Electroman

There are two things to remember re: dealer financing:

1. The dealer and the lender they set you up with (Wells Fargo Dealer Services is a very common one if you have decent credit) will *each* do at least one hard pull. Yes, the dealer will do one to figure out which lender they'll try. Not a big deal to me, but it is to some.

2. Never, ever accept a "simple interest" loan, which is what they will try to sell you. The actual loans they sell that are described this way have the interest lumped into the loan, so it's not possible to get out of paying it by refinancing - you'll have to refinance the interest on loan #1 to get loan #2. And yes, they'll try to sell you a seven-year loan - after all, the longer the term, the more they make. The dealer will *not* lower the price of the car enough to offset this.

shawntobi

Recent APP-O

Credit 775, Good income and real business

AA Citi plat select biz- Approved 50k
AA Plat sel MC Personal - this was approved and then denied due to one in the last 18months
US Air Barklays Personal- denied on reconsider line due to already have the card
----immediately applied online for Arrival + and was Approved 40k
Amex SPG biz- Approved 25k
Ink Plus biz- Approved 50k
Alaska from BofA biz- approved 25k
Alaska from BofA personal- approved for a lesser card...not sure why(I do currently hold a Alaska Signature card.) Cancelled the lesser card when it was received.
Sapphire from Citi personal- 40k

So 6 new cards, and 230k miles/points. Not bad, just running out of options for future personal cards.

After this round, I started to cancel a few cards. 3 AA exec cards, US Air Card,

Will probably cancel INK Bold(since Ink Plus was approved) Is there any advantage to Ink Bold over Ink plus that I'm missing? I know they stopped issuing the regular Bold

Beetlesauce

Talking from experience, best post BK cards for rebuilding even one year out of BK are Merrick Bank and Capital One cards. They are unsecured cards and they start you with low limit but gradually build up your CL with yearly increases. Also had Paypal smart Connect and then a Barclays Rewards. All started with limits around $500 to 1K and now are around 4K each.

Last year July 2014, I applied for US Airways MC card (40k bonus) and got instant approval appx six years post BK. About six months later on Jan 2nd 2015, I applied for a second US Airways card (50k bonus) with a 643 TU credit score (according to Barclays letter) and first card still open and also got instant approval.

All my credit cards are paid off, have zero balance and I'm debt free and according to Credit Karma I'm over 710 on both TU and EQ. I've closed Merrick, Paypal and one of the low limit Capital One Cards. All BK accounts drop off by end of this year on my credit report. Only cards I plan on applying for later in March are Citi AA personal and biz card. Trying to build a lot of AA miles.

aeg42

Currently have Amex Platinum, Chase Sapphire/Ink Plus/Freedom/IHG x 2, Citi TY Premier, SPG Amex, Discover, Barclays US Airways World MC x 2.

I've already "spent" my way to the bonuses on all of these cards, and now I'm looking for a strategy going forward that will amass the most (and most flexible) points/miles for future trips while paying the fewest in annual fees.

Here's my plan at the moment, and please feel free to let me know if there's any way I can improve/maximize this better.

1. Sapphire for all dining/travel 2 points per $ bonuses only (3x on first Friday).
2. Ink Plus for monthly cell/internet (5 points per $), gas (2x), and Amazon (purchasing GCs for my needs at Staples for 5x)
3. Freedom/Discover for maximizing quarterly bonuses.
4. SPG Amex for all other non-bonus spending.
5. IHG cards (for me and my wife) - keep for the 2 annual free nights and IHG Platinum status.
6. Barclays cards (for me and my wife) - cancel since we really only got them for the 50k signup bonuses.
7. Citi TY Premier - cancel after redeeming my TY points for travel @ 1.33 cents/point or transferring them to an airline partner.
8. Amex Platinum - keep or cancel or maybe downgrade to the Everyday? The only benefits it might be worth keeping for are the $200 airline credit (usable on AA gift cards), the $100 Global Entry credit, and having Starwood Gold status. Otherwise it's damn near useless and I've used most of my MR points already (have about 40k left) and have been thinking of transferring them out to maybe British Airways.

Did I miss anything? Any other cards people think I should sign up for? My credit scores are all over 800 and I'm pretty disciplined with my spending, using MS only for signup or quarterly bonuses (really just don't have the time for anything else). Does anybody think it's really worth keeping the Amex Platinum and paying the ridiculous annual fee? Is Starwood Gold status worth having?

Brugge

The first thing I noticed was you didn't mention how long you've had the Chase cards. Two years (+ maybe a few weeks for the Chase system to notice you've canceled them) after having gotten a bonus you can reapply and get the bonuses all over again. CSP alone, with an AU and min spnd, will be 49K points transferable to several airline programs. Plus you get to skip the $95 AF for the first year, again.

