Pre-spree & Amex ED vs BCE questions

[DieGo2SHAE]

Hello people =]

After lots of preparation and carefully managing all my numbers, I've decided that tomorrow I will be applying for either 2 or 3 cards. First is the sallie mae mastercard, then the chase freedom (pre-approved for this one, yay), and finally either the amex everyday or amex bce (I don't spend anywhere near the amount to make the bcp or everyday preferred worth it, and this is pretty much just to start a relationship with amex since the sallie mae beats the grocery/gas cashback of the bce).

I have two questions:

1) Is there any problem with applying for the three cards one after the other? Ive read here that many people do sprees to both have the inquiries age together and avoid having to wait many many months until the next application, but maybe that isn't how it works so I figured i'd ask.

2) Given that I don't spend enough to make the preferred versions of the Amex ED or BCE worth it (or the normal Blue Cash for that matter), my choice comes down to those two. I'm actually pre-approved for the ED, but I don't think I could ever make the 20 swipe minimum to maximize the points bonus from it  (given that many of my main spending categories are covered by cards that earn more) so I don't see the point of the card when compared to the BCE. Everyone seems in love with this card though so my question is whether I'm missing something about why the ED seems to be more popular than the BCE?

Thanks to anyone that can help =]

[bigblue7722]

The question really is how much do you value MR point’s vs the cash back you would get for the BCE? For me personally I would stay away from the amex everyday card it seems like too much of a hassle. Yes there are easy ways getting around the 20 transactions but I could see it only being a matter of time before amex says there is a min purchase for that transaction to count. However, Chase seems to be beating amex every which way. The freedom no AF 5% bonus categories, CSP, Chase checking account bonus, and Chase UR website with added bonus with shopping through them seems like a much better deal than anything amex can offer. Plus you don’t have to worry about places not taking your amex card. And yes try to app close together. This way your AAOA wont hit you as bad like say if you spread the apps out over a course of 5 months and let each one of the cards report. Everytime a new card reports you should see a lower score. 

[fot1]

I have the Sallie Mae, Freedom and BCE.. I am not a huge spender and don't currently travel so this works well for me.

[longtimelurker]

OP: it sounds like you don't really plan to use the card, you just want an Amex with no-AF for now, right?    I would go for the Everyday just because it has potential if your needs change (and you want to do rewards travel).  The BCE will always be inferior to the SM, so getting it is a waste.  And, since you aren't really using it, no need to worry about the 20 transactions per month on the Everyday! 

[bigblue7722]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

OP: it sounds like you don't really plan to use the card, you just want an Amex with no-AF for now, right?    I would go for the Everyday just because it has potential if your needs change (and you want to do rewards travel).  The BCE will always be inferior to the SM, so getting it is a waste.  And, since you aren't really using it, no need to worry about the 20 transactions per month on the Everyday! 

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thats not 100% true. The bce would be a good backup card for sallie mae after the 250 spend at the supermarket. Its the only amex i might ever think about getting.

[longtimelurker]

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@bigblue7722 wrote:

 However, Chase seems to be beating amex every which way. The freedom no AF 5% bonus categories, CSP, Chase checking account bonus, and Chase UR website with added bonus with shopping through them seems like a much better deal than anything amex can offer. 

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I think this is partly a question of spending volume (and of course where you spend).  For some, Freedom isn't all that exciting as Freedom 5% categories max out at a very low figure, and since they are chosen for you, no guarantee you can max them out in any quarter.  Chase transfer partners are also more restricted than those for Amex MR.    And those that can really use MRs, the 3%+ on everything for the Everyday Preferred is also hard to beat.  So really YMMV as to who is offering the best!

(And for a certain group, the Amex Blue Cash is by far the best card out there for earning potential.) 

[longtimelurker]

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@bigblue7722 wrote:

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@longtimelurker wrote:

OP: it sounds like you don't really plan to use the card, you just want an Amex with no-AF for now, right?    I would go for the Everyday just because it has potential if your needs change (and you want to do rewards travel).  The BCE will always be inferior to the SM, so getting it is a waste.  And, since you aren't really using it, no need to worry about the 20 transactions per month on the Everyday! 

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thats not 100% true. The bce would be a good backup card for sallie mae after the 250 spend at the supermarket. Its the only amex i might ever think about getting.

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Right, but I was assuming that the spend isn't that big as the OP said the Preferred cards couldn't be justified.

[bigblue7722]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@bigblue7722 wrote:

 However, Chase seems to be beating amex every which way. The freedom no AF 5% bonus categories, CSP, Chase checking account bonus, and Chase UR website with added bonus with shopping through them seems like a much better deal than anything amex can offer. 

---

I think this is partly a question of spending volume (and of course where you spend).  For some, Freedom isn't all that exciting as Freedom 5% categories max out at a very low figure, and since they are chosen for you, no guarantee you can max them out in any quarter.  Chase transfer partners are also more restricted than those for Amex MR.    And those that can really use MRs, the 3%+ on everything for the Everyday Preferred is also hard to beat.  So really YMMV as to who is offering the best!

(And for a certain group, the Amex Blue Cash is by far the best card out there for earning potential.) 

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I would say for almost every quarter a normal person could max out the freedom if they wanted to. They would just have a lot of gift cards lol i mean gas, restaurants, amazon thats not very hard to spend 1500 in a quarter. JW how much more restricted is the chase transfer partners to amex?? And I think your forgeting the checking account bonus, the online website bonus, and the extra 7% bonus with the csp. Not to mention the places that dont take amex which limits your card use. Idk it just seems like chase is trying much harder than amex if you ask me and I dont have to do the hoops with amex to get the bonus for my purchases. 

[DieGo2SHAE]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

OP: it sounds like you don't really plan to use the card, you just want an Amex with no-AF for now, right?    I would go for the Everyday just because it has potential if your needs change (and you want to do rewards travel).  The BCE will always be inferior to the SM, so getting it is a waste.  And, since you aren't really using it, no need to worry about the 20 transactions per month on the Everyday! 

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Well the way I look at it is this; the 2.4% I'd get from the grocery store bonus with the ED (assuming I meet the 20 swipe requirement) would never match the 5% from the sallie mae. The 1.2% I'd get from all other purchases would be .1% higher than the base I get through my BofA card (1.1%, because of the 10% bonus for doing my checking with them as well). I do plan to, probably in another year or so, apply for the quicksilver card to have a 2% everything card. So, I'd essentially have an additional .1% bonus available through the ED for a year,  versus the 2% from department stores through the BCE (since I have no other department store card).

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@bigblue7722 wrote:

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@longtimelurker wrote:

The BCE will always be inferior to the SM

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thats not 100% true. The bce would be a good backup card for sallie mae after the 250 spend at the supermarket. Its the only amex i might ever think about getting.

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This was another point as well. It'd be a nice overflow option for those rare instances as well, just to keep the card active =p

[longtimelurker]

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@DieGo2SHAE wrote:

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Well the way I look at it is this; the 2.4% I'd get from the grocery store bonus with the ED (assuming I meet the 20 swipe requirement) would never match the 5% from the sallie mae. The 1.2% I'd get from all other purchases would be .1% higher than the base I get through my BofA card (1.1%, because of the 10% bonus for doing my checking with them as well). I do plan to, probably in another year or so, apply for the quicksilver card to have a 2% everything card. So, I'd essentially have an additional .1% bonus available through the ED for a year,  versus the 2% from department stores through the BCE (since I have no other department store card).

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Right, but the value proposition is that you would redeem MR for travel, so 2.4MR isn't 2.4% more like 5% anyway.