Personal finance hacks (credit cards)

[Nice Guy Eddie 13509]

FYI, I know many have moved away from the Sapphire Reserve as their main card due to drastic increase in annual fees. Sounds like Chase has heard the complaints and realized the card perks aren’t as valuable with travel and dining dropping because of COVID:

https://www.chase.com/personal/credit-cards/sapphire-reserve-benefits

New benes:

• Earn 5x total points on all Instacart deliveries and pick-ups
• earn up to $50 in statement credits toward a yearly or monthly Instacart Express membership
• Earn 5x total points on gas station purchases on up to $1,500 in spend from July 1 to September 30, 2020
• With the Pay Yourself Back^SM tool, your Ultimate Rewards^® points are worth 50% more when you redeem them for statement credits against purchases in our current categories: grocery stores and dining at restaurants (including takeout and eligible delivery services) and home improvement stores
• From June 1 through December 31, 2020, gas station and grocery store purchases will also count toward earning your Travel Credit ($300)
• For current card holders, I think the annual fee dropped from 550 to 450.

 I still have a Sapphire Reserve but rarely use it. I was planning to cancel it just before I hit my annual fee in November. I might rethink that now.

Lately my new go-to card has been the no-fee Bank of America Cash Rewards Card. The card gives me 5.25% cash back at restaurants because I moved an old 401k over to Merrill, bumping me up on BOA's Preferred Rewards program. Other purchases give me 1.75% back.

I'm signing up for the BOA Premium Rewards credit card so I can earn 2.65% on non-dining/travel. There’s a $90 annual fee but I would get $900 promo bonus. 10 years of fees for free.

FYI, if you’re into credit card rewards, this Dallas guy got me to rethink my strategy to get cash back and move away from points. His other videos have some decent financial passive income ideas. Any time I can spend a few minutes to get the banks to pay me, no matter how small, I'm all for it.

 

[BabaYaga 15289]

Oh, you don't have an AMEX Black?  How quaint......

[FORTY NINE TO ZERO 2652]

12 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

FYI, I know many have moved away from the Sapphire Reserve as their main card due to drastic increase in annual fees. Sounds like Chase has heard the complaints and realized the card perks aren’t as valuable with travel and dining dropping because of COVID:

https://www.chase.com/personal/credit-cards/sapphire-reserve-benefits

New benes:

• Earn 5x total points on all Instacart deliveries and pick-ups
• earn up to $50 in statement credits toward a yearly or monthly Instacart Express membership
• Earn 5x total points on gas station purchases on up to $1,500 in spend from July 1 to September 30, 2020
• With the Pay Yourself Back^SM tool, your Ultimate Rewards^® points are worth 50% more when you redeem them for statement credits against purchases in our current categories: grocery stores and dining at restaurants (including takeout and eligible delivery services) and home improvement stores
• From June 1 through December 31, 2020, gas station and grocery store purchases will also count toward earning your Travel Credit ($300)
• For current card holders, I think the annual fee dropped from 550 to 450.

 I still have a Sapphire Reserve but rarely use it. I was planning to cancel it just before I hit my annual fee in November. I might rethink that now.

Lately my new go-to card has been the no-fee Bank of America Cash Rewards Card. The card gives me 5.25% cash back at restaurants because I moved an old 401k over to Merrill, bumping me up on BOA's Preferred Rewards program. Other purchases give me 1.75% back.

I'm signing up for the BOA Premium Rewards credit card so I can earn 2.65% on non-dining/travel. There’s a $90 annual fee but I would get $900 promo bonus. 10 years of fees for free.

FYI, if you’re into credit card rewards, this Dallas guy got me to rethink my strategy to get cash back and move away from points. His other videos have some decent financial passive income ideas. Any time I can spend a few minutes to get the banks to pay me, no matter how small, I'm all for it.

 

Ha. I also have the sapphire reserve but have been thinking about going more to my boa since I’m at the high tier of their rewards level. Like you said, the math seems obvious, I’m just finding it hard to break the habit of which card to pull Out 

[Stunns38 3460]

Oh, you don't have an AMEX Black?  How quaint......

That’s so 2005.

[52-80 19147]

13 hours ago, BabaYaga said:

Oh, you don't have an AMEX Black?  How quaint......

Sorry, they cancelled it because of BLM. 

It's now called AMEX Pantone 2D2926

[Armybrat 40824]

Some asshole used our SWA Visa Chase number to make a $441 purchase at a trailer parts & accessories store in goddamn Delaware.

