FlightNurse

I got a targeted Citi AA mailer for 40K miles for only 1K spend, however, no admirals club and no statement credit, as well as nothing talked about priority boarding or free bags. BTW, I wish the bloggers would take down thier links to a dead offer.... They know they no longer work but continue to have them on thier web page..

ctruzzi

Thanks for the quick help.
Today I applied and got the US 35k one that shows a failed page but was approved and the 40k AA MasterCard.
I also applied for the Chase Sapphire and the Alaska BoA CC. Both of those I have to call tomorrow because they didn't get approved right away. If I wants to apply for one more tomorrow would that be an okay idea or rather bad?
I will look at the business information for my next around and get the Ink Bold.

chrisj500

Great card, it is my favorite for dining.
But I'd caution you about such a large TYP balance, Citi has been haphazardly closing TYP accounts and folks have been losing their entire TYP balance. You probably don't have much reason to worry, but I'd try to make use of those if you can.

dcpilgrim

Most who have been getting shut down have a 5X TY Pref card with juicy categories for "manufactured spend". Another potential trigger has been people doing student loan of mortgage check redemptions.

Another nugget to file away is if there is ever a good offer for the TY Premier card you can redeem that 160K of points at 1.33x for travel, or $2128 in tickets (plus whatever bonus you may get to get the premier, standard offer is in the 25K range, 50K was common a year ago). The 1.33x is pretty much the highest and best use of those points.

Up to you to weight the risk. I am sitting for now, but following the thread.

kevinwangjk

Bad news.

Just got a denial email from USBank. Called and was told application was denied due to report from ARS, which I didn't know before, and no more details were given.

Did a quick search here on ARS and found out that I should have frozen my ARS prior to a AOR that includes this card.

I've not been following the thread about this card so there is no way for me to know about it before hand .

Any possibility that I can get this app approved somehow?

webazoid

In 2012, I got 6 personal cards and 3 biz card. In 2013, I got 3 personal and 2 biz. Last card was a ink two months ago.

I'm planning to either buy or lease a new car w/ financing july or august. 760+ credit score. Should I even think about a churn +/- 1 month before or after car?

LetsGoToo

I'd wait just to be safe. Can't you do the churn after the car loan closes?

ChurnBabyChurn

Personally I'd do the churn, but I can see where you would wait just to be safe.

Lots of people who have no business getting a loan manage to get car loans.

A 750+ score, good history, and a reasonable loan amount should = no problem with getting your loan.

Plus, you would look great in that new car WITH a couple hundred thousand extra points in the glove box...

Don't let the CC/loan folks scare you out of taking them for some points...if you do, you're playing right into their game...

reft

I think the score for the lowest interest on a car loan tops out at 720. In other words, you don't get a better rate for 760, so even if you took a 39 point hit, you'd be in ok shape only as far as score goes.

There is reportedly a "Car Loan FICO" which is scored differently than a generic FICO.

There's more than just your score, otherwise they wouldn't ask all those other pesky questions on the loan app, or pull your CR.

- It's possible that even with a high score, they could decline for too many new accounts. It depends on the lender.

- It's also possible that one lender might feel they have enough exposure with you, in which case you would try another.

- You don't mention income, total credit line or utilization, or how long you plan to finance for.

What's the most "trouble" you can get into?

Take half of your gross monthly income, subtract reported mortgage or rent, any other installment loans, then take 4% of your credit card credit line (not balance) for each card, but no less than $25. ($35 for AMEX credit cards) For 6 cards you would have 6 totals, subtract all of them. Take 90% of what's left.

What's left is a conservative thumbnail approximation (or SWAG if you prefer) of the amount of your income that can service new debt. What's missing are calculations for charge cards like the AMEX Green/Gold/Plat or the Ink Bold. Past 12 month average monthly balance, might be the number to subtract.

Installment loans and future Credit Card applications

If you plan to continue to acquire credit cards, a zero interest 60 month car loan keeps your monthly obligations lower, allowing more room for new cards in the future. You can pay it down more aggressively with extra payments or more per payment, but your official commitment is lower.

In other words, even if you could pay the car loan off in 24 months, a 60 month zero interest loan would allow for more credit card debt during that 5 year period, (all things financial being equal over the 5 year period.)

