LionLaw Tracker

Re: Discover CLI $2500 -> $4500

LionLaw — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 18:18:14 GMT

A bit, but it hasn't been my primary card lately. Had a balance of $1000 on last month's statement; paid it in full last week.

Discover CLI $2500 -> $4500

LionLaw — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 17:43:57 GMT

Discover continues to please. I have long been planning to request a CLI this month, since my last request was approved 6 months ago. Discover pre-empted me a little bit, giving me an auto CLI from $2000 to $2500 last month. It took a HP, but I was approved on the spot for an increase to $4500. It's funny to think that less than a year ago, the limit on this card was $500. But since then:

July 2012: Requested CLI from $500 to $1000; approved with a HP

December 2012: Requested CLI from $1000 to $2000; approved with a HP

May 2013: Auto CLI from $2000 to $2500

June 2013: Requested CLI from $2500 to $4500; approved with a HP

I'm very happy with the increases I've received; now Discover is back at the same level as my WF and BOA Visas.

No forex fees, no annual fee

LionLaw — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 23:54:12 GMT

Hey all. I've got a friend who's going to be spending a lot of time in Japan, and so he's looking for a CC with no foreign transaction fees. Ideally, he'd like to find one with no annual fee; are there any such cards out there? If not, what are your recommendations for good cards with no forex fees?

Re: Killed me to do it but...

LionLaw — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 19:01:16 GMT

It sounds like this was an important step for you. A little cheating here and there usually leads to a plan going completely off the rails. The fact that you recognized this early on and did what you needed to do to keep yourself from cheating in the future will help you in the long term.

Re: AMEX ZYNC - Update - PC options

LionLaw — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 17:09:37 GMT

That's a downer. With 1 MR point per dollar, I could justify the annual fee. I have the PRG for full MR status and the bonus categories; paying an extra $25 for the novelty of having a white Amex was worth it. But if it doesn't earn any points at all, I will literally never use it.

It's too bad they're not allowing PCs to revolvers. I would happily PC to a BCE.

Re: Zync now earns mr points instead of mre?

LionLaw — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 22:58:19 GMT

OptimasPrime wrote:
Got an email from amex today about a change to the zync rewards program. The email was titled an important update about your rewards program.

I've copied and pasted it below with personal info omitted. When I click on the link it takes me to a mr rewards page. No mention of mre points at all in the link. Maybe I'm reading too far into it, but at first glance it looks like zync now accrues full mr points.

Anyone else get something like this?

Dear Optimas,

We are writing to let you know that the most recent version of our Terms and Conditions is available online.

You can also learn more about the Membership Rewards program, including how to get and use points, at membershiprewards.com/abouttheprogram.

Thank you for your Cardmembership!

Sorry, but no, Zync points are still MRE points. I got this e-mail as well. If you read the updated Terms & Conditions:

"Some Cardmembers have the option to transfer points into a participating frequent customer program account. The Cards listed below are not eligible to transfer points. All other American Express Cards are eligible.

The following Cards are not eligible to transfer points:

...

ZYNC® Card"

Re: So guess who just got FR'ed!

LionLaw — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:52:54 GMT

Open123 wrote:
LionLaw wrote:

I'm not passing judgment on the OP; I'm just pointing out that this is an example of a FR "horror story" not being all that horrifying.
I would never characterize anything in which I can freely decline with little or no consequence to be horrifying.

I tend to agree; however, a number of posters on here have expressed fear of getting hit with an Amex FR, and stories that make FRs seem like random occurrences that could happen at any time for any reason heighten that fear.

And I wouldn't say you can "freely decline" a FR, at least not if you care about keeping your Amex open. Personally, I have CC accounts with a wide variety of banks, so while Amex is my preferred card, if they decided to close my account, it wouldn't have any real effect on my finances. But, for someone who is depending on Amex more heavily, I'm sure the specter of a random FR is pretty scary.

