Truth is what I'm all about!

And, in this case, the truth will take you (free and in J or F) to Europe, Asia or Australia.

That list doesn't even include the cards I got that came with $100 first use bonuses, Ipods, Thank You points (Daddy's gonna buy a new suit at Macy*s with 4 * $100 Macy*s gift cards), etc. It's been a good run but those sort of sign-up bonuses seem to have gone out of favor since summer. Guess my FICO will go back up now.

pushback,

do you cancel the cards withinn a year? how do you keep track of all the cards?

5 AA cards -- 105000miles so far...still going...plan on hitting 165000miles by the end of this yr....

good enough for me...

If I see a fee I cancel.

I keep track of them by putting them in an old business card box.

I will probably make some calls at the end of the year and close some but I find (esp with Chase) if you don't use your card for a while they start incenting you with things like double miles and $25 credit if you spend $100 so I am in no real hurry. Plus, with Chase, the more accounts you have open the more of those stupid payment protector $20 checks the send you. When the stack is sufficiently thick I deposit them all, wait a month and make one phone call to cancel them all.

Pushback....more importantly which card do you use for your everyday spending? Assume you use your US card for US purchases, SPG for SPG, etc but what about trips to the supermarket?

Also:


That may be fine but it's still a big drop! If I recall correctly, going below 740 is enough to raise your interest rate for things like car loans, mortgages, or refinancing. If you went from say above 780 to below 740 that could be an even greater penalty.

Please note...not knocking you and you've clearly figured out how to maximize your free rewards but others who take a less methodic approach or copy you could really get hit with lower scores.

It is true--sometimes I have to stop and think "what store am I in and what card do I use" when I am making a purchase.

First of all, I don't use any of the mileage cards beyond the initial need to get the bonus miles. That used to mean buy a cup of coffee. Recently AA and UA have both set the requirement that you must spend $250. Well, I suppose that helps them at least break even on an account-by-account basis. God love 'em.

Here's my method to my madness:

Costco: I use my American Express Platinum Cashback card. Tiers up to 1.5% and I get a bigger rebate with this than if I use the Costco card which is a flat 1%.

Restaurants: I use the Costco card. Give me 3% back. Better yet if I can use it at an Idine restaurant and bag 10 miles per $. Sometimes I can triple dip by using the online entertainment book savers guide. When you can get all the planets to line up just right it feels like you are eating for free.

Gas/Supermarkets: I used to use the Citibank Dividend Visa. I had that card since 1993 when it paid 2% on everything. Over the years I have gotten almost 6K in rebates. Then they went to 1% and I stopped using it. Then they went to 5% on gas and supermarkets. So I started using it only there. Now they did away with that so I put it on the shelf. Recently I had applied for the American Express/Citibank Dividend card. That one is still getting 5% but I hear unofficially that will go away in December. I think I may have a Case card that does 5% for gas and groceries--I'll have to check that out before December.

AA tickets: I use the AA business Visa. Gives me 2 miles per $ on AA purchases.

In hotels (Hyatt, Hilton, SPG) I tend to use their card to get the point multiples and or signup bonuses for 1st, 2nd stay, etc.

When I fly (rent planes) I use the AOPA Visa. That, until recently, gave me 5% rebate on all aviation purchases. They changed it to something called "Worldpoints." I will probably close it.

For everything else--I currently have an ATT Visa that I had not used for years. They sent me an incentive to use it--5% on everything up to $300 rebate. So until I exhaust that I will use it everywhere the above cards do not apply.

When that goes away I will fall back on my Fidelity card that puts 2% into my kids 529 account. My poor kids have not gotten a dime for months.

I think that covers everything.

Well then--caveat emptor to them. I just bought a Ford Explorer and decided not to pay cash when they offerred me 0% for 5 years. So apparently the FICO is ok. I do mortgages as a sideline so I kinda keep tabs on my FICO and I know how low I can go. I am not planning to refi anytime soon as I have a good fixed rate, so ... all is well there I think.

The letter I got for that same card said it went away two weeks ago. Now t's only 2%, so I just don't use the card any more.

Not all cards were knocked down to 2%. Accounts less than 14 months old (I think) still get 5% until December. My old Visa Dividend Card is now a 2% card. My Amex one is still @ 5%.

I don't understand how you can have 3 or 5 of the same card --- will they let you apply for that many of the same thing? Or are they different types of credit cards from the same company? And they give you the sign-up bonuses for all of them? I have recently signed up for a lot of credit cards, but I didn't think you could sign up for so many of the same kind (like 5x United CC)? I guess I'm just a scaredy cat in applying for more than one of the same card --- but I'm not sure what I'm exactly scared of here.

Also, I keep getting "business" credit card applications, but I work for a big company (not a home business or anything). Can I apply for a "business" credit card or do I need my own TIN and company name, etc?

Thanks! You guys are the absolute best! I don't travel for work anymore at all, and I'm definitely earning more FF miles than I ever did when I actually flew!

62 cards for a total of 764,000 miles and points + about $550 in cash bonuses & credit protection checks.
Waiting for 10 more cards to post for another 235,000 miles / points.

you applied for all these cards in 2006?

Now that is incredible!!!!

All I can say is "Wow".

Two questions:
1) Out of curiosity, what is your FICO score? (It can't be too low or CC companies would stop issuing you these cards.
2) How long do you keep the cards open before you cancel?