hnf8705

Hola Flyertalk.. It's been a while!

First of all, I'm trying to get to AuStRaLiA / NeW zEaLaNd NOV 2015 with my DH. I've been researching, but there is so much info! We were hoping to fly biz w/ lay flat seats, but so far I've found that option would have needed to be booked last Nov. So we may be in economy, but I still want to use miles to book!

Our dates are pretty flexible. I have a good friend living in Aussie til end of Nov so we would like to get to Aussie first, and then go to NZ. I know i can get more info on details for routing elsewhere in FT, but my main reason for posting here is because i need advice on my next apps for cards to get miles for the trip.

Here's what i have: (all are open)
Wells Visa: 8/2005 (oldest card)
Kohls: 01/2007
2 AA Citi personal cards: approved 3/2013 and 7/2013
2 US Air Barclay cards: approved 4/2013 and 5/2014
Amex SPG: approved 8/2013
Best Buy: 9/2013
JCPennys: 01/2014
Chase Ink Bold biz: approved 5/2014
Barclay Arrival Plus: approved 9/2014
Chase Sapphire Preferred: approved 9/2014

Last apps were approved 9/14. My current FICO from Barclays is 761. Credit Karma says 757 for Transunion and 762 for Equifax. DH has recovering credit and so far only has miles in US AIR and AA. When they combine he'll have 100,000+ so we are hoping to use AA to get down under. Im aware of the Citi time clock rules and an app now 3/2015 puts me at 18 mths exactly. Here is what I'm thinking of applying for:

Citi AA personal #3 for 50k after 3k spend in 3 mths
Citi AA biz #1 for 50k after 3k spend in 3 mths
IHG Rewards club select card: 70k after 1k spend in 3 mths

My current miles:
AA: 59,487
US: 50,919
SPG: 39, 449
Chase UR: 115,703
Arrival: 46,262

I was thinking of moving my SPG to AA w/ 5,000 bonus per 20k for an additional 50k in AA, but I'm not sure i need that if I get the 2 additional Citi cards.
OR can I transfer SPG to Chase UR and fly both DH on a diff airline?
Also, any other cards I should consider?

I'm just looking for advice/comments/suggestions. Anything at all is much appreciated!!!

minerman

Alrighty,

I am doing a one year around the world trip and I've been stockpiling miles and points across several programs. I am departing in June, so this is my last of 3 AOR's:

Currently have about 250k AA, 100k UA, 100k Delta. 250k IHG, 130k Marriott, 100k Carlson

Credit Score is 731 TU and 717 Exp. Going to let it recover for a year after these last apps.

Old Rewards Card:
IHG Rewards

AOR #1 in August 2014

-Barclays US Air Card 40k - Approved
-Citi AA Platinum Select 50k - Approved
-Capital One Venture One 20k - Approved
-US Bank Club Carlson 85k - Approved
-Chase Mariott Rewards 70k - Approved

AOR #2 in November 2014

-Amex Gold Delta Skymiles 50k - Approved
-Amex Gold Business Delta Skymiles 50k - Approved
-Chase United Explorer 50k - Approved
-Citi Business AA Platinum Select 50k - Approved
-US Bank Club Carlson Business 85k - DENIED

AOR #3 Upcoming (Last chance to get cards before trip - 1 Year to recover credit score Going for broke!)

Planned:
-Chase Sapphire Preferred
-Barclays Arrival+
-Capital Venture Rewards
-Amex Starwood Preferred
-Chase Ink Plus

Considering:
-Another try at Club Carlson Business?
-Chase United Business instead of Ink?
-Try to open a 2nd Barclays US Air with 1st remaining open?
-Citi ThankYou? Is it worth it? Any other citi cards that I should get? HHonors?

sikorloa

Getting ready for my 2nd AOR, was just hoping to get some feedback from more experienced MS-ers.

