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Just FYI https://www.annualcreditreport.com Is the official, federally mandated site where you can get a free copy from each of the 3 majors. That's where the FTC links to. Per that FTC article I linked, "Through April 2021, everyone in the U.S. can get a free credit report each week from all three national credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) at AnnualCreditReport.com."
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Jan 28, 2021 00:02
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Ah it must be a day ending in 'y' as I've just been hit with yet another cloned card used at a gas station near me. Boy oh boy they just keep coming. Doesn't seem to matter what percentage of things I manage to buy with Apple Pay, the bastards still seem to get me every few months.
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Jan 28, 2021 00:35
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EL BROMANCE posted:Ah it must be a day ending in 'y' as I've just been hit with yet another cloned card used at a gas station near me. Boy oh boy they just keep coming. Doesn't seem to matter what percentage of things I manage to buy with Apple Pay, the bastards still seem to get me every few months. That sucks! Any idea where the card may be cloned?
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Jan 28, 2021 16:53
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StormDrain posted:That sucks! Any idea where the card may be cloned? I'm genuinely starting to think it might be when I'm paying my water bill with the city. They're pretty useless and I wouldn't put it past them to have an issue here. From what I know they tend to clone and use cards pretty quick, and the gas station was like 2 miles away from my house so it pretty much rules out anything further afield. Since I came back to my city in the new year, the times I've used my card are: Postmates, Adobe, Publix*, Water bill, Chewy, Home Depot, Ticketmaster, Chipotle*, BJs Shopping*, BJs Gas Station, Walgreens*, Target, Publix*, Online clothes store*, Amazon, Chewy, Publix*. Anything with a * was via Apple Pay. The only other suss one is the BJs fuel, but I both check the card reader for extra poo poo and tampering, and run a low powered bluetooth scanner on my phone (that has picked up my watch before, so I know it does something at least!) and there's someone there monitoring the place. They don't take cash from what I can tell, so not much choice there. Just love it puts me out from using my main card for 7-10 days while the thief got away with $4.
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Jan 28, 2021 17:08
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Theoretically, if I were to want to maybe book a trip on Japan Airlines next year, what would be the best card for points I can use with them? I don’t have any air travel cards yet because I’m not a frequent flyer but I don’t mind opening a card if it saves me $500
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Jan 30, 2021 21:30
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E: nvm
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Feb 3, 2021 18:20
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im on the net me boys posted:Theoretically, if I were to want to maybe book a trip on Japan Airlines next year, what would be the best card for points I can use with them? I don’t have any air travel cards yet because I’m not a frequent flyer but I don’t mind opening a card if it saves me $500 Do you specifically want to fly JAL or want business class? If neither of these are true, then you're probably better off opening whatever cards give you the highest cash signups bonus and using that to pay for a flight on any airline.
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Feb 3, 2021 19:19
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asur posted:Do you specifically want to fly JAL or want business class? If neither of these are true, then you're probably better off opening whatever cards give you the highest cash signups bonus and using that to pay for a flight on any airline. I specifically want JAL because they operate the only nonstop to Tokyo out of San Diego
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Feb 4, 2021 00:19
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Well I just unexpectedly got approved for Apple Card so I guess I’m not going to open another one for a while after all lol
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Feb 4, 2021 01:15
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im on the net me boys posted:I specifically want JAL because they operate the only nonstop to Tokyo out of San Diego I don't specifically know JAL availability on this route, but the more specific you are the less likely you'll find award space. If your set on a specific flight and not flexible on dates that's a recipe for failure.
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Feb 4, 2021 01:19
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JAL code shares with AA, which means 60k points each way gets you business class. Barclays and Citi both have AA cards
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Feb 4, 2021 02:53
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ranbo das posted:JAL code shares with AA, which means 60k points each way gets you business class. Barclays and Citi both have AA cards If you're super flexible on dates/times, look into the physical aircraft that you'd be flying on a given route. I flew business class from Los Angeles to Tokyo (Haneda) on a brand new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. (Highly recommend) I could've flown the same day at a different time for 2,500 fewer points but it would've been on an older, dated plane (in comparison). Point difference was nothing as these were all signup bonus points.
