muirhejsff

I was attracted to this excellent site last year when the big 75K AAdvantage deal was popular, and am looking to now advance my strategy around credit cards. I've been doing a fair bit of reading recently on FT, and discovered that one mistake I believe I've made is that while I opened AAdvantage card in 8/2010, I closed it shortly after I received my points (12/2010).

Am I correct that I'm now likely locked out of doing much with Citi for another 6 months (18 month retry recommendation)? If so, then Chase is my next option, and I'm currently reviewing the Chase Marriott Premier Signature card (70K points +free stay +no FTF) as well as potentially the Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards card (50K miles), but believe I cannot apply for both at the same time.

Reward programs I favor are typically Marriott, AA, & United/Continental; typically domestic/Caribbean travel as I have 2 young children at home that typically don't fly. That said, for personal trips I'll likely prefer Southwest; for business I have little preference on AA/UC, and I do travel business class to Europe a few times a year with these carriers.

Any other cards I should pick up? Amex goes through Citi, so I don't know that I can apply there for a bit longer as well?

Thanks!

- John

muirhejsff

Responding to my own thread...

Right now, the following looks like my initial combination of card apps..

• Chase Marriott Premier Signature (70K)
• Citi Premier (50K)
• Chase Southwest RR Premier Business (50K)

Any thoughts or others I might want to consider adding?

onefasteuro

the Sapphire has 50k currently also... not sure if you have it yet. but with UR transfer its a good pick.

muirhejsff

Don't have Sapphire; actually the only card I actively use right now is Chase Freedom (also part of UR). I'm guessing though that signing up for 3 cards at once for Chase could be troublesome.. Do you think Sapphire is better than the Marriott or the Southwest ones in this case? (I'll do some of my own research too)

onefasteuro

I would say sapphire is > southwest as the UR points can be transferred to those programs, plus it works with the Freedom nicely.

I dont stay in hotels much, when we travel we usually rent condos, maybe someone else can chime in on that.

muirhejsff

Yep, the more I look into it, I agree. Sapphire also waives the first year fee whereas Southwest doesn't. Now since Sapphire is a personal card, as is the Marriott one, I think i'll bump that one too so I think applying for 2 personal cards is a no-no with Chase.

So now my updated list is:

• Chase Sapphire Personal
• Chase Ink Bold Business
• Citi Premier 50K

I think 1 more card and I'll be ready for some Apps. Any idea how to tell which bureaus are the most likely to be hit? Seems to me there is no rhyme or reason to which bureau is used for a given app, looking at the Credit Pulls Database.

longhorn11

It depends on where you're located, usually the only sure bet is Barclays pulling Transunion.

shand32783

Looking at a round of apps for the wife and I and I'm looking at keeping the min spends down. I'll say what I'm interested in and what I would like.
What I could use from all of you is help with the questions and any other advice you might have.

we are looking at banking some Hotel points mainly in this cycle with the exception of the Chase SWA Personal plus card or AA AMEX.

1)BofH & BofA Hawaii cards. i understand these both transfer to hilton at a 1:2 rate for a possible total of 280,000 points.

2)Either the Hilton Amex (60,000 points) card or the AA Amex card (50,000 miles)

3)SWA Personal Plus card 50,000 points +$69 fee or the PC 80,000 sign up bonus ( But i like the SWA card a little better for using for gift cards)

My questions are these.
~With me spreading these out between the diff companies do you think there is a chance we would get approved for all? (credit score is great)
~If we currently have the AA Visa and got approved for the AMEX version, would we get the 50,000 miles
~And if we both have the SWA personal Premium card ($99 fee) if approved for the Plus card, would we still get the 50,000 point bonus?

Thanks for your time.

emax48

2) Experience says not. But you may get lucky. Search "2-browser trick", a method to apply to both at the same time and get both bonuses.

3) I believe people have been doing that successfully.

cwilson830

Re: #1, it's certainly possible. Do you know which credit agencies the apps hit in your area?

shand32783

I should note that its been almost a year since we got the AA Visa, and I'm aware of the 18 month rule, but wasn't sure if you could apply for both at different times and still get them.

And as for agencies, I really am not sure. I don't do this too often (about every 6 months) and I've look at my report here and there, but really am out of the loop on that one.

muirhejsff

Update:

Creditsesame rates both myself and my wife with a score of 790, and it's been over a year since we've last applied for anything with Chase or Citi; never had a BoA card yet. (I forgot that by all means I should include her in the fun!). I don't believe either of us has had more than 3 inquiries in the last 2 years.

Cards for me:

• Chase Marriott (70k after 1st purchase, $85 fee 1yr waive)
• Citi Hilton #1 (2 browser trick; 50k after $1500/6mo, no fee)
• Citi Hilton #2 (2 browser trick; 40k after $1000/4mo, no fee)
• Amex Hilton (60k after $750/3mo, no fee)
• Barclays US Airways (40k after 1st purchase, $89 fee 1yr waive)

Cards for wife:

• Chase Sapphire Premier (50k after $3000/3mo, $95 fee 1yr waive)
• Citi Aadvantage Amex (2 browser trick; 50k after $3000/4mo, $85 fee 1yr waive)
• Citi Aadvantage Visa (2 browser trick; 40k after $3000/4mo, $85 fee 1yr waive)
• Amex Hilton (60k after $750/3mo, no fee)
• Barclays US Airways (40k after 1st purchase, $89 fee 1yr waive)

I dropped the Ink Business card because I don't think I can justify myself as a business. Citi Premiere seemed to have too high of a limit, although I need to think hard about that with the Aadvantage ones as well to ensure I can hit all the collective spending requirements.

If I can pull that off I think it's about 510K miles/points total... am I being too greedy?

I don't have any strong airline preferences right now; I fly about once/month for work, both United/Continental and AA, 75% domestic, 25% international(business). I also like Southwest but haven't really used them at all yet.. considered getting the Chase card from them (no annual fee waive), but like the other Chase deals better. I have silver status w/ both Continental & Marriott currently, and am not sure what I am currently with AA.

- John

CodeAdam10

Welcome to FT, muirhejsff!

Since you like to fly Southwest, you can look into applying for the Biz version of the card. Chase will (usually) approve 1 pers / 1 biz app done on the same day after you call the reconsideration line. Other than that your mix looks good, it will give you guys a 'variety' of points/miles.

Also, have you considered the AmEx Platinum card? Yes it carries the $450 annual fee (not waived for first year); however they're offering 50,000 points and Membership Rewards also have a few good airline/hotel partners (many FT'ers will be happy to refer you to for the 50,000 offer). If you visit the American Express Membership Rewards forum, you will see plenty of threads about the Platinum benefits, as well as how to 'make up' for a good part of the expensive annual fee.

Good luck! Keep us posted on your approval ratio .... hopefully 100%.

cwilson830

Good mix of cards. Looks like you've done your homework! ^

muirhejsff

Thanks everyone, will keep you all posted! I think it might be worthwhile to pull all agencies' reports + get actual FICO scores before I start my app-tastic adventure and afterwards to see how things change. Myfico.com seems recommended; any other suggestions?