Bringing interest in, you will pay more with a 60 month loan than a 24. If it's a rule of 78's loan, paying it back aggressively doesn't save you as much money, as most of the interest payments are front loaded into the 1st year or two of the loan. Interest-wise, better to take the 36 month, than to take a 60 and then pay it in 36. If it's not a rule of 78's loan use the appropriate calculation.

Interest on a credit card tends to wipe out the value of the miles, except for signing bonuses. Interest on a car loan will also take money out of your pocket.

The decision on the term of the loan is a financial one. There are loan calculators on the Internet you can use to play with numbers. Is being able to get sign up bonuses while paying the car loan off, worth the cost of the difference in interest over the life of the loan: If 36 month loan is $750 more than a 24, can you get $750 in sign up bonuses?

Summing it up

[Churning a card is when you open it, close it, then open it again to get the bonus again; An App-o-rama (AoR) is when you open muliple cards at once.]


If the car is more important, do the credit cards after. If you've gone overboard, better to lose out on the credit card than the car loan.

On car loans

Another rule of thumb for car loans: If you are buying new, take 85% of the MSRP of the base model, and 80% of the accessories. That's approximately what the car is really worth. The rest (tax/title/doc fee/freight) do not add to the value of the car, and with some cars you need to use 90% and 85%. You can usually find dealer cost vs MSRP on the internet when you know which make you are interested in.

If you are buying used (and certified pre owned can be a great value) to go kbb.com and play with the trade in values to get a number.

If you loan more than the value of the car, you will be 'upside down' or 'in the bucket' This is not a great place to be, financially. Either look at a less expensive car, or increase the down payment. If you are upside down, and have a total loss, the insurance company pays you their value, but you are still responsible for any balance on the car loan. A $10K note with a $8K insurance check leaves you owing $2K and no car. The other place upside down hurts is when you go to trade in before you've paid off the loan. You start upside down, they roll the old debt into the new car, and you are more upside down than when you started.

All that said, there are times when the need for transportation means you will be upside down and there's no fix for it. Just be aware of how upside down you are, and at what point in time you won't be upside down any more. (Almost all house mortgages will be upside down, but since value appreciation usually occurs while you are paying down the debt, you get equity sooner. Cars almost always only depreciate.)

Disclaimer: You are getting personal financial advice from an anonymous poster on an Internet forum.

webazoid

Thanks u guys for the responses!

I think I will hold off on applying for any CC's unless a good deal like 75k Amex comes around.

That said, I'm eyeing a Lexus ES 350 base model. Online it says:

Is there a blog on how to negotiate? What the invoice price for this car would be?

skitch23

You could check out this site for researching prices...
http://www.truecar.com/prices-new/lexus/es-350-pricing/

If you happen to be a PenFed member, they have a partnership with Truecar and offer some additional savings and lower interest rates if you buy from a preferred dealer.

jeanie

Most dealerships now have internet sales divisions. If you know exactly what you want, e-mail several dealerships asking for their best price. Let them know that you are getting multiple quotes.

Take the lowest offer, and then ask the other dealerships if they can match or do better.

Dealerships use all kinds of high pressure tactics to close the sale. You can avoid having to deal with those pitfalls by negotiating over the internet.

By the way, if they give you a price deadline saying if you buy today they will give you a specific deal, don't fall for it. They will give you the same deal tomorrow. It's a closing technique.

webazoid

for financing, Lexus quoted me anywhere between 2.5% to 2.9% for the ES Model. Can I get a better rate getting auto loan from a third party?

PenFed has 1.79%. It says I can apply for car loan if I am a member of a related associaiton. Can I click to join online RedCross to qualify? Is it free with AAA? I saw thread on FW about free to AAA members but there is a $20 donation.

AscorbylPalmitate

data point: i got denied 9 months since the prior Barclays CC. the explanation given was something along the lines of "sufficient credit is available on your account issued by Barclays Bank Delaware"

TravelSummary

Another data point: I had my US Air card for 9 months before applying for the Arrival. Put no spending on the US Air card except for min spend and the targeted 15K promo. Had no real issues getting approved for Arrival (went to pending and had to call reconsideration line).