Spiking Utilization to Trigger Targeted Offers

[CreditScholar]

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@bribro wrote:

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@CreditScholar wrote:

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@bribro wrote:

As a general rule, I like to keep my individual and aggregate credit utilization under 10-20%, since you never know when you'll want/need to apply for credit. However, I've always wondered if having large spikes in usage/utilization might increase your likelihood of receiving targeted offers. I suspect the answer is yes, although it may not trigger the types of offers you want (e.g. 0% APR balance transfers offers instead of extra bonus point offers).

Anyone have any insight?

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I get quite a few targeted offers (including some very large/big ones), and my util is around where yours is. I rarely apply for new cards though, so I'm not sure if the stability of my credit profile is playing a role or not.

I do charge a fair bit and always PIF after the statement cuts, not before (unless I'm trying to drop my util the month before a planned app). That may make my util appear higher than it actually is at any given time.

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Have you received any good targeted offers recently? I've been in a bit of dry spell lately (all year it seems), but can't complain since I've been getting Chase cards where the public offers are better than most targeted offers out there.

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The best ones I've received lately are from Amex, and I'm guessing it's because they can see all of my Chase cards and want a piece of the action. I'm currently sitting on a 100k offer for the plat, 3k spending in 3 months. There's also a PRG offer, 75k for 1k spend over 3 months. They sent both offers to me last year, but I passed on both so it looks like they're trying their luck again.

[CreditScholar]

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@Open123 wrote:

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@CreditScholar wrote:

Have you had much experience with Amex FHR? I noticed they're currently running a 4th night free offer at the Ritz in Tokyo. I'm wondering what would be the better option: booking through FHR (and getting the 4th night free) or with the Ritz card and using a club upgrade? Last I checked that last night was running for about $480 plus taxes.

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Usually, the FHR rates are more expensive than you can find elsewhere, which doesn't make up for the perks.  However, there are exceptions, such as the Ritz.  

Normally, Ritz rates aren't discounted, and for full rates, the FHRs 4th night free, afternoon tea for 2, and other promos can make a lot of sense.  This is especially true for those Ritz's that refuse to participate in the Ritz program and refuse to honor the "club" upgrades.  As I recall, Tokyo isn't one of them.  If this is still true, depending on the seasonal pricing, I'd say you'll probably get a better deal with the Ritz cards' extra perks.

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I wonder how this would stack up to the Citi Prestige's 4th night free.

You essentially book through WEMC hotels (guaranteed the best available rate), get similar benefits to FHR, and then get a statement credit for the 4th night through Citi. Since it's handled purely as a billing issue through Citi and has nothing to do with the hotels themselves, it might be more competitive. The only drawback is you can only use this perk twice per year.

There aren't any Ritz's in that program to my knowledge, but they do have other luxury options like Mandarian Oriental, Shangri-La, Raffles, St. Regis, etc.

[Open123]

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@bribro wrote:

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@scenery_guy wrote:

Great, now I am freaked out. In the past year I have gotten the Ink Cash, CSP, Ink Bold, Priority Club and recently the Ink Plus. I really could use the Marriott as we have some business travel requiring stays at properties. Was considering it in 90 days but now I think I need to cool my jets a bit and give Chase 6 months of regular usage on all the cards then check for offers in branch. Have had pretty quick approvals and have not needed to horse trade limits but I'm sure that time is coming. 

+1 on not perturbing Chase or Amex. Citi to an extent until I see for myself how churnable the AA cards might be. 

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I too faced some resistance in getting my 7th JPMC card, an Ink Plus with the 60k offer a couple of weeks back. A lot of resistance actually. I called into recon since my app decision was pending and after a fairly lengthy "interview," where I felt that I said all the right things, I was declined. I'm pretty good on the phone, but the analyst kept saying no because I've applied for too many cards recently (3 in the last year, and another 3 shortly thereafter). I eventually asked to speak to her supervisor and pulled rank by referencing my J.P. Morgan Private Bank relationship to get the approval; otherwise it would be been my first credit rejection.

I will wait at least 8 months (when my first 3 JPMC cards will reach 2 years of age) before applying for anything else. Slow and steady wins the race...

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Yeah, I'm almost certain things may have been worse had I called for recon on the final Ink Plus and gotten the wrong analyst.  I was prepared to recon afterwards, since I wouldn't have been surprised had they declined me.

