@longtimelurker wrote:I know everyone has been waiting for an update (even if they didn't quite realize). I have been sending increasingly annoyed messages, pointing out that I have applied for and closed on a mortgage quicker than they are taking to simply open a bank account. Today they told me that they sent a letter on June 30 (I applied May 21st) explaining that my EQ credit report was frozen and they need to access it, and it needs to be unfrozen for at least 5 working days. So I don't know if there will be an HP as they used to do, and while I was strongly considering just closing the brokerage account, since I have waited so long I unfroze EQ, called in as instructed, and was told that they would check within the next week.
All to open a bank account. Did I tell you that I had closed a mortgage quicker....
In my experience, the only reason to HP would be if you asked for margin while opening the account... but that would apply to the brokerage account, not checking.
@micvite wrote:
@Aim_High wrote:
@micvite wrote:My main concern ... is the number of inquiries preventing me from getting approved
... I have 33 ex, 26 tu and 18 eq inquiries or so...
Ouch, @micvite! That's a lot of inquiries!
By the way, I love the ... "or so" ... lol
Spoken like a true My-Fico'er.
I agree that adding a new card is probably off the table, and even if approved might not be a more useful limit than what you have already. My suggestions:
- TRY to use your AMEX or Discover cards first whenever possible. If they are accepted, that will make your QS credit limit go farther.
- For Mastercard transactions, use the Quicksilver as your primary card and pay-it-off as you can so you can cycle the limit.
- As needed, use the Citi Double cash. Yes, you're sacrificing the 2% rewards to reduce your FTF to 1%, but that is a palatable fee for a short-term trip. And the Double Cash $4K limit is much more useful.
- Have you considered travelers checks? You could convert the checks to local currency at a bank, although I'm not familiar with the fees on these versus the credit cards.
- I found a link below to a Mastercard network prepaid travel card. I don't see Romanian currency listed as a option, and again I don't know how the fees compare, but this might be a consideration. (It appears Romania plans to convert to the Euro but that has been delayed.)
https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/personal/find-a-card/prepaid-travel-mastercard.html
Yeah that's what happens when you buy 4 cars in a year... well 5 but one deal didn't go through lol...
But as far as the currency change they already adopted it, everything is taxed in euro and converted to local for payment purposes. Like say a cell phone bill Is 15 euro a month, you end up paying that in whatever the local currency equivalent would be of that 15 euro.
But hopefully things have changed a bit since I was last there and they now take more disco and Amex lol... most places have 5+ POS because if you have a card from bank A and the pos is from Bank B you get charged a fee to use your debit card there and vice versa so they try to hit as many banks as possible, it's just a pain even when they do take amex they gotta go into storage and dig out one of the POS from a bank no one uses anymore just so they can charge the card and it takes like 20 mins to hook up and stuff🤣🤣
What a pain, but really interesting, I wish I could see this.
I wouldn't get a card simply to avoid a 1% net fee (3% fee, 2% cash back). If you wanted another card for other reasons, it might be a good time to get one. But add up your likely expenses and think about 1% of that is. Especially if you pay the hotel with the Amex.
1% of $1,000 is $10, 1% of $5,000 is $50. It is not a life-changing amount.
JMO. Good luck!
How much do you plan on spending on this trip, specifically outside the US? Based on everything you've said, I might suggest just using your Citi DC if you need to and eating the FTF. This expecially applies if you are managing your HPs closely for churning purposes or whatever.
Otherwise, apply for another card and hope for the best. I wouldn't count on Capital One helping you out with the SL again that soon. That said, it wouldn't hurt to ask! If you end up going on the trip with a $1,200 SL, make payments as much as you can. If that option dries up, use your Citi DC.
Most of us here like to do what we can to minimize fees and maximize rewards. Of course we look for ways to accomplish this, and we do not like when something costs that should not. However, looking at it realistically, for a one off or seldom taken trip, it probably isn't worth sacrificing too much to chase methods to eliminate the fees.
