Hi all, I am planning to applying for 3 cards or so before the end of the year and need some recommendations. Here's what I have applied for this year.
Early May - Amex BCE, Barclays US Air, Chase Sapphire, Penfed Platinum Cash Rewards. All approved.
Mid August - Visa Black (I know the card sucks now), CitiThankyou Premier. Both denied. Black denied again on recon (twice), and Citi doesn't do recon over the phone so I did not bother.
Mid October - Amex PRG, Discover IT. Both approved.
I'm thinking CSP, Citi Thankyou Premier, and 1 more card from BoA just for the $100 cash back? Or Amex's MB Platinum? I really need some points that can be transferred to hotels (Hyatt and Wyndham, please). Any recommendations are welcome!
Early May - Amex BCE, Barclays US Air, Chase Sapphire
I'm thinking CSP
lolwut?
Why are you thinking about app'ing for the CSP? You should wait till the best possible offer to come out then do it. Just don't product change. So far all I've seen is 40,000 for $3000 spend/3 months.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by agp423
I'm looking to go to China this summer so I will most likely need United miles. Should I sub the CSP for United Explorer?
If you want to go to China, you should consider putting a strategy together. You won't necessarily be able to get there on UA miles due to availability. It might make more sense to research several options and accumulate so you have a backup plan...
Why waste pulls - especially with a history of some denials - for something with $100 cash back or 25k ThankYou points? Especially when you also want hotel points?
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Marriott Rewards signup (10k)
Hotels are mainly for weekend travels within the US for the summer. For China I only need miles for plane tickets. United is the only one that flies directly from EWR to PEK, so that's why I am looking to get United miles.
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I wouldn't count on a non-stop flight for an award redemption. It's typically more difficult. Also note that the JFK-PEK on Air China is theoretically a possibility with UA miles and also that US miles would work for either. (You might be able to get a second US card at this point. Maybe.)
I'd suggest you run some sample searches on reasonable dates and see what's available.
AA miles can also be very useful for Asia travel. You'd have to connect somewhere but you could also get 100k miles with a pair of AA cards so that might work out nicely.
For domestic US hotels, the Priority Club card can be a great value. The 80k signup bonus could easily turn into 5 or more nights, depending where in the US. If you want to avoid Chase, the 2x HHonors cards can be an ok value as well.
Really, tho, the next step is to look at the actual flights you would take and the actual hotels you could use - find out if they are typically available when you'd want to travel and who has the best points/miles value.
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Marriott Rewards signup (10k)
wanted to do APPs for wife and wanted to throw in the UME 55k offer but it is dead.
wonder if I should hold/wait to do my App-rama or apply for all 4 and ask chase to match the united to 55k offer?
I have the regular Sapphire, so I can still apply for Sapphire Preferred.
I'm looking to go to China this summer so I will most likely need United miles. Should I sub the CSP for United Explorer?
Yea, you can but it's pointless IMO right now. I'd wait for the best bonus for CSP to come around and jump on it. I would drop the regular Sapphire because if you get approved for the CSP.....you can always product change after a year and go back to the regular sapphire from CSP.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Calipso
Yea, you can but it's pointless IMO right now. I'd wait for the best bonus for CSP to come around and jump on it. I would drop the regular Sapphire because if you get approved for the CSP.....you can always product change after a year and go back to the regular sapphire from CSP.
I wouldn't drop any Chase card unless Chase told me to. Use your existing card as a leverage to get a new one.
OP, so far you have wasted a lot of perfectly good pulls on inferior products that provide inferior sign up bonuses. If you have your own reasons fine, if not try to avoid those mistakes in the future. At this point I'd strongly support a suggestion to apply for two AA cards. That is unless Citi really hates you.
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I've only applied for 1 Citi card once in my life and was denied. Called those numbers on myFico forum and everyone said I would have to write a letter if I wanted a reconsideration...
If I want to focus on hotel points first before miles for EWR-PEK, am I correct in saying that I should only try Chase and Citi cards? Since I applied for an Amex 2 months ago?
Programs: AA, BA, UA, US Air, Spirit, Delta Gold, PC Plat, SPG Gold, HHonors Gold, and more
Posts: 1,048
Quote:
Originally Posted by agp423
I've only applied for 1 Citi card once in my life and was denied. Called those numbers on myFico forum and everyone said I would have to write a letter if I wanted a reconsideration...
If I want to focus on hotel points first before miles for EWR-PEK, am I correct in saying that I should only try Chase and Citi cards? Since I applied for an Amex 2 months ago?
No. It depends on your overall situation, but I have applied for 2 Amex cards within 30 days period and gotten approved. Also, there are other players too. Barclays has a decent 40K bonus Choice Privileges card, BoA have two Hawaiian cards with combined 70,000 miles bonus you could turn into 140,000 HHonors points. Try to diversify your portfolio.
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How much are UR points transferred to Hyatt usually worth? I am checking Newport, RI's Hyatt Regency (category 5). Regular rooms cost 18K pts/night, and Regency rooms cost 22K pts/night. However, when booking with cash, regular rooms costs $152.10/night, and higher end rooms cost $219/night. Both cash values cost less than UR points when converted to dollar value.
Is that why I don't see a lot of people going nuts over Hyatt points like they are for Marriott/Hilton/Starwood points?
OP - are you sure you credit can handle more pulls this year? I'm not trying to be a downer, but I see two denials and apps that aren't that spread out. With a mention of one citi app ever, you sound younger, which says thinner credit file, which says to me ( an admitted credit app conservative) that you may run into trouble.
Don't think I would go with Choice given Barclays denial six weeks ago, but if you are going back to Barclays, then they also hold the Wyndham card(since you wanted Wyndham pts)