After reading your experience, I'm glad I resisted the temptation for the 7th card.  However, for future reference, it's a nice data point to see where they do take into consideration your deposit relationship.  

Likewise guys, I think I'm going to wait around 8 - 10 months before app'ing for any new Chase accounts.  However, all bets are off, if that $350 for $500 spend on the Freedom comes along....

[Open123]

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@CreditScholar wrote:

I wonder how this would stack up to the Citi Prestige's 4th night free.

You essentially book through WEMC hotels (guaranteed the best available rate), get similar benefits to FHR, and then get a statement credit for the 4th night through Citi. Since it's handled purely as a billing issue through Citi and has nothing to do with the hotels themselves, it might be more competitive. The only drawback is you can only use this perk twice per year.

There aren't any Ritz's in that program to my knowledge, but they do have other luxury options like Mandarian Oriental, Shangri-La, Raffles, St. Regis, etc.

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Interesting, I don't know too much about the Prestige, the 4th night free at those hotels would be a great deal.  

All things being equal, I think a 4th night free will invariably be a better deal than the FHR program, unless a room upgrade is offered at check-in for having and booking through FHR, which is exceedingly rare.

[bribro]

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@CreditScholar wrote:

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@bribro wrote:

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@CreditScholar wrote:

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@bribro wrote:

As a general rule, I like to keep my individual and aggregate credit utilization under 10-20%, since you never know when you'll want/need to apply for credit. However, I've always wondered if having large spikes in usage/utilization might increase your likelihood of receiving targeted offers. I suspect the answer is yes, although it may not trigger the types of offers you want (e.g. 0% APR balance transfers offers instead of extra bonus point offers).

Anyone have any insight?

---

I get quite a few targeted offers (including some very large/big ones), and my util is around where yours is. I rarely apply for new cards though, so I'm not sure if the stability of my credit profile is playing a role or not.

I do charge a fair bit and always PIF after the statement cuts, not before (unless I'm trying to drop my util the month before a planned app). That may make my util appear higher than it actually is at any given time.

---

Have you received any good targeted offers recently? I've been in a bit of dry spell lately (all year it seems), but can't complain since I've been getting Chase cards where the public offers are better than most targeted offers out there.

---

The best ones I've received lately are from Amex, and I'm guessing it's because they can see all of my Chase cards and want a piece of the action. I'm currently sitting on a 100k offer for the plat, 3k spending in 3 months. There's also a PRG offer, 75k for 1k spend over 3 months. They sent both offers to me last year, but I passed on both so it looks like they're trying their luck again.

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Is it safe to assume you don't currently have an AmEx card?

[CreditScholar]

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@bribro wrote:

---

@CreditScholar wrote:

---

@bribro wrote:

---

@CreditScholar wrote:

---

@bribro wrote:

As a general rule, I like to keep my individual and aggregate credit utilization under 10-20%, since you never know when you'll want/need to apply for credit. However, I've always wondered if having large spikes in usage/utilization might increase your likelihood of receiving targeted offers. I suspect the answer is yes, although it may not trigger the types of offers you want (e.g. 0% APR balance transfers offers instead of extra bonus point offers).

Anyone have any insight?

---

I get quite a few targeted offers (including some very large/big ones), and my util is around where yours is. I rarely apply for new cards though, so I'm not sure if the stability of my credit profile is playing a role or not.

I do charge a fair bit and always PIF after the statement cuts, not before (unless I'm trying to drop my util the month before a planned app). That may make my util appear higher than it actually is at any given time.

---

Have you received any good targeted offers recently? I've been in a bit of dry spell lately (all year it seems), but can't complain since I've been getting Chase cards where the public offers are better than most targeted offers out there.

---

The best ones I've received lately are from Amex, and I'm guessing it's because they can see all of my Chase cards and want a piece of the action. I'm currently sitting on a 100k offer for the plat, 3k spending in 3 months. There's also a PRG offer, 75k for 1k spend over 3 months. They sent both offers to me last year, but I passed on both so it looks like they're trying their luck again.

---

Is it safe to assume you don't currently have an AmEx card?

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Yup, that's right. I don't have an AmEx card, nor have I ever had one (aside from being an AU ages ago).

