Credit Cards Archives - Page 5 of 10

Nov 02 2014

Act Quickly on Hot Deals that Fit YOU Best

If you are in the miles and points game for any period of time greater than, say, one month – eventually you’ll start to notice a lot of all caps and exclamation marks on Twitter or on blogs – “Hot deals! Act quickly! Won’t last! AMAZING!” But like big signs in retail stores – not all the advertised deals are truly that amazing (though some definitely are). To further confuse things, as any regular reader of the Saverocity family of blogs knows, sometimes these “deals” are advertised with conflicts of interest. I generally give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but when I have an affiliate link I’m always tempted to make it sound a little better than it is so I assume others are at the very least the same.

In the past week alone, there have been a couple of “deals” out there. AA released a bunch of award space on their new routes, while Aeroplan had a HUGE glitch where flights were pricing wrong – yikes for them. There was also a $1400 business class “deal” from LA to Europe. Now I put the word deal in quotes for all three of these because none of them were particularly well suited for my needs. I therefore skipped all three of these and didn’t bat an eyelash – but when I first got into this game I would have felt differently. The urgency with which these kinds of deals are presented can very easily lead one to feel like they missed out or to act hastily without carefully thinking things through. In a worst case scenario they can cause someone to lose money. I’m not immune to writing about them either.

I love deals and cannot wait to reap the benefits of BA First - but I thought about it for awhile before pulling the trigger — I love deals and cannot wait to reap the benefits of BA First – but I thought about it for awhile before pulling the trigger

The goal of this post is not to get you to ignore these deals – I jump on them all the time. For example, I booked the wife and myself into British Airways first class during that window of time when US Airways wasn’t charging fuel surcharges. What I’m hoping to accomplish in this post is to help you establish a framework for yourself through which you can view these deals. It’s about pulling the trigger on deals that best suit YOUR needs – not just acting due to FOMO. Here’s how I’d recommend approaching deals.

For starters, have an objective evaluation of your assets in your head at all times

I don’t think I can assess whether a given “deal” is good for me without an objective idea of my assets. I say assets because sometimes these deals that come around are award deals (miles as an asset), sometimes they are cash flights (cash as an asset), sometimes they are big discounts like Stop and Shop gas rewards (cash and time as an asset), while sometimes they are credit card sign up bonuses (cash, time, and miles opportunity cost).

So you need to know your assets, objectively, before you decide whether a deal is good for you or not. If you are really trying to travel for pennies due to budgetary constraints and/or a desire to be financially independent faster, $1400 business class flights to Europe or $1700 first class fares to Asia might not be the best deal for you. It’s an even worse deal if you’re going to end up in debt because of it.

If you can only put $1000/month on your credit cards and thus are generally only applying for one card at a time, then you want the BEST sign up bonuses out there. If snagging those flights on British Airways with no fuel surcharges depletes your entire US Air account – is that okay with you? And if you find a new manufactured spending deal, are you spending too much of your time doing it?

If you don’t know what your assets are and have an objective take on their worth you’re risking not making the best decisions when it comes to these deals.

Buying US Air miles can get you onto these partners - but is the price right for you? — Buying US Air miles can get you onto these partners – but is the price right for you?

A classic example is the good old “buy US Airways miles at 1.8 cents a piece”. Using myself as an example, here’s how I evaluated my assets for that deal (every single time it came up).

Do I have enough cash to purchase 100,000 miles at 1.8 cents a piece? If so, do I have enough miles for a business class flight overseas already? If yes, do I really need to buy more, giving me enough for two overseas trips? And if I buy miles so I have enough for two overseas trips, do I have enough time to take those trips in a timeframe that wouldn’t worry me about a devaluation? And, oh yeah, is it really worth it to me to pay $1800 to fly business class overseas; could that money be spent more wisely elsewhere?

For me, it’s important to ask these questions just to make sure I don’t get caught up in the hype of a “deal”. Everyone’s answers are going to come out differently (heck, everyone’s QUESTIONS should be different), but it’s the best way to avoid unnecessary waste.

