Another Chase bank rant

[ronocnikral]

Sarah in SC is absolutely correct. Other than the sign up bonuses, these cards aren't worth much. For everyday cards, they are mediocre.

I disagree, the chase ink ("premium") cards are great for everyday spend (via a prepaid "gift card" purchased at a fine seller of office supplies). I avg 1000 pts/day with no sign up bonuses. Looking to crank that up as well.

 

[nwsteve]

Sorry, a bit off topic: I've had an AMEX Blue Cash card (straight with AMEX, no affinity links), and I'm thinking of getting a Fidelity AMEX card (2% back is better than I'm getting now). I'm wondering if there's a way the new card could be seen as a continuation of the old card's record for credit reporting purposes. The old AMEX card has been our main card for about 7 years with lots of charges to it, I'm thinking my credit score might take at least a small hit if I abandon it in favor of its cousin. Any opinions/experiences?

We recently added the AMEX Hilton Reward card. AMEX had our card to us in less than a week. They also sent a nice letter advising, they had split our previous credit line (Costco AMEX) between the new card and existing card. If I wanted to change the split, just give them a call BUT NO additional credit would be approved ;-). Not really an issue for us but don't be surprised if you see the same parsing. Chase did the same when I added BA card a couple of years. They could care less how I wanted to split the credit and when I closed the old card (had a small annual fee), they had no problem moving the credit line to the remaining card.
Nwsteve

 

[Sesq]

Folks - Don't waste a chase app for 3% from Amazon. Use the chase apps to get big sign on bonuses.

Instead, find some old, unused citibank card, call them up and ask them to convert it to a forward card. The forward card gets 5X TYP for restaurants, movies, and BOOKSTORES. Amazon counts as a bookstore. TYP are a weird currency. If you get the TY Premier card you can redeem them for 1.33x for flights or 6.65%. The TY Premier has a crazy annual fee that kicks in during year two, so cancel at month 11. If you cancel though you need to clear out the points w/i 30 days.

You can also redeem for gift cards at a penny a point, sometimes 1.1 or 1.25 pennies per point, though you may need multiple citi TYP releationships (e.g. I have Forward and TY Pref). Finally you can cash out as a mortgage or student loan repayment and they will mail you a check made out in the financial institution's name for 1 penny per point. It might be that you don't actually have a mortgage, but rather a checking account at that financial institution (nudge-nudge). Either way, don't settle for 3% when you can get 5+%.

By converting a card you keep your old, long credit history and then leverage that credit score to fire off a dozen or so apps over the course of the year and harvest the bonuses.

 

[brewer12345]

Along the lines of "teach a man to fish," how do you find the best sign up bonuses? I travel a lot on United and stay at Marriotts, so I already have Chase cards for those names. A couple months ago I applied for a Barclays NFL card that had a $400 sign-up bonus, but I happened to stumble across that one at fatwallet.

 

[ronocnikral]

Along the lines of "teach a man to fish," how do you find the best sign up bonuses? I travel a lot on United and stay at Marriotts, so I already have Chase cards for those names. A couple months ago I applied for a Barclays NFL card that had a $400 sign-up bonus, but I happened to stumble across that one at fatwallet.

Flyertalk, their Milesbuzz! forum has a master list of the best (with links that aren't always easy to find).

The special credit card offers master thread - FlyerTalk Forums

Also, any of the boarding area blogs will ping any major change in offers in hopes you will use their link. I used to follow million mile secrets, but I quickly grew tired of reading about his stupid "2nd honeymoon" in tahiti for the last 2 months.

Finally, as a fellow alms payer to overlord smisek, chase ultimate rewards is a transfer partner with UA. So, a sappire preferred or ink bold/plus will transfer 1:1. I particularly like the ink cards.

One card to rule them all - The Frequent Miler

note, vanilla reloads are no longer sold at office depot, but there is more than one way to skin a cat.

 

[brewer12345]

Thanks!

 

[mpeirce]

Wow. I'm a bit amazed at how complicated some people's credit card setups are.

We have one primary card - Costco Amex with the usual 1%/2%/3% kickbacks. We also have a Visa card for when the Amex isn't accepted. We have one other card as a backup which we don't normally use, but has one autopay setup on it so it stays active. Just in case.

We also have our credit locked, so we won't get any card offers sent to us.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Brewer, I also subscribe to rss feeds for Million Mile Secrets, View from the Wing, and Nomadic Matt's site. I pick up links to good offers there. To be honest, it isn't the stuff that comes in the mail that is any good, it is the links shared by folks like these that are the good ones. I get piddly offers in the mail.