Called the store to dispute the charge (Goddamn Chase contacts were inaccessible), told them my house does not have wheels and we do not own any kind of trailer - plus we have only a vague idea of Delaware’s existence - so they called back two days later to credit our card. Which they actually did.

[Apep 645]

At the end of May, I got a new business credit card from Wells Fargo. Before the card had even arrived, there were fraudulent Amazon charges on it. (Looked like the monthly payment for a personal Prime account.) It was a brand new card, so it wasn't a case of my payment info getting updated. Really freaked me out. Then I looked it up and it seems like this is a common problem with WF, though they were supposed to have stopped it in 2018. My simplistic hack is that I use the card for operating expenses, get shitty cash back rewards, and pay it off each month with EIDL money, which is sitting in a separate account drawing shitty interest.

[Lobwedgephil 1139]

1 hour ago, Armybrat said:

Some asshole used our SWA Visa Chase number to make a $441 purchase at a trailer parts & accessories store in goddamn Delaware.

Called the store to dispute the charge (Goddamn Chase contacts were inaccessible), told them my house does not have wheels and we do not own any kind of trailer - plus we have only a vague idea of Delaware’s existence - so they called back two days later to credit our card. Which they actually did.

Nice of the store to credit it, but you still need to contact Chase and get a new card, that one is compromised. 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13509]

9 hours ago, Xian said:

Ha. I also have the sapphire reserve but have been thinking about going more to my boa since I’m at the high tier of their rewards level. Like you said, the math seems obvious, I’m just finding it hard to break the habit of which card to pull Out 

I hear ya. I'm going to land on a few basic rules for 2-3 cards. If I remember one of the quarterly 5% rewards, I will use that. Groceries, outside of Whole Foods, is one area that I haven't found a consistent reward. Maybe I will look at the Amex 3% reward grocery card. They have a 6% reward card for groceries but there is an annual fee ($100).

Apple Pay  is good that they give you the cash back the next day, and offer 3% with some vendors including ExxonMobil and Uber. If you have an iphone, the user experience is the best with instant notifications and builtin app.

Many cards now offer one-time deals with a vendor especially fast food. Decent paybacks but not worth the effort to research and remember.

I don't travel much so travel points aren't a big deal for me but I know it's the opposite for others.

[Armybrat 40824]

18 minutes ago, Lobwedgephil said:

Nice of the store to credit it, but you still need to contact Chase and get a new card, that one is compromised. 

Yes, we know that. But we cannot get anyone at Chase to answer the phone.

plus we have a larger credit coming back (Up to 90 days) from a canceled hotel reservation. Dunno what will happen to that if we get a new card number.

[AUS-97HORN 11757]

5 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

Yes, we know that. But we cannot get anyone at Chase to answer the phone.

plus we have a larger credit coming back (Up to 90 days) from a canceled hotel reservation. Dunno what will happen to that if we get a new card number.

you are such an olds.

 

 

previous credits coming back will automatically be credited to your new account#

 

also,   your chase card phone has a lost/stolen option.   say its stolen... you will get a reply quickly.

 

or use the fucking internet and logon to your chase account and lock the card

[Nice Guy Eddie 13509]

FYI another easy way to make money off a bank is to open up a bank account when they offer a promo. Much better than the old free toaster promos.

Google "Wells Fargo $400 bonus" for links to get $400 for nothing other than earning a paycheck. Verify that this promo is on the account. Believe you have to start by 7/31.

• you have to be a new checking customer
• direct deposit $4,000 over the next 90 days (paycheck, social security.) Transfers don't count. 
• maintain the minimum balance ($1,500?) to avoid fees
• they will deposit $400 in your account ~120 days after you open the account.
• go buy something for $400 that you normally wouldn't. It's on Wells Fargo.

Other banks offer similar deals from time to time. I look at it like banks don't care about us, so why not take advantage of them when they are giving away money.

[Armybrat 40824]

5 minutes ago, AUS-97HORN said:

you are such an olds.

 

 

previous credits coming back will automatically be credited to your new account#

 

also,   your chase card phone has a lost/stolen option.   say its stolen... you will get a reply quickly.

 

or use the fucking internet and logon to your chase account and lock the card

We call the number and after going through 30 minutes of talking to the computer we get to the Fraud part, then it keeps repeating the cycle again.

[AUS-97HORN 11757]

4 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

We call the number and after going through 30 minutes of talking to the computer we get to the Fraud part, then it keeps repeating the cycle again.

please tell me you pay your bills for chase through an internet login?   if so, just login to your account and flag it as stolen.