Next, make sure you are clear about what your travel goals are

I’ve written about this as it pertains to signing up for credit cards, but it’s really important you know what your travel goals are. I have two goals for my family – to take at least one international trip a year (preferably two, one with child one without) and to take it in as much comfort as possible without breaking the bank. Goal 1 is more important to me than goal 2, we’d pay for coach if we had to. But if I can leverage miles and points to fly in a higher class of service, I’m always going to choose that. For me, 1 international business class trip is greater than 2 in coach. That’s just me.

When deals come along, I force myself to question whether that deal helps me meet my travel goals or not. Did I want to jump on the AA deal earlier today? Certainly, I have the miles and it’d get us to Europe. But getting in on that deal would also have broken my “as much comfort as possible” rule. I don’t mind an extra connection with Little M if it’s gonna get me in a higher class of service, but Boston to Los Angeles to London is going way beyond that. So I let that one go with absolutely no reservations.

My goal is to get this one to at least one new country a year - this was Italy 2013 — My goal is to get this one to at least one new country a year – this was Italy 2013

I do the same thing when great credit card bonuses come along. I’ve always thought the Southwest Companion Pass would be a great thing to have – but we don’t travel enough to make it useful. I’m starting to rethink my travel goals in general since Little M might force us to travel more domestically, but every time I’d have been able to get it via credit card sign ups it didn’t make sense with my travel goals at the time. And forget about earning via reselling – time is the asset I have the least of. You go though, Big Habitat.

A corollary to evaluating your travel goals is evaluating your earning streams – if you’re a big MSer or reseller deals are going to look better/worse to you than they would to me, but that’s a whole other post in and of itself. Hopefully you get the concept.

Equip yourself with as much knowledge of the miles and points game as possible

This one’s important. It’s impossible to know what a great deal is if you don’t know what the good ones are. Take a look at Matt’s list of the Top 10 best credit card offers historically. It’s important to know what has been offered in the past and more importantly, have a feeling for whether it will be offered in the future or not. For example, I have absolutely no proof but my guess is we’ll see another 75K Amex PRG offer again. That means a 50K offer might not be the best deal, no matter how many exclamation marks you see (no guarantees of course). Worse situations are when you see a lot of exclamation marks around cards like the US Airways Mastercard – 40K after first purchase is great – if you have miles in US Air. Otherwise, they could quite possibly be totally useless to you.

Another thing to make sure you have a good handle of is how much awards cost regularly, what airlines charge fuel surcharges, how much award space various airlines release, etc. etc. That’s how you find “sweet spots”, recognize when something is a big deal (like avoiding fuel surcharges on BA), or realize that an award space glitch is a major deal (like Lufthansa releasing first class space more than two weeks out). The only way to learn these things is through practice, reading, and more practice. No one knows the ins and outs of everything, but there are a lot of guides out there like at Travel is Free or my own DIY Guide (which releases at the rate of one article per year at this point :P).

Ultimately, it’s about opportunity costs

Hot deals are great, but while they seem cheap, you’re always giving up something to get them. Understanding your assets, clarifying your travel goals, and equipping yourself with knowledge of the game should help you answer the single most important question when a deal comes up: What am I giving up if I pull the trigger? Or, to put it another way, is getting in on this deal going to prevent me from getting in on another one that fits myself and/or my family better? You can’t really answer that question without an understanding of the three things above.

Everyone is going to highlight a deal with some level of bias. I sometimes point out good value fares to Europe because I love Europe. Just because I think something is a great deal doesn’t mean it’s a great deal for you. I really would consider shelling out $1500 for a business class flight to Europe (assuming I haven’t blown too much money on my travels elsewhere) – but if you aren’t even sure if you LIKE Europe, why should you? That sounds silly but it’s really not – if you read blogs enough you kind of start hearing very similar views and opinions about things. You’ll hear counterpoints, but they can be rare.

I'm sure tons of you could care less about Sound of Music tours — I’m sure tons of you could care less about Sound of Music tours

You might be less susceptible to peer pressure than me, but generally, if you hear that “Bali is amazing” a million times you might just put it on your list of places to go. Then if an amazing fare to Bali drops, you might pull the trigger. That’s not a bad thing by the way, add me to the chorus of people who think Bali is amazing – just make sure you know what you’re giving up to get there.

