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Thoughts on apping for any of these? Or just remain in the garden?

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galahad15
Valued Contributor

Thoughts on apping for any of these? Or just remain in the garden?

I was debating with myself on whether to apply for any of the following listed cards below, or whether to remain in the garden for now.  I really have all the cards I need right now in terms of APR alone (some CU's have lower rates that could be nice, but I am either ineligible for membership, or would not qualify for the lowest-possible rates right now). The cards listed below looked interesting, in terms of the rewards offered though: Disclaimer:  I presently have relatively high util (25% on open accounts, 50% on open+closed accounts).  Everything else though is good on my credit report:  perfect payment history, no lates ever, etc.  Thoughts? Or just remain in the garden, for now?

 

1.  Cap1 BuyPower WEMC:  AF-free WEMC, but I have already applied twice for this, once in 2014 and then again in 2015, denied both times.  Based on these past denials, I'm not sure I even want to risk wasting another rejected HP.

 

2.  American Kennel Club VISA:  interested in apping to try to help dear g/f get the 3x rewards benefit for her furbabies  Smiley Happy  Another poster in another thread was kind enough to mention that I would have a pretty good chance getting approved based on my credit profile, which was very nice as well.

 

3.  Amtrak Guest Rewards MC (most likely the no-AF version):  I wanted this card even when Chase offered it, but my scores weren't this high again until now and very recently.  I hate flying lol and so it would seem to make sense that Amtrak might be a nice alternative, to air travel...

 

I am generally not interested in any cards that have any AFs, regardless of the rewards benefits level.  I am also not interested in apping for cards that have APRs that are higher than 10.xx% V (with the exception of the above cards), again regardless of what rewards they offer, b/c I generally tend to carry a balance.

 

**ETA:  corrected Amtrak Guest Rewards VISA to MC, as per new card info.


Message 1 of 7
6 REPLIES 6
kdm31091
Super Contributor

Re: Thoughts on apping for any of these? Or just remain in the garden?


@galahad15 wrote:

I was debating with myself on whether to apply for any of the following listed cards below, or whether to remain in the garden for now.  I really have all the cards I need right now in terms of APR alone (some CU's have lower rates that could be nice, but I am either ineligible for membership, or would not qualify for the lowest-possible rates right now). The cards listed below looked interesting, in terms of the rewards offered though: Disclaimer:  I presently have relatively high util (25% on open accounts, 50% on open+closed accounts).  Everything else though is good on my credit report:  perfect payment history, no lates ever, etc.  Thoughts? Or just remain in the garden, for now?

 

1.  Cap1 BuyPower WEMC:  AF-free WEMC, but I have already applied twice for this, once in 2014 and then again in 2015, denied both times.  Based on these past denials, I'm not sure I even want to risk wasting another rejected HP.

 

2.  American Kennel Club VISA:  interested in apping to try to help dear g/f get the 3x rewards benefit for her furbabies  Smiley Happy  Another poster in another thread was kind enough to mention that I would have a pretty good chance getting approved based on my credit profile, which was very nice as well.

 

3.  Amtrak Guest Rewards MC (most likely the no-AF version):  I wanted this card even when Chase offered it, but my scores weren't this high again until now and very recently.  I hate flying lol and so it would seem to make sense that Amtrak might be a nice alternative, to air travel...

 

I am generally not interested in any cards that have any AFs, regardless of the rewards benefits level.  I am also not interested in apping for cards that have APRs that are higher than 10.xx% V (with the exception of the above cards), again regardless of what rewards they offer, b/c I generally tend to carry a balance.

 

**ETA:  corrected Amtrak Guest Rewards VISA to MC, as per new card info.


Even at a 10% APR, remember that carrying balances wipes out rewards pretty quickly. So there is no point in worrying about 3x rewards on anything if you are going to be paying 12, 15 or 22% APR every month. Rewards only really matter if you PIF. Otherwise, it's a wash.

 

So at least on the new card you may want to PIF to make sure you're benefiting from the rewards since you are very unlikely to see a 10% APR happen on any of the cards you mention wanting.

 

On to your question, it depends what will benefit you more. The no AF Amtrak card is only seemingly beneficial if you devote most of your travel spend to Amtrak. Although you say you hate flying, do you actually use Amtrak a lot? Or would you merely use it more often because you have the card, and simply end up spending more money in the process to get the rewards? If train trips are frequent for you, sure, it can make sense.

 

The Kennel Card, again, is really only going to benefit high spend on pet items. However, it sounds like that's something you (or your significant other) does have, so may be worth it.

 

The Buypower is only useful, obviously, for an upcoming vehicle purchase so if that's in the cards for you, then I guess it could be a good choice but it's a pretty niche type of a card.

 

Depending what's important to you, I'd say the most well rounded option here would be the Kennel card as you have to spend money on your pets as long as you have them, whereas train travel and a car purchase may potentially not be necessities at the moment.

Message 2 of 7
galahad15
Valued Contributor

Re: Thoughts on apping for any of these? Or just remain in the garden?