Re: Zync ($500 PSL) to Premier Gold. Possible?

LionLaw — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:42:54 GMT

Some people on here have recently reported getting approved for new cards from Amex despite having a hard limit Zync still open. You could either try for the PRG or the Delta Skymiles. It will only be a SP if declined--I haven't heard anything about that changing.

Re: So guess who just got FR'ed!

LionLaw — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 15:41:56 GMT

I think this is a prime example of why people shouldn't be so scared of Amex FRs. I'm sure that in most cases, there's an obvious, logical reason for Amex to conduct a FR, but when people post about it on forums like this, they tend to leave out embarrassing details.

Without knowing about ilovelisa's 82+ INQs, this story could be pretty scary: getting hit with a FR despite no unusual charges, very light usage and not doing "anything weird." If someone like that could get hit with a FR, it could happen to anyone at any time. However, knowing about the 82 INQs makes the FR look more sensible and predictable: someone who's frantically applying for new credit, while not using a charge card that would need to be paid off every month, might look suspicious to Amex.

I'm not passing judgment on the OP; I'm just pointing out that this is an example of a FR "horror story" not being all that horrifying.

Re: HOW TO GET FICO SCORE FROM EXPERIAN!!!

LionLaw — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 21:21:22 GMT

Yeah, that's right. Consumers can't purchase an Experian FICO score anywhere. The only way to get it is through a lender, and I think that will always require a hard pull. For example, when I applied for a BOA card last month, they gave me my EX FICO score, which is what I have in my signature.

Re: Garden Club Meeting - March 2013

LionLaw — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 02:02:38 GMT

This will be my first official stint in the garden. I apped for a Bank of America Cash Rewards card on 2/20, and after a recon, I was approved for my first Visa Sig! My wallet is pretty much complete now. The only thing I'm interested in doing for the foreseeable future is growing my 4 existing CLs, especially my Discover ($2,000) and Citi ($1,000). I'm hoping that I'll be able to do that with SPs.

Gardening milestones I'm looking forward to: in late April, all the inquries I took while car shopping will age past 1 year, and in August/September, the most recent lates on my SLs will age past 2 years. I'm hoping that by then, my scores will break 720.

Re: Finally made it to 700!

LionLaw — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 20:30:25 GMT

Crossdivided wrote:
Nice job! If you dont mind me asking, what negatives are left if any? Just trying to get the feel of what it takes to get to 700.

Thanks!

The only negatives on my CR at this point are late payments on my SLs... They went delinquent a few times over the course of 3 years, with the most recent being 120 days late in Aug/Sept 2011. But, since I got a new job in Sept 2011, I've been keeping everything up to date, I've taken out an auto loan, and I've gone from having one CC with a $500 CL to having 4 with a combined $13,500 CL, plus 2 NPSL Amex cards backdated to 2006. So, I've got a handful of inquiries bringing my score down, along with one new TL in the past 6 months (my EQ FICO dropped from 699 to 694 when that reported). Reported Util is about 10%; I might be able to get another couple points if I brought it even lower, but not much. Really, it's just those late SL payments that are still less than 2 years old that are still bringing my score down, and nothing can fix that but time.

Re: Discover is really good

LionLaw — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 21:48:35 GMT

Nope, no HPs

Re: Discover is really good

LionLaw — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 21:42:22 GMT

I did the same thing. Asked for an APR reduction in July; I couldn't get a permanent reduction, but I got a 6-month promo rate. Called again when that expired, and got my permanent APR reduced by 2 points. I never carry a balance on my Discover, but I still want to get my rate as low as possible, in case I ever have to.

Finally made it to 700!

LionLaw — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:11:13 GMT

...and it feels awesome.