Final Thoughts

Apologies for the super long post – I haven’t posted for awhile and have just had all these thoughts in my head for awhile. The reality is, I’m sure many of you think about these things already. But writing helps me clarify my thoughts, and this is a good reminder to me that if I miss a big deal that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m missing out. One of the best things about the miles and points game is great deals are always there to be had. It’s like whack-a-mole: they always pop up! Unlike whack-a-mole, you only need to nail one to win. Sure, you’ll sometimes miss a deal that you might regret, but that’s better than regretting wasting assets on a deal! I’d love to hear people’s thought processes about this topic, so feel free to leave equally loquacious comments!

Oct 22 2014

A Comparison of 0% Introductory APR Credit Cards

Disclosure: I receive no compensation for any links from this post. I found them on Google. They aren’t compensating me for name dropping them either. Messing with 0% APR Cards is dangerous – be responsible and be careful.

One day I’ll get to part two of my credit card tier list. In the meanwhile, a friend of mine asked me if I knew of any good 0% introductory APR credit cards, no annual fee cards so I promised him I’d do some research for him. I generally don’t even think about these things because I don’t believe in ever carrying a balance – but his reasoning for wanting that leeway sounded generally sound and he doesn’t want to take any balances he may build up past the introductory period (though the danger of not paying it off in time is always there). He was looking for rewards cards, though not necessarily the travel variety.

A couple of big bolded warnings before I get to my research.

– Carrying a balance is always dangerous: The credit card industry is built on people wanting to spend more than they can afford. Even at a 0% intro APR, it’s dangerous to keep a balance if you’re not disciplined and don’t pay it off in time.

– Carrying a balance on a rewards card is even more dangerous: When I started doing my research, I saw some 0% intro APR cards that had no rewards at all. In my head I was like, why the heck would anyone get one of those? But then I realized my paradigm is different – I never carry a balance and I just see credit cards as a means of getting rewards. However, if you don’t have the discipline to pay off in full (or are carrying a balance because you need to during the intro 0% period) – having a rewards card is risky. Simply put, you are “getting” something while still carrying a balance and that could tempt you to keep spending on the card and add to that balance. On the cards with no rewards, you’re basically getting nothing in return so you might be prone to pay it off quicker.

– Applying for credit cards can be dangerous even for the fiscally responsible: Those of us heavy into the miles and points game generally have systems to make sure we don’t miss payments and always pay in full, but even the bets of us make mistakes. I certainly do. There have been a lot more posts on this matter recently, these two are two that I remember catching my eye (sorry to others I’ve missed).

So if you’re going to apply for a 0% APR card – make sure you have the discipline to use that “free” loan correctly – pay it off before the interest kicks in. Otherwise you might find yourself in trouble. Please be responsible. I haven’t included affiliate links for any of these cards – this is my pure, objective research that I thought might help responsible people in specific situations (like my friend). Make good choices!

The Card Contenders and My Analysis

Google has an interesting card comparison tool (that leaves out Capital One and Chase for some reason). I used it to narrow down everything to seven cards: AMEX Everyday, BankAmericard Cash Rewards, Blue Cash Everyday by AMEX, Capital One VentureOne Rewards, Chase Freedom, Citi Double Cash, and Discover it. My criteria were sign up bonuses and/or high rewards earning – I also included Double Cash because that’s the card my friend specifically asked me about. All these links are the best offers I could find online. I’ve made a chart comparing the cards:

I’d say one card doesn’t really fit all, though I have some favorites. I’ll quickly run down the pros and cons that I see for each card (if I were applying personally).

I’ve stated before that I’m not a huge fan of Amex EveryDay, but if you are looking to transfer to airline partners like Delta or British Airways that might be the card for you. Some tips on how to redeem those pesky miles if you’re interested. There’s a version with an annual fee as well that’s slightly more lucrative.

The Bank AmeriCard Cash Rewards card has the benefit of an easy to clear sign up bonus, though it’s earning power doesn’t really blow my mind. 3X on groceries is nice – but how much groceries do you really buy? And since this post is for people looking for 0% APR cards I wouldn’t recommend Manufactured Spending in any way shape or form – too tempting. Not that 3X is a gamechanger anyway.

