This just popped up on my feed:
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@fretfulmother, I also have Amex Plat, Chase Sapphire Reserve and just recently added Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant. I have not used Delta nearly as much as OneWorld (I am Exec Plat for Life via BA) and Star Alliance. Weâll see on the Marriott card. I got 150K points, I think, for an initial $8K spend (I donât remember the details). It raises me to Platinum level, I think, so I get exec lounge access and free breakfasts. I value exec lounge access, especially when I do one week trips someplace and donât have meetings every day. But, if it doesnât add enough value, I will drop it.
@CFP, I am reconsidering the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which I loved. But they have made the benefits less attractive (you need to use their expensive hotels, etc.). Also, Amex Plat has degraded its value as you canât bring a guest into the Delta Lounges except for $50 a shot or $75K annual spend on the card.
I will say that I charged a MacBook Pro a few years ago on my Amex Plat and in the first month spilled coffee on it (at a UA Lounge). Apple said I needed to replace it and Amex paid for it no questions asked (probably $3000). Similarly, I messed up my car bumperbumper on a car rental charged to the Amex Plat (with the incremental Amex car insurance) and they covered the charges without issue. These two claims were worth a number of years of fees. So I feel relatively loyal to Amex. I now charge cars to the Chase Sapphire Reserve as it is premium rental car insurance (no incremental charge) but have not had a claim with them to see how they perform.
Because I have a business, I am able to have more spend than I would if I were an employee or retired. Rent, SaaS subscriptions, travel for me and others, medical care payments, etc. Also, I assume this makes the card fees tax deductible (of course, a number of the perks just reduce tax deductible expenses so a partial wash).
But, from a personal finance perspective, we need to evaluate each premium card to see whether the benefits it now offers exceed the cost.
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I refuse to pay for a credit card. We donât travel much, so travel rewards donât appeal to me.
I do have a BofA travel card for charging stuff on vacation (so I donât pay foreign transaction fees). I have an amazon card that I use exclusively for all my amazon purchases (5% points that are easy to use on your next purchase). I also have a Discover card that I use only for non-amazon online purchases (it never leaves the house so I am not in major trouble if it got compromised.) Finally I have a chase visa in my wallet that I use for almost all my purchases on a daily basis. (I too am one who pays for even the cheapest stuff with a card).
I always pay my full credit card balance each month.
I had store cards - Kohls, Macys, etc. But got rid of them as they transitioned to being AMEX or Visa instead of only store cards.
My FICO score is always above 800 but it does fluctuate (sometimes by 25 points in a month). It did not take a hit when I have cancelled credit cards. Being old, some of the cards I have had for over 25 years, so that probably helps.
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That had been our mantra, never pay for a credit card. But we ended making an exception for the Delta branded AMEX card because it has paid off in spades. We are flying first class/Delta One suites to New Zealand and back from Australia next year using points and status and global upgrades because of the card, for $280 total for the two of us. Maybe that belongs in the brag thread lol
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This is not accurate. There is no $10,000 limit. Banks report any transactions they see as âsuspiciousâ regardless of the amount. In my side banking âcareerâ we reviewed transactions that had been reported by staff. Structuring deposits and withdrawals to avoid scrutiny in any amount will be reported. Many reports involved elder abuse, where a child, grandchild, or caretaker would pay their bills or steal out of the subjectâs accounts. Those reports are referred to the appropriate law enforcement agencies for investigation.
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Meant to add, the Delta branded Amex card is really only worthwhile if one spends a lot and travels a lot. They no longer roll over âmilesâ (MQMâs) (that program ended) and I am now chasing MQDâs. There is a huge gap between what it takes to make Platinum vs Diamond medallion with Delta. And if I donât make it, I have kinda wasted a lot of the spend on that card. We will seeâŚ
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I like to ask for a retention bonus to keep my card when the annual fee posts. They wonât give it unless you ask, and thatâs a whole different game. No matter the credit card, they always offer something if you say youâre going to cancel. Though Delta Reserve only offered me 7.5K miles to stay, and I ended up going through with the cancellation (was sure they were going to up the offer). I really didnât want to cancel that card, but I already had the companion cert, and got 110K miles to get the Business Reserve.
