Benefits Strategy

Anonymous · ‎01-30-2015

Hey all,

I mentioned on an earlier post that I will be joining the military. When I become active duty, I'll be eligible for the SCRA.

Under the SCRA, financial institutions *may* waive fees (AF and other incurred), rate cap, and so on.

So what I'm doing is setting myself up with benefit cards that I may take advantage of, minus the AF's. I'm doing this now because I've heard of places like Chase who won't waive AF's unless the card has been with me prior to Active Duty. Also, I'll be getting paid a fraction of what my salary is now and chances of approval for these higher-tier cards would be much slimmer.

My line-up so far are:

Chase

CSP

Ritz Carlton

AMEX
SPG

Platinum

These get me a combined $500 in airline fees and:

Lounge accesses to:

Lounge Clubs

Priority Pass Select

Centurion Lounges

Hotel Status(Gold):
Marriot/Ritz

SPG group

Rental Cars through:

Avis

Hertz

Emerald Club

oh and 3 different concierges I can make them race to see who can get me what the fastest lol!

My current card thoughts are on the Citi Prestige and Citi Exec AA - for the the $250 airline fee that I may use to purchase tickets with and the Admiral Lounge access (not sure if worth it)

Also, Chase United Club and AMEX Delta Reserve - for lounge accesses excluded from the Lounge Club and Priority Passes I already have.

Thoughts?

I would be using AMEX and Chase primarily to pay for my parents mortgage and my immediate family's utility bills to accrue MR and UR points since they have overlapping partners I can pool my points into.

Longshots: I've reached out to a few friends/coworkers that might know PB's to get me a Palladium app, then I'm trying to get my finance dept. at work to use my AMEX Plat to get me well over the $250k spend for a possible centurion invite (not gonna happen though as I've just received my plat this month).. .but like I said, long shots. Won't know I can't get it if I don't try

Anonymous · ‎01-30-2015

To add: I want to be able to send my parents to the Philippines every now and again (and with the military pay... I won't be able to anymore)

It seems between Chase/AMEX, they've got great airline partners to be able to transfer points hence the primary use of UR/MR points.

There's a Marriott in Manila and my bonus points from RC covers them quite well. (Just need an airline to get them over 1st class)

To keep Ritz Gold status, all I have to do is $10k spend per annum - easily done with my parent's mortgage as it is $3k/mo. I'll pay their mortgage from Jan-Apr to keep RC status, the rest of the year would be charged on CSP (May-Dec) to accrue UR points. (Their mortg company only takes VISA via Chargesmart)

All util bills would be made via AMEX Plat to keep the activity up and pool in some MR points.

Since I have very little expenses while active duty, I'll use CSP for groceries and PRG for gas.

I'd love to hear thoughts on another card that might add value to my line-up, things I've overlooked, etc.

Anonymous · ‎01-30-2015

Have you talked to anyone that has had 100% success in getting annual fees waived on CCs across the board? I don't know too many military people so I can't assume whether your game plan will be successful or not. I am not assuming you are overlooking the possibility of signing yourself up for all these annual fee cards and NOT getting the annual fees waived. I would just tread cautiously since you stated you will already be taking a cut in pay, thus potentially tying up less available income with potential annual fees could be a little bonkers. Good luck in your military service and your credit card adventure!

Anonymous · ‎01-30-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
Have you talked to anyone that has had 100% success in getting annual fees waived on CCs across the board? I don't know too many military people so I can't assume whether your game plan will be successful or not. I am not assuming you are overlooking the possibility of signing yourself up for all these annual fee cards and NOT getting the annual fees waived. I would just tread cautiously since you stated you will already be taking a cut in pay, thus potentially tying up less available income with potential annual fees could be a little bonkers. Good luck in your military service and your credit card adventure!

Thanks rembrandt!

I actually have - both my brother and sister are in the service and they've both been successful with issuers Barclays, US Bank, and Citi (best buy store card).

Yeah, I have thought about it backfiring but right now I can still afford it and I don't mind paying for it, and with my current financial and work situation, I can make actual use of the benefits.

