topic Re: My first Visa Signature... guess what it is before you click to read in Credit Cards

My first Visa Signature... guess what it is before you click to read

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 23:45:13 GMT

If you guessed a Chase Sapphire Preferred... you are CORRECT!

I will make my story short. I normally go for cashback cards because I tend to use my card for everyday purchases such as gas, groceries, restaurants, etc. I love my Discover More card and I also love my Chase Freedom. I will be planning a vacation next year year for a week and maybe even another mini vacation closer to home, but far enough away. I decided it was time to have a card with some travel benefits, great customer service, and heck I have been gardening for a while now so why not treat myself to a Visa Signature. I applied online and then called the backdoor number a little while later. I got a very nice person on the phone and he asked me some simple questions and sure enough I was approved for 5k. I plan on going on vacation at least one a year with mini vacations occuring every now and then throughout the year. I also plan on going overseas in 2 years and I thought building my ultimate reward points would be especially great for that vacation.

My question to everyone especially those of you who have been in this position before:

Do I keep my Chase Freedom open to get 5% in rotating categories and transfer them over to the CSP?

Do I close my Freedom since it has a small CL and hasn't been open very long and just use my Discover for everyday purchases when they have the 5% cashback and then use my CSP for all other purchases to get the 1% since Discover you technically only get .25% back on all other purchases? ( The small limit on the freedom would be allocated to my CSP cl I was told if I decided to close it)

Any other advice would be great

Re: My first Visa Signature... guess what it is before you click to read

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 23:49:25 GMT

quick question thats off topic, what were your scores like when you got your Chase Freedom?

Re: My first Visa Signature... guess what it is before you click to read

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 23:53:33 GMT

I had some trouble obtaining a Chase Freedom, but found away around it. I first apped for the Chase Amazon card, which I had them reconsider and then was approved. From their I called up because you were getting more rewards with the Freedom on Amazon, then the Amazon card so I PC'd over to the Freedom. I forget if they had to do another HP, but it was well worth it. I would say at the time my Credit Score was 690-710. The biggest factor that held me back was I was too new to credit and had too many inquiries in too short of time from trying to establish credit.

Re: My first Visa Signature... guess what it is before you click to read

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 00:10:44 GMT

Having Freedom, Sapphire and a checking account with chase is the best way to accumulate UR points. It is called chase trifica or somthing like that.

now may I ask your income and age of oldest account? I am going to apply for sapphire and need some info

Re: My first Visa Signature... guess what it is before you click to read

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 00:19:21 GMT

I sent you a message BCF with the info you wanted. You are correct about the Freedom, CSP, and chase checking account as the best way, however I do not want to have a checking account with chase. It is just a personal preference, but I appreciate your help.

Re: My first Visa Signature... guess what it is before you click to read

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 00:44:54 GMT

There is no reason to close your Freedom card. Use it for the 5% categories.

Re: My first Visa Signature... guess what it is before you click to read

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 00:52:03 GMT

I agree, but also disagree. The reason why I do not agree is because my Discover More gives me identical rewards in all of the rotating categories and even sometimes the categories overlap such as the 6 months out of the year that gas is the category. In the battle between the Discover More and Chase Freedom the Discover More wins, because it was my first card, I have a higher limit on it, and I love Discover's customer service.

Re: My first Visa Signature... guess what it is before you click to read

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 01:12:28 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I agree, but also disagree. The reason why I do not agree is because my Discover More gives me identical rewards in all of the rotating categories and even sometimes the categories overlap such as the 6 months out of the year that gas is the category. In the battle between the Discover More and Chase Freedom the Discover More wins, because it was my first card, I have a higher limit on it, and I love Discover's customer service.

You sure? Does Discover give you 5% on restaurants like Freedom does this quarter?

Re: My first Visa Signature... guess what it is before you click to read

searchingfor67 — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 01:21:15 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
There is no reason to close your Freedom card. Use it for the 5% categories.

Re: My first Visa Signature... guess what it is before you click to read

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 01:27:30 GMT

Discovers Calender:

Jan-March: Gas + Entertainment

Apr-June: Restaraunts + Movies

May: Grocieries

Jul-Sept: Gas, Theme parks, and movies

Oct-Dec: Holiday Shopping (Department Stores)

Chase Freedoms Calender:

Jan-March: Gas + Amazon

Apr-June: Groceries + Movies

Jul-Sept: Gas + Restaraunts

Oct-Dec: Khols, bestbuy, Airlines, Hotels

In my particular case I will only use Jan-March and Jul-Sept for Gas because I don't buy tons off amazon and if I do it's more towards the winter. It does come in beneficial in Apr- June because I in April and June I would get 5% on my groceries using my Freedom so $500 *5%= $25 more in cashback then if I didnt have the two. October through december I would just use the Discover Holiday shopping as I don't fly or stay anywhere during these months as family is in state and I dont shop at Khols or Bestbuy so that eliminates that category for me. It looks like I would make $25-30 more in cashback if I keep the Freedom open, but my question then is $25-30 worth it.

Next year's categories can be different and it could be more then $30, but it could also be closer to being the same and be less. One last thing I guess that also is bothering me is I would feel like I have too many cards and then it becomes which cards should I carry in my wallet which I don't like the idea of. If the rewards were significant enough it would be worth it I must say.

Re: My first Visa Signature... guess what it is before you click to read

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 01:54:48 GMT

I think you should just leave the Freedom card open and use it when the 5% categories make sense. If there's no good categories that quarter, SD the card for those 3 months to keep your wallet slimmer. I really don't see any logical benefit to closing the card.

