sb_flyer

Hi,

I thought i'd put my credit card portfolio out in the open and see if I can't get some great advice from the community on short term/long term strategy. Here goes:

Current cards

CSR (opened August, '17)
CSR (Wife- opened October, '17)
Ink Business Preferred (Wife - opened Jan, '17)
Chase Hyatt (opened Jan, '17)
Chase IHG (opened September, '17)
Slate (opened December, '17)
Barclaycard Aadvantage Aviator Red (opened Jan, '18)
Amex Everyday Preferred (opened Feb, '18)

Recently closed: CSP (opened June, '17 - closed Oct, '17)

Recently applied: Chase Ink Business Cash (applied Feb, 2017, denied! not surprised, probably due to 5/24. have not call recon yet)

Total points across programs (approx):

Chase UR: 390,000
Amex: 35000
IHG: 68000)
AADV: 42000
Asiana: 56000
United: 50000
others: 40,000

some background: My FICO is sitting around 721 at the moment, quite a dip from its peak but not bad either. My wife's FICO is north of 800, I don't know the exact number. I don't carry balances on any of the cards right now except on the Slate. We also fully own our home with no mortgage or outstanding loans except about 10k remaining on a 2014 car loan. I do plan on buying a 2nd home within the next two years. One last thing to note- I do work in the aviation industry and needless to say do not pay for the majority of the flights i take. So my points strategy really is skewed towards hotels/free stays.
The small regret i do have is not applying for the Chase Freedom cards when i was under 5/24 and rounding out the suite of Chase cards. So would it make sense to wait till I fall below 5/24 again and get the Freedoms, or should I start exploring in other programs, as I have since I got the Amex EDP to cover groceries and gas.

philemer

Your post is so long that you may not get any/many responses. Maybe if you edit it and just leave in the really pertinent data the readers won't feel so overwhelmed. Just a thought.

Plus, your "opened" dates are wrong. You list 2017 & 2018.

freeflyin

Before going any further,you may want think about why you opened some of those cards-was it just for the bonuses or do you actually utilize those travel partners?

You also don't say if you hold elite status in any of those hotel or airline chains.

I might suggest holding off on any more apps until you see how you are using the cards you do have,not to mention that you don't want any more denials.

If you plan to buy that second home with a mortgage-think about the effect of all the inquiries and perhaps denials, if you continue to apply.

Lastly, if you are purchasing a second home, will you actually be traveling enough to use all the points/miles you are accruing? If not, you may wish to consider a cash back card as a supplement or primary card.

baroqen

Do you do a lot of 4+ night hotel stays or are your trips shorter? Since you fly cheap/free it seems you've got way too many miles which you won't get value out of. I'd stop applying for airline cards and focus on hotel and flexible currency. However... I believe for the majority of us, the main value of flexible currency is converting them to miles... but I digress.

CSR will be valuable as you can use your points through the UR portal for a good exchange. Citi Prestige might be another valuable choice if you do at least 2 hotel stays of 4+ nights per year. For instance, I'm going to Boracay at the end of the month and staying in two hotels for 4 nights each. Total savings will be around $450. Depending on how often you can use it, it can potentially be bar none the most valuable credit card perk around.

Other cards to consider are SPG Business Amex, SPG personal Amex, Marriot, Ritz Carlton.... but all of it depends on your travel habits and what kind of hotels you stay at. Might be worthwhile for you to drop down below 5/24 and start getting the other Chase hotel co-branded cards first and then getting the SPG cards.

Oh... and I almost forgot. You REALLY want to cool it on the cards and let yourself drop below 5/24 for another reason. As difficult as it sounds, you should probably hold off on new applications until after you've bought the second house. I made the mistake of getting 5 cards last year shortly before buying another property and ended up with probably a .5% higher interest rate because of the drop in score. Getting hit with one pull isn't too big of a deal, but getting hit with 5 hard pulls, AND the drop in my "average age" of accounts (due to 5 new credit lines diluting the average) dropped my score quite a bit. Even .25% extra over a 30 year amortization will cost you.

reft

You could wait about 13 months from the opening date, then see if you can product covert the Slate to one of the Freedoms. You will forgo the signup bonus, but you'll also forgo the hard pull.

