mot29

One of the benefits of CapOne's letting you put your own picture on the cards. I have a CapOne signature card that pays 5% on groceries, gas... and 1% on all else. I have a photo that I took of artichokes and other veggies at a market in Milan and my 5% grocery card has a picture of groceries on it.

beltway

Funny -- although there's no reason people can't simply print up small labels ("GAS/GROCERY") and tape them to the front of the card. Some even go so far as to write with a Sharpie, but that works poorly for cards with rotating bonus categories.

Jlove

Anyone know if you can upgrade a chase freedom to a sapphire? or do you have to apply specifically for a sapphire?

also, i was going to apply for another chase freedom for the $300 credit (no $3k spending required), but it looks like it's dead. anyone know different?
update - the $300 bonus for freedom card is now dead. It's now $200 with $500 spend in 3 mo. Still a nice bonus with a lower spending requirement than sapphire preferred.

GetawaysRus

I think a lot of people are going to tell you to keep your Freedom card and try to add a Sapphire Preferred card (if you can make the required spend for the Sapphire Preferred bonus). And, if you have a Chase checking account (or add one), you can then take advantage of the Chase Exclusives program with your Freedom card.

You can read this Mommy Points blog post for some ideas:
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/mommyp...perfect-combo/

Happy

That is exactly my post is about - with the rotation and now it seems more and more cards are doing it, confusion / forgetfulness are bound to arise.

I just got a mailer from Citi, the Premier card now has an automatic quarterly rotations albeit is only for 2%, but it is a start. There is no registration needed according to the mailer.

Happy

I wonder is there any one able to get a 2nd Freedom card with the sign up bonus?

Our Freedom cards are from several years ago. Mine got a $250 bonus at the time. Spouse's was a conversion of a Marriott card and he did not receive any bonus. It would be nice to get the bonus on the Freedom which actually is in the UR point form, and can be transferred to UR under Sapphire Preferred...

maulah

I canceled my Freedom card about a year ago (not exactly sure how many months but most likely around a year). Applied for a new one a week ago and declined for too many chase accounts. Canceled Continental card and approved for Freedom yesterday. I am hoping my bonus will not be denied and will be treated as a new card.

sargenet

I am still waiting to see if I am approved for a Freedom card. I had to cancel my Continental to get the Sapphire and now that I opened the checking account I need to get the Freedom. I already have a Southwest and Hyatt (and had a United and Continental) so I am hoping they let me cancel one of them to get the Freedom. I keep calling in and get the "pending" notification saying I would get something in the mail. So I wonder if I should call the reconsideration line now since I am pretty sure I will get denied for too many cards!!! But now I really want the Freedom to combine with checking!!!

atxtraveler

I understand you can not transfer points into AA from UR as per this post, but is AA one of the eligible airlines for you to use UR to book?

Also, is anyone on here in a position to comment on whether they prefer the $450 AA Citi card that earns EQMs versus using UR to book flights which earn EQMs?

gv111

Does anybody know how long it takes to transfer UR points to Marriott points? The TC says 3-4 weeks but I guess it could be faster.

Jlove

Why do you think it would be better to add a Sapphire Preferred instead of upgrading an existing card?
I actually have 2 Freedom cards, from a long time ago. I hardly use them. Rather than get another card, I was thinking of emailing them and asking them to upgrade one of the Freedom cards to a Sapphire. Is there a reason why it might be better not to do this, and to apply for a Sapphire Preferred?

And, I was also thinking of applying for a second Chase card (like Southwest or Marriott), in addition to the SP, not sure how this decision would affect that.

amrom

With a card conversion, you wont get the signup bonus. Just for new applications.

Jlove

I think it's faster too.
There's a 33 pg thread on the Marriott card; I think it's discussed there.

GetawaysRus

Here's what I personally would do.

I have the general impression that Chase will allow you to have a fair number of cards, but there's a limit. I've got 4 Chase cards now. Maybe it would be possible for me to get a fifth, but that's getting iffy.

Also, I have the general impression that Chase has gotten more restrictive about how much credit they will grant to an individual. Banks used to hand out credit pretty easily, but they got more restrictive after the banking crisis a few years ago.

And I think that it is highly unlikely that Chase will to grant you several personal cards all at once. It's not gonna happen.

So:
1. I can't see why there is a benefit to having 2 Freedom cards. I'd probably cancel the one that is newer and keep my older card (which maintains my longer credit record and would help keep my FICO score higher). But, when calling to cancel, I would ask Chase to add the credit limit from the canceled Freedom card to my other Freedom card. This maintains your total Chase credit limit, which is also good for your FICO score and will give you greater flexibility in the future if you apply for more Chase credit cards.
2. Next, I would apply for whichever additional Chase card you are most interested in now. Hopefully you get approved and granted additional credit. However, if Chase balks at giving you additional credit, you can offer to split the (now increased) credit line on your one remaining Freedom card to make room in your Chase credit line for a new card.
3. Wait at least 1 month (possibly longer) before applying for another Chase personal card. That's not a problem, because you'll probably have some spending requirement to meet on the new card. Search FT - you'll find threads with advice on applying for Chase cards.

mot29

Actually there is a nice benefit to multiple freedom cards -- I have two because affiliation cards/branded cards got converted to freedom.

The 4% bonus quarterly category promos are limited to $1500 or 6000 extra points, for each freedom card. This quarter was a good one -- charitable contributions and dept store purchases. I maxed out both freedom cards for the bonuses.