Re: My first Visa Signature... guess what it is before you click to read

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 02:00:43 GMT

I would keep the Freedom card open if it were me. I have one as well as a Discover card along with the JP Morgan Select which is similar to the Sapphire Preferred. I still find a few places that don't accept Discover and until this year the 5% catagories had such low caps that while they were nice to have, they weren't that useful. It is nice that they have raised them but who knows for how long, and I think when they do offer the grocery category the cap is still low. I could be mistaken on that one as I use amex BCP for groceries. The earning rate is better on the Freedom in the catagories that aren't 5% until you've spent a certain amount, I can't remember the amount because I've never used Discover except for Shop Discover and the 5% categories. The ability to transfer the points to Sapphire and then to travel programs is a nice feature. Everyone has different needs and uses for their cards but for me the combination of Discover, Freedom and Sapphie preferred is not bad to have.

Re: My first Visa Signature... guess what it is before you click to read

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 04:52:58 GMT

Maybe I have this wrong. I thought freedom was cash back card. Csp is points card. Don't think you can transfer cash back points earned on freedom into ur points.

Re: My first Visa Signature... guess what it is before you click to read

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 05:40:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Maybe I have this wrong. I thought freedom was cash back card. Csp is points card. Don't think you can transfer cash back points earned on freedom into ur points.

Freedom is marketed as a cash back card, but it's on the same UR points program as CSP and you can freely transfer points between accounts. The difference is that CSP allows you to transfer to travel partners like Marriott, United, Southwest, etc. That's why the Chase trifecta is so powerful, you can use the Freedom for 5% and transfer those points to your CSP, then transfer to an airline FF program.

Re: My first Visa Signature... guess what it is before you click to read

CreditScholar — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 06:05:26 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I would keep the Freedom card open if it were me. I have one as well as a Discover card along with the JP Morgan Select which is similar to the Sapphire Preferred. I still find a few places that don't accept Discover and until this year the 5% catagories had such low caps that while they were nice to have, they weren't that useful. It is nice that they have raised them but who knows for how long, and I think when they do offer the grocery category the cap is still low. I could be mistaken on that one as I use amex BCP for groceries. The earning rate is better on the Freedom in the catagories that aren't 5% until you've spent a certain amount, I can't remember the amount because I've never used Discover except for Shop Discover and the 5% categories. The ability to transfer the points to Sapphire and then to travel programs is a nice feature. Everyone has different needs and uses for their cards but for me the combination of Discover, Freedom and Sapphie preferred is not bad to have.

This is a major issue with the Freedom card.

While 5% is great, for some people and categories the caps are simply too low. This is the #1 reason I don't bother with it. If they increased the caps further, it would make for a much more competitive as a product.

Re: My first Visa Signature... guess what it is before you click to read

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 06:27:18 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Maybe I have this wrong. I thought freedom was cash back card. Csp is points card. Don't think you can transfer cash back points earned on freedom into ur points.
Freedom is marketed as a cash back card, but it's on the same UR points program as CSP and you can freely transfer points between accounts. The difference is that CSP allows you to transfer to travel partners like Marriott, United, Southwest, etc. That's why the Chase trifecta is so powerful, you can use the Freedom for 5% and transfer those points to your CSP, then transfer to an airline FF program.

Interesting. Never had freedom.

Re: My first Visa Signature... guess what it is before you click to read

Meltdownblitz — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 09:18:28 GMT

I too have the CSP + freedom + checking combo. I love the combo like everyone else and highly recommend it. In my opinion I wouldn't close the freedom, it's am awesome card to have and will grow with you. At least just use it for the 5% categories like many have said. Discover more is also one of my fav cards. The good thing about having both that and the chase freedom is that the categories are not always the same, therefore it's good to have both. And if they are the same like both have gas this month, then that's more cash back you can rack up if you easily exceed the $1500 quarterly limits. Shop discover is also a huge benefit, I use shop discover quite a bit. Great cards to have and you can rack up some cash back real quick.

Re: My first Visa Signature... guess what it is before you click to read

Smerri1029 — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 13:57:12 GMT

Using the Freedom on the 5% bonus categories and then transferring to the CSP UR account is the best bet. I will be using my Freedom on all gas and restuarant purchases the next three months. It's the best way to accumulate points. I definitely would not close the Freedom card. Use it on the 5% categories and sock drawer when the categories don't benefit you. Plus the fact that it's a no fee card is an even better reason to keep it open.

Re: My first Visa Signature... guess what it is before you click to read

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 14:03:38 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
It looks like I would make $25-30 more in cashback if I keep the Freedom open, but my question then is $25-30 worth it.

$25 - 30 worth it?

Of course.

Open positive tradeline reporting worth it?

Of course.

Tradeline adding onto your overall AAOA for more time worth it?

Of course.

A card that if you use that cashback to transfer to CSP helping you save on anything you book along with the extra 20% worth it?
Definitely.

I have both the More and the Freedom. The More covers some areas that the Freedom doesn't and vice versa. Fortunately, I've had the positive banking experience with Chase in having a checking, so it gives me a lot more options for getting cashback as well. It's all a matter of opinion in the end and what you think is best for you, but to me, it's worth keeping it open.

Re: My first Visa Signature... guess what it is before you click to read

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 01:06:11 GMT

Looks like I will keep the Freedom open just to use solely on a 5% category thats not covered by Discover. My CSP will be my primary card and my Discover will be my cash back card. I will allow my Freedom to help my age of accounts. Now if only my Citi dividend could get some love. I have no real use for it anymore now that I got better cards. Looks like small charges once in a while will have to do when it's not being sock drawered.