Chase Sapphire Preferred questions.... also general credit questions.

[ILFarmer]

Hello all, 

Today I applied for a CSP and was approved instantly. The card should be here tomorrow or Thursday.

Anyway, my Fiance and I booked our honeymoon to Riveria Maya yesterday and I just made the minimum payment required (to the travel agencey) as I had hoped to get this card soon in order to get some more points on it.  We booked this through AAA travel and my question is will this get me the 2x points when I pay the remainder? 

I chose this card as the 40,000 points + 5,000 for adding a AU could defintily help in terms of paying for a park & fly hotel before the flight, or maybe even help on the honeymoon itself. Also, I wanted a no foreign transation fee card (although we are going to a all inclusive resort and should have to spend that much money).

Lastly, I am wanting to add my Fiance as a AU on this card because she just got a card a few months ago and has only a $800 limit and she isn't really able to use the card much as I have drilled in her head not to use more than 25% of the CL. If I add her as a AU will this help her credit score? Will she get a CSP card with her name on it? 

Any other advice for using this card would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[bch238]

Your points will show up online as soon as the charge moves from pending activity to posted activity.  You can see them for each individual transaction if you click on the + symbol next to the individual transaction when you are on the the Chase website.  All bonus points will be clearly shown along with the bonus category, i.e., travel or dining.  The points won't actually be available for use until the monthly closing date.  There is no lag time; points earned this statement period are immediately available at the end of the statment period.  The only exception is bonus points earned in the UR mall, which sometimes take a while.

[Irisa]

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@ILFarmer wrote:

Hello all, 

Today I applied for a CSP and was approved instantly. The card should be here tomorrow or Thursday.

Anyway, my Fiance and I booked our honeymoon to Riveria Maya yesterday and I just made the minimum payment required (to the travel agencey) as I had hoped to get this card soon in order to get some more points on it.  We booked this through AAA travel and my question is will this get me the 2x points when I pay the remainder? 

I chose this card as the 40,000 points + 5,000 for adding a AU could defintily help in terms of paying for a park & fly hotel before the flight, or maybe even help on the honeymoon itself. Also, I wanted a no foreign transation fee card (although we are going to a all inclusive resort and should have to spend that much money).

Lastly, I am wanting to add my Fiance as a AU on this card because she just got a card a few months ago and has only a $800 limit and she isn't really able to use the card much as I have drilled in her head not to use more than 25% of the CL. If I add her as a AU will this help her credit score? Will she get a CSP card with her name on it? 

Any other advice for using this card would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

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Congrats on your CSP approval!

To answer your questions, yes, your travel payments should get you 2x UR points and yes, as an AU your fiancee will get a card with her name on it. 

[myjourney]

Also to add about adding an AU

5,000 Bonus Points after your first purchase and the adding of an authorized user to your account in the first 3 months from account opening

[ILFarmer]

Yes I am aware of the 5,000 bonus points that will be given after adding my fiance as a AU. Pretty excited as this card will make our honeymoon a bit cheaper! I am thnking with the points I will recieve they will easily pay for one night in a park and fly hotel before the honeymoon, then the honeymoon itself will award 2x points that we can save and then apply toward a future vacation. 

[takeshi74]

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@ILFarmer wrote:

We booked this through AAA travel and my question is will this get me the 2x points when I pay the remainder? 

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Always refer to the terms/FAQ's/etc:

https://www.chase.com/index.jsp?pg_name=ccpmapp/shared/assets/page/Online_Rewards_FAQ

Q. What types of merchants are in the travel category?
A. Merchants in the travel category include airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, campgrounds, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites, and operators of passenger trains, buses, taxis, limousines, ferries, toll bridges and highways, and parking lots and garages. Please note that some merchants that provide transportation and travel-related services are not included in this category; for example, real estate agents, websites or owners that rent properties, in-flight goods and services, sightseeing activities, including sightseeing activities that take place on vehicles such as dinner cruises and tour buses, tourist attractions, merchants within airports, and merchants that rent trailers, trucks, and other vehicles for the purpose of hauling.

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@ILFarmer wrote:

she just got a card a few months ago and has only a $800 limit and she isn't really able to use the card much as I have drilled in her head not to use more than 25% of the CL.

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She can also pay prior to whenever the account reports to adjust reported utilization.

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@ILFarmer wrote:

If I add her as a AU will this help her credit score?

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An account helps an AU if the account is reporting postive info.  If the utilization is kept low then it will help.  If the utilization is high it will not help.  If lates are posted it will not help.  Simply being an AU doesn't guarantee things one way or the other.

Further, some creditors disregard accounts where on is an AU so it will not help with such creditors.