satisfies option #3 of having a combined 5k+?
Not sure I'd get the DD in time and unless you funded the account with the 1500 I wouldn't think you'd meet the required daily balance at the beginning of each day for the first billing cycle.

Looks like @gottalovepluto got you the answer, but I'll chime in and say that yes, my understanding is that the 15K parked in savings will satisfy the requirements to avoid the checking fee. I followed DoC's suggestions, and pulled out all but $1500 for the checking and $300 for the savings. (I used that money to pursue a Discover savings $200 bonus!)

 

[jujubiee4]

For anyone who has booked a flight through Chase...The price they quote is for basic economy right? because
i don't see any upgrades. So then do you call or go online to the airline booking and upgrade by
cash?

 

[jhoannam]

Did another $50 gift card at bb but paid with $15 savings code plus $35 gift card. I’m thinking this won’t trigger the $5 sb bonus since it may see this as a $35 purchase. Oh well. Probably should have bought a $65 gift card.

Can you please point in the right direction, where do you get the code?

 

[jhoannam]

One guy who i know MS 10k+ a day has a trip planned to Rome on first and all hotels paid. hes got close too a 4 million points across the 4 major programs and in steadily increases weekly. He knows his fees very well haha. They all do actually. they are far beyond us for sure.

How does he find time to MS that much??

 

[shairpdrh]

For anyone who has booked a flight through Chase...The price they quote is for basic economy right? because
i don't see any upgrades. So then do you call or go online to the airline booking and upgrade by
cash?

I think you may be looking for the same thing I was when I was searching earlier. If you are only seeing "Basic Economy" fares and you want regular economy, there is a choice to exclude those options after you have done your search. Look for "Exclude Basic Economy Fares" above the price for the first flight on the results page. Click that and it should show you what you are looking for. Hope that helps!

 

[miztressuz]

Did another $50 gift card at bb but paid with $15 savings code plus $35 gift card. I’m thinking this won’t trigger the $5 sb bonus since it may see this as a $35 purchase. Oh well. Probably should have bought a $65 gift card.

Oh, I wasn't really processing this the first time. Was that a $15 savings code from the GC promo? If so I think you should be good because that gets treated as a gift card payment, so you would have paid all $50 with a gift card (and then we'll find out if all GC works). If it was a BB rewards certificate then not sure where it would stand as that gets treated as a coupon and so the amount due was only $35.

 

[gottalovepluto]

For anyone who has booked a flight through Chase...The price they quote is for basic economy right? because
i don't see any upgrades. So then do you call or go online to the airline booking and upgrade by
cash?

Usually basic economy cannot be upgraded, even with a cash payment, exceptions are sometimes made for those with the highest level status with the airline. I can't check right now but I think UR tells you if its basic economy fare. Here are a couple articles on it that might help you out:
http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.c...de-basic-economy-amex-excludes-automatically/
http://mommypoints.boardingarea.com...my-fares-when-using-chase-points-for-flights/

 

[disneymagicgirl]

For anyone who has booked a flight through Chase...The price they quote is for basic economy right? because
i don't see any upgrades. So then do you call or go online to the airline booking and upgrade by
cash?

I find this frustrating about the chase portal. I was recently trying to book and they showed all basic economy which wouldnt work for us. (Well there is a new law about seating kids away from adults, but I wasn’t taking the chance.) so I finally found the corresponding flight in regular economy on UR portal and chase had inflated the price...by a lot...compared to booking direct.
I ended up not booking on there. I scratched the entire plan and booked thru southwest who I love. The other airlines are just too much hassle.

 

[havaneselover]

Oh, I wasn't really processing this the first time. Was that a $15 savings code from the GC promo? If so I think you should be good because that gets treated as a gift card payment, so you would have paid all $50 with a gift card (and then we'll find out if all GC works). If it was a BB rewards certificate then not sure where it would stand as that gets treated as a coupon and so the amount due was only $35.

Yes. The Cash Star code. I'll keep everyone posted.

 

[havaneselover]

Can you please point in the right direction, where do you get the code?

Sorry, it was from the CashStar deal where you bought $150 in BB gift cards and got a $15 savings code.

 

[Judique]

If it wasn't for the no fee card and the fact that I LOVE SPG points, I'd give AMEX the boot, just for the principal of it.

They had the nerve to drop my fico score (as reported on their website) to 822! My other (credit card reports) scores have stayed consistently higher than what Amex uses.

Two reasons - opening too many cards and not USING their cards enough! Yes, I do make small purchases - cell phone bill goes to one, plus some spend, not much though and the occasional purchase - maybe every 2 months goes to the other.

I opened a Citi card July 2016, USBank in May, 2017 and two Chase cards, Hyatt in Sept, 2017, and Marriott in Dec 2017. (I'm 4/24 for Chase by the way now that I've taken the time to actually write it down and will be 3/24 in July, 2018.

Yes, I know I have an excellent score and have no balances on any cards. I usually pay them as soon as a charge posts, mostly because I'm in there monitoring the card activity every day now since retiring, and also because having all bills paid gives me a clear picture of what I have left in the money that goes through my checking account. I direct X amount for all expenses into a couple of accounts and the rest goes to savings and investments before I get a chance to see the number looking good in my checking accounts, as I can be an impulse spender for no good reason.

All my Costco spend used to go on my Amex and it was considerable when most of my family were living with me or near me. That's Amex's own problem that they are not getting that spend.

Also, the offers they are sending now leave a lot to be desired. Spend $500 in Australia on Hilton and get a $100 credit? That's not likely to happen. Then, I have a zillion Jewelry store offers and skincare offers. Amex - I need more restaurant, department store, amazon, offers that are more down to earth and in line with what I spend my bucks on! Right now I have about 4 offers for wine clubs. Love wine but do not need a zillion bottles.

I guess I can toddle off to Starbucks and get 15% off a latte.....

Okay....just venting! I know my score will go back up in 3 months and I'm just having a snit at Amex for absolutely nothing important. (I can't wait to apply for the SPG biz as soon as I'm ready to pay for my roof!)