if you're under 5/24 working your way through all the good UR offering is a good idea.

LMK when you get to the freedom unlimited

Very highly recommend using any referrals from JL as he has been a very helpful resource for me for random questions, even though I've never used his referrals to my knowledge!

I'm definitely looking to get a Preferred now. Will be making that purchase. Stupid to get a referral off ebay? I just don't know where else people do referrals, unless anyone has a CSP referral here.

I bought a bunch of ethereum with non chase visa for ms got it when it was at 19$ now it's up to 50. Making heaps whole msing for min spend is da best.

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What site can you buy ehtereum with a cc?

Coinbase.

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Applied for United, Marriott, Starwood, and AAdvantage in that order.
Approved, approved after calling and shifting credit limits, approved, denied
Citi ruining my perfect day >:

What was the reason for denial? Did you call recon? Any other Citi cards that you have?

Yea I called, they said wait until the notice in the mail. No Citi cards yet.
I got denied a few months ago (for the exact same card; after that denial they continued to send me targeted offers) for too many non-Citi inquires so I assume that's what this is, even though I haven't had that many inquiries (I was at 3/24, plus a credit line increase and a work card hard pull). I would love to start a history with Citi but they don't seem interested. I'll try recon after I get the notice but I'm not expecting much

Might be worth opening a Citi bank account before trying again to see if that helps

That sucks because they're one of the easier banks to get approved, once you have a relationship with them. I've never had a Citi bank account, but I have had a CC with them for 7 years. The only denial I've had out of my ~20 apps with them were when I broke a rule, such as 8/65, without realizing it.

Definitely worth trying to open a bank account and go from there.

how can i max android pay promo through new amex offers? i have never used it but now have a Samsung galaxy 7 so should be able to do so. Does an average walgreens, CVS, walmart, etc allow for android pay? this is as free as cash comes

I guess i found a list once i logged into Android pay. i am going to keep my eyes open for places that accept.

most places are setup for contactless payments, you just have to ask at the register before you buy something to be sure.

Most places have the equipment (seems to have been updated to accept chips and included the contactless receiver) but some have contactless blocked despite having the ability to accept. So ask the cashier "I forgot my wallet but have my phone - do you guys accept apple pay / android pay?"

Too bad it's not for samsung pay which works almost anywhere.
Also, you should look into gift card reselling if you have a S7 as samsung pay has a lot of discounted GCs

Do Southwest referrals for 5k miles count towards Companion pass. Need to clear like 6k points now. May just end up trying for the biz card now that I've cleared two personal cards.

some supermarkets have it. lyft and uber both take it.

Lots of options to get those points. You could do some shopping via the RR portal, which typically has some decent promos on things like 1-800 flowers, 1k points for filing with turbo tax, etc. You can stack any points from the portal with actual spend on the card.

You could MS that amount pretty quickly via gift cards, but obviously the easiest way would be to simply try and get the SW Biz, assuming you're still under 5/24.

Just a reminder that today is the last day for SPG 35k bonus for both their personal and business cards.

The 1000 pts for Turbotax unfortunately don't count toward Companion Pass. Apparently as far as the portal goes, its only points that are awarded toward a purchase (at whatever multiplier) and specifically NOT points categorized as a "bonus" such as flat 1k bonus for using turbotax. I'm working on clearing the companion pass myself. Anyone need a referral to the Premier and/or Plus card? heh.

Oh, didn't realize that. Thanks for letting us know! That's a good reason why you should look at the Terms and Conditions on any CC bonus, Bank Bonus, promotion, etc. before investing a lot of time or money into something.

So we do think that referrals count towards the companion pass? I did see/notice that certain things like the TurboTax didn't count towards it.

Stupid question: Canadian. I have roughly $50k available across 3 different credit cards - current total balance is roughly $15k (interest-free transfer), split into 27k (15 years history)/12k (less than 1 year)/10k (less than 1 year). The card with the balance will be paid off by the end off the year. Current income around 100k and credit score of around 700.

My current cards have minimal rewards and I want to cash in. The cards i have are basic cards that anyone could probably get. Should I apply for new ones with the current cards i have, close one or both of the non-balance-transfer cards and then apply, or wait til i pay off the outstanding balance and then apply? My score isn't going to be important for a couple more years till i buy a house.

yes

definitely not. 50k credit on 100k income is not going to stop banks from giving you more. 15k/50k used is going to be a slight red flag though, and if you increase that % by reducing your credit available it's a bigger red flag. banks will think you're applying because you're in unmanageable debt and need more credit to go deeper.

this shouldn't be necessary unless you're applying for the most selective cards. there are plenty of good ones you could get approved for in your current situation.

I keep hesitating on applying for a new card for a sign-up bonus because I can't settle on which one is the "best". I missed out on CSR 100K. I would love a simple straight unbiased answer - "X card is the most valuable bonus, and Y and Z are numbers 2-3 when you're done with that".

I have a slight preference against cards where the points would have to be used at say a specific hotel chain. Certainly vacations will come up, but I don't want to be tied to a chain as I may prefer B&Bs, hotels with more local flavor, etc. Still, if the bonus was unambiguously much more valuable I'd consider it.

"the best" depends. It depends if you're over/under 5/24. It depends if you live in a certain area where one airline is more prevelant. It depends if you want a card to clear a bonus, then move on to another? Or if you want one to clear a bonus, then keep as your main card for a while? It depends how much of a minimum spend you can dish out in the time period allotted (3mo-12mo)

Ink @ 80k or 100k if that offer ever shows up
CSR/CSP at 50k
Any high MR bonus
Any high TYP bonus

Any chase airline that makes sense (united, british, sw)
Citi AA, barclays AA, Barclays B6

Citi HH Reserve, Chase Hyatt, Chase Ritz - hotel cards that come with free nights instead of points where you can use the nights at super luxury hotels

The Merrill card was great for a high value bonus but I think it's dead.


If you can get the Ink thats #1 for me
#2 would be based on ancillary benefits - if under 5/24 I'd get either the CSP or SW if you can use it, if not I'd get a AX Plat if you can use the perks, if not I'd get Citi/Barclays AA cards, if not I'd get a good AX everyday bonus as its a great card to just put all your spend on when you're not working on a bonus anyway

Thanks for the info d10