I feel the same way about Blue Cash as I do the Bank AmeriCard Cash Rewards – just nothing amazing enough to make me really want it. I like it even less for my friend because the 0% period is only six months. I’d prefer the version with an annual fee that offers 6X at grocery stores.

The Capital One VentureOne card has the benefit of no foreign transaction fees if you travel a lot, but 1.25X is a mere pittance in the rewards world AND Capital One takes your credit from all three agencies. Hard pass.

I'll hand it to Citi, the card looks pretty slick even though I don't like it — I’ll hand it to Citi, the card looks pretty slick even though I don’t like it

Originally when my friend asked me the question, he was leaning towards Double Cash due to the 15 month 0% APR and I said it probably was a good card for him. But the lack of a sign up bonus and the whole “1% when you buy and 1% when you pay off” thing really turns me off. I’d like this card more if there was a sign up bonus but I can’t currently find one.

Chase Freedom and Discover it are probably my favorite cards out of the bunch – they both offer 5X rotating categories and 1X on everything else. I’d give Freedom the edge right now because it has a sign up bonus and I like Chase as a bank (it’s good to build a long term relationship with them) – but Discover has the benefit of no foreign exchange fees and its bonus categories tend to dovetail more with my personal spending.

Final Thoughts

For the responsible miles and points enthusiast who is paying their balances off in full – most of these cards are probably niche cards that have specific uses. However, if you’re looking for a 0% APR card, I’d lean towards Freedom or Discover it. Hopefully the chart is helpful as you start your research – I’m sure some people will find cards that better suit their needs. It bears repeating – if you need the 0% loan – truly evaluate how important that is to you and be careful about how much of a balance you build up. Fiscal responsibility is more important than few rewards here or there. Anyway, to my buddy – hope this helps! Make good choices!

Oct 07 2014

Credit Card Cancellation for Beginners

Word of warning: If you’re not paying off your credit card balances in full every month, ignore this – pay them off and cancel those cards immediately until you get to a place where you can. Being stuck in debt is not acceptable collateral damage in the miles and points game

Feel free to move along if you’re a pro at this game, though it’s possible you’ll learn something new. This post is geared more towards the casual or newer points enthusiasts out there. I deemed it necessary because the other day a friend told me they had “transferred all of their Ultimate Rewards points to United and cancelled their Chase Sapphire Preferred card.” While not a bad move, I just want to make sure people know the options they have when canceling a card. Although I may be risking the wrath of George writing a post like this, the fact is there are beginners out there so if you fall into that category this post is for you!

Background Info you should already know alert!

Two large parts of your credit score is your average age of accounts and your credit utilization. Average age of accounts is a function of how long your cards have been opened, credit utilization is the ratio of credit used (money you put on your cards) vs. credit extended to you (your credit limits). So if you cancel a card, you are at lowering your credit utilization and eventually you might hurt your average age of accounts as well (though closed accounts still contribute until they drop off in 10 years). More details here if you’re interested.

Trying to get the bank to waive the annual fee

When you are thinking about canceling a card, I generally call a month or two before the annual fee is going to hit. I simply tell the agent the truth – I’m thinking of canceling my card because I feel like the annual fee outweighs the benefits I get from the card.

This likely will get you sent over to a retention specialist who often will offer you something to keep the card. This could be a straight up fee waiver, or a waived fee after a certain amount of spending or purchases, etc. etc. Sometimes you even get bonus points – if you google “retention offer ______ flyertalk” you’ll usually see what’s out there.

"Premium" cards come with an annual fee that may or may not be worth it — “Premium” cards come with an annual fee that may or may not be worth it

No retention offer? Another thing to consider before canceling

Remember a lot of the premium credit cards that have annual fees have no-fee versions. Consider downgrading to one of these versions before outright canceling. This will increase your average age of accounts AND preserve your credit line (and thus help your credit score in the long run).

Still going to cancel? Don’t lose your points

If you have an airline co-branded credit card, your miles are safe if you transfer. If you have a cash back card, I’d cash out before canceling. If you have a transferable points card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred – my suggestion is to just transfer all your points to another Ultimate Rewards points card – even something like the Chase Freedom. This keeps your points flexible – when you get another “premium” Ultimate Rewards card you’ll be able to transfer them to travel partners again.