Many thanks for all of your very helpful and valuable advice kdm!  Also very sorry, I should have clarified in my original post that if I do end up applying for any of the 3 listed cards, yes I will be sure to PIF, for anything charged on them.  Thanks again, appreciate your thought and input there!

 

ETA:  regarding your advice on losing rewards value on paying interest on cards even 10% interest or below:  yes, you are definitely right...sometimes, on certain occasions, I will PIF on certain cards, such as my existing Cap1 card, which allows me to then get the rewards without paying much additional interest.  This year, for example, I paid about $10 in interest on my Cap1 card, but also got $40 back in rewards in the form of a statement credit, so blessedly I was still able to come up ahead.  Also for my FNBO card, I have received $50 so far back this year in statement credit and have paid about $40 in interest, so was able to make up for the interest charged so far.  But again you are right, in the long run, rewards will be eaten up by regularly carrying balances, which I am trying to pay off as quickly as possible, and in some cases paying a lot more than the minimum to get them paid off more quickly....hope to be balance-free, one of these days...  Smiley Happy


Message 3 of 7
NRB525
Super Contributor

Re: Thoughts on apping for any of these? Or just remain in the garden?

OP can you list out the cards you have and their balances, and the APR those balances are paying?

You mentioned you have about 25% utilization?

High Bal Jan 2009 $116k on $146k limits 80% Util.
Oct 2014 $46k on $127k 36% util EQ 722 TU 727 EX 727
April 2018 $18k on $344k 5% util EQ 806 TU 810 EX 812
Jan 2019 $7.6k on $360k EQ 832 TU 839 EX 831
March 2021 $33k on $312k EQ 796 TU 798 EX 801
May 2021 Paid all Installments and Mortgages, one new Mortgage EQ 761 TY 774 EX 777
April 2022 EQ=811 TU=807 EX=805 - TU VS 3.0 765
Message 4 of 7
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Thoughts on apping for any of these? Or just remain in the garden?

I'd forget about the Buy Power. You've been denied twice and unless things have drastically changed, probably wouldn't be a great approval. I've read many people approved with horrible limits. Again, if it's a focus of yours to get a car where the benefits would be useful and you're happy to get the card even with a small limit which might require you to PIF multiple times, then maybe it's worth it. But it seems like a card like that would be one where you'd want to devote just about all spend to and build up rewards, not just a few bucks here and there. To that end, I'd look to save your cash rewards instead (and first get to a point where no interest is paid). 

Message 5 of 7
galahad15
Valued Contributor

Re: Thoughts on apping for any of these? Or just remain in the garden?


@NRB525 wrote:

OP can you list out the cards you have and their balances, and the APR those balances are paying?

You mentioned you have about 25% utilization?


My list of open cards and associated APRs are currently listed in my forum posting signature line.  Current total balances among all open cards is about ~$18.5k.

 

ETA:  none of my open cards that are above 10.99% in APRs are carrying a balance, FWIW -- thx


Message 6 of 7
NRB525
Super Contributor

Re: Thoughts on apping for any of these? Or just remain in the garden?


@galahad15 wrote:

@NRB525 wrote:

OP can you list out the cards you have and their balances, and the APR those balances are paying?

You mentioned you have about 25% utilization?


My list of open cards and associated APRs are currently listed in my forum posting signature line.  Current total balances among all open cards is about ~$18.5k.

 

ETA:  none of my open cards that are above 10.99% in APRs are carrying a balance, FWIW -- thx


Ok, but where I'm going with the question is, do you get any offers from BofA,  Citi, or Discover for low or 0% APR BT offers? Because I get them regularly on all those banks. If you do get offers (if you don't you should ask them if such 0% BT offers are available) then the next steps are not to app for new cards, but rather to figure out where the balances are on the cards today, and where they can be shuffled to get the balances onto 0% APR offers.

You need to check available CL, balances on each card, and whether that card has or can get BT offers to allow you to move balances around and save interest cost. If a card has a significantly lower BT offer available, but it is paying a higher rate, then strategically moving the balances through your CapOne or Ring card (with no BT fee) and then back onto the cards with 0% APR offers, paying the 3% or 4% fee, can reduce your overall interest expense.

 

Your greatest reward is not going to be apping for a Rewards Card (I hope that DGF furbabies don't need that much spend that a Kennel rewards makes sense) but rather by cutting your interest cost to zero. You have cards already which should make this possible.

High Bal Jan 2009 $116k on $146k limits 80% Util.
Oct 2014 $46k on $127k 36% util EQ 722 TU 727 EX 727
April 2018 $18k on $344k 5% util EQ 806 TU 810 EX 812
Jan 2019 $7.6k on $360k EQ 832 TU 839 EX 831
March 2021 $33k on $312k EQ 796 TU 798 EX 801
May 2021 Paid all Installments and Mortgages, one new Mortgage EQ 761 TY 774 EX 777
April 2022 EQ=811 TU=807 EX=805 - TU VS 3.0 765
Message 7 of 7
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