Much depends on how you do the transaction as well as the issuer of the card. I know some were using Plastiq to make mortgage payments, but I have not heard them discussed in a while and don't know if they are still around. Those coded as purchases. Years ago, my Ford account allowed payments using credit card and Chase processed THOSE as a purchase as well.

If you have the option, then do it on a card that has no other balance and see how it processes out. The reason I suggest a card with no balance is due to the manner that cash advances hit a card...you don't want to be paying on that single mortgage payment for months on end (if the card was not already being paid in full each month). Cash advances, as you likely know, begin accumulating interest when the transaction posts. However, they also have a higher APR and tend to be the last thing that payments go towards.

It is not worth getting rid of cards that help with overall utilization. However, the annual fee is a problem IF and ONLY IF you are not able to extract at least that much in value from the card.

If you want to ditch them in favor of cards with no fee (or a fee that you can at least recoup through the rewards structure), then the time is NOW to make those applications. This allows the new accounts to season a little in advance of the mortgage app down the road...

Also, always remember that the time to seek new credit is when you DON'T need it. While banks are more conservative now than a decade ago, there is still some relatively easy lending out there.

The lease should not be a problem on the mortgage unless it severely skews your DTI ratios...

First off, I would definitely get rid of those cards. Do you use them? If so, apply for 1 or 2 no fee cards right now to replace them. It sounds like you have other cards that probably have better rewards. You can ask to increase the limit on those cards to help with your credit utilization. Some banks will require a hard pull to increase, some won't.

Check out this link for which do and don't:
https://www.asksebby.com/blog/which-...limit-increase

When I first got into churning and wanted to increase limits with no pulls, I requested a 3x increase on my Amex, got it, and then a lot of new cards I applied for had a higher limit.

P.S. Don't worry about cancelling them. They will still show up on your credit report for 10 years.

So I am looking at the new AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card. $450 yearly fee, rewards are $300 credit at Marriott stays each year, 1 free night each year, Marriott Gold status. Comes with several other perks exact to Chase Sapphire Reserve (which I currently use). They also have the promo offer, 100,000 points (roughly worth $900) if you charge 5k in certain time period.

Marriott stays get 6x points, get 3x points on flights or restaurants, 2x points on any other purchase made. Might be better to downgrade CSR card, and get replace this as the primary card.

Heads up if you've been hoarding Chase UR and/or United miles: https://thepointsguy.com/news/united...g-award-chart/

I'm not entirely clear on why/whether this will have a practical effect immediately. So, for example, we knew that up until Nov 15th 2019, a "Saver Award" from U.S. to Japan Business Class was 70K miles. However, you still had to comb through calendars and be super flexible to ever actually FIND a "Super Saver" award. Now, I guess, the mileage price can just be whatever. But:

1) I still see flights at the "Saver" price past Nov 15th.

2) Supposedly they already were sometimes just offering flights at whatever mileage price they wanted?

So I don't see why it automatically follows that "no more set prices" means "you will be much less likely to find good mileage bargains", since you already had to cast a wide net to find good award flights anyway. I may just have missed out on the golden age where it was a lot easier?

In any event, the uncertainty here made me finally book the flight to Japan I've been saying I would eventually do. It's 10 months away, First Class there with ANA and United Polaris (biz class) back (both lay-flat), around $15K cash price. I did get the "Saver" prices of 110K and 70K, transferred most of my Chase UR over to United (it hit instantly and became available within a few minutes).

Anyway, you may want to book something quickly!

People think American Airlines will follow, so think about burning those too.

Enjoy that trip! Just wrapping a trip up myself from Japan - JAL Business here, ANA Business intra-asia, and Cathay Pacific first back. I think you'll thoroughly enjoy the products you chose, excellent choices and great that they're all redeemable with UR.

I'm finally carrying zero balance for the first time this decade. Just in the last year I've increased my FICO from the high 600s to its current standing of 805. I stopped gambling, and... go figure.