Also since AF's are posted on first cycle, I would at least have already paid for it now and enjoy the benefits for a year - if it backfires I'll cancel it before the next AF posts.

Anonymous · ‎02-01-2015

Bump.

Just looking for thoughts/suggestions on my current game plan.

scorewatcher7 · ‎02-01-2015

Your card lineup is a nice spread. Seems that the Amex Plat and the Ritz are the only ones that you will really benefit from if they decide to waive the AF. CSP and SPG are minimal. Unless there was a change in Amex Plat (I have it as well) you an still use it to get into American Airlines clubs. If not, and you decided on Citi Exec AA, you need to cost/benefit whether or not you'd be flying enough- and on American- to warrant the ~$400 fee just to access the club.

As for Palladium. Listen, I get it. We all want one, and a backdoor. But I'm in finance, and I deal with several banks. That card is extremely hard to obtain and you need to invest a minimum of $250k with as a private client. And its still up in the air whether the $250k investors even qualify. I've heard typical qualifiers invest in the $10M mark. That being said, I like your idea with the Amex Centurion.... That could work. Good luck!

Anonymous · ‎02-03-2015

@scorewatcher7 wrote:
Your card lineup is a nice spread. Seems that the Amex Plat and the Ritz are the only ones that you will really benefit from if they decide to waive the AF. CSP and SPG are minimal. Unless there was a change in Amex Plat (I have it as well) you an still use it to get into American Airlines clubs. If not, and you decided on Citi Exec AA, you need to cost/benefit whether or not you'd be flying enough- and on American- to warrant the ~$400 fee just to access the club.

As for Palladium. Listen, I get it. We all want one, and a backdoor. But I'm in finance, and I deal with several banks. That card is extremely hard to obtain and you need to invest a minimum of $250k with as a private client. And its still up in the air whether the $250k investors even qualify. I've heard typical qualifiers invest in the $10M mark. That being said, I like your idea with the Amex Centurion.... That could work. Good luck!

Hehe that doggone Palladium is on the back of my head all the time! I'll probably reach $100k+ in investable assets in about 2-3yrs but I'm not sure I want it at JPM, what with all the fees I'll be incurring *JUST* to transfer. I'm comfortable at Fidelity for now.

Still working with my CFO on the Centurion idea... not sure he'll be budging on the it- however we've just created a new committee at work thats sole purpose is to create an environment that makes us the 'employer of choice'.

This includes corporate events(bowling, 5k runs, etc.), happy hours - believe or not!, and other events related to giving back to the community. He's leaning more towards using my cards for those monthly functions. While not much $$ compared to my entire company's electric bill - it might be a start.

I wasn't even thinking about SPG... but I was just reading up on how point transference from MR to SPG to AA is not a good ratio/use of points.

Anonymous · ‎02-03-2015

So, my target "ship" date for the military is anywhere from May - July. I'll know by the end of next week from my recruiter.
With that said, I do have a few more cards in mind that I'm looking to get.

Mind you, the annual fee is of no consequence:

Citi Prestige
Citi Exec AA
AMEX Delta Reserve
NFCU Flagship

Background:
December: CSP CLI(10th) and app'd for Ritz(19th)

January: approved for PRG (10th) and Plat (18th)

FICO: EQ 695 TU 708 EX 701

Util: 25% (it reported before I paid it down. According to my excel sheet I'm at 9%)

This util will go down to 1% by end of Feb.

5 Hard Inquiries the past 2 years.

Assuming I've got until June.. I'm thinking to app for the Citi Prestige and Exec in early March followed by the AMEX Delta Reserve a week later. And then by the end of May, I would app for the NFCU Flagship.

Would this spook the lenders ?

I've had a relationship with Chase since 2007, no baddies.

A credit card, paid off car loan, and a small investment portfolio is in their history books.

Anonymous · ‎02-03-2015

You might get some static from Citi..

Anonymous · ‎02-03-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
You might get some static from Citi..

ugh And I don't have ANY relationship with them.... well, neither with AMEX until this past month.

Which is precisely why I am trying to space out the apps as much as I can with my small window.

Not really caring if they give me a 5k line as long as I get my foot in the door before going Active Duty so I can get the AF's waived.