Why not just transfer points to a partner before canceling?

This is something you can do and is what my friend did. In his case it’s not too bad because he has a redemption in mind. But my general rule of thumb is flexibility is key. Even though Matt wrote that he hasn’t been able to use that flexibility for Membership Rewards (semi-opposing view here) – I find flexibility is one of those things you miss when you don’t have it.

Take my friend for example. He transferred his points to United because he wants to use them to go to Asia next year, that’s a great plan. But what if he needs a short haul flight to JFK for an emergency or he feels like taking a spontaneous trip to Charlotte (OK he’s not that type of guy but let’s just pretend for sake of argument). Well, his points are stuck in United so he won’t be able to transfer them to Avios (which would be the cheapest thing).

Transferable points give you flexibility that you shouldn't give up willy nilly — Transferable points give you flexibility that you shouldn’t give up willy nilly

But, he says, I don’t have a premium Ultimate Rewards card anymore! Sure – but IF you need it you can get that in like two weeks. If you just downgraded the Sapphire you could even just reupgrade it and it’d take even less time. Plus, he’s married so his wife could get one too and he could just transfer to her. Anyway – I’m all about options. In a worst, worst case scenario – he doesn’t find his tickets to Asia and now his UR points are stuck in United. He has the Chase Freedom so he could have at least used them for cash.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully this highlights some of the things you should be thinking about when canceling a card. I recognize that people play this game at different levels – so different folks are going to come to different conclusions about what’s best for them. Just make sure you’ve thought out your strategy before you do something rash and you should be coming out ahead time after time.

Sep 06 2014

Credit Card Tier Lists Part 1 – Cash Back and Transferable Points

Disclosure: There are a billion credit card links in this article. None are my affiliate links.

This post is more for beginners but I also feel like it could be useful to others. Feel free to ignore though. Anyway, a little over week ago I wrote about the bigger Delta and United card bonuses that were out there (United’s dead, Delta’s dead in a day or two). Drew at Travel is Free wrote a great article complaining about the big bloggers pumping crappy cards for affiliate conversions; dissing the larger sign up bonus on the Delta card since Delta Skymiles are the worst currency out there. While I disagree with that particular point (I happen to enjoy finding Delta award space and also am doubling down on bit on Delta miles for travel next year, fingers crossed), there was a great point he made – you shouldn’t be wasting applications on cards like the Delta 50K card if you haven’t gotten the better cards out there first.

So what I’ve decided to do is put together a credit card rankings list – a tier list. I actually think this is a pretty useful exercise to help me make sure I’m recommending the right cards to friends and readers when they ask. I’ve split cards into four categories: Cash Back and Fixed Value Cards (where you use points essentially as cash for travel), Transferable Points, Airline Miles, and Hotel Points. Obviously there is some overlap on certain cards, I’ve placed them in the category in which I personally use them. I’m also a little rusty on Cash Back cards since I haven’t focused on them personally for awhile.

For me the Fidelity Amex still wins best in show for cash back

A couple of notes. I’ve decided to rank the cards based on my personal usage, which I think is similar to the usage of many of my friends. This chart is mostly geared towards people who mainly earn via sign up bonuses – with maybe a little bit of regular spending/manufactured spending on the side. If you’re familiar with Milenomics “traveler levels“, I’m more speaking to Level 201 (mostly domestic travel with one or two international trips sprinkled in per year).

These rankings are, obviously, purely my own opinion. Also, this is just a guideline, you have to look at the list through the lens of your own spending and flying patterns. I’d love to hear people’s thoughts as well – I think different perspectives are great for these kinds of things.

For each type of credit card, I’ve placed cards into four tiers. Tier 1 cards are cards that I think should be a part of every serious points enthusiast’s portfolio and Tier 2 cards are cards to start focusing on after you have most of the Tier 1s. For me, Tier 3 and Tier 4 cards are cards that you get once you’ve maxed out on the first two tiers or if you want them for a very specific purpose. Tier 4 cards are basically dead to me unless I am signing up for them in order to redeem their benefits immediately (within a year). But am I seriously going to start building a huge balance in Korean Skypass? Likely not.

