I love credit cards so much! v2.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[amalone1013]

Biz Mailers continue to be widely available on the marketplace for $40 (which $40 for $700-$800 worth of "Disney Miles" seems worth it...)

This is the only part I'm not 100% on; is this the only way to get the biz mailers? Or the easiest...? Asking for a friend

 

[amalone1013]

I decided I'm going to try the Plastiq Biz referral offer, so since I had to come in nice and early this morning I went ahead and referred myself from DHs email offer and signed up under my married name and made a $350 payment on my car loan to knock out the last of the MSR for my CIC. Next up is DHs CIP when it comes.

 

[amalone1013]

When I read DOC's article about the Chase Bonus Tracker, it said it was only personal and only showing in the app so far (at that time...) So in case anyone missed the update like me , I see it for a business card in my online login in the UR portal...

 

[palhockeymomof2]

So, I’m still on the fence about which card to apply for. Please help me decide. DH and I each have 1 Chase Ink (I have regular and he has the 1.5%). We have good credit. My score is 814 last time I checked. He has the Sapphire Preferred. I haven’t applied for any other Chase cards in over 2 years (other than the Chase Ink). The cards I am considering:

—Sapphire Preferred (with DH referral)
—Chase Ink 1.5
—Chase Ink Preferred
—Chase Sapphire Reserve

I’m leaning towards the Sapphire Preferred or Chase Ink 1.5 because I’m ultra conservative, but I’m tempted to go with either the Ink Preferred (for the cell Phone protection & 3% bonus perks), or the Sapphire Reserve for the better trip delay benefit. We recently experienced a trip delay and so I now see the benefits of the cards and not just the bonus features.

The cons for the Ink Preferred is the annual fee that isn’t waived and the higher minimum spend. I’m fairly certain we could meet the $5k, but would prefer one I can meet sooner. The cons for the Reserve are the annual fee. I also need convincing the features versus the $450 fee make sense for my travel needs, which are primarily with family (DH and 4 kids). I do like the 6 hour trip delay instead of 12 with Preferred, but not sure that’s enough of a reason for the higher fee?

The Sapphire Preferred, overall makes the most sense, but the Chase Ink 1.5 would be pretty easy to get and meet the minimum spend, and I could still get the Preferred or Reserve later. But...I know I have to wait 24 months before I can get another Sapphire product, so I can see why timing and order of applications for each Chase card can be crucial.

Ugh! I think I’m driving myself crazy! WWYD?

You have put a lot of thought into this and all are good cards...
A lot of us apply for the Chase Ink Preferred CIP first due to the higher 80k UR sign up bonus...but if the $5k MSR is going to be difficult...then the Chase Ink Unlimited CIU with the 1.5x UR earning and lower $3k spend is nice or have you considered the Chase Ink Cash ..the bonus 50 URs and $3k MSR is the same but you get 5x back on internet, phone and office supply stores...which can come in handy when buying gift cards

The CSR come with a $300 travel credit...so when I was comparing it to the CSP...in my mind it was a $150 annual fee vs $95....

 

[palhockeymomof2]

He opened his in September, but we usually don’t move too fast with applying for new cards. I have transferred some points from my CIB to DH’s Sapphire Preferred. Can they be transferred to a CSR and converted to a higher point value for travel rewards purposes? Is that what people do? We have around 180k in UR points now.

Yes points can be transferred a CSR...each months I transfer all of the points on my and DHs cards to the CSR

 

[palhockeymomof2]

How much more is the Reserve worth on 180k points? I don’t completely get if it’s a straight percentage when converting to points or if I take the 180k and multiply it by 1.25 for CSP and 1.5 for CSR? I may just be overthinking it.

CRS is worth $2,700 in travel, CSP $2,250 ...if booked through the Chase travel portal....

 

[have2getaway]

If using portal redemptions to justify the CSR vs CSP AF - the break even point for a difference of $150 in AF (CSR effective AF of $150 compared to first year waived CSP), is $1125. $1125 in portal redemptions would cost 75000 URs with the CSR and 90000 URs with the CSP. Difference of 15000 URs, which has a cash value of $150. Similarly, if comparing CSR effective $150 AF with the usual CSP AF of $95 (difference of $55), the break even point would be $423 in portal redemptions.

Oh, I get it. I was treating the $150 as 150 in rewards when I needed to be a actually calculating $150 dollars, which is much more than my calculation. I can see now that we might not be quite ready for the CSR.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

After seeing a commercial for Royal Caribbean’s new island, Dh agreed to a cruise next year. I need to pounce and book before he changes his mind(he hates traveling)

We are a family of five and it’s looking like the cruise alone will be 6000-7000. Any tips on cards to help with Royal? I’m thinking there isn’t much besides cash back cards and bank bonuses?

ETA- I have most Chase UR cards and a Barclay arrival plus. Only one Amex but they seem to hate me with pop ups on my 2 attempts a few months ago. We do owe a rental property so I tend to use that for business card apps if needed.

