Best Credit Card for Big Purchase?
 

Hello everyone,

I am not sure if this is the right forum, but I need some advice. We are looking to make a big purchase for 30k USD, and I wonder which card is the best for us to use/apply for? My fiancé's FICO score is 687 (excellent payment history, but only 2.5 years worth of credit history) and his annual income is about 200k. We have about 17000USD credit limit because we are recent college graduates.

He has American Express Blue Cash Preferred, Discover It (applied last month), Citibank CashReturns, and a random Capital One card, and all my credit cards are from overseas. We probably made some mistakes by opening an account at our school's credit union, as it resulted in a hard pull.

Anyway, we are looking at the best deal for both cash back or miles/points. For miles, I prefer something that can translate into AsiaMiles, as we both have status with Cathay Pacific (I am DM, he is SL). I also have SPG Platinum status, but fiancé doesn't travel for business. If he travels, it is usually with me.

We won't need a mortgage or a car loan (but will lease a car).

Any thoughts? I appreciate your help!

I would check out the Starwood AMEX. They have a very good program for transferring points to Airline miles. For AsiaMiles, the exchange rate is 1 to 1 plus they give you a 5k bonus for every 20k transferred so 40k Starwood points will get you 50k Asia miles. For leasing a car they probably won't allow you to charge the lease payments but should allow you to charge the up front fees.

Where to put a $25k bill for a new roof?
 

Hello,
I just replaced our roof (Oklahoma hail and wind) and got paid directly form the insurance company. So I have a $25k bill to pay by the end of July. What card(s) should I use?
My wife's and I credit scores (FICO) are both above 800. We have already done quite a few cards this year, so it was almost nice not having to meet minimal spend, but this is almost a slam dunk.
So far this year I have had 2 Citi AA exec cards, Amex personal premier gold, US airways business, and Chase Ink plus. Other recently closed cards that I cant probably churn are Lufthansa card, SWA regular personal and business, AMEX Business Gold, Chase Ink Bold, and US Airways Mastercard.
My wife has open an Citi AA Exec Card, regular Citi AA Card, AMEX Gold Premier card, Chase Ink Bold, and Lufthansa. Recently closed cards are AMEX Gold Business, SWA regular Personal and Business, US Airways Mastercard, Chase Ink Plus, and Citi Thank you card.

We live in OKC and aren’t too reliant on a single airline. Our companion pass is expiring in December, which we have used extensively. We already have about 600k AA miles. So I am leaning towards getting a Citi AA exec card again for each of us, but a lil worried on getting too AA heavy. It just doesn’t seem like there are any other good offers out there though. I am planning on taking a dream vacation for 4 in 2015, just not sure where (Europe, Middle east, Asia….) I prefer 1-2 large spend cards instead of a handful on small min spend cards. What cards out there have a good bonus for spending $25k that I should maybe consider as well?

Thanks!

Where to put a $25k bill for a new roof?
 

I would definitely do another 2 citi exec cards and split the 25k across both cards.

No such thing as too AA heavy when they've got a 100k offer hanging out there :)

If it were me, I would try to negotiate a lower price by paying cash.

^ This

With your stable of current/recently closed cards and no airline preference, I would also recommend the cash discount option.

However, if you feel the need to diversify your mileage balances, I can agree with that sentiment as well since AA is probably going to devalue before the other legacies do so again but there are no guarantees. That said, if you and your wife are able to get 1 personal and 1 business Explorer card (of the 50K variety which will probably require SM) that would get you in a similar ballpark as the 2 AA cards but it does increase your cards to accomplish same to 4. Additionally, it would be wise, if going this route, to put the minimum spend on 3 of the cards and the remainder on the 4th in order to get closer to the 10K bonus for spending 25K. Getting just 2 of the cards would be easier and would practically knock out the spend in one fell swoop but the overall mileage would be lower. It all depends on your destination next year as AA may be your better bet from an alliance perspective.

Living in OKC, I'd suspect that UA means taking regional jets anywhere you travel. This is probably the same for AA although you might have MD80 service which at least gives the carry-on traveler such as yours truly a realistic opportunity to do so with a rollaboard.

That's my 2¢

High spend card to consider?
 

I have a commitment in which I will be able to charge $15k+ to a card within the next 30 days. I have plenty of cards which I could use but I'd like to maximize my return and perhaps get a new card that has a high spend threshold with some nice benefits. Don't really care if I keep the card for any long term benefits. Does anything come to mind from anyone?

amex biz plat? there is a spend 20k get 150k MR points offer going around. It's a targeted offer but you can try your luck and ask CSR if they would match it

That sounds very good. I'm going to try it out tomorrow. I've been with Amex SPG for 15 years and are familiar with their point values. Have close to 200,000 points with them and know their value. Don't know anything about MR points. Would MR points be somewhat comparable to SPG points?

Yes Membership rewards points and SPG points are very similar when it comes to airline transfers and other different options. The difference being, different (sometimes better) transfer partners /options.

Everyone has a different valuation. For me, MR points are worth around 1.5 cents or a bit more and SPG are maybe 2.3 cents, especially with the current transfer bonus promo.

Holding my MR and waiting for another 50% bonus for transfer to Avios.

Called in and was approved for 100k MR points for the 10k spend. It took all of about 10 minutes. I see that I can get $1000 in Home Depot gift cards for the 100k MRs. Works for me.

upcoming $10,000 purchase. Looking for advice on which card to use.
 

We are getting ready to buy a new kitchen from IKEA, which will be a bit over $10,000. I was just approved from the Ink Biz card with 70,000 bonus with $5,000 spend. I am looking for a different card to put the other $5,000 or so on. Right now i have:


Barclays arrival

WN RR

AA biz and personal

United chase,

A couple of US Air cards.

Hilton Honors Citi

Marriott Chase



Anything I should apply for now to use up that other $5,000?

Thanks in advance for the help!

I would go for the Citi Executive Advantage card. $450 annual fee and $5,000 spend. Make the spend quickly and cancel the card after the miles post and the annual fee is refunded.