Again, just my opinions! Here’s my list for Cash Back and Transferable Points cards (and obviously every card in existence is not on here, though I’ve tried to include as many of the “pimped” ones as I could).

How would I suggest you use this list? If you see a blogger advertising a credit card and it’s in one of the lower tiers – take pause, do some research, and think long and hard about it before you apply. I’m not saying Tier 3 and Tier 4 cards are useless, but most of them only have specific uses for specific situations. Make sure you have most of the Tier 1s and 2s or a very specific situation before you waste time with the other cards. I swear every 5 months my friend asks me if a 50K bonus on the Marriott card is good and I just keep repeating, “get the better Chase cards first.”

Here is some of the thinking that went into each card section. I’m gonna include sign up bonuses when applicable, like this (bonus/spend). For the fixed value card, even if you earn “points” I’m just going to give you the bonus in dollars. So a (40K/$2000) bonus means you need to spend $2000 to earn 40K points.

Cash Back and Fixed Value Cards

My general strategy for Cash Back and Fixed Value cards is to use them as default, non-bonus spending, or to use them for the light manufactured spending that I do. I don’t really recommend having more than a couple of these cards unless you are crazy MSing all the time.

The Tier 1 cards are the main players in my opinion – 2% back on all purchases (2.2 for Arrival but who’s counting?). Out of the two, I prefer the Fidelity AMEX because there is no annual fee and the cash is straight cash, homey. The Barclaycard Arrival Plus World MasterCard® ($440/$3000) has drawbacks – you can only redeem for travel and you need to MS a bunch to offset the $89 fee after the first year. You can read PFDigest’s analysis of these two cards here.

Chase Freedom ($100/$500) and DiscoverIT ($150/$750) are both fee free cards with rotating 5% bonus categories that can be very lucrative. The Amex Blue Cash Preferred ($150/$1000) has kind of lost its usefulness since the bonus categories are now capped and the annual fee remains $75, but it’s good for regular spending for a lot of folks so it makes Tier 2. The Capital One Quicksilver ($100/$500) gives a pretty decent 1.5% return for no annual fee, while the Citi Double Cash card might be annoying but if you can get the 2% back then obviously it’s a solid card.

Tier 3 features a couple of cards that I don’t personally own but might be useful to some in specific situations. The Bank Americard Cash Rewards card ($100/$500) offers 3/2/1 on gas/groc/everything (capped) for no annual fee while US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Signature ($200/$3500) gives you 2% on gas/grocery/airline and 1% on everything else for a $49 annual fee. It’s a bit complicated to redeem FlexPerks points hence the Tier 3 status.

I used the Plum Card as an example of a Tier 4 card – it is very, very niche. You can make a nice profit if you spend $30K in 3 months, but after that the card is essentially useless and you’ll want to cancel before the annual fee hits – so it’s not a “backbone” type of card.

Transferable Points Cards

Transferable points cards are the bread and butter of my travel strategy, so they mean a lot to me. Obviously all the different cards have different partners; I don’t have time to go through all of them here, though I’ll highlight some as we go along. Cards that also have the ability to redeem for cash back receive a slight bump in my mind – flexibility is king.

I have three Chase cards listed in Tier 1 – Chase Ink Bold (50K/$5000), Chase Ink Plus (50K/$5000), and Chase Sapphire Preferred (40K/$3000). In reality, you only need one of these cards at a time – having one will give you the ability to transfer your Ultimate Rewards points to transfer partners such as United and Singapore Airlines. Don’t get all three unless you’re some kind of crazy Staples reseller (to utilize the 5X at office supply stores). If you have to get only one, I’d apply for one of the Inks, but make sure you have a small business first. Otherwise the CSP is acceptable.

My other Tier 1 card here is the Amex Premier Rewards Gold card (25K/$2000). This comes with a big caveat – I only consider it a Tier 1 card if there is a sign up bonus of 50,000 points or greater. If there’s not one available, I’d wait. The same goes for the business version. Membership Rewards have a lot of useful transfer partners, though you have to pay fees on some of them (like Delta).