Have you thought about a CIP 2 with self referral ?

 

[pinkxray]

I have the Citi AA biz card now. I never had an AA advantage acct. I’m assuming I do now since they need to be sending my points somewhere. I have tried the find my AA number but it never sends an email. I tried creating an acct but it tells me I already have one. Is there a way to find my AA advantage number without calling? In my Citi info somewhere?

 

[pinkxray]

Have you thought about a CIP 2 with self referral ?

To be honest I haven’t been following the 2 CIP info. Do I still need an open CIP to get the bonus on CIP? I had one open in 2017 but closed it once the fee hit. I do have the CIC which maybe I could product change to the preferred for now?

 

[have2getaway]

You have put a lot of thought into this and all are good cards...
A lot of us apply for the Chase Ink Preferred CIP first due to the higher 80k UR sign up bonus...but if the $5k MSR is going to be difficult...then the Chase Ink Unlimited CIU with the 1.5x UR earning and lower $3k spend is nice or have you considered the Chase Ink Cash ..the bonus 50 URs and $3k MSR is the same but you get 5x back on internet, phone and office supply stores...which can come in handy when buying gift cards

The CSR come with a $300 travel credit...so when I was comparing it to the CSP...in my mind it was a $150 annual fee vs $95....

I currently have the 5% CIC, but was considering applying for the CIU, but DH already has that. I really wanted to get a Sapphire product, but that’s only because I wanted to use whatever new card I get to purchase airfare, but I don’t have to to meet the MSR, so I guess I need to really decide if I want to just go for a CSR, CSP, or CIP now and have DH pc to a CSR if I go with a CSP. The problem is I am not an authorized user on DH’s card, which is deliberate, but...DH is completely clueless with this whole points, credit card thing, well all of it. There’s been a handful of times he’s had to call related to the card and it’s BRUTAL. Is it beneficial to have both the CSR and CSP or are they really duplicative? Just wondering if I should just do CIP a day have DH pc to CSR and I can always do CSP later? I feel like I’m going in circles.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

To be honest I haven’t been following the 2 CIP info. Do I still need an open CIP to get the bonus on CIP? I had one open in 2017 but closed it once the fee hit. I do have the CIC which maybe I could product change to the preferred for now?

You could product change the CIC to a CIP then generate a referral link and apply for CIP 2....then you earn 20k URs on the referral and 80k URs Sign up bonus

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I currently have the 5% CIC, but was considering applying for the CIU, but DH already has that. I really wanted to get a Sapphire product, but that’s only because I wanted to use whatever new card I get to purchase airfare, but I don’t have to to meet the MSR, so I guess I need to really decide if I want to just go for a CSR, CSP, or CIP now and have DH pc to a CSR if I go with a CSP. The problem is I am not an authorized user on DH’s card, which is deliberate, but...DH is completely clueless with this whole points, credit card thing, well all of it. There’s been a handful of times he’s had to call related to the card and it’s BRUTAL. Is it beneficial to have both the CSR and CSP or are they really duplicative? Just wondering if I should just do CIP a day have DH pc to CSR and I can always do CSP later? I feel like I’m going in circles.

I applied for the CIP first due to the high sign up bonus...after we met the MSR on mine...I then referred DH for one...so after the MSR was met on both we had 190k in URs after opening 2 cards

My husband is the same as yours....hates to make phone calls so I either use a deep voice and call as him...lol or have him call and tell them it’s okay for me to speak on his behalf....

.Has your husbands CSP been open at least a year ? If not it can’t be PCd until it is

Right now I have the CSR and DH has the CSP...my plan is to use the $300 travel credit after a year is up then PC my CSR to a CF. Then when DHs CRS is open a year PC it to a CSR

 

[amalone1013]

To be honest I haven’t been following the 2 CIP info. Do I still need an open CIP to get the bonus on CIP? I had one open in 2017 but closed it once the fee hit. I do have the CIC which maybe I could product change to the preferred for now?

You don't have to have a CIP open to get the second, but if you do PC you can self refer for extra points

 

[have2getaway]

I applied for the CIP first due to the high sign up bonus...after we met the MSR on mine...I then referred DH for one...so after the MSR was met on both we had 190k in URs after opening 2 cards

My husband is the same as yours....hates to make phone calls so I either use a deep voice and call as him...lol or have him call and tell them it’s okay for me to speak on his behalf....

.Has your husbands CSP been open at least a year ? If not it can’t be PCd until it is

Right now I have the CSR and DH has the CSP...my plan is to use the $300 travel credit after a year is up then PC my CSR to a CF. Then when DHs CRS is open a year PC it to a CSR

Wow! 190k after opening up just 2 cards! That’s awesome. Is it true that the referral bonus is 20k on the CIP?

No, DH has only had his CSP for 6-7 months, so maybe I should go for CSR first?