 

[Armybrat 40824]

6 minutes ago, AUS-97HORN said:

please tell me you pay your bills for chase through an internet login?   if so, just login to your account and flag it as stolen.

 

Yes we do, and yes we have logged in several times. There is no place there that we have seen to flag it as stolen.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13509]

6 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

Yes we do, and yes we have logged in several times. There is no place there that we have seen to flag it as stolen.

flag it as lost and that you need a replacement. Then dispute, also online, any charge that isn't yours.  Credits from the old account number will automatically be applied to the new number.  Chase has the history of the account #s to track it.

Lost or stolen doesn't make a difference to Chase. You're not responsible for unauthorized charges in either case s long as you report it in a timely manner.

[Lurch 5922]

[Armybrat 40824]

Sitting in the lobby of a local Chase Bank waiting for a person to help fix it.

We did not have any trouble like this 18 months ago when our old card was compromised. It was easy peasy then. Don’t know what has changed since then except more compromised brain cells.

Thanks all for the advice.

[Herpa Derpa 6123]

Y'all whippersnappers lay off Armybrat.  Times have changed since he opened his first account.

[Iceman 2694]

1 hour ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

FYI another easy way to make money off a bank is to open up a bank account when they offer a promo. Much better than the old free toaster promos.

Google "Wells Fargo $400 bonus" for links to get $400 for nothing other than earning a paycheck. Verify that this promo is on the account. Believe you have to start by 7/31.

• you have to be a new checking customer
• direct deposit $4,000 over the next 90 days (paycheck, social security.) Transfers don't count. 
• maintain the minimum balance ($1,500?) to avoid fees
• they will deposit $400 in your account ~120 days after you open the account.
• go buy something for $400 that you normally wouldn't. It's on Wells Fargo.

Other banks offer similar deals from time to time. I look at it like banks don't care about us, so why not take advantage of them when they are giving away money.

How many involuntary WF accounts are required to qualify?

[52-80 19147]

2 hours ago, Lobwedgephil said:

Nice of the store to credit it, but you still need to contact Chase and get a new card, that one is compromised. 

Better yet, give us the card numbers and a helpful member of surly will cancel it for you

[Nice Guy Eddie 13509]

1 hour ago, Armybrat said:

Sitting in the lobby of a local Chase Bank waiting for a person to help fix it.

We did not have any trouble like this 18 months ago when our old card was compromised. It was easy peasy then. Don’t know what has changed since then except more compromised brain cells.

Thanks all for the advice.

What happened is that the volume of calls to Chase has exponentially increased over the last few months as people can't pay their credit card payments, car loans or mortgages. Calling for basic services, like reporting a lost card, takes longer now.

[Armybrat 40824]

Got it fixed. Thanks. 🤘

[HRSchenker 2268]

I'm dumping CSR next year once I use up the doordash credit. I have absolutely no interest in instacart as a perk so I can get a better return on another card.

[FORTY NINE TO ZERO 2652]

42 minutes ago, HRSchenker said:

I'm dumping CSR next year once I use up the doordash credit. I have absolutely no interest in instacart as a perk so I can get a better return on another card.

Is there a way to dump it without closing it?  Like downgrading to a chase card without the stupid high yearly fee?

 

my understanding it’s never good to completely close a credit card. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised that is outdated logic as well. 

[AUS-97HORN 11757]

4 minutes ago, Xian said:

Is there a way to dump it without closing it?  Like downgrading to a chase card without the stupid high yearly fee?

 

my understanding it’s never good to completely close a credit card. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised that is outdated logic as well. 

that logic is fair if its a hyper long standing credit line.  for example, Ive got 2 credit cards that I originally got in college, had them both for 25+ years now.  1 hasnt been used  extensively in almost 15 years, the other I stopped using about 10 years ago.  closing those credit lines would impact my score quite a bit because they are my 2 oldest continual lines of credit.  I purposly put ~$50 charge 1 time a year on the cards and pay them off immediatley to ensure my banks dont close them out as inactive. 

But if you have multiple credit lines like that and you have only had the CSR card for 3-4 years, closing the credit line doesnt hurt that much unless its like your only open credit line.

[Lurch 5922]

It impacts your credit utilization as well. If you have $4500 debt on $50k credit avail across all your cards, you’re at 9%, which is fine. However, if you close a card w $10k credit avail, you’re now at 11% ($4500 of $40k) which will drop you a tier.

If you don’t have an annual fee, leave the card open. You may have to use it on occasion so they don’t auto close it.

[Lurch 5922]

As for age, you want your avg card age to be more than 9 years, as that’s the top tier for that element.

