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Plan for cards for the next year

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mjb59463
Regular Contributor

Plan for cards for the next year

Hey everyone,
Ever since joining the forum, I've been absorbing tons of knowledge regarding credit cards, rewards programs, credit management, etc. Being young(21), it's important to learn these things early so that I can be well-informed and vigilant when it comes to my spending and overall finances, so thanks!

I'd really like some input as to my credit situation and where to go from here. Here's a list of what I have:

Us bank Flexperks select- 3000 (400 balance)
Discover more-1000 (0 balance)
CSP- 5000 (376 balance)
Amex Gold Delta Skymiles- 2200 (400 balance)
Chase Freedom- 1500 (0 balance)
Citi Forward-3000 (900 balance)
Barclay Apple Financing- 3200 (2600 balance)
Sears MasterCard- 1000 (0 balance)
Best Buy store card-400. (0 balance)
Banana Republic card- 1000 (0 balance)


This seems like a great collection of cards, but it almost seems like too many and not enough rewards or
Incentives to keep them. The APRs arent great, the rewards for most of them aren't either. I'd like to get rid of some of these cards and make room for better ones

Due to my job being heavily travel based along with traveling for family vacations, reunions, weddings, etc, I'd also really like to focus on travel rewards and hotel rewards. Within the next year or so(when inqs fall off), here is what I would like to apply for:

JP Morgan ritz Carlton
Chase Hyatt
Citi HHonors reserve- work almost always puts traveling employees at Hilton's.
Capital One Venture Rewards
Amex Platinum

Can anyone tell me what credit scores I would need to qualify for these cards? My EQ is at 696, while my TU is at 710. Income is 43,000. Also, if you have these cards, how do you like them?

Finally, any suggestions other than what I have laid out are more than welcome, I'd like to hear from more experienced people than myself in regards to what travel/hotel cards might be worth looking into.

Thank You.
Scores: 790 TU (Barclay), 780 EX (Fico8), 790 EQ

Chase Freedom Unlimited (6k), CSP (20k), Amex Delta Platinum (13.5k), Amex Marriott Bonvoy (16k), Barclay Apple (12.5k), USBank Flexperks Travel Rewards (12k), Wells Fargo Visa Signature (10k), Citi Double Cash (8k), Amex Gold, Amex Platinum, Amex BBP (15k) Marriott Bonvoy Boundless (15k)
Message 1 of 8
7 REPLIES 7
CreditScholar
Valued Contributor

Re: Plan for cards for the next year

If your work is putting you at Hilton's, then that's a good place to start. That along with the Hyatt card will offer you a decent return. However your scores are a bit low, and you may want to get them over 700 before you apply.

I question your desire for the JPM Ritz card as you don't stay at Marriotts nor Ritzs for work. Also your income is too low to make it worth your while. The same goes for the Amex platinum, although it might be ok if you can use the airport lounge access a lot.

Unless you're expecting a significant boost to your income, I'd probably stay away from the high AF cards ($400+) unless you're only after signup bonuses. As far as keeping them beyond the first year, you're chasing too many cards with AFs for someone at your income level.
EX 798, EQ 789, TU 784
American Express Platinum (NPSL) || Bank of America Privileges with Travel Rewards Visa Signature - $23,200 CL
Barclays American Airlines Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard - $20,000 CL || Chase IHG Rewards World Mastercard - $25,000 CL
Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa Signature - $12,700 CL || Chase United MileagePlus Club World Elite MasterCard - $26,500 CL
Citibank Hilton Reserve Visa Signature - $20,000 CL || J.P. Morgan Ritz Carlton Visa Signature - $23,500 CL
Message 2 of 8
mjb59463
Regular Contributor

Re: Plan for cards for the next year

I appreciate your input, CreditScholar. You make some great points, I'd better stick with what I can afford!

Hyatt and Hilton sound great to me, I can definitely put both of those to use. As far as airfare rewards go, the capital one venture card sounds pretty great. The AF seems pretty affordable on that one. Is that also something I should look into?

Scores: 790 TU (Barclay), 780 EX (Fico8), 790 EQ

Chase Freedom Unlimited (6k), CSP (20k), Amex Delta Platinum (13.5k), Amex Marriott Bonvoy (16k), Barclay Apple (12.5k), USBank Flexperks Travel Rewards (12k), Wells Fargo Visa Signature (10k), Citi Double Cash (8k), Amex Gold, Amex Platinum, Amex BBP (15k) Marriott Bonvoy Boundless (15k)
Message 3 of 8
CreditScholar
Valued Contributor

Re: Plan for cards for the next year

Well, a lot of that depends on:

Do you fly a specific airline often?
What are your ideal redemption targets? Domestic or international, and economy or business/first?
If domestic do you normally fly short flights or transcontinental?
EX 798, EQ 789, TU 784
American Express Platinum (NPSL) || Bank of America Privileges with Travel Rewards Visa Signature - $23,200 CL
Barclays American Airlines Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard - $20,000 CL || Chase IHG Rewards World Mastercard - $25,000 CL
Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa Signature - $12,700 CL || Chase United MileagePlus Club World Elite MasterCard - $26,500 CL
Citibank Hilton Reserve Visa Signature - $20,000 CL || J.P. Morgan Ritz Carlton Visa Signature - $23,500 CL
Message 4 of 8
TheConductor
Established Contributor

Re: Plan for cards for the next year

CreditScholar is on the money.  Especially since work frequently puts you in Hilton, I'd focus on Hilton for both work and personal travel and aim for the highest elite status tier you can get in order to maximize your point accumulation rate.