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Feb 5, 2021 01:28
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JAL business is also drastically different depending on aircraft. I wouldn't seek out the shittier one. Not worth it when compared to other options.
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Feb 6, 2021 00:56
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Right now, I've got a CSR and CSP, but are coming up on their second year annual fee. I'm thinking of dropping the CSP and getting a product change to something else. Is the Chase Freedom likely my best choice for no annual fee, but keeping Ultimate Rewards points with the 5% rotating categories?
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Feb 12, 2021 21:05
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pseudorandom posted:Right now, I've got a CSR and CSP, but are coming up on their second year annual fee. I'm thinking of dropping the CSP and getting a product change to something else. Is the Chase Freedom likely my best choice for no annual fee, but keeping Ultimate Rewards points with the 5% rotating categories? Both the Freedom Flex and Freedom Unlimited are good cards to pair with the Sapphire Reserve. With the 50% bonus redemption value of the Reserve, the 5% categories of the Flex are effectively 7.5%, and the flat 1.5% of the Unlimited is effectively 2.25%. However, both have signup bonuses (which I would recommend getting from the goon referral sheet). So if you really want to maximize your rewards, the best option would be to product change to the regular Sapphire and just not use it.
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Feb 12, 2021 21:45
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How does Chase work with getting the signup bonus a second time? Can I cancel my freedom unlimited (the 1.5% cash back one) and wait a year or two then apply for the card again and get the bonus again?
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Feb 12, 2021 22:24
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runawayturtles posted:Both the Freedom Flex and Freedom Unlimited are good cards to pair with the Sapphire Reserve. With the 50% bonus redemption value of the Reserve, the 5% categories of the Flex are effectively 7.5%, and the flat 1.5% of the Unlimited is effectively 2.25%. However, both have signup bonuses (which I would recommend getting from the goon referral sheet). So if you really want to maximize your rewards, the best option would be to product change to the regular Sapphire and just not use it. I got both of these cards two years ago. Doesn't Chase now have a 4-year period before you can get signup bonuses?
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Feb 12, 2021 22:48
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Shear Modulus posted:How does Chase work with getting the signup bonus a second time? Can I cancel my freedom unlimited (the 1.5% cash back one) and wait a year or two then apply for the card again and get the bonus again? It's from the time you got the signups bonus and it's normally four years now though I'm uncertain of the exact rules for the freedom unlimited. You don't have to cancel until about a month before you want to reapply.
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Feb 13, 2021 03:36
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Unless you already have all the no-AF chase UR cards I'd recommend doing a product change instead of canceling.
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Feb 13, 2021 04:28
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I have some Avios with BA I need to do something with to keep them from getting deleted. I know they're pretty bad for international flights, but domestically here on Qantas they are not bad as it seems to be a flat fee anywhere in the country. tl;dr - has there been any chatter online about whether redemption rates for Avios are going to change in the near future? Trying to figure out how close I can cut it and still leave enough (68k at current redemption rates) to fly my parter and I somewhere else domestically in Australia at some point in the future. Ethics_Gradient fucked around with this message at 05:45 on Feb 14, 2021 |
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Feb 14, 2021 05:42
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I just noticed that in the past month or so someone must have signed up for the Blue Cash American Express with my referral link from the spreadsheet. Thank you very much, fellow goon. Weird, they didn't send me an email about it and I only saw the referral bonus when I logged in to my account.
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Feb 19, 2021 05:31
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Hey friends, got a random question for you. My sweetheart and i are putting some funds together for a short Europe trip for when the world sucks slightly less. He's got hotels covered, i want to cover flights, and we can share other costs. This trip would be for one or two cities, not longer than a few weeks. I looked through the flight rewards for my visa go card and wasn't really impressed. I think i can do better! My credit score is in the 750s and I'm in a position to rack up some points if i start planning now (and, y'know, maybe flights become less of a death sentence lol) What are your recommendations for cards?
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Feb 20, 2021 11:29
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How much are you looking to spend? A single big trip is often enough to make the CSR worth it, or the CSR/CSP combo (if that still works).