[HRSchenker 2268]

2 hours ago, Xian said:

Is there a way to dump it without closing it?  Like downgrading to a chase card without the stupid high yearly fee?

 

my understanding it’s never good to completely close a credit card. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised that is outdated logic as well. 

Yeah you can downgrade to CSP but I'm just going to cancel it. Will it hurt my credit score? Yeah but I don't really care.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13509]

On 7/3/2020 at 4:18 PM, Xian said:

Is there a way to dump it without closing it?  Like downgrading to a chase card without the stupid high yearly fee?

 

my understanding it’s never good to completely close a credit card. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised that is outdated logic as well. 

You can downgrade the chase sapphire reserve or preferred to the chase freedom card.  No annual fee and you get to retain your ultimate reward points. You do lose perks like UR points being worth 1.5 on travel or the new grocery pay-yourself. I assume you also retain the credit history as well.

freedom is a decent card if only for the quarterly 5% categories. Usually you get a quarter per year for groceries, gas, and restaurants.

fyi, for anyone reading this: the reward cards are usually only good if you pay them off monthly. If you carry a balance, forget about rewards and look for low interest cards. But rule #1 never carry a balance.  Rule #2 if you have a balance, do whatever it takes to pay it off.

[drewlaws 126]

This is timely since I was looking for the other credit card rewards thread.

I need to get a business credit card. I currently use one of my personal cards for all my business purchases.

What should I get? The card I use for business expenses is a SWA visa and I already have companion pass. If I get another travel card, I want flexibility to use it for hotels or for airfare to destinations that SWA doesn’t go. Or I could also get a simple cash back card. Capital one spark offers a flat 2% cash back. My personal cards are 2% flat benefits, a fidelity card and capital one venture card.

Thoughts?

[Nice Guy Eddie 13509]

How much would you put on the business card? Spark card seems like a great if you put a lot of money. The $95 annual fee means that your first $5000 spent is basically breaking even on the annual fee and cash rewards. The sign up bonus of  $500 isn’t bad. 

amex blue business card is similar with no annual fee, 2% cash back on the first $50k and then 1% after that. I don’t think there is a promo bonus.
 

[drewlaws 126]

On 7/4/2020 at 9:28 PM, Nice Guy Eddie said:

How much would you put on the business card? Spark card seems like a great if you put a lot of money. The $95 annual fee means that your first $5000 spent is basically breaking even on the annual fee and cash rewards. The sign up bonus of  $500 isn’t bad. 

amex blue business card is similar with no annual fee, 2% cash back on the first $50k and then 1% after that. I don’t think there is a promo bonus.
 

It varies, low six figures on average. So a few thousand in cash back vs whatever the point equivalent is for that amount. I would rarely use some of the "perks" of the high fee cards like airport lounges. All of my work travel is domestic, mostly to Dallas and Houston.

[4th and 5 4914]

the CSR Door dash credit is noice, I ain't into having some stranger deliver my fries so I use the pick up option....I'm going to eat $120 of free BBQ

[Nice Guy Eddie 13509]

19 minutes ago, 4th and 5 said:

the CSR Door dash credit is noice, I ain't into having some stranger deliver my fries so I use the pick up option....I'm going to eat $120 of free BBQ

Thanks for info. I also not a fan of delivery mainly I'm a control freak and hate waiting on someone driving food to my house.  Didn't realize the DoorDash credit also worked for pickup. You just earned me $120.

[4th and 5 4914]

download app, click on pickup, hit search and order food, it is free grub!

[Superhero 8828]

On 7/3/2020 at 8:22 AM, Armybrat said:

Yes, we know that. But we cannot get anyone at Chase to answer the phone.

plus we have a larger credit coming back (Up to 90 days) from a canceled hotel reservation. Dunno what will happen to that if we get a new card number.

Strange. I've had my number stolen a few times. Both time Chase texted me to say there may be possible fraudulent charges. Both times called in and talked to someone right away. Got a replacement card in 3 days.

Chase service has been top notch, and I've been moving assets into Chase from Wells Fargo.  I haven't had any issue with Wells (other than stalling a few days when closed an account) that make me WANT to leave, but at Chase, it's nice having one POC instead of dialing into a telephone tree looking for answers.

[TornACL 7698]

On 7/3/2020 at 8:59 AM, Armybrat said:

Some asshole used our SWA Visa Chase number to make a $441 purchase at a trailer parts & accessories store in goddamn Delaware.

