Thanks so much. ****ing love this thread.

If you plan to use SW points to travel in 2019, it might be worth keeping the cards with or without a call-in retention bonus. With the Premier you get 6k points for the $99AF. Depending on how you value the points + CP, this could be a profitable keeper. However, if you already have all of the SW points you will use for 2019 and don't plan on having a CP in the future, it probably makes sense to close the cards if they don't offer a solid retention bonus. Depends on your situation completely.

As to hotel cards, Chase has some solid ones with IHG, Marriott, and Hyatt. Amex+Citi Hiltons can provide great value. Arrival+ can have some great value if you use Air BNB or don't want to be tied down to a single chain. Depending on your Chase status, you can also get great UR points/ travel benefits with their sapphire and inks. Amex MR can also be worth transferring to Airlines or Hotels simply because it's easy to get approval for their cards and you can find some great signup bonuses.
Again, it really depends on your situation. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

I go through stretches where I don't pay much attention to churning, travel, etc., but I just recently stayed at an all-inclusive in Jamaica for close to $0 out-of-pocket by using the SW CP with the wife to fly there, Hilton points to stay, Arrival+ for excursions not included at the resort, oh yeah, and Priority Pass lounges for food while flying (loved the PP lounge in Montego Bay!). Sorry for rambling, but I'm heavily into churning right now and am studying up/pushing the boundaries with some of my apps/strategies right now. Definitely can be a profitable side hustle!

So I cleared the 80k bonus for Chase Ink Business Preferred, then downgrades to Ink Cash after a year. And now I’ve been able to get a second CIP using an EIN to go for another 80k bonus. This is pretty well known, but don’t think it has really been discussed here.

Side note, my CSR got fraudulent charges for third time in two years. My other Chase cards have never had this issue. Chase caught them all as they occurred, so just been inconvenience of having to keep changing card numbers. For first one, I got a call from an FBI agent in state where charge occurred. He told me it was a case of using software to guess numbers.

Good info.

On a side note, I hope you didn't give the "FBI agent" any personal information over the phone...

I didn’t. But I was careful about that and he didn’t ask. I’m confident he was really an FBI agent. Looked him up after, and the questions made sense.

Yeah my week long honeymoon to aruba is gonna be basically free because of CP, sw pts, and marriott pts. I stay away from the super high volume churning and manufactured spending but it's very easy to get a couple thousand plus in value just doing 5-7 cards a year with normal spend. No reason not to get that bit of extra value unless you can't trust yourself with credit imo.

Is it possible to boost FICO score by ~150 points in a matter of 2-3 months?

Yes in some cases, depending on what the factors are that are lowering the score.

Know of any easy-to-do?

wondering if there is a good entry level card for cashback especially on gas? i bank with BofA and their cash rewards card says 3% which sounds pretty nice. ive spent almost 1500 on gas in the last 2 months so anything would be nice. credit probably isnt very good but not terrible, dont need a high limit and would basically just use it instead of my debit card

Could look into the Amex blue cash family, especially if you spend a lot on groceries too

i dont really tho; bofa had 3% gas, 2% grocery, 1% everything (which seems really good?)

with that amex id barely make up for the yearly fee with the extra 1% vs the free card, then still 1% less.

if 1% on everything included bills i could pay with it, thatd be the most massive by far. then gas, then a distant grocery, then a nonexistant travel etc spending

There's a no annual fee version w/ 3% to supermarkets, 2% to gas, and 1% to other and a $150 welcome bonus for 1k spend in 3mo.

didnt see the welcome or 1% anything. still think bofa will be first try. does grocery count as anything in a grocery store? tissues/paper towels/ cat food lol or just "food"

Everything. Including, at least as of a few years ago when I used to use mine, Amazon gift cards.

penfed 5% is the easiest i can think of

Like i said, it depends on the reason for your score. if you have a collections or otherwise derogatory remark, then there's no magic bullet. If you're score is low because of high utilization, or low average age of accounts, that can be worked on in a month or two by paying down balances, or by getting added on an AU card to help your utilization and AAoA.

Yup. I went from 645 this summer to 807 right now.

Would imagine getting collections deleted and getting utilization down to <5% would get you a 100+ point increase in some circumstances.

All utilization. Went from like 140% to 0%.

PM me how u did it

How I got to 0? Or how I got up to 140? Lol, the latter is more of an accomplishment, it takes a calculated effort. If you meant the former, it helps to win 40k at the casino over the summer :-)

How u bumper 162 points lol
And winning 40K at Pai Gow is definitely lucky

Got a cc offer from Amazon, it's a Visa card, and offers 5% back on everything ordered from Amazon if you have a Prime account.

I order lots of stuff on Amazon. How good is that deal, and it's a no-brainer right?

There are several ways to get good deals at amazon, but this is one of the easiest solutions. Works double time if you shop at a whole foods, and often has a few exclusive type deals - for example, amazon devices were 10% back on the card this weekend.

If you have plans to get a lot of cards this one maybe is not worth the 5/24 slot, but if you just want 1-3 cards and shop at amazon a lot, yes this is a no brainer imo

you also get a 10% bonus added to the cash back if you deposit into a BOA account

BOA also has "deals" that give you extra cash for certain spending-like 5% back at Rite Aide, 10% back at Hilton...