 

[trenty]

I’m not sure if you guys remember but I ordered that Harry Potter backpack through the chase portal. Well we realized today we never got an email about the order. So today we looked back through our transactions and were never charged for it. We decided it was no big deal and went through the portal again today to reorder it. I see the charge pending but I still have not received an email from pottery barn kids. Are we doing something wrong?

I really hope we don’t have two backpacks showing up but I have no idea since there’s no history showing we ordered the first one. I’m confused why I didn’t get an email about the backpack this time either

Did you check your Pottery Barn order history to see if the orders are there?

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Wow! 190k after opening up just 2 cards! That’s awesome. Is it true that the referral bonus is 20k on the CIP?

No, DH has only had his CSP for 6-7 months, so maybe I should go for CSR first?

Yes the referral bonus is 20k on the CIP....those were the first 2 cards we opened after I found this amazing group of people last May...

Will you be traveling within 3 months...to use the CSR benefits....
if yes I would apply for it before the CIP....if no...I would apply for the CIP first...it’s usually recommend 2-3 months between Chase Applications

 

[trenty]

EDITED: Just realized the post was asking about travel hacking in Australia not to Australia.

I originally read it the way you did and thought @calypso726 would know!

 

[EACarlson]

Other issue I've run into with the Chase Travel portal is that I can usually find things cheaper on my own than through them, usually by enough to offset the 25% bonus in booking. I did not recall that the Reserve also had Priority Pass, the trip delay kicks in at 6 hours instead of 12, additional medical care benefits while traveling or that there is a $75 annual fee for an AU. If I qualified for one, I would probably go with the Reserve, but it would be close.

 

[miztressuz]

I currently have the 5% CIC, but was considering applying for the CIU, but DH already has that. I really wanted to get a Sapphire product, but that’s only because I wanted to use whatever new card I get to purchase airfare, but I don’t have to to meet the MSR, so I guess I need to really decide if I want to just go for a CSR, CSP, or CIP now and have DH pc to a CSR if I go with a CSP. The problem is I am not an authorized user on DH’s card, which is deliberate, but...DH is completely clueless with this whole points, credit card thing, well all of it. There’s been a handful of times he’s had to call related to the card and it’s BRUTAL. Is it beneficial to have both the CSR and CSP or are they really duplicative? Just wondering if I should just do CIP a day have DH pc to CSR and I can always do CSP later? I feel like I’m going in circles.

Perhaps it feels like circles because you haven't mentioned a goal. I find it easier to narrow down options when my goal isn't "All the cards!!!" like my greedy miser brain wants.
It's totally ok for the goal to be "Lots of UR points" but it'll probably illicit a different path than "Lots of UR points to transfer to airline A" or "Lots of UR points to redeem for a cruise this year" or "Lots of UR points to book a B&B in East Jabip".

Just lots of UR with no defined plan I'd pick anything with at least a 50k bonus to keep you busy until you have a goal. Duplicate cards in a household are ok because you're just doing it for the sign up bonus, it doesn't have to make sense to actually use it later. (Chase, for now, is not like AmEx like that) So the CIU for you isn't a bad choice for this - don't have to worry about an AF, has a smaller MSR that should be easier to complete. Then you can put the airfare charge on the existing CSP to get the 2x points and the trip protections.
OR
The CIP also has trip insurance benefits similar to the CSP. Could go for the CIP, use the airfare charge to help meet the higher MSR of 5k, and earn 3x UR for it on top. Yes it has the $95 AF but you can either look at it as a 70,500 UR bonus (after cashing out some to pay the AF) or paying $95 for trip insurance. If the goal is lots of UR, 70k is better than 50k, if you can make the spend in 115 days. Those extra days Chase gives to meet the MSR can squeeze in another payment for something potentially.

If the goal was to use the UR to transfer, then I'd stick with CSP or CIP. Both have the same lower fee with the ability to transfer to travel partners. Having a CSR does nothing for you really in that situation. Actually, likewise in the B&B scenario as I made that out in my head to be a lower cost redemption through the portal, in which case you may not recoup the extra AF of the CSR in UR redemption savings.
If you referred the your CSP from DH's, he'd get 10k UR, you'd get 50k UR bonus with the waived AF; the same number of UR as the current public offer of 60k but avoiding the AF. (and I believe it's been mentioned you could roll the dice and see if they'd give you an extra 10k to "match" the public one) Still not as much guaranteed as the CIP but also a 1k smaller MSR.

If you had a large redemption planned for this year through the portal, like a cruise or vacation package, then I'd go with the CSR. If you don't, I'd stick with other card options if DH's card could be upgraded to the CSR instead (has to be after 1st anniversary and have at least a 10k credit limit available to do that) if something came up that would make it worthwhile. You'd probably get a better value out of the CSP with the referral options and waived AF.

Hope that helped rather than gave you another circle to follow