Called the store to dispute the charge (Goddamn Chase contacts were inaccessible), told them my house does not have wheels and we do not own any kind of trailer - plus we have only a vague idea of Delaware’s existence - so they called back two days later to credit our card. Which they actually did.

Why don't you just sent Wulaw a nasty threatening PM and tell him you're on to his shit?

[Nice Guy Eddie 13509]

I was sitting on a non-reward card that hadn’t been used in forever so I called BoA to cancel. Their retention dept offered me a $100 reward if I spent $1500 in 3 months. While not as lucrative as a new card promo, nothing wrong with a temporary 6.7% cash back promo on everything.  And given that I have some annual insurance premiums and home improvement projects coming up, I won’t even use the card more than a few times.

i still plan to drop it after the promo unless they want to offer it up again.

never hurts to basically ask the credit card companies how bad they want to keep you as a customer? Plenty of stories of people periodically getting the high annual fees (Amex plat card) waived if they spend enough and bother to ask for it. 

[Lurch 5922]

Wife added me to her 4 year old Costco Visa so that my total avail credit would go up. Interestingly I inherited the age of the card as well, as it showed up as 4 years old on my credit history rather than new, so the age dilution wasn’t too bad

[Nice Guy Eddie 13509]

If you enjoy personal finance shows, these guys are a good watch/listen: https://www.youtube.com/user/MoneyGuyShow  I believe they also have the same shows via a podcast but I just stream their youtube channel. 

They're not as focused on get-out-of-debt (Ramsey) or get rich easy/quick (countless youtube personalties). Instead they're about slowly preparing for the future while living a reasonable life. To be clear, they start from a premise that you're a good earner and will not carry high interest debt.

On a side note, I binged on Ramsey while working on the house this weekend. There are some people in f-ed situations out there. People with 100K in personal debt, physicians owing over $1m in student loans. Sounds especially expensive to become a orthodontist. We're basically creating a debtor's prison in terms that people are indebted to banks for a large percentage of their life.

 

Edited August 24, 2020 by Nice Guy Eddie

[52-80 19147]

has anyone been receiving the AMEX Plat credit from uber eats? 

 

the monthly uber credit is supposed to be good for uber eats due to pannndemmmiccc.  i made 1 transaction but it hasnt been credited, even through 1 billing cycle

[Parliament 14247]

Welp, I'm just about done with Chase Bank for my credit card.  I got hacked a month ago and they set up a new account.  No problem there, but the rolled all my autobilling to it; including an old subscription I had cancelled.  I disputed the charge and might(?) get my $31.38 back, and it might take 2 months.

So screw those guys.  I want a simple, easy, no-frill credit card that works with zero drama, from a provider who isn't an ahole.  Who you got?

[Chewbacca 7767]

39 minutes ago, Parliament said:

Welp, I'm just about done with Chase Bank for my credit card.  I got hacked a month ago and they set up a new account.  No problem there, but the rolled all my autobilling to it; including an old subscription I had cancelled.  I disputed the charge and might(?) get my $31.38 back, and it might take 2 months.

So screw those guys.  I want a simple, easy, no-frill credit card that works with zero drama, from a provider who isn't an ahole.  Who you got?

Amex?  Although I've heard of their service not being what it used to be.  I haven't needed to use their customer service in a while, though.

[Fudge Nuggets 19189]

1 hour ago, Chewbacca said:

Amex?  Although I've heard of their service not being what it used to be.  I haven't needed to use their customer service in a while, though.

No complaints from me.  I've had to challenge one charge in twenty years; got it sorted in five minutes.

[Neonmoon 38129]

It’s probably because I don’t use it much, but Amex has always felt like the best fraud protection. 

[CowboyFred 1151]

My card was charged at a bar I went to ousux weekend 2 weeks after I had left Dallas. I had the credit in my account by the next morning. Amex customer service was quick and efficient.

Edited January 5, 2023 by CowboyFred

[KYHorn 17015]

I've never had trouble with Discover in the 11 years I've been with them. Solid cashback options too.

Edited January 5, 2023 by KYHorn

[HamsterHookah 112]

2 hours ago, KYHorn said:

I've never had trouble with Discover in the 11 years I've been with them. Solid cashback options too.

 

[HamsterHookah 112]

I love my AMEX's and I actually also have a Discover card somewhere.

I keep a credit card in my phone case for times I leave my wallet or otherwise need to be separated from my wallet but have an ability to purchase something in an emergency, it's pragmatic for it to be a Visa/MC because in 2023 there are still a lot of businesses (mostly small businesses) who will not take AMEX. My cleaners off the top of my head and the Thai food place I love.