Some might be surprised I have the Starwood Preferred Guest card (25K/$5000) in Tier 2. This card is here because the sign up bonus is just meh. SPG does have the most transfer partners (including AA and Alaska) and you get 25K for every 20K SPG points you transfer, so it’s a really good card, but the sign up is so low it’s never on my must have list. If you want to spend heavily on this card, then you can feel free to bump it up to Tier 1. Business version available as well.

SPG cards are only good if you are crazy with MS

The AMEX Platinum (40K/$3000) is in Tier 2 because although it has a ton of benefits, the high annual fee ($450) is a big barrier to entry. However, if you get a 100K bonus offer (make sure you read the terms and conditions to double check that you qualify), you can also bump this right up to Tier 1. There have been rumors of some of these big offers floating around for small businesses, check your snail mail. At its regular sign up bonus levels though it’s not a great card, even if you travel a ton, which is why the Gold version tops it in my book.

In Tier 3 I placed the no fee Chase Ink Cash, grab one if you’re desperate for a quick sign up bonus. No annual fee means you can keep it, though that will only benefit your business’ credit not your own. The Citi ThankYou Premier (50K/$5000 but over two years including an annual fee) is a new player in the transferable points game, but I just think their partners are a bit too niche to highly recommend the card right now.

Finally, the AMEX Everyday cards are pretty much junk, unless you need to keep your Membership Rewards points active – not even gonna bother with a link. I mean I guess they’re okay in some circumstances, but I have little to no interest in these guys. The Green card has no sign up bonus and generally feels kind of useless.

Final Thoughts

I worked on these lists because although I do it all the time, I believe applying for credit cards is serious business that should not be taken lightly. You should really have a strategy when you are applying for cards and part of that strategy is knowing which cards are better (so you don’t “waste” applications or spending bonuses). There’s a lot more strategy involved and you also need to balance how many cards you apply for at a time and to which bank etc. etc. So please think carefully before you decide to apply for cards, have a plan in place, and for the love of all that is good do not apply for credit cards if you can’t pay the balance off in full every month. Hopefully these tier lists help you to get your thinking process started.

Now, have at my tier lists in the comments! I plan on using your help to update and refine them!

Up next I’ll share my tier lists for Airline and Hotel cards – this post is too long already…

Aug 27 2014

Reminder: A Few Good Credit Card Bonuses Going Away Soon (but you probably already know that)

I applied for the Delta Gold personal while I was still in Bavaria

This is a credit card pimping post in the sense that I want to remind people of a limited time chance to sign up for some cards. This is NOT a credit card pimping post in the sense that I don’t have Chase or AMEX affiliate links so I get nothing from doing this. NONE of these links are affiliate links, I found them via Google but if for some reason you don’t trust me feel free to Google for links yourself. Saverocity readers are savvy and I’m sure everyone has heard of these offers, but personally I’ve always found I’ve needed reminders in order to not miss the good ones from time to time. Please also remember to do your own due diligence as well and don’t apply blindly. Also DON’T APPLY if you can’t pay your credit card bills in full every month.

United Mileage Plus Explorer Card: 50K bonus miles after $2000 in 3 months, $50 statement credit

Personal Card

If you click the above link before September 2nd, you should be taken to a landing page offering 50,000 United Miles after $2000 in spending. The $95 annual fee is waived the first year and you receive a $50 statement credit on first purchase. Some other benefits worth considering to me:

– No foreign transaction fees

– 1 free checked bag on domestic itineraries (does not stack with other free checked bags you have via other means)

– 5,000 bonus miles for adding an authorized user within 3 months <= easy money

Some things to note, via Chase: “This new cardmember bonus offer is not available to either (i) current cardmembers of this consumer credit card, or (ii) previous cardmembers of this consumer credit card who received a new cardmember bonus for this consumer credit card within the last 24 months.”

So don’t try to apply if you have the personal version of this card already or if you received the bonus for this card within the last 24 months.

As a point of reference, I signed up for this card in February 2012 and I just applied for it again.

