Yeah well you can't use cash to pay for **** online. And it's hella inconvenient to carry around cash and change.

Your example doesn't make any sense. The barack obama card would still be linked to donald trump's account, and donald trump of course had to provide his SSN and real name and they did a hard pull on his credit in order to open the account. Donald trump is equally responsible for every charge to the barack obama card as for the donald trump card. There's no reason why donald trump would get away with fraud any more than if he used the card in his real name. Anyone could just as easily call up their cc company and dispute every single charge to the card that's in their real name. And what would probably happen is the cc company will close their account for being a PITA.

Companies suck at or simply don't care about protecting customer data. When (not if) there's a data breach at a retailer I've purchased from, I'd like to at least make it a little harder for anyone with an internet connection to be able to commit fraud or identity theft against me. When that customer database gets distributed all over the dark web and has my real address but not my real name, that makes me a more difficult target.

Interesting, but it doesn't say anything about the ability to get a second card in the AU's name. I guess I'll call chase and report back. Or maybe the others would work if I gave a fake SSN? Do they need an SSN to do a credit check or do they just keep it on file in case they have a reason to investigate or something? Not sure of the legality of that tho. I've given fake SSNs to doctors and dentists before, but financial institutions are probly a different story.

A second card in another name is literally what an Auth user is. If it asks for SSN, they will check. Not necessarily for credit worthiness, for fraud reasons(like what you are trying to do).

to reply to my post, yes you are correct, IF they can prove it was you using the card. if someone steals your fake name card, and has a field day, what recourse do you expect? and what stops you from doing the same? is my point.

and since you think a fake name will save you, if they crack a db, and your fake name is under your real name, do you really think they dont know your real name also? its like you are arguing against yourself to a point.

still seems way more illegal than secure. and if you are rich enough to care, get an assistant to use their card/address for everything and pay them for it

Oh I see. I thought an AU was different, like it was just you telling the cc company "it's totally fine if this other person uses my card, so if they do don't freak out it's not fraudulent."

If the cc company has a data breach then yeah of course I'll be just as ****ed as if all the cards were in my real name. If it's a merchant that gets breached, which is far more likely, then no my real name won't be in that db.

Well it's not illegal, so that's a non-issue. Just because it gives some of you boy scouts the willies doesn't make it illegal, fraudulent, or unethical in any way.

And what exactly do you propose to do if you are asked for ID? Yeah, they can indeed ask to see ID...

You are being WAY too paranoid. If you are really concerned about ID theft, then you put a freeze on the four major bureaus as well as the other entities such as Lexis or SageStream.

You are being paranoid, however, there is nothing illegal about adding an AU to a CC account. Some providers ask for SSN, others don't. The whole point of an AUTHORIZED user is that you authorize someone else to make charges on their card that you are responsible for. There is no fraud or illegality if you are willing to cover any and all charges made by your AU on their card.

A legitimate use in my eyes for churners is to open up AU cards for extra bonuses on different cards.

I think people are jumping on krunic too much. If he's being more paranoid than you would be, who cares? He's already made up his mind that this would be a good option for him, let's just help him do what he wants to do?

The concept of an AU is to add a card on your account with a name (typically different than your own, but actually not required) that can spend against your account. There's no transfer of liability with an AU card. Some places require SSN, others don't. If he's making up a fake name, he needs one of the issuers that don't ask for a SSN.

Typically these AUs will arrive with the same card number as the main card. Amex comes with a new number, but they require SSN.

Does being an AU on someone else's card (that requires a ssn) help build the AU's credit?

In short, yes, but the details can vary.

https://www.creditkarma.com/credit-c...-piggybacking/

ONLY if the bank reports the account on the bureau of the AU...some do, some don't. Some even manage to report despite not having the SSN, which is easier to do when the AU has the same address as the primary.

When the account number on the AU's card is not different from the primary, I have noticed there tends not to be any reporting. I do not know what the practices of every bank are at present, but I know that Chase was not issuing separate numbers. Barclays did issue a separate number.

American Express also issues a separate number but refers to theirs as an Additional User and does have language making the additional cardholder contractually liable for charges on the additional card. I believe they are the only ones who do so...

I'll say I don't have an ID. If they insist, then I'll have to leave and buy what I was going to buy at a different store.

I have freezes in place at the 4 major bureaus, ChexSystems, and NCTUE. I'm working on getting all my data redacted from databases using this workbook: https://inteltechniques.com/data/workbook.pdf

That's the base level of ID theft prevention. The next step is to stop populating numerous databases with my info. Getting data removed from data brokers online is good but that doesn't do anything to stop a malicious hacker from acquiring/using breach data from a merchant to commit ID theft or fraud.