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Feb 20, 2021 15:26
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Jerk McJerkface posted:Goon Credit Card random referral page: Just bouncing this for the new page along with a question. I have to spend about $3000 in a couple months, and I can split it between two or three cards. What's a good combo of cards with initial bonuses that pay out in cash (I don't want a bunch of hotel points atm). Just some context, I have all the Chase cards already (so I can't churn then as well as Amex BCP). I was thinking maybe signing up for the American Express Cash Magnet Card ($150 on $1000 spend) Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card ($200 on $500 spend). Any other suggestions?
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Feb 20, 2021 15:34
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Jerk McJerkface posted:Just bouncing this for the new page along with a question. I have to spend about $3000 in a couple months, and I can split it between two or three cards. What's a good combo of cards with initial bonuses that pay out in cash (I don't want a bunch of hotel points atm). Just some context, I have all the Chase cards already (so I can't churn then as well as Amex BCP). I always go through this list and match it up to whatever I'm looking for (cash, UR, MR, etc.) at the moment.
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Feb 21, 2021 15:18
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I currently have a Chase Sapphire Preferred and a Freedom Unlimited, and I have about 200,000 UR points. I'm considering a switch to the Sapphire Reserve at some point if/when we start traveling again, though I know that may be a while yet. I don't want to live that manufactured spend life, but I would like to get the most benefit out of this switch that I can. I got my original CSP bonus in July 2017. My understanding is that I may be able to product change the CSP down to a Freedom card, wait a period of time, and apply for the CSR to get the bonus after minimum spend. Is that still accurate? Anyone know what the gap should be between those steps? The folks on FlyerTalk seem to be a little all over the map about whether it's 7 days, 30 days, two statements, etc. Also, is there any risk of losing points or having issues moving them between accounts if I don't combine them out of my current CSP first? I've seen some people say they lost the ability to do it, but it seems rare. Finally, any recommendations for decent resources to start learning how to get the most out of Chase points? I'm hesitant to trust stuff found on Google that's a few years old, since I know things change.
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Feb 21, 2021 19:24
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you ate my cat posted:I currently have a Chase Sapphire Preferred and a Freedom Unlimited, and I have about 200,000 UR points. I'm considering a switch to the Sapphire Reserve at some point if/when we start traveling again, though I know that may be a while yet. I don't want to live that manufactured spend life, but I would like to get the most benefit out of this switch that I can. I got my original CSP bonus in July 2017. Watching as I have a similar situation but with the CSR, got my bonus on 2016 and wouldn't mind another but not sure the best way to go about it. Just product change current CSR, to a Freedom and then apply again?
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Feb 22, 2021 15:20
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Jerk McJerkface posted:Just bouncing this for the new page along with a question. I have to spend about $3000 in a couple months, and I can split it between two or three cards. What's a good combo of cards with initial bonuses that pay out in cash (I don't want a bunch of hotel points atm). Just some context, I have all the Chase cards already (so I can't churn then as well as Amex BCP). Wells Fargo Propel has a $200 bonus for $1000 spent. I have another question of my own. I opened the Capital One Savor (the version with 4% CB on restaurants and the annual fee) last March but I want to close it now because while the annual fee was waived the first year, paying it now obviously isn't worth it. Is there any way I can open the Savor One and get its sign up bonus and close the AF version, or is that impossible and I'd be better served asking them to downgrade me to the non-AF version? Never downgraded out of an AF tier before.
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Feb 25, 2021 20:10
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What do you guys think of the Chase Sapphire Reserve vs the American Express Gold Card? My wife and I currently share a Sapphire Preferred and have building points on that for a few years now. We like it as over time we’ve gotten enough points for small things. Travel isn’t a thing yet, but apparently with the Reserve you get free lounge access among other things that aren’t offered with the Preferred?
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Feb 25, 2021 21:29
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obi_ant posted:Travel isn’t a thing yet, but apparently with the Reserve you get free lounge access among other things that aren’t offered with the Preferred? I've mentioned it here before, but the CSR lounge access was shamefully pathetic even before all of this happened. One or more people got very upset with me saying this because they liked to get their free chicken salad sandwiches or something, so I dunno.....if you like chicken salad get the CSR.
