Info Regarding Airline Credit Cards

[iuki]

I’ll try to make this short. We live near Hilo on The Big Island and had a Hawaiian Airlines credit card issued by Barclays. When United Airlines flew out of Hilo direct to the mainland, we opened a UAL credit card issued by Chase and canceled HAL’s CC. Six months later UAL canceled all direct flights to the mainland from Hilo. We also had issues with the system not recognizing the card number. So, my husband talked to United and asked for a new card with a different card number when the renewal came up. He was told to reapply. So he canceled the card and reapplied. Both Chase and United told my husband that he now has to wait 2 years before he can get another card. He then reapplied with Hawaiian and was also denied because he was not considered to be a new applicant. Mind you, we have an 800-range credit score.

Bottom line — think twice before getting airline credit cards, especially those with annual fees. Is it really what you want? We now just use our Chase Private Client card and use the cash back for baggage fees.

 

[EACarlson]

Barclay is always weird, 600 scores get approved and 800s get denied. Chase is incorrect, he can have the card, what he can't do is get a sign up bonus. He would be ineligible for a sign up bonus if he held the card anytime in the previous two years. For Hawaiian you could always get an American Express card and transfer the MR to Hawaiian.

 

[_19disnA]

I think airlines have gotten wise to people who shop around and are constantlly switching credit cards just to get the intial free miles/perks/etc. That is part of the reason for the 2 yr waiting period. Probably has less to do with your credit score compared to the airlines wanting to close the "gaming" loopholes that used to exist.

If you fly frequently on a specific airline, I would stick with their credit card. If you have a lot of different cards from various airlines, you might never accumulate enough points/miles to make it worth anything.

 

[Judique]

I’ll try to make this short. We live near Hilo on The Big Island and had a Hawaiian Airlines credit card issued by Barclays. When United Airlines flew out of Hilo direct to the mainland, we opened a UAL credit card issued by Chase and canceled HAL’s CC. Six months later UAL canceled all direct flights to the mainland from Hilo. We also had issues with the system not recognizing the card number. So, my husband talked to United and asked for a new card with a different card number when the renewal came up. He was told to reapply. So he canceled the card and reapplied. Both Chase and United told my husband that he now has to wait 2 years before he can get another card. He then reapplied with Hawaiian and was also denied because he was not considered to be a new applicant. Mind you, we have an 800-range credit score.

Bottom line — think twice before getting airline credit cards, especially those with annual fees. Is it really what you want? We now just use our Chase Private Client card and use the cash back for baggage fees.

Your husband should have talked to Chase, not United about getting a new number. People get new numbers all the time for fraud issues, lost cards, cards that don't read or are not recognized.

He would wait two years from the time his first card was obtained.

Good advice was given by @EACarlson who replied above. Accumulating points can be a combination of different cards, plus having both husband and wife obtain their own cards, and stay away from authorized user cards.

Airlines and card issuers such as Chase, American Express and other card issuers have partnerships that allow point transfers to different airlines and hotels. Having a variety of cards can allow more ability to get free or discounted flights.

 

[DLgal]

You could have just told Chase that you lost your card and they would have sent you one with a new number.

Why don't YOU apply for the new cards in your name?

 

[gottalovepluto]

You could have just told Chase that you lost your card and they would have sent you one with a new number.

Why don't YOU apply for the new cards in your name?

^THIS. I am concerned that OP didn’t just immediately pivot to this.

OP- there is no “we” in your credit score. You said that a couple times so I’m going to reiterate: there is no we in your credit score. It is him. It is you. You each have your own when it comes down to it. So, each spouse needs a credit card in their own name. Authorized user cards are cute for helping a credit score but as soon as the lead spouse dies all the cards are shut down and if you don’t have a history of having your own credit card you are going to be in a world of hurt. Many widows have found that out the hard way, you don’t want to be grieving, sorting an estate and having a starters credit report (while possibly being retired so no paystub to show a bank income).

And what do you mean you just use your CPC CC now? Is that the one that is the JPM Reserve (ie a Chase Sapphire Reserve made of a different metal with a cool name and not a single other difference)?

 

[gottalovepluto]

And let’s take a moment to acknowledge your DH went wrong in taking literal credit advice from a United rep. They knew nothing your Chase issued credit card. You call the issuing bank (the company you write the credit card payment to) when you have issues.

Anyone else reading this thread- PLEASE post to I Love Credit Cards if you find yourself in a situation like OP did before closing any credit card. OP’s DH didn’t end up in their situation because airline credit cards suck, they were just uneducated in credit cards. We would have happily advised OP on where they were going wrong and probably prevented the mess that resulted.

 

[PatMcDuck]

Our best tip was that me and my husband each have our own airline credit cards. His new (last November) JetBlue came with 80,000 points. I Already had a JB of my own that came with 60,000 I think, got mine a couple years ago. I cancelled my SW a year ago, so might reapply for that at some point. I just have United now (got this year), and Jet Blue. Husband still has his SW, and now JB.

I like the JB and United cards for the free checked bags perk. The SW card didn't really give me anything like that (I never used one of their free drink coupons in 10 years).

We use EWR and PHL airports.