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@daybreakgonesXe wrote:I guess my main question was: has anyone seen better on this particular card? If so, I won't take it. If not (and it seems like this is actually the best offer around for the card recently), then this is something for me to jump on!
I have not. Granted, I'm no CreditAddict, but I did a little research and found that this Points for only $500 spend is the best. I mean, even if you don't travel, you can trade the points for $300, right? (I plan on trading on Hotels, so I'm not sure). I like the no blackouts, no deadlines, etc, to boot.
FICO EX 827, 2015 Feb; FICO EQ 836/900 (Citi), 2014 Dec; FICO TU08 818, 2015 Feb.
BofA Cash Rwrds Sig V 2013 10k; Fidelity Rewards AmEx /BofA 2013 15.4k; Chase Freedom Sig V 2002 24.1k; Chase Amazon Rwrds Sig V 2011 8k; Sam's Club MC 2002 10k; Dscvr It 2012 10k; Citi Dvdnd Plat Sel V 2013 8.9k; PenFed Plat Rwrds V 2013 20k; AmEx Blue Sky 2013 11.3k; AmEx BCP 2014 24.1k; Priceline Rwrds Sig V 2013 8.7k; PayPal Xtras GE Cap Plat MC 2012 5k
Very true!
And at first i thought i saw a condition that would net me a lot of travel redemptions, which was the commuter rail and train...however with the way the redemptions work, my $13 one way or $26 round trip train tickets for the occasional weekend home wouldn't apply :/ only way it would was if i got a monthly pass which is like $200-something dollars, but considering on average i take the train once a month out of 9 months, not worth it
oh well, I know it'll definitely pay off for the cruise, and potentially the onboard spending we acquire, or another planned vacation! not to mention i'll likely be going to the annual AMS conventions each year, and when I reach the point where i cannot obtain any more scholarships, that means planning airfare and hotel to places such as Phoenix (may be able to get a scholarship for that trip!), or New Orleans (will likely have to pay out of pocket, unless a job pays for me to go!)
This was the offer that got me to apply for my first AmEx. I bought a $500 plane ticket SFO-JFK for to meet the minimum spend, and got the $400 statement credit so only had to pay $100 out of pocket.
@bribro wrote:This was the offer that got me to apply for my first AmEx. I bought a $500 plane ticket SFO-JFK for to meet the minimum spend, and got the $400 statement credit so only had to pay $100 out of pocket.
Nice! Good way to do it! I may actually put the rest of the cruise money on it right away to almost make the $500, put the credit towards it, and have the peace of mind of the 15 month 0% interest in case a big purchase comes up...such as textbooks though not a tremendous amount and can be easily PIF, it would allow me to make chunk payments over a 2-5 month timeframe to keep more money in my savings.
Blue Sky could also become my new everday card for non-rotating categories/non-dining purchases...redeeming for travel makes it effectively a 1.(3)% on everything card, beating my Freedom at 1.1%. Sounds good to me!
@daybreakgonesXe wrote:
@bribro wrote:This was the offer that got me to apply for my first AmEx. I bought a $500 plane ticket SFO-JFK for to meet the minimum spend, and got the $400 statement credit so only had to pay $100 out of pocket.
Nice! Good way to do it! I may actually put the rest of the cruise money on it right away to almost make the $500, put the credit towards it, and have the peace of mind of the 15 month 0% interest in case a big purchase comes up...such as textbooks though not a tremendous amount and can be easily PIF, it would allow me to make chunk payments over a 2-5 month timeframe to keep more money in my savings.
Blue Sky could also become my new everday card for non-rotating categories/non-dining purchases...redeeming for travel makes it effectively a 1.(3)% on everything card, beating my Freedom at 1.1%. Sounds good to me!
Remember, you can take those Freedom UR points, transfer them to your CSP, then transfer to United, Hyatt, etc. That 1.1% on Freedom is more like 2.2% if done properly, and that's being conservative.
@bribro wrote:
@daybreakgonesXe wrote:
@bribro wrote:This was the offer that got me to apply for my first AmEx. I bought a $500 plane ticket SFO-JFK for to meet the minimum spend, and got the $400 statement credit so only had to pay $100 out of pocket.
Nice! Good way to do it! I may actually put the rest of the cruise money on it right away to almost make the $500, put the credit towards it, and have the peace of mind of the 15 month 0% interest in case a big purchase comes up...such as textbooks though not a tremendous amount and can be easily PIF, it would allow me to make chunk payments over a 2-5 month timeframe to keep more money in my savings.
Blue Sky could also become my new everday card for non-rotating categories/non-dining purchases...redeeming for travel makes it effectively a 1.(3)% on everything card, beating my Freedom at 1.1%. Sounds good to me!
Remember, you can take those Freedom UR points, transfer them to your CSP, then transfer to United, Hyatt, etc. That 1.1% on Freedom is more like 2.2% if done properly, and that's being conservative.
I just have the regular ol' Sapphire, not the CSP :/ otherwise then my Chase arsenal would be perfect!! I wouldn't even want that AMEX just yet! Can't justify an annual fee on a travel card at this point in time...as a college student, I simply don't travel a whole lot for me to reap the rewards!
@daybreakgonesXe wrote:
@bribro wrote:
@daybreakgonesXe wrote:
@bribro wrote:This was the offer that got me to apply for my first AmEx. I bought a $500 plane ticket SFO-JFK for to meet the minimum spend, and got the $400 statement credit so only had to pay $100 out of pocket.
Nice! Good way to do it! I may actually put the rest of the cruise money on it right away to almost make the $500, put the credit towards it, and have the peace of mind of the 15 month 0% interest in case a big purchase comes up...such as textbooks though not a tremendous amount and can be easily PIF, it would allow me to make chunk payments over a 2-5 month timeframe to keep more money in my savings.
Blue Sky could also become my new everday card for non-rotating categories/non-dining purchases...redeeming for travel makes it effectively a 1.(3)% on everything card, beating my Freedom at 1.1%. Sounds good to me!
Remember, you can take those Freedom UR points, transfer them to your CSP, then transfer to United, Hyatt, etc. That 1.1% on Freedom is more like 2.2% if done properly, and that's being conservative.
I just have the regular ol' Sapphire, not the CSP :/ otherwise then my Chase arsenal would be perfect!! I wouldn't even want that AMEX just yet! Can't justify an annual fee on a travel card at this point in time...as a college student, I simply don't travel a whole lot for me to reap the rewards!
Ahh, got it. You still might want to consider hoarding the points until you get a CSP later on. It makes me sad when people only get $0.01 cpp with UR points.
Ahahaha yeah, that's a good idea! Guilty, I have been redeeming for statement credits, just because I see it go up to XX.XX amount of dollars and the cha-ching in the checking account just looks so nice...not to mention their slightly better redemption on gift cards are always on gift cards i wouldn't utilize anyways.
Anddd the hoarding begins :X