I guess this is my retirement job.
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I like the Bonvoy Brilliant a lot, since Iâm a heavy Marriott user. $25/month in dining credit, so that knocks $300 off the fee right there. Using it at Marriott stays gives high multiples of points, and using the 85K hotel cert every year for a nice hotel is sweet. I was able to use two of those certificates last year for an oceanfront suite in Maui last year using upgrades. Paid zero for over 4K worth of hotel rooms.
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Both of our Medicare cards are with initial on middle name. Same with SS info.
The bank employees are trained to do such with these kinds of transactions for reasons we all know, even for younger people that might have some fraud things going on. If you just indicate a brief answer politely - after all these clerks are doing what they are trained and expected to do.
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We actually were able to download and print on paper the Medicare âcardâ, to use until we got ours in the mail. DHâs printed the end of December and was backdated for effective 9-1.
I donât have a mortgage, auto loans, electric bill (solar), or any high regular monthly expense. This can make it challenging to meet spending requirements for certain credit card bonuses including Amex platinum, in months where I donât have special one-time expenses (home repair/improvements, travel, âŚ). I donât want to be in a situation where I need to choose between either increasing spending above my natural levels or abandoning the credit card bonus, so I plan the credit card bonus spending during periods in which I have a property tax bill. If I can meet the spending without the property tax thatâs preferable due to the extra fee you mention. However, if I canât and need to pay for property tax on card, I still come out ahead, as the sign-up bonus is much larger than property tax + card fee.
The Amex Platinum card has a $20/month entertainment credit that can be used on very limited number of services, which includes NYT + WSJ. I donât think the Delta Skymiles has the benefit.
I get the $1/month subscription to Hulu each Black Friday, which includes ads. I normally wouldnât pay $19 per month for the no ads version on a regular basis, but with the monthly credit, it was a nice perk to have no ads on both Hulu + Disney. The entertainment credit cannot be used for Netflix. As noted earlier in thread, I use Turkish Lira on Netflix to get no ads for ~$5/month.
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People using debit cards for everything may be spending like the credit card - the impulse purchases included.
I like having some cash in my wallet, and I do use it. DH, who grew up in a household with really tight finances, likes using credit cards/debit cards because he just has a bit of hang-up using cash. He spends but doesnât have that extra thought about money.
When we were young and with tight finances, we were very thrifty and never had credit balances - didnât use credit cards much. But our society has gotten to credit/debit use a lot and some places not taking cash; some checkout lines credit/debit only. We still never have credit balances on credit cards. My daughter and BF think it is weird I pay on our credit cards by phone - as they do everything on their phone.
It depends on many factors. If itâs an old card that you have owned for many years, canceling can have a notable impact on credit score. If the credit card composes a large portion of the amount you can borrow, that can also have a notable impact on score.
However, getting a new card and cancelling in 1 year, as described in this thread doesnât meet either of these criteria and often has little impact on credit score. When I started pursuing credit card bonuses, my credit score increased slightly. My current credit score is over 800, in spite of opening and canceling 2 new credit cards each year.
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My military niece has a credit card that typically has annual fee of $800 but gets it free while in the military; DD1/SIL have similar card as SIL is in military. They get the extras that the card provides including airline lounge access. They also get the Walmart card w/o fee that gives them benefits as well.
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A few questions for those who know how to use credit card points wisely. Iâve never learned the art, so would appreciate some guidelines.
⢠Do you make flight reservations through the Credit company, directly through the Airline, or âit dependsâ? The first (and only) time we tried to use credits for a flight (Chase Preferred), we were burned. Airline did not have the option to direct transfer points so our reservation had to be made through Chase Travel partner. Within 48 hours (but over 24), our flight cost dropped by 40%. I had never seen such a drop! We had changeable tickets and Airline told us we could change and receive credit, but because flights were made through the Chase portal, any changes had to be made through Chase as well. Chase Travel would not honor the ability to change without a possible long delay (up to a week), by which time the ticket price could be anywhere. Dealing with Chase Travel was a nightmare. Hours spent on the phone, up the chain, ultimately with no solution. Never again.
