Tagging Miles

Is it time to get more strategic about credit card applications? 

By 7 Comments





In the past few months, we have seen a bunch of developments. We’ve seen greater restrictions, great new sign on bonuses, but, yet still, a new churnable credit cards. Is it time for a different strategy for credit card applications?

Greater Restrictions

Three of the big credit card issuers have made rather meaningful changes to how one receives bonuses, or whether one is approved at all.

The fact is, it is getting harder to churn sign-on bonuses.

Great New Cards and Sign On Bonuses

There have been some nice bonuses of late, although more importantly, is the growing competition in the premium card arena. Of note:

All indications point me toward the thought that this is not the end. We are still waiting to see what Citi will do with their devalued Prestige offering. I think we might also see a new Chase Business Card, as Doctor of Credit implies when he reports on the Chase Ink Preferred (link above). We might also see a new offering from American Express, although I anticipate it would be difficult to create a new offering without devaluing the Platinum cards.

New Churnable Credit Cards

Okie, we’re pretty weak here, I’ll admit, but there are a few churnable credit cards that may make sense.

So, yeah, the pickings may be slim here, but, for some, that may never have had a Delta AMEX (me!!!), there are other cards that are quite tempting.

Wrapping Up

My point in this post was my attempt at working out my own credit card strategy over the next 18 months. Normally, I work in 18 month timeframes, it seems like a reasonable balance between one and two years. Of course, 18 months used to be the magic number with Chase and Citi, that is changing to 24. So what is my conclusion? Given that my wife and I play the two player game, I might apply for cards, and let my wife sit on the sidelines–or vice versa, depending on her preference. The challenge here though, is the fact that there are some cards that just make too much sense to pass up, like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, when it was briefly leaked, which both my wife and I were successful with. So, yeah, I’m not sure what I’ll do if another Chase Sapphire Reserve-like offer comes about, but, barring that, I’m thinking its going to be the two-player game.

What will you do? 

 

Disturbing news on Chase Credit Cards

By 5 Comments

sapphire_preferred_card

Chuck over at Doctor of Credit put together a rather exhaustive post on Chase latest actions on approvals of Ultimate Rewards credit cards.

For me, it was a very sobering post to read. I, like many in the miles and points game, have a bunch of Chase cards. In fact, at last count, I have 8 (3 business, 5 personal), in fact, my Chase Marriott Rewards card is my longest held loyalty program credit card (and yes, its a tough decision each year, determining if the Cat 5 free night certificate can offset the annual fee).

Two major questions about the Chase action

Chuck highlights that Chase’s more stringent approval requirements are primarily focused on Ultimate Rewards cards (both quotes are from his latest post)

Specifically, if they see too many new accounts on your credit report they won’t approve you for a new card. This is even if the new accounts are non-Chase accounts. They always mention a 2-year time frame; if there were too many new cards opened within the past 2 years it’s much harder to be approved.

and

From what we can tell now, it appears that they are only targeting Ultimate Rewards-earning cards like the Sapphire and Freedom. INK seems to be included as well, although it  may be slightly less restricted due to the fact that it’s a business card.

This presents two major questions when considering a strategy going forward.

  1. Hold onto one or more Inks (depending on 5x spend), or a Sapphire Preferred card, Hope they eventually refine their approval process, and keep churning non-Ultimate Rewards cards, and non-Chase cards?
    Scale back on churning cards in the hopes of staying in favor when its time for another Chase Ink or Sapphire Preferred card.
  2. Wow, writing those out, I kind’ve feel like an idiot. I mean, Chase is king, that was what I think Joe, Shawn and I said a few weeks ago, but is it enough to completely uproot a mile and point strategy?

I would argue it is not.

My plan of action

For better or for worse, I’m going to jump on one or two cards that I’ve been eyeing for a while, but have been waiting for the right time. The number one Chase card I’ll be applying for is the Chase Hyatt card. I really wasn’t a huge fan of it for a long time, given that the most you can get is a few more stay credits with spend thresholds, and it gives you free nights instead of points. But with the latest offer (need to find that) and increasingly seeing others use the card (including Gary Leff), I think its time. Besides, I’d love to see some of the options on the Chase Hyatt card that Chasing the Points shared from a survey he saw.

Other than Hyatt, I may jump on a United or Marriott Business card, because, why not?

Wrapping up

All the dire news aside, I think its important that as a community, we have the resources to share and know what is going on. That, and this reminds me of one of the more timeless quotes:

This too shall pass.

Because, after all, we’ve seen this game ebb and flow. Right now the economy is doing well, and logically so, airlines, credit card issuers, and hotels don’t have as great a need to be extra rewarding.

So what is your strategy regarding Chase?

Note: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline, or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. The owners of this website may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links and advertisements posted on this website. For more information, please see our Legal Notice.