Originally Posted by
suspire
Or maybe it just seems like it, because people are hysterically posting about closed accounts like lemmings.
I'd like some cold, hard stats before I buy into Chase Rampage 2012.
As for the OP, I'd say: Don't do anything illegal and don't do anything that egregiously gouges Chase and you should be fine.
But as for your options, #2 sounds like a good plan to me. Especially if you're using SP and Freedom as your main go-to cards, you're probably listed as a "profitable customer".
As for when to go for Ink Bold, hard to say since you have had so many Chase cards. Might be a tricky sell, but I'd say it depends on your spending patterns (how much do you spend/spend on Chase cards) and the value Chase sees in the relationship. And your credit rating/report, of course. But if you haven't picked up a new card in the last 3 to 6 months, I'd say go for it. The worst they can do is reject you.
To expand on this, I suspect Chase has been hitting a lot of folks whose spending patterns demonstrate an intent to run spending through a card solely for the purpose of earning points in whatever program the card promotes. Before you laugh too much and say, well, that's what we do here at FT, I'd suggest looking at a credit card statement you had before you started taking cards for miles.
I'll bet you'll see charges for gas every week or so, groceries every week or so, restaurant meals, an internet order or two, a charge at a bricks-and-mortar department store, tickets for a play or a ball game, a purchase at Home Depot.
I'm going to bet that the cardholders Chase shut down had significant gift card purchases--in some cases, probably little other than gift card purchases. If not gift card purchases, then money charged using all the other little mechanisms we discuss here to jack up spending.
If you use those mechanisms now, monitor your statement to make sure other spending reaches your card, too. And slow down the applications. It's easy to get caught up here in the excitement, but recently, even experienced pros like the Frugal Travel Guy have reported getting denied on applications. Keep in mind that these incentives got put out there as a way for the financial institutions to attract credit card customers at a time when the pool of good customers was getting smaller. The signs point to a change in that area (flattening or reduction in signup bonuses, the increases in spending requirements) which means that institutions are more likely to decline credit applications now than they were a year ago.