App Strategy - 0/6, 0/12, 0/24, 0 for 5+ years

[Anonymous]

This could be huge thread for those who have a SUPER Clean Slate.

When 2 or 3 cards are used together - Is there a clear cut winner in the CB/Miles game?? 

A 3 Card Suite that provides excellent coverage for the years to come is the goal.

I am assisting putting together a cohesive plan that maximizes either;  CB Rewards or Miles (not both)

NOTE:  NO AMEX (she hates them) NO DELTA (she hates them)

INCOME: $43K (retirement) + Dividends

SCORES:  802/806/811

Patient has no apps in over 5 years, probably closer to 8, I will confirm

Existing CC:  PIF monthly ( AZEO deployed)  +  (never asked for a CLI - All CLI's =Auto)

DSC           0/23K

Kohls        0/2500

Vent     200/7500

QS1          0/4800

Plat          0/2000

MM          0/6000    (Mercury MC)

Last 12 Mos:  (No Installment Loans Currently)  No RE Loan - Property Paid Off.

Auto Paid

SL's   Paid

Evaluating Options:

Chase  -vs-  US Bank  -vs-  ???

Opening Bonus

Large saving Deposit Bonus

Direct Deposit Available

Sub Meeting Events:

2 Trips planned - NC & AZ

Home Improvement - Flooring/Paint - (preparing owned RE for Sale)

Evaluating CHASE:   When they were offering CHk/Sav/CC  -  Subs=~$1200

Time is on her side, no rush, but travel plans are being contemplated. 

SO... Lets hope for Great Big Subs and Huge Opening Bonuses in the next few weeks/months

Anybody who has worked out the math on some of these offerings would be a great resource.

I get lost in the details of the Miles game and transferring of miles for more value....  I am a simple CB guy.

So any expert MyFico help would be greatly appreciated!!!   If you made it this far....   Thanks for reading!!!

[coldfusion]

No AMEX/no Delta makes things easier for you - no need to assess MR vs Chase UR.

As a starting point for discussion the Chase trifecta has been the prototypical 3-card combination to maximize point earnings and redemptions.

Things have shifted a bit since the Freedom has been replaced by the Freedom Flex but the underlying principle still applies, unstructured spend goes on a Freedom Unlimited, structured spend goes on whichever card yields the best return, and redemption for travel is via the Chase portal via the CSR/CSP.     The TBD component is if you would place enough spend in the rotating 5% categories of a Freedom Flex to offset the higher earnings for unstructured spend on the Freedom Unlimited or even if holding both a Freedom Unlimited and Freedom Flex would be justified.  You'll probably want to look up past rotating categories for the Freedom and do the math to see what path may be the best fit.

[Anonymous]

Fantastic!!   Thats an excellent starting point, and just what I was hoping for.

So the 3 are:  Freedom Flex, Freedom Unlimited, CSR/CSP  -  

She will still have some DSC rotating 5%'s to use as needed and within allowed limits.

Does a Marriot card factor in well?  

[SouthJamaica]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

This could be huge thread for those who have a SUPER Clean Slate.

When 2 or 3 cards are used together - Is there a clear cut winner in the CB/Miles game?? 

A 3 Card Suite that provides excellent coverage for the years to come is the goal.

I am assisting putting together a cohesive plan that maximizes either;  CB Rewards or Miles (not both)

NOTE:  NO AMEX (she hates them) NO DELTA (she hates them)

INCOME: $43K (retirement) + Dividends

SCORES:  802/806/811

Patient has no apps in over 5 years, probably closer to 8, I will confirm

Existing CC:  PIF monthly ( AZEO deployed)  +  (never asked for a CLI - All CLI's =Auto)

DSC           0/23K

Kohls        0/2500

Vent     200/7500

QS1          0/4800

Plat          0/2000

MM          0/6000    (Mercury MC)

Last 12 Mos:  (No Installment Loans Currently)  No RE Loan - Property Paid Off.

Auto Paid

SL's   Paid

Evaluating Options:

Chase  -vs-  US Bank  -vs-  ???

Opening Bonus

Large saving Deposit Bonus

Direct Deposit Available

Sub Meeting Events:

2 Trips planned - NC & AZ

Home Improvement - Flooring/Paint - (preparing owned RE for Sale)

Evaluating CHASE:   When they were offering CHk/Sav/CC  -  Subs=~$1200

Time is on her side, no rush, but travel plans are being contemplated. 