For example: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/11/...4-year-breach/

I'd prefer it if my records in these databases didn't have ALL of my real name, address, government ID number, etc.

Hotels demand lots of data from customers to protect themselves from fraud, but they don't give a flying **** about protecting that customer data after they get it.

The attackers had been inside their networks for FOUR YEARS lol.

This is arguably a more serious security threat than the Equifax breach because it would allow the attackers to track the movement of people who stayed at any of these hotels on a regular basis.

These breaches will only get larger and more frequent. And the more frequent they become, the less the media will report them because it's less and less of a sensational story the more often it happens.

If a store asks for your ID they are often times breaching their merchant contract with the CC companies.

https://www.thebalance.com/no-id-req...chases-3974686

on that note, a few places i worked involved people paying, mostly restaurants/bars, and it became 2nd nature to just flip the card because of how many people would sign "SEE ID". the VAST majority of people i then asked for id would say thank you because it was so rare someone actually did. a small % would say oh i forgot i even wrote that, but thanks. never once has someone not shown an id along with it.

then the last place i did that, someone overheard and said, we dont worry about that here, and i thought that was pretty sketchy.

i also dont think visa/mc/etc policy can supersede store policy. almost all have a right to refuse business, so if their policy requires id on a purchase over $xx, and you cant produce one, they can just say no.

best hotel credit card besides Hyatt?

Depends where you are going. I'd check out the locations you wanna go and see which ones have hotels you'd wanna stay at. Marriott or Hilton obv the more obvious ones and have nice hotels in a lot of places.

Long term none of the hotel credit cards are very good, unless you can make good use of the free night yearly. Typically this would be 2 of the same card in two player mode so you can at least get 2 nights at a hotel for free a year.

In the short term, the cards can be great when they come with uncapped nights as a signup bonus, but they usually expire in a year so you should only get them if you have a plan.

Personally I have two Hyatt and two IHG cards and I like the setup. The new Marriott suite confuses me. I may end up adding a high end hilton card soon for diamond status, but it depends on what my travel looks like for the rest of the year.

What should I be doing with my Marriott cards? I have an SPG Amex and a Marriott Premier Chase Visa - don’t think I need both now with the merger right?

Hotel cards can give you some great value, but they can also be very sub-par if you can't find good redemptions that fit your travel plans.

I currently have a few Hilton cards, and although Diamond status has had some nice perks, I will be cancelling them when the AF hits (if they won't waive it or give me a nice bonus). The value I got out of the signup bonuses has been great, but for ongoing spend, it really doesn't make sense to me to put the spend on Hilton cards versus other cards, and I hate paying for perks. On my next road trip, I've booked 3 nights with hilton points, 2 with IHG points, and 3 nights at an air bnb. I feel like the value+ flexibility of using a 2%+ card is better than putting spend on Hilton. I've also had/have IHG and Marriott cards. I like IHG because they have a lot of properties for cheap where I like to go, but I just don't see any value with ongoing spend. However, I'll probably keep my two IHGs again after the AF hits, as I have always been able to get good value out of the free night. Marriott's are typically overpriced in my book, but I've definitely been able to get great value out of the signup bonuses, but wouldn't put spend on them.

I agree with JL that the new Marriott setup is confusing, and since I'm ineligible for most of their cards, I'll be staying away for a long time.

Take a look at some properties you might be interested in and compare the amount of points needed vs signup bonuses vs AFs. Although it doesn't get updated often, I use awardmapper.com as a starting place.

SPG card, and it’s successor, seem pretty good with a free night annually and 2x points.

PSA: Southwest personal cards are offering a companion pass for the rest of 2019 for new cardholders. Immense potential value.

Yeah I’ve gotten great value out of the Marriott AF free night - used the cert near Disneyland for a room that would have easily ran me $250+

I got offered the 100k bonus for the new Bonvoy Amex despite already having cashed the spg bonus like 9 months ago. Seems like a no brainer with $300 annual Marriott credit plus free night up to 50k points.

So thought I'd check how well I'm doing in my card choices after getting rec's here a couple years ago.

I take a few trips a year - international like once a year - I have the Barclay's Arrival+ for that.

Then I have AMEX Blue Cash Preferred with returns of 6% grocery, 3% gas, 1% other - so I use AMEX for gas and grocery - Barclay for everything else.

Any better combos of cards out there for me to consider?