Flyertalk is good, but it is just too huge for me to get into. I've only got bandwidth for the one-liners and can drill down deeper on certain offers when I need to there. But a great resource for sure.

Oh, and this is the thread I started a while back about Travel Hacking. http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f46/so-called-travel-hacking-60419.html

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

Wow. I'm a bit amazed at how complicated some people's credit card setups are......

......We also have our credit locked, so we won't get any card offers sent to us.

Not sure what is so complicated. I apply for free stuff. Take free trips. Get money for a few points off of my credit score. Save/earn thousands of dollars within a few months. And if your credit is locked, you're out of the game.

Best place for credit card games is fatwallet finance, IMO.

 

[Sirka]

OK... I guess I will not be using Chase as my CC company much going forward...

.... at least their CC group is trying as hard as possible to kick me out

I also hate the constant changes to Chase award program, where I have to sign up every so often. But we got more then $290 back - deposited into checking to spend again this year. So we live with the pain until I find better offer.

 

[Sirka]

I just signed up for Fidelity American Express to replace my other Amex card (blue Cash). It's good to keep things interesting and we have Fidelity account.

 

[Texas Proud]

I also hate the constant changes to Chase award program, where I have to sign up every so often. But we got more then $290 back - deposited into checking to spend again this year. So we live with the pain until I find better offer.

I agree, but right now they are not the best in my wallet.... I will be using Cap One for almost all purchases except for the 5% categories on one of my Chase cards...

The card they just changed will likely not be used going forward as there is nothing special about it now....

 

[FUEGO]

Not sure what is so complicated. I apply for free stuff. Take free trips. Get money for a few points off of my credit score. Save/earn thousands of dollars within a few months. And if your credit is locked, you're out of the game.

Best place for credit card games is fatwallet finance, IMO.

HawkeyeNFO,

I just signed up for 2 Southwest Plus Personal Cards from chase. 50k bonus points after $2k spend, $69 annual fee (1 for DW, one for me, both instantly approved). I found the working links at fatwallet from a poster named HawkeyeNFO oddly enough.. Hopefully that leads to some free flights for the family, or at the least some decent gift card rewards from walmart or amazon.

I'm curious - did you get a referral commission from those cards I signed up for? I have heard about huge commissions for bloggers who promote these cards but didn't know how easy it was to break into that game.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

Nothing for me. People who do that are thrown out of Fatwallet. Did you consider applying for the business card as well?

 

[FUEGO]

Nothing for me. People who do that are thrown out of Fatwallet. Did you consider applying for the business card as well?

Considered but didn't pull the trigger. A little over a year ago I tried to get the Premier personal and business for me and DW and was denied the business for both of us, but received the personal. Didn't want to push my luck with Chase since I have done a ton of Chase sign ups the last few years and they seem to be a fountain of neverending signup bonuses. I still haven't done any ink cards yet.

Also don't want to get too aggressive on the min. spending requirements. I can do $4000 total min spend in 3 months but much more would require "innovative" solutions or buying a bunch of gift cards or something to make it happen. I figure in 3-4 months there will be plenty of good pickings anyway and I can meet another set of min. spends at that time. Or the offers may get even sweeter like the previous no min spend on the SW cards from Chase.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I bit the bullet and got the personal and the Chase business card after a talk with the Chase recon line last week. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, honestly. I'm waiting for them both to come in the mail, and see how I do in scoring the companion pass for SW.

 

[brewer12345]

DW applied for the United explorer card last night. Decision deferred, probably due to the fact that she is self employed. Shoudl she have listed herself as a homemaker instead?

 

[JakeBrake]

I like the Chase Freedom cards. We have 3. We use for roadtrip cards. When we go on a roadtrip we take a card with a zero balance and charge everything from McDonald's senior coffee to lodging and car rental. We get 1% back on everything and 5% back on some categories. After the trip when the bill arrives we have an excellent trip journal which I file with our other trip journals. We can transfer all the cashback from all 3 cards to 1 card. We usually use the cashback to offset the payment. Recently we we able to offset over $400 from a payment. I think I can probably do better than their merchandise offerings by shopping around.

With the Chase Freedom Card you can choose your payment date (rechoose once every 6 months, I think). So, the payment dates on our cards are interspersed during the month. When we go on a trip we use the card with the payment date shortly before we leave on a trip. That way we can get the whole trip on one statement and we have maximum float time.

I have reached that point in my life where I'm through borrowing money (other than the float time on my credit cards) and I'm through shopping credit cards. I don't know or need to know my credit score.

For everyday we use a Discover Card. We don't use it on trips because it is not accepted everywhere, especially in Canada.