SO... Lets hope for Great Big Subs and Huge Opening Bonuses in the next few weeks/months

Anybody who has worked out the math on some of these offerings would be a great resource.

I get lost in the details of the Miles game and transferring of miles for more value....  I am a simple CB guy.

So any expert MyFico help would be greatly appreciated!!!   If you made it this far....   Thanks for reading!!!

---

Since she has no travel cards and is planning trips, and has a great credit record, the obvious choice from my perspective would be to go with Chase CSP, followed by Chase Freedom Unlimited.  A second obvious choice would be Citi Premier followed by Citi Double Cash, making sure the DC TYP's go into the Premier TYP account.

[SouthJamaica]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Fantastic!!   Thats an excellent starting point, and just what I was hoping for.

So the 3 are:  Freedom Flex, Freedom Unlimited, CSR/CSP  -  

She will still have some DSC rotating 5%'s to use as needed and within allowed limits.

Does a Marriot card factor in well?  

---

I wouldn't bother with a Marriott card. That would just dilute the value of her spend.

[coldfusion]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Fantastic!!   Thats an excellent starting point, and just what I was hoping for.

So the 3 are:  Freedom Flex, Freedom Unlimited, CSR/CSP  -  

She will still have some DSC rotating 5%'s to use as needed and within allowed limits.

Does a Marriot card factor in well?  

---

As SouthJamaica said, generally no because UR points are a flexible currency that can be used with a number of travel partners whereas Marriott points are not. 

You can run the math and see if you would get greater value from accumulating Marriott points directly but that's usually not optimal. 

Also keep in mind that you and your spouse could enter 2-player mode and transfer UR between each other.  This presents a number of different potential options including both of you picking up a CSP at some point and pooling the points - right now there's a 80K UR SUB for $4K spend over 3 months.   Also keep in mind that you can be the primary on a card while also an AU on your spouse' identical card.

[Anonymous]

This helps a great deal!  Thank you guys for the assist! @coldfusion  @SouthJamaica 

I will start a Bonus survey and see what I can find.

I have seen bonus amounts for the Amex-HH  at the following levels,

100K Via cold sign up AMEX

120K via Experian Link

150K via email (targeted) to me ----  ( I always peruse the HH cards when I log into AE)  seems that activity has earned a targeted xtra Bonus.

While I am not considering AE - the range in Bonus amounts is noteworthy.

I am wondering if this same variation in Bonus Amounts is also present in Chase offerings?

[coldfusion]

Not usually but it's always a good practice to sniff around just in case.

There is an elevated 80,000 UR bonus ongoing right now for the CSP that supposedly will be offered until early November with the normal $4K spend requirement.  

[Meanmchine]

Has the patient checked for preapprovals

While Chase has the trifecta and is great for mid to long term planning, a Discover 5% cash back first year coupled with a 100% cash back match after 12 months makes this a very interesting option for the short term.  Couple that with virtually unlimited BT and 0% offers, I would add this card to the wallet

[SouthJamaica]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

This helps a great deal!  Thank you guys for the assist! @coldfusion  @SouthJamaica 

I will start a Bonus survey and see what I can find.

I have seen bonus amounts for the Amex-HH  at the following levels,

100K Via cold sign up AMEX

120K via Experian Link

150K via email (targeted) to me ----  ( I always peruse the HH cards when I log into AE)  seems that activity has earned a targeted xtra Bonus.

While I am not considering AE - the range in Bonus amounts is noteworthy.

I am wondering if this same variation in Bonus Amounts is also present in Chase offerings?

---

You can't evaluate signup bonuses in a vacuum, you need to know what value you can derive from them. This varies wildly, and it even varies from person to person based upon what kind of travel he or she takes.

I'm basically a budget traveler, and have found that Marriott points are worth about 4/10 of a cent, and Hilton points are worth about 1/3 of a cent, to me. Meanwhile, Hyatt points are worth about a penny, and JetBlue points are worth about 1.5 cents, to me.

The Citi TYP's are each worth 1.25 cents if you use their travel portal (which is no more expensive than Expedia etc), and Chase UR's are worth 1.25 cents or 1.5 cents depending on which card(s) you have, but they can be worth even more when you exchange with travel partners. So part of the analysis is to go over the list of travel partners from each ecosystem (UR or TYP) and see which are more likely candidates for you.

Update 9/28/20: Based on a test I just conducted, the TrueBlue points have been devalued to 1.2 cents.