When I first came here in June 2012, my score was 617. I had already spent a few months working on getting my finances in order, but seeing my score made me realize I still had a long way to go. I set a goal for myself: get to 700. Thanks to the advice I found on this board, I took charge of my credit, and my score started to rise. When my accounts reported for January, my scorewatch got all the way up to... 699! Come on, so close! I know 700 is just an arbitrary number, but I still wanted to see it, and I figured I'd have to wait at least another month to get there.

Turns out I was wrong! I apped for a BOA Cash Rewards Visa Signature, and when I got my card in the mail, it came with an Experian FICO score of... 704! Woo hoo! A couple years ago, it felt like my credit would be terrible forever; it's felt great to gradually get things back in order, but finally being over the hump with a score in the 700s feels like its own accomplishment.

Next stop: 720s across the board!

Re: Best way to use Amex MR Points?

LionLaw — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 18:56:33 GMT

I never thought this post would spark a debate on the value of annual fees for rewards cards, but it's become an interesting discussion. Cdnewmanpac makes some good points; while I might have been able to maximize my rewards for a lower cost with different cards, I get a lot of non-economic value out of my PRG. Between the MR points and those benefits, I feel like I am getting more than my money's worth for $175 a year. Of course, it's not quite as much value as I've gotten out of the Zync and its $40 annual fee, but sadly the Zync's benefits are fading, and it may not be around much longer.

Re: Why is my FICO score not higher!!

LionLaw — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 18:32:37 GMT

You could always talk to the customer service reps at FICO; if there really is some error in the way your score is being calculated, they could probably tell you.

However, it's very unlikely that there's an error in the calculation. The FICO scoring algorithms may be complex and mysterious, but ultimately it's simply a matter of calculation: data goes in, and a score comes out. If there's an error, it's almost certainly in the data going in, not in the calculation. Lenders accidentally misreport data with some frequency--a date is wrong, a name is misspelled, a change in the account isn't reported, etc. But accurate or not, the data included in your credit report is the entire basis for your FICO score; if it's not on there, it's not a factor in your FICO score.

If you go through your credit report in detail with us, maybe we can spot something you haven't.

Re: Pay rent with a credit card??

LionLaw — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:57:54 GMT

My property management company just set up an online payment system that will let you pay rent with a CC. I haven't decided whether or not I'll use it. The extra rewards would be pretty nice though.

Re: Need some gameplan advice for paying down my debt

LionLaw — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:51:30 GMT

That's a great start! That other PSECU account will take some doing, especially with interest accruing, but $800 would make a nice big dent in it!

Re: Best way to use Amex MR Points?

LionLaw — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 20:06:17 GMT

Thanks for all the great feedback!

I didn't mean to start a debate on the value of MR points. I've gotten a lot of value out of both the Zync and the PRG. Between them, I earn double points on gas, groceries, restaurants and utilities, and triple points on airfare. I don't know of many travel rewards cards that let you earn bonus points in so many valuable categories. I'm very pleased with how quickly the points have added up, and I'm sad to see the zync bonus categories getting eliminated.

I will have to keep my eye out for that double starpoints promotion; that would be an incredible deal.

LionLaw Tracker

Re: Discover CLI $2500 -> $4500

Discover CLI $2500 -> $4500

No forex fees, no annual fee

Re: Killed me to do it but...

Re: AMEX ZYNC - Update - PC options

Re: Zync now earns mr points instead of mre?

Re: So guess who just got FR'ed!

Re: Zync ($500 PSL) to Premier Gold. Possible?

Re: So guess who just got FR'ed!

Re: ****HOW TO GET FICO SCORE FROM EXPERIAN!!!****

Re: Garden Club Meeting - March 2013

Re: Finally made it to 700!

Re: Discover is really good

Re: Discover is really good

Finally made it to 700!

Re: Best way to use Amex MR Points?

Re: Why is my FICO score not higher!!

Re: Pay rent with a credit card??

Re: Need some gameplan advice for paying down my debt

Re: Best way to use Amex MR Points?

Re: HOW TO GET FICO SCORE FROM EXPERIAN!!!