[bribro]

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@CreditScholar wrote:

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@bribro wrote:

---

@CreditScholar wrote:

---

@bribro wrote:

---

@CreditScholar wrote:

---

@bribro wrote:

As a general rule, I like to keep my individual and aggregate credit utilization under 10-20%, since you never know when you'll want/need to apply for credit. However, I've always wondered if having large spikes in usage/utilization might increase your likelihood of receiving targeted offers. I suspect the answer is yes, although it may not trigger the types of offers you want (e.g. 0% APR balance transfers offers instead of extra bonus point offers).

Anyone have any insight?

---

I get quite a few targeted offers (including some very large/big ones), and my util is around where yours is. I rarely apply for new cards though, so I'm not sure if the stability of my credit profile is playing a role or not.

I do charge a fair bit and always PIF after the statement cuts, not before (unless I'm trying to drop my util the month before a planned app). That may make my util appear higher than it actually is at any given time.

---

Have you received any good targeted offers recently? I've been in a bit of dry spell lately (all year it seems), but can't complain since I've been getting Chase cards where the public offers are better than most targeted offers out there.

---

The best ones I've received lately are from Amex, and I'm guessing it's because they can see all of my Chase cards and want a piece of the action. I'm currently sitting on a 100k offer for the plat, 3k spending in 3 months. There's also a PRG offer, 75k for 1k spend over 3 months. They sent both offers to me last year, but I passed on both so it looks like they're trying their luck again.

---

Is it safe to assume you don't currently have an AmEx card?

---

Yup, that's right. I don't have an AmEx card, nor have I ever had one (aside from being an AU ages ago).

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Nice, so you can probably backdate to your AU join date. I probably should have waited for a 100k or 75k AmEx offer before becoming a cardmember, but I didn't want to deal with learning about another rewards program (MR).

[CreditScholar]

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@bribro wrote:

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@CreditScholar wrote:

---

@bribro wrote:

---

@CreditScholar wrote:

---

@bribro wrote:

---

@CreditScholar wrote:

---

@bribro wrote:

As a general rule, I like to keep my individual and aggregate credit utilization under 10-20%, since you never know when you'll want/need to apply for credit. However, I've always wondered if having large spikes in usage/utilization might increase your likelihood of receiving targeted offers. I suspect the answer is yes, although it may not trigger the types of offers you want (e.g. 0% APR balance transfers offers instead of extra bonus point offers).

Anyone have any insight?

---

I get quite a few targeted offers (including some very large/big ones), and my util is around where yours is. I rarely apply for new cards though, so I'm not sure if the stability of my credit profile is playing a role or not.

I do charge a fair bit and always PIF after the statement cuts, not before (unless I'm trying to drop my util the month before a planned app). That may make my util appear higher than it actually is at any given time.

---

Have you received any good targeted offers recently? I've been in a bit of dry spell lately (all year it seems), but can't complain since I've been getting Chase cards where the public offers are better than most targeted offers out there.

---

The best ones I've received lately are from Amex, and I'm guessing it's because they can see all of my Chase cards and want a piece of the action. I'm currently sitting on a 100k offer for the plat, 3k spending in 3 months. There's also a PRG offer, 75k for 1k spend over 3 months. They sent both offers to me last year, but I passed on both so it looks like they're trying their luck again.

---

Is it safe to assume you don't currently have an AmEx card?

---

Yup, that's right. I don't have an AmEx card, nor have I ever had one (aside from being an AU ages ago).

---

Nice, so you can probably backdate to your AU join date. I probably should have waited for a 100k or 75k AmEx offer before becoming a cardmember, but I didn't want to deal with learning about another rewards program (MR).

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I'm honestly not too worried about backdating. My FICO scores don't really need the boost, and my AAoA is already fairly high as I rarely add new cards.

The main issue I have is that Amex has very limted acceptance down here (about 25% or less). I'm generally also not one who churns cards just for sign-up bonuses. I prefer to keep things fairly simple and uncomplicated, even if that simplicity means passing up on something with monetary value. This is also why I don't use cards with rotating categories, in that it's the same actions required as if one is rotating new cards to meet sign-up bonus spending requirements.

As to MR, I don't like the program as much as UR. The overwhelming majority of the miles I fly each year are on international long-haul *A carriers, and most MR partners have very high YQ charges. As someone with very predictable travel patterns (aside from a few conferences per year and I don't have as much choice with those), MR's *A transfer partners just don't offer the same value. SQ's award charts are much higher than carriers I currently use (and they never have transfer bonuses), AC imposes high YQ, and my flight patterns pushes me past the best values in NH's distance-based charts.