I was hoping to find out:

1. Should I call the current cards I have open and request to have my credit line lowered?

2. Also, am I missing anything on maximizing use of my Serve account?
At the moment I am assuming $27k spend in 3 months using:
- $2.5k / mo organic spend
- $1.5k / mo online CC load Softcard Serve (Using AMEX card)
- $5k / mo loading VGC's onto Serve account

3. Any opinion on the cards I've selected for my 2nd AOR in terms of reaping the most benefits for airline and some hotel points?
I tried to select mainly cards with the AF waived the first year, though I'm open to some AF cards if they're worth it.

I currently have:
Chase Ink Bold 50k
Chase Sapphire Preferred 40k
Citi AAdvantage Platinum (recently converted to Bronze) 40k
Citi AAdvantage Business (today converted to Thank You card) 30k
US Airways Premier World Card (Barclay) 50k
Alaska Airlines Visa Signature (Bank of America) 25k

Planning on getting these cards April 1st:
Amex Platinum (100k offer, got in mail) - Amex
Alaska Airlines Personal (25k, heard this card can be churned in every AOR) - B of A
Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard (40k bonus) - Barclay
British Airways Visa Signature Card (50k bonus) - Chase
Marriot Rewards Premier Business (70k bonus) - Chase
Citi Platinum Select (50k bonus) - Citi
Citi Platinum Select Business (50k bonus) - Citi
Club Carlson (85k) - US Bank
Capital One Venture (40k) - Capital One
Capital One Spark Business (30k) - Capital One


Goal: Want to fly family out to visit Poland sometime this year to surprise grandma and sister in med school living over there. Trying to get as much airline miles as I can, and possibly some hotel points for a vacation somewhere in the future.

frequentfiler

minerman - It looks like you've done a good job capitalizing on sign up bonuses and have a good portfolio of cards. The one area I see missing is a good set of category spending bonuses for your long-term spending once you get past all your sign up requirements. CSP and Ink Plus will cover this decently, but you might also look at the Citi Thank You Premier. Starting next month it will earn 3x points for travel (w/ very broad category definition including parking, taxis, etc.) and 2x points for dining and entertainment. Sign up bonus is mediocre since you don't get most of it until renewal, but the long-term value will be better than most of the other cards in your wallet.

frequentfiler

sikorloa - 10 cards at once seems pretty aggressive. I'm not saying you shouldn't try but I'd be prepared for some denials. You are also going to beat up your credit history with all of those hard pulls, so you may need to wait longer before your next AOR. At the very least you should think through your app order to prioritize what is most important. Also, I've read that you can't get approved for 2 Citi cards of any kind within 8 days of each other so you will need to sequence those across a week or two.

frequentfiler

I've finally completed my first (extended) AOR. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I applied for the Citi Prestige for an in-branch offer (60K points, split for $3k in first 3 months and $15K in cardmember year) on 2/27. I also applied for the US Air Barclays card that day and was approved. I knew I had to wait 8 days after the Citi application to apply for another Citi card, so I held back for the rest of my apps. For various personal reasons, I didn't get around to doing the rest until last night:
Chase Ink Plus - Approved immediately - $30k limit (!)
Chase British Airways Visa - Pending, called recon this morning and got approved after verifying basic info - $26k limit (!)
Amex Everyday Preferred - Approved immediately - $13k limit
Citi Business AAdvantage Platinum - Pending, called recon this morning and got approved after verifying basic info - $7k limit

I'm not sure why Chase gave me such high limits. I've never been a customer of theirs and my prior highest limit was $12.5k on the Prestige. Business is a sole proprietership with no revenue yet. I have no real need for the high limits except maybe paying taxes (still weighing cost/benefits). I guess it will give me lots of flexibility in the future to lower limits when applying for other cards. Anyway, I'm happy with the results of all the apps and appreciate all of the advice on this thread and other places on FT. I'm already plannning my next round to hopefully catch SPG 30k offers during the summer.