⢠While âfreeâ stays sound great, it really is the difference between whatever cash-back you accumulate vs. actual cost, correct? Are the savings still substantial when calculating the difference? So far, we just take the cash, and use it for travel or whatever. But that could be because we donât know better HOW to use the system wisely.
⢠It is still worth it to us to pay for the Sapphire Preferred card. When exchanged for cash, it covers the annual cost. Plus, it offers primary car rental damage, and limited trip interruption insurance. We have never used either, but a friend did, and was very satisfied with their experience.
Timely gifted article from the WSJ on pig butchering. While inconvenient, putting some sand in unusual cash/wiring transactions, seems wise, especially for elderly or others prone to being scammed.
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There is a rule that cash withdrawals of 10K or more must be reported. They may report others, but I believe 10K MUST be reported.
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I think Kohls figured out that didnât work as well as they had hoped when they kept moving the free Amazon return area further and further back into the deepest recesses of the retail store and then moved it to the other corner the next week so you were constantly going through the store in and out of aisles looking for it this week. I admit, I would stop and glance or look at an item right on the aisle but it never made me buy anything, even with the coupon they gave me at the return desk.
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When we do move (possibly in 2026) we probably will downsize on the number of credit cards we have. A few we rarely use but havenât decided to end. Will probably take the credit limit down on the card(s) than cancel to not trigger any credit score change.
Since I purchase for grandkids, we have stayed on Kohlâs and get the various discounts as I spend enough to stay on that (I believe spending $800/year on their credit card). I buy enough to get the free ship, and the store is close to me to see what merchandise is like â seeing something online and actually feeling the cloth, seeing construction, better inspection. I can purchase with greater confidence. The extra percent off at various times of the year is greater incentive to shop there first for certain items.
The only flights I have been on in the last few years have been American Airlines, which has best service to our medium-sized city and to where we need to go. I did have two AA credit cards (got the second for free miles) but downsized to one. Before ending the Barclay (which I could not downsize to no fee), I had the credit limit put down to $100 and then canceled it - I believe that would have eliminating it not really affect credit score. And our credit score has stayed pretty much the same. I do pay a $99/year fee for the AAdvantage Citi MasterCard. It is two-leg travel to DD1/SIL/Gkids city. DD2 is close enough for us to drive. We drive at Christmastime to DD1âs city.
I like the free checked bag with AAdvantage credit card. I did put my last car rental on that credit card. Donât travel enough to know what âtriggersâ various special offers. DH wasnât home when I had to line up my last rent car, but he got some kind of a discount with the prior rent car through his Capital One (or with one of the rent car customer memberships he had with lots of business travel). This last trip I use Dollar Rent-A-Car; I had been to this city before with rent car (MSP) and had a good experience with Dollar.
I like using Discover Card for some transactions that might have a problem - their customer service to me has been good. Online things like the tollway tag systems.
I have Hilton Honors American Express. They have double points for grocery purchases, and I do use it for grocery purchases. Keep Hilton in mind with major travel.
We have Marriott Bonvoy and have typically used it when we stay at Marriott/SPG. Keep Marriott in mind with major travel.
We have a Frontier CC and use it for restaurant meals, getting double points.
DH uses Capital One Venture card (no fee) a lot - had one with fee when he did a lot of business travel.
DH use to travel for work and had hotel points with Marriott/SPG; we have pretty much used those free nights up on some road trips. We have the points at various hotel chains/memberships.
Agree that credit cards make their money off of the people that do pay their credit card payments (not paying off the balance at the initial statement balance but make minimum or better payments and paying a lot of interest). They target to get people to use their credit card and use the sell on the various benefits. To keep from people that go bankrupt, the credit score, credit history, in determining acceptance and credit limit.
Our local Kohlâs store used to have Amazon return deep in the store but moved it to customer service area right at the front of the store. That also is close to where they have store check-out areas, and their management can properly keep those areas well-staffed. Our local Kohlâs store has a fair volume of Amazon returns.