For Hotels, this year, an AMEX Plat Charge card could translate to Gold for Hilton, Starwood and Marriott. When the Marriott acquisition of Starwood finishes, it's anyone's guess what will happen to the last two. The annual fee is $450 until March 30 this year, then it will rise to $550 for new applicants. [Existing card holders will renew at $550 after September 1.] You need to determine if these benefits, and others are worth the annual fee. Gold isn't a top tier status, but it's something more than zero.

This flyertalk thread lists some of the first things to with a new Plat, but it's also a list of Plat card benefits. Other travel benefits include status with 3 Car Rental Companies, some forms of Free Wifi and some airport lounge access. These may or may not be of interest.

peterrudy

Most flyertalk members have probably opened a large number of credit cards (I am at 21 since March 2015), so no need to feel guilty about it.
Since you are interested in hotel stays, it is best for you to move to a Amex point cards like the other members have suggested to complement your Amex EDP.
1) I would start with their platinum cards, which are all charge cards so it is easy to get approved. I applied for 5 platinum cards in the last 4 months (personal, business, Benz, Schwab and Morgan Stanley) and got over 350K points and two times Delta travel credits on two cards so far. I will be canceling them one by one and keep only one for the next year. I even got $300 credit back after canceling my personal platinum (but not for the business platinum). I have been traveling a lot this year and needed lots of MR points, since I am not able to get Chase Reserve. I also applied for 4 Delta Amex cards but they won't help you with hotels.
2) Apply for the Amex Starwood/Hilton card along with Citi Hilton card.
3) Since Chase Ritz-Carlton card is not affected by the 5/24 rule, you should get that as well and use the three free nights.
4) Finally, after 12 months do the product change of Chase Slate to Chase freedom.

If you are serious about buying a new house in the next 2 years, go to the local credit unions. My credit union had no issues despite my large number of credit checks during my recent auto loan and home mortgage refinance. You get the best rates, as long as you are above 740 score with all 3 bureaus.

P

g8trgr8t

If you can find a Fairmont card app still available I would grab two of those before they are discontinued (not subject to 5/24) and the SPG cards (personal and biz) if hotel stays were my priority.

beachfan

I find the Alaska Airlines card to a source of many miles if you do it a few times a year. Rumours are this has been tightened up, but I think it still works if you don't get greedy. The BoA Alaska business cards apps I believe are not reported to credit bureaus (or at least the one Chase uses).

I'd place Hilton at the lowest priority as the points offer isn't even two nights in an aspirational hotel. Neither is the SPG Amex, but SPG points are the most valuable so I love that card for non-bonused spend.

One thing to watch out for on the hotel cards - getting too many so you can't use up all the free nights comfortably. You have to use them in a year. It's why i normally prefer points to nights, but sometimes getting the nights is the richest offer.

Too maximize the utility of the free nights on Hyatt and IHG, which are worth the annual fee for the free nights, then have your spouse's anniversary be as close to yours as possible. Then the free nights will be effective concurrently. (There is a workaround, but not iron-clad, and I wish I had realized this issue earlier).

Blind and Green

I'm in a similar boat to you, using credit card awards for hotels instead of flights. Going after hotels forces you to reevaluate the value of flexible currency cards as they usually only get top value as flight redemptions. Amex MRs are therefore worth .33 starpoints, 1 Marriott point, or 1.5 Honors points each. A 100k platinum offer is roughly equal to a 35k SPG offer.

In looking at your list, I'd go after the Amex SPG personal/business prior to April 5.

Hope this helps!

JackHenry

I also am looking for advice on short term/long term strategy for my credit cardportfolio. I have a home construction project coming up $25-35K... always moving forward with an eye towards maximizing points for every dollar spent. Considered AMEX with Plastiq but construction is not a category honored by AMEX. Any recommended maneuvers would be welcome.
Current cards:
Barclay (AAdvantage) - 34,336 PTS (September 2017)
Chase Reserve -109,609 PTS (April 2018)
Chase Freedom - 47,899 PTS (July 2018
*SouthWest Plus - 107,486 PTS (January 2019)
*SouthWest Premier Business (January 2019)
NOTE: SW Companion Pass extended 6 months to July/2021
Barclay (Arrival Plus) - 85,462 PTS (February 2019
Citi Premier - 54,196 PTS (April 2019)
American Express Platinum - 87,290 PTS (August 2019)
Citi/Aadvantage Platinum - 73,975 PTS (December 2019)

The following no fee cards we have had for several years and they are essentially dormant:
Bank of America Better Balance Rewards Card July 2015
Citibank Preferred January 2014
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