United Business First seat — If you can get business class on United metal the price is still pretty good

Some reasons not to get this card? Well, if you don’t have any Ultimate Rewards points, 50,000 United miles aren’t going to do you too much good on their own. I try to sign up for cards as part of a strategy for my next year (or two). I’ve got around 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points lying around, so adding the 50,000 I get from this card plus some spending should get us one way to Europe in business class at worst (or roundtrip in coach).

I’d especially encourage you to think it through if there are other Chase cards you are interested in – Chase has a LOT of good cards in my opinion. So make sure the card fits into your overall strategy and don’t just apply for the heck of it. That being said, 50,000 mile bonuses don’t grow on trees anymore so keep that in mind! Though there is one more…

Delta Gold Skymiles Card (Personal and Business): 50K bonus miles after spending $1000 in 3 months, $50 statement credit after first Delta purchase

Landing Page for Both Personal and Business Version

The above page has links to both the personal and business versions of the card; the improved bonus expires 9/8. They both have the same bonus and spending requirements – $1000 for 50,000 in 3 months. They both also come with a $50 statement credit after your first Delta purchase within three months. $95 fee waived for the first year on both. Other benefits worth considering to me:

– Free checked bag

A huge list. I have a bunch of caveats for these cards.

First and foremost, the terms on the personal card say this: “If we identify you as currently having an American Express® Card account, you may not be eligible for this welcome bonus offer. This offer is also not available to applicants who have or have had this product.”

I can tell you for sure that if you have had this card before, don’t expect to get the sign up bonus. What I’m not sure about is whether you’ll get it if you currently have another AMEX account. Again, full disclosure, I applied for the personal version of this card – I am just hoping that the “may” in the “may not be eligible” clause has me covered. I am fairly confident that the bonus will come through, but who knows. So, I applied for this card even though I have other AMEX cards; please think about whether you feel comfortable according to the terms and conditions before you do.

A second thing to note is that you only get the $50 statement credit if you make a Delta purchase – the terms say it has to be coded by Delta. I’m going to try to buy a movie or a drink or something on my Delta flight next week and see if that triggers the credit. If not, I am going to try to buy a $50 Delta e-certificate. I think both those transactions should do the trick, but I don’t know. I’m just telling you it’s not as simple as in the United offer.

For the business card, the terms are a bit more lenient: “Welcome bonus offer not available to applicants who have or have had this product within the last 12 months.”

I applied for one of these too, just so you know. Everything else is pretty much the same. There’s a 50,000 bonus on the Delta Platinum card as well, but a higher $195 annual fee that’s not waived. That’s a hard pass for me, but in case you’re interested.

Some reasons not to get this card? If you don’t have any AMEX Membership Rewards to transfer and top off your account (and don’t forget those transfers cost money), or aren’t going to apply for both (if you’re going to do that, I think you should apply on different days and you’re running out of time), then having 50,000 Skymiles lying around is kind of useless. Also, if you get frustrated trying to redeem Skymiles, then don’t bother – though here are some posts to help you.

Personally, I got both cards (one a few weeks ago, the other a few days ago), and plan on using the 100,000 in conjunction with the 30,000 Skymiles I already have in the bank. That’s enough for two one-way business class tickets to Europe – I’m just counting on Skymiles 2015 one way redemptions to not be a complete mess (ha!). If they are, I’m diversified enough; I’m not relying on them. You may have noticed that by applying for the United Explorer card and these two cards I have basically set us up to get to Europe next year for vacation (Jess has enough Skymiles in her account for a third ticket). I’m not banking on using these, but I’m using them to create options, which is important since we’ll likely travel in the summer.

Edited to add: It’s best to apply in an incognito browser or window – AMEX has cookie issues sometimes

Final Thoughts

I wrote this post because I think these credit card offers are worth strong consideration. I don’t think you should apply for them blindly and I hope I’ve laid out some of the risks you should be considering when deciding whether to apply or not. I applied for the United card and both the personal and business Delta Gold, but literally pondered for days and mapped out how they would fit into my overall travel plans next year (potentially). Please be especially mindful if you decide to apply for the Delta cards due to AMEX’s increasingly stringent conditions. And again, don’t apply if you can’t pay off your bills in full every month. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments!

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