 

It's a different consideration for those who travel infrequently and don't have a lot of actual hotel-related spending, because the tier bonuses don't earn you extra points from other spending, only from Hilton spending.  But since you actually will be spending significantly on hotels, it makes sense to maximize all those reimbursable dollars for as many points as possible.

 

Citi HHonors Reserve is a great place to start since it will get you gold status right out of the gate.  

 

But I would also apply for the no-fee, non-Surpass version of the Hilton Amex in January.  The rewards on it aren't as nice as the Citi card, but it would get you the benefit of backdating and the AXON award redemptions exclusive to Amex that can make your Hilton points stretch further than they would with the Citi card alone.

 

As for the Ritz-Carlton and Hyatt cards, those are already hotel transfer partners for the CSP you are already paying an annual fee on. So I'd focus on the Hilton card but use the CSP and Freedom in categories where it makes sense (Freedom 5%, dining, travel purchases) to accumulate UltimateRewards points you can use at either chain.

 

The Amex Platinum AF *can* pay for itself, but it really depends on how much you are able to make use of all their benefits.  The lounge access, for example, isn't that valuable unless you actually have time to lounge.  Nowadays, it seems that employers and airlines both book travel itineraries and work agendas so tightly that I'd never have more than 10 or 15 minutes to sit in a lounge. I used to want a platinum, but I did the math and determined that right now the benefit isn't there for me.

 

The Citi HHonors Reserve has no foreign transaction fee, and the CSP gets you 2x points on travel expenses, so I don't see any need for you to add the Venture card.

 

Bottom line: focus on the HHonors points, make UR points a second priority.  App the Citi HHonors Reserve and the no-fee HHonors Amex (ideally this one in January).  

 

If you want to add something else, beyond that I'd look into what airline I fly most frequently for work travel and get the best miles card available for that airline.

Starting: EQ 622 (myFICO 7/7/12), EX 696 (TU FAKO 8/14/12), TU 621 (CK TransRisk 7/24/12), Total CL $1k on 2 TLs
Current: EQ 709 (CCT 2/4/15), EX 704 (CCT 2/4/15) , TU 702 (CCT 2/4/15), Total CL $110.3k on 14 TLs Goal: 740+ x3
My Wallet: Amex BCP $30k, Chase United Explorer $16k, Amex SPG $13.5k, Barclaycard Ring MC $12.5k, Chase CSP VS $12.2k, Discover it $10.5k, C1 Venture VS $6.5k, Chase Slate $3.5k, Amex Hilton Surpass $2k, Barclaycard Apple V $2k, Chase Freedom V $1100, BoA Cash Rewards V $500, Citi BestBuy $500
My Loans: Prosper $25k/36mo, Prosper $17k/36mo
My Business: Chase Ink VS $5k, Amex BRG NPSL (> 10k),
Message 5 of 8
mjb59463
Regular Contributor

Re: Plan for cards for the next year

Delta is what I usually fly, both domestic and international. Usually business class for international trips, economy for domestic. I like the delta amex, but I don't like the lack of a companion ticket and not being able to gain MQM's effectively. Would the platinum or reserve delta amex solve the problem?

Domestically, most trips are made to Chicago, Arizona, California, New York, Maryland and Texas.

Internationally: India, the UK, Dubai, Australia.
Scores: 790 TU (Barclay), 780 EX (Fico8), 790 EQ

Chase Freedom Unlimited (6k), CSP (20k), Amex Delta Platinum (13.5k), Amex Marriott Bonvoy (16k), Barclay Apple (12.5k), USBank Flexperks Travel Rewards (12k), Wells Fargo Visa Signature (10k), Citi Double Cash (8k), Amex Gold, Amex Platinum, Amex BBP (15k) Marriott Bonvoy Boundless (15k)
Message 6 of 8
brianjb
Contributor

Re: Plan for cards for the next year

Have you considered the AMEX Hilton card?  There is no annual fee.

AMEX TrueEarnings 10K | AMEX BCE 10K | AMEX Hilton Honors 10K | AMEX Hilton Surpass 2K | Bank of America 1-2-3 2K | Barclay Card 2K | Chase Southwest Premier Visa 6K | Chase Marriott Premier Visa 9K | Discover IT Card 1.5K | Merrick Bank 1.4K | Navy Federal Credit Union Visa 10K | Navy Federal Credit Union navCheck 15K | USAA Rewards 7K |+ tons of store cards (GE furniture, Amazon, Lowes, Home Depot, etc)
Total amount of available credit $100K
Scores (as of December 2013) Equifax 714 | Experian 714 | Transunion 727
Short term goal is score 750+ across the board
Long term goal is to have all scores close to 800 or 800+
Message 7 of 8
Crashem
Valued Contributor

Re: Plan for cards for the next year

Depends on what you spend you can put on delta card and how much you fly. So how much is it Smiley Happy
               LIMITS IN CARD DESCRIPTIONS
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