Next definitely the AMEX Everyday Preferred. Don't downgrade from the Plat, since it doesn't sound like you are anticipating doing enough new apps to worry about your HP situation. Cancel the Plat, and apply for AEP, since the 15K MR sign up bonus isn't huge, but still worth getting. Use it 30 times a month and all of your grocery spend (including RLs and GCs) becomes 4.5X, up to a max of $6K. That an extra 21K points a year over most ccs. And use it for gas instead of the Ink and with that 30 uses a billing period, you get 3X for gas with no $ cap.

The 30 uses is easier than it sounds. Use it on any small spend where the few points you lose from another card don't amount to much. Buy groceries short term, instead of loading up with a weeks worth. Fill your gas tank when it's 2/3 full instead of waiting until it's empty (which is better for your car anyway), GCs or RLs from grocery spend helps you get to the yearly $6K cap.

AMEX keeps a running count on your cc webpage of how many times you've used it during the current billing period, updated at noon daily. If you are running a bit short of 30 near the end, you might want to split a few multi-item charges into two individual charges to get you over the min.

I'm using Freedom for grocery spend this quarter, at least until I hit the $1500 quota, since it's 5X right now. That still leaves me 9 months to meet the Everyday $6K cap, which with GCs in the mix is easy to do. And when Freedom goes to 5X for gas, I'll use it for that, because I've found I have little trouble hitting 30 AEP uses even without gas spend for that one quarter.

Brugge

Appreciate that advice. She's in the process of getting some secured cards, and after she handles those perfectly for 6 months or so, I'll recommend trying for the Freedom and AEP. I agree that building up a new credit history with Chase and AMEX would be very useful long term. And especially the AED seems aimed at low credit profiles. AMEX only gave me a $2K CL with the AEP, despite targeting me for a pre-approved upgrade from Bus Gold to Bus Plat.

After 6 months of regular use, they have proactively raised my CL on the AEP to $3K.

I guess I did say "friend" but it's really my wife's work supervisor, and she volunteered the BK info and asked for advice. I told her about Credit Sesame, and she didn't give us the results, so it seemed a little delicate to pry.

ArsVendy

I'm pondering doing my first AOR - can I get a reality check on my plan? I fly primarily US Airways on a monthly basis, and I stay at a Westin hotel because my company has an arrangement with them.

My general plan for airline cards is to apply for both the US Airways Barclaycard (50K for $89 fee and a transaction) and the Citi Platinum AAdvantage (50K waived first year fee, $2K spend in first 3 months). If I am understanding correctly, the 100K in total miles will end up in the same combined AAdvantage account when they combine "in the second quarter of the year", and then I can decide what to do with the individual card accounts once the programs combine. Is this understanding correct? Are there any other cards I should consider if my primary goal is to boost my miles in the combined AAdvantage program coming later this year?

Since I usually stay at a Westin, the SPG AmEx (25,000 StarPoints w/ $5k spend in first 6 months, annual fee waived first year) seems to be the obvious choice. I can get away with staying at a Mariott or a Hampton Inn... any advantages to switching up there?

The minimum spend required for the points won't be a problem - I may stagger the AmEx until after the AAdvantage bonus is achieved just to spread things out a bit. We are also considering refinancing the house in a couple of months, but my wife and I both have excellent credit... any pitfalls there for doing an AOR?

Thanks!

shawntobi

Yes, miles will be combined from your USAIR and AA account upon merger.

Conventional advice says not to do an AOR if refinancing..... I did one about 2 months prior to a Refi, no issues, except having to explain each of my previous 6 cards and provide statements showing 0 balance since most were opening within 2 months of the refi..... They asked the reason for opening the card and on each line I wrote....50,000 bonus miles. I believe if you have very good credit and income, it isn't an issue for a Refi. Just depends on each individual circumstances.

If you have a business, you may want to pick up a few business cards at the same time. Good options with Citi for AA

ArsVendy

Thanks for the reply! I did go ahead and apply for both, and ended up 2 for 2! I decided to hold off on the Starwood card for now, both because of the possible refinance in a few months, and because I want to spread out the spending so I don't bury myself in minimum-spend milestones.

tev9999

I'm planning a trip to Ireland for the fall (late September or early October) to celebrate my recently granted Irish citizenship. I'm looking for the best way to get there for free. DTW is my home airport, but there are some others that may work better. Due to potential work commitments, plus others that might be accompanying me, I won't be ready to book until June or July, so I realize that complicates award availability. Hotels should be covered with my existing banks with Club Carlson, Hilton and IHG - so I am mainly looking at airfare.

What I Currently Have

Delta: 195,000 miles - mainly leftover from my NW Plat days
SW: 46,000 points - no good over the pond, but may get me to a better jumping off point. This was mostly from a Chase Visa last January.
AA: 7000 miles from actual flying.
No other airline cards since Northwest existed.

What I'm Working On (will complete this month):
CITI AA Platinum - 50,000 miles
BoA Alaska Airlines - 25,000 miles - will probably head to AK in 2016 and BoA would not stop begging me to take a card.