NYCRuss

I wouldn't worry about the 10 inquiries unless I was going to apply for a mortgage in the next six months, or if I had at least that many inquiries under a year old on each credit report.

Those inquiries will have a greatly reduced impact after six months, and no impact on FICO scores after a year.

What I would worry about is adding 10 new accounts in one day if there is only six open accounts now, and I was apping with Barclays. Adverse action is not out of the realm of possibility. The other banks ought to be fine if the utilization rate is in the low single digits.

NYCRuss

If you have room in your budgeted spend for $1K over 3 months, I'd also app for an Amex EveryDay right after you app for the Platinum. It will just be one pull for both, so no concern about more hits. More importantly, having the no-annual fee EveryDay open will allow you to cancel the Platinum down the road, if you so choose, without risking forfeiture of your MR points.

sikorloa

True, I'm debating whether applying for less cards (perhaps 7) so that I can do another AOR in 3 months might be a better strategy for maximizing annual points earned.

There's a Virgin Atlantic 90k bonus for spending $12k in 6 months, I could substitute that card for a few of those other cards and still be maximizing my spend potential.

Applying for 10 cards means no app-o-ramas for the next 6 months from what I'm gathering, correct?

Would applying for only 6-7 cards, to be able to do another AOR in 3 months be a better strategy to maximize points earned per year?

I'm hoping to be able to catch the two 50k Southwest Companion Pass card offers before the end of the year, that card would have the most value to me I believe.

Oh man, thank you for letting me know! I will definitely figure out a way to include it.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Based on frequentfilers suggestions, I'm also thinking of structuring the AOR in the following manner:

April 1st - Apply for:
1. Barclay Arrival Plus World Elite - 40k
2. Citi Platinum Select - 50k

April 9th - Apply for:
3. Amex Platinum - 100k
4. Amex Everyday - 10k
5. Chase British Airways Visa Signature - 50k
6. Citi Business Platinum - 50k
7. B of A Virgin Atlantic - 90k (or substitute in the other 4 cards in here, if you guys think it won't make much of a difference in the long run. I've read that VA points can be a PITA to redeem)

Sunburn644

Australia has a larger number of Best Western and choice hotels, so I would get those cards, there are very few other hotels other than in very large cities (for example two marriotts in all of Australia and one hyatt I think) . There is normally some award availability on Virgin Australia from the US ( bookable with Delta points) so I would add the Amex deltas as well. Or if you're planning on flying AA, if you are willing to route through SIN/HKG/ICN there are normally more partner business awards open with oneworld carriers.

Sunburn644

I would cut the two Cap one out. they pull all 3 bureaus and 8 at once is already kind of high.

sikorloa

I've been researching Virgin Atlantic recently, and although intercontinental flights seem to have high fuel surcharges, supposedly the VA points are quite decent if you use them for domestic US travel, or travel within Australia on Virgin Australia.

There's an offer right now for a Bank of America Virgin Atlantic card, 90k points for $12k spend in 6 months. If you could meet the minimum spend on it, it would be useful for travel within Australia.

For example, round trip Virgin Australia flight from Sydney-Melbourne is 25k points. 1/2 points for one-way. No fuel surcharges when flying within Australia (or U.S.)

Offer thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credi...000-bonus.html

Virgin Australia rewards chart:
http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/gb/en...australia.html

shanna135

I've been getting 2 or 3 cards every 3 months and the other day I hit a stone wall. Tried getting a US Airways ( had cancelled my other card a month ago), Alaskan Airlines (have one currently open), and a Venture card. All denials or pending. Got an email from Capital One saying, Time since most recent account opening is too short, Too many inquiries last 12 months, length of time accounts have been established, and too many accounts recently opened. 726 Experian score. Sounds like I need to back off. What should I do to improve my future? Thanks

caGALINDO

Barclays is hard to get approved, no worries.

Someone might find this useful...

sikorloa

This is great info, thank you. Will use it as a reference to plan my upcoming AOR's