We also have a credit card from a credit union that we use for automated payments when there is a financial advantage for automated payments.

 

[Gotadimple]

I like the Chase Freedom cards.

Like you I had been using the points from this card as a statement credit. There was an interesting item on the Chase site about connecting your Freedom card to your Amazon account.

It seems you can now use points to pay for purchases at Amazon. The rate is the same: 100 points = $1.

Works for me!

-- Rita

 

[Sarah in SC]

DW applied for the United explorer card last night. Decision deferred, probably due to the fact that she is self employed. Shoudl she have listed herself as a homemaker instead?

It just flags the app. If she's willing to call the reconsideration line, they will approve her. My first couple also got deferred. When I had to get DH to call Amex for the Delta card, he was very unwilling at first, then realized it wasn't really a big deal.

 

[JustMeUC]

Yes, just call and they will ask her a few questions and they should approve her. I have never heard of them turning down anyone who actually called in. I would say that half my Chase cards I had to call in.... but in the end all were approved.

 

[Sesq]

Don't list as a homemaker until the proposed change to Reg Z is effective sometime next year (google "Card Act" and "Stay-at-home" for a discussion of why homemakers are for a period not able to claim household income except in community property states. A change was proposed in October but is still in the comment period).

As for card bonuses (sorry I am slow) - I will list my cards from the past year and what they were worth to me. I got 90% of my info from flyertalk (the thread linked above), 10% Fatwallet. I made 14 card applications in 2012 (not sustainable) and my average yield was over $500 per card in cash and travel. Blows away my old 2% schwab card that I was happy with for years.

It is a little complicated to administer, but not really. My wallet is primarily Citi Forward for restaurants and Amazon, Amex BCP for Groceries and Gas, and whatever card I am working on minimum spend for (how you earn bonuses).

I keep getting approved for cards, and even a best rate car loan last year (after more than 12 cards), so while my credit no longer flirts with 800, it seems plenty high. That said, my homemaker wife won't let me do 10-15 cards in her name next year if they lift the Reg Z restriction. I think I can talk her into 4. 6 would be better (Citi AAx2, Chase United, Chase Sapphire, Chase Marriott, and some kind of Amex would be my list, I go for highest value points which is usually the airlines).

 

[Texas Proud]

OK... an update to my OP....


I sent an email to Chase stating my displeasure with their decision. The response I got back was basically "We noticed that you had two Freedom cards and you can not have two".... Now, considering that JakeBrake said he has 3.... seems a bit strange....


I reponded to them... "I had a Freedom card and a Perfect Card, you changed my Perfect Card to a Freedom card without asking me. I did NOT want two Freedom cards. Now, you change my Freedom card with the best rewards to a Flexible card without asking me.".... it was a bit longer, but you get the gist...


Their response "The program that your Freedom card was on closed. We can not put you back onto that program. We will give you 2,500 points for your trouble"....


SOOO, their first email was a lie... you can have more than one Freedom card. Their second was the truth.... they did not want that program anymore and took me off... So, they have taken me off their Perfect card (5% back on a number of things), their good Freedom card (3% off on a good number of things).... and have left me with the regular old 1% card...

Now, I know they have the right to do this.... but now this card will be used very little...

BTW, they did inform me that I had not used my Sapphire card since 2003 when they changed a good card to that one.....

 

[Chuckanut]

The TY Premier has a crazy annual fee that kicks in during year two, so cancel at month 11. If you cancel though you need to clear out the points w/i 30 days.

How do you clear out the points? Where do they go?

 

[Sesq]

Texas - If you want your 5% back for Groceries, Gas and Drug - take a look at this one - only good for 12 months though:

creditcards.CitiCards.com/usc/ThankYou/Preferred/2012/Nov/internal/default.htm

How do you clear out the points? Where do they go?

Redemption options are flights for 1.33 cents per point through a website (comparable to Expedia/Travelocity, reports are the pricing is proper) with the Premier card.

Various gift cards, mostly 1 cent per point ("cpp"), but sometimes 1.11 cpp or 1.25 cpp on Citi's Thankyou.com (I link it from my card).

Mortgage/Student loan checks at 1 cpp made out to your financial institution. Wink-wink, some folks find that a check made out to the bank where your checking account rest could be simply deposited at Thankyou.com

But if you do nothing for 30 days they disapear into ether. I'd spend the points before closing. If you have multiple TY point products be aware that citi keeps detailed records and that transfers from say the premier to the forward has a clock ticking. So transfer for redemptions only. Citi also has a complicated Flight Point system for the premier that can goose the earnings on that card, but best to read at flyertalk for that.

I lurk here every few weeks, so PM me if you need more.