I have 4 credit cards, two of them are Quicksilvers, and one is a Citi 1% on purchases, and 1% when paid. Total available credit is just over $15k. Should I request an increase on any? They tend to go up slowly on their own, it seems.

I want to get one more card. I think highest cash back on everyday purchases is probably what I'm most interested in. Any suggestions?


Also, should I keep turning in zeroes every statement, or rotate a tiny balance among the cards?

Wtg BH !

Citi 1 and 1 is my everyday everywhere cashback card, recently got a Cap1 Savor for 4% on restaurants (95$ annual fee, probably won't keep it after the first year waive) and run my groceries through AMEX Blue Cash for 3%. I haven't found anything better than Citi 1 and 1 for a no annual fee card.

I personally would request a credit limit increase, I don't see any downside provided the extra limit won't tempt you to load up on purchasing. My total credit limit at this point is bigger than my annual income though. If you open a new card I wouldn't be surprised if the limit is bigger than your existing total limit. With a lower credit score Cap1 started me at 30k on the new savor iirc.

I didn't read the thread for detail but I think I saw one on slickdeals yesterday about the Chase Freedom Unlimited offering 3% on your first 20k in purchases in year one. It's 1.5% after that tho.

do you stay at Marriots a lot? and are you paying Marriot directly for those stays? if so get the card, if not it seems like a pretty ****ty card and that signup bonus is garbage.

300 dollars in Marriot credit isn't worth close to 300 dollars for most people.

There are free cards that give 3% on resteraunts,cards that give 2% on everything so why would i want to use the marriot card for any of these purchases?

Marriott’s new points program is complete garbage. The nice properties are now at least 60k a night, usually 85k, and you can’t even book a ton of properties.

I stay in downtown New Orleans 4-8 nights a month for work and usually try to book Marriott bc they have a ton of places around the casino that are in good locations and usually affordable (company wants us to keep hotel stays less than $150/nt).

I used to be able to find a midweek room at a SPG/Marriott downtown for $70-$125 no problem, never had to go above $150. Since the “bonvoy” bull**** it seems like every price has suddenly jumped up to $160-$180+ for places that used to be $100 or less.

Anyone else see a jump like this in their area?

I hope you are booking through a cashback portal? Lots are 10% cb at Marriott!

Update: I decided to go with the Savor card since I eat out a lot. I was given a 15k limit.

Discover It card has been my favorite so far. 5% back on revolving categories and 1% on everything else. Something I didn't know before is that it does a match back for the first year. This means I am getting 10% back on revolving categories and 2% back on everything else. All I can say is wow, that is incredible.

Yeah the first year it's good. I haven't found a use for it in a long time though. I would use it for restaurants but they've matched the Chase calendar for that category for the last couple years (or maybe even skipped a year IIRC) and I'd prefer UR points. I get 6% grocery, 5% gas and 2% everyday on other cards and other categories I spend a negligible amount on.

According to credit karma apparently certain metrics used in your credit score can affect your car insurance score. I never knew this. Keeping your credit score high can keep your insurance payments lower.

Damn, I'm pretty sure I read that entire first page too. Somehow I didn't digest that the first time I read it.

Amex BCP is adding streaming services to the 6% category so you can save another $1/month with it now. I guess that's something it you're keeping it around for groceries anyway.

Well I spent about $1400 of the way to $3k. First statement closes in a few days (at least, it tells me I'll know what my first payment is after the 7th) and Im wondering if I should have the balance at zero on the 7th or if I should let it report ~ one fast food meal.

How big was the meal?

Do you have any other cards with a balance that will be reporting? If so, how much of a balance, both in relation to the line on THAT card as well as in the overall utilization picture?

For maximum score purposes, you want one card with a small balance to report. Remember that the Fair Isaac models are looking not just at dollar-related utilization but also the ratio of cards to cards with a balance.

I tend to zero all but one out by making sure a payment gets posted a day before the statement is set to close (usually about three to seven days after the billing due date if there was a balance that had been due and payable). Setting up a spreadsheet on Excel is a quick and easy way to keep up with this sort of data...

I reported all zeroes the last two months.