What I can't have:
US Air - or anything else Barclays - I'm blacklisted due to AoR shenanigans seven years ago.

Not sure about Starwood - I had the Amex probably around 2008, so I am not sure if any bonus there would be void by the new "once per lifetime" bonus policy.

What I'm Thinking
1. Just burn the Delta miles. The cheapest awards are 85K for coach, probably 100K for decent routing. Since it looks like there may be more devaluation on the horizon it may be time to burn. Even if so, there is no reason to not keep banking others...

2. AA Citi Business - 50K for 110K+ in my bank when spend is done

3. UA Chase - 50K - may be useful if I can combine as a one way with AA.

4. Drive to YYZ and pay cash (well, charge it to a miles card). While I realize that is sacrilegious here, with oil down, the US dollar strengthening and WestJet battling Air Canada with dirt cheap fares via YYT, I can make the three hour drive for a non-stop YYZ-DUB on AC for just over $600 USD. That would still be faster than the DL 85K route via ATL. I did this last fall to get to LHR and it worked quite well.

4B. Chase Ink Plus - 60K to book YYZ-DUB with UR points. Sapphire could also work.

5. Chase BA - 50K miles. Probably not a good option with the high taxes going via the UK. I'm not sure how easy Avios would be to use on AA for this. I also like to tread lightly with Chase since they have been so good to me.

I will probably go for the Chase Ink next. It has been five months since my last Chase card so it is probably safe to poke them again. From there the AA Biz. That should give me enough options once schedules are finalized and I see what happens to prices in both $$ and miles.

Anything I'm missing?

fatherof3

First, thanks for reading this post. Here is my game from reading as much as I could from this forum and other websites on how to help my family of 5 to travel as free as possible. Any advice is appreciated.

1. We have no immediate travel plans, 3 young kids under the age of 4. The main goal is to accumulate points now for the next 3 years to take the kids on a vacation when they wont annoy everyone on the airplane.

2. Game plan:

A. Open Chase sapphire preferred and Chase Ink plus in my name.
B: Hit bonuses and use cards for the next month on every day living
C. Wife opens Chase sapphire preferred and Chase Ink plus in her name.
D. Hit bonuses and use cards for the next month.

Assuming a 6-7 month interval between A and D

Repeat above steps but with SPG AMEX cards for both myself and my wife.

At this point I am not sure what the best thing to do is. My first thoughts would be transfer my wifes UR to my account and cancel her chase cards around 11 months so not to pay the annual fee, but keep my Chase sapphire preferred open and use it as an every day card. SPG AMEX cards we would xfer the points to the airline FFP of our choice and cancel those cards around 11 months as well.

Some where I would like to open up a few more cards to get some big bonus miles/rewards and keep them open just a few months before the annual fees, probably keeping one of ours open to get the free night say (assuming its a hotel credit card).

I assume that with most of the airline and hotel specific credit cards that you can dump the card and still retain your reward points within their own program without still having the card?

Any advice is more then welcome and appreciated!

Erik_KSU2

Does anyone know if paying your bill before the statement closes improves your utilization rate?

ninjaFred

Only if your payment is greater than $0.

Yes, generally speaking, the CC issuer will report your balance as it stood when the statement closed.

MamaBear05

I am looking at applying for the Barclay Arrival Plus card soon and am wondering if there are any other cards I should go ahead and apply for at the same time. All planned travel for this year has already been covered.

I currently have the following cards...

CSP (2/13)
Ink Bold (3/13 - considering moving to the no AF card)
Barclays US Airways (3/13)
AMEX SPG (4/13)
United Mileage Explorer Plus (10/13)
Club Carlson (10/13)
Citi Hilton Visa (3/14)
Chase Freedom (12/14)

I recently cancelled my Chase SW Premier in hopes of being able to reapply for the bonus in 2 years...and when I first was approved for the Freedom, it had a very low limit so I transferred my credit line from the SW card. I am guessing I am about maxed out on the credit Chase will extend to me. I also cancelled my Hilton Reserve because it just wasn't worth the annual fee. When I applied for the Ink Bold, I was still somewhat able to claim being a real estate agent. I do not have any sort of business now so personal cards are preferred.

The only other card I am interested in at the moment is the Citi AA Platinum Select card to build points in my AA account to combine with my US Airways points.

My points balances are:

UR - 56,000
United - 67,000
US Airways - 31,000
SPG - 17,000
Club Carlson - 94,000

I just feel like applying for a single card goes against the grain. I am not concerned about status and am not loyal to any airline or hotel brand. All of my travel is just me and my 9 year old son.

Thank you for any suggestions.

roki

I would say going for the Barclay Arrival+ and AA Platinum is just fine. There's a common notion that you have to apply for at least 4 cards at a time every 90 days, or something like that. I haven't applied for more than 1 card at a time for almost 2 years. To each their own, but if you don't feel like any of the offers are super compelling, then don't waste inquiries. The AA Plat is a great card to have, and the miles will combine with your US Airways miles in a couple months.