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Feb 25, 2021 21:32
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obi_ant posted:What do you guys think of the Chase Sapphire Reserve vs the American Express Gold Card? Isn't the Amex platinum a better comparison to the CSR? FYI Amex Plat offered me 150k sign up bonus so I took it. At least I get free Uber eats and $30 PayPal credit a month lol.
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Feb 25, 2021 21:49
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Motronic posted:I've mentioned it here before, but the CSR lounge access was shamefully pathetic even before all of this happened. One or more people got very upset with me saying this because they liked to get their free chicken salad sandwiches or something, so I dunno.....if you like chicken salad get the CSR. The siren call of lounge access lured me in and, just as you say, the actual availability of it was so bad. Sometimes when it ws just like a credit at some restaurant it was almost painful to use so I just didn't bother. Like using a drat coupon that doesn't scan right.
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Feb 25, 2021 21:52
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obi_ant posted:What do you guys think of the Chase Sapphire Reserve vs the American Express Gold Card? I've had the CSR ever since the 100k bonus happened a few years back. It's a great card and I easily make my annual fee back in rewards each year (my favorite is transferring to Hyatt, and we've stayed at some pretty amazing properties in Paris/Milan/the US). Lounge access is terrible and I wouldn't count on it. Check to see if Amex Centurion lounges are in any of the airports you visit, or if you fly Delta, Delta Lounges, and go with an Amex Platinum card if lounge access is important to you.
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Feb 25, 2021 21:53
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As a relatively light traveler I only used my priority pass lounge access maybe half a dozen times, most of them were pretty lame. One time i got to go to the Escape Lounge in Minneapolis, which was pretty sweet. They had a great hot buffet with tons of options, a nice bar, a cookie and snack bar, free ipads to use at the numerous seating options. Then you have things like the “lounge” at Honolulu, which was, and I don’t think i can stress enough how accurate this description is, essentially a dentist office waiting room from the 80s, with a mini frige with diet coke in it and some stale bagels. You could literally step outside and be much better off because you were in a godamn Hawaiian palm tree courtyard. Special note, the escape lounge soon after stoppef accepting priority pass.
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Feb 25, 2021 22:03
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Elysium posted:Special note, the escape lounge soon after stoppef accepting priority pass. Yeah, that's a good one to bring up: more and more shared lounges are just putting up signs "no priority pass" when they start getting full. So like, you'll be counting on that lounge the PP app tells you is there and then you just can't get in. Also, there are PP only lounges in some airports that sound like your dentist office lounge. They're awful. PP was great before everybody had it. Now it's just garbage.
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Feb 25, 2021 22:08
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Motronic posted:Yeah, that's a good one to bring up: more and more shared lounges are just putting up signs "no priority pass" when they start getting full. So like, you'll be counting on that lounge the PP app tells you is there and then you just can't get in. Exclusivity is wasted on the masses. Also I looked up the Centurion lounge in Denver and it looks nice! I'm a sucker for it.
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Feb 25, 2021 22:13
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StormDrain posted:Exclusivity is wasted on the masses. I was just there this past Sunday. It was great: giant with a dedicated beer bar (of course) and a bunch of pasta dishes made by some chef from Denver. Well worth it if you fly out of Denver frequently.
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Feb 25, 2021 22:27
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Motronic posted:Yeah, that's a good one to bring up: more and more shared lounges are just putting up signs "no priority pass" when they start getting full. That for sure does happen (as well as some only accepting PP during off hours), but I actually meant they stopped accepting PP at all. Amex Platinum only now.
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Feb 25, 2021 22:31
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Elysium posted:That for sure does happen (as well as some only accepting PP during off hours), but I actually meant they stopped accepting PP at all. Amex Platinum only now. Yeah, I awkwardly worded that.....I knew you what you were saying. And that's bad, but I find it's even worse to have one that's supposed to be there only to find they put a hand written sign outside so you can't get in. At least if it's permanently closed to PP members you know you're on your own.
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Feb 25, 2021 22:33
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Residency Evil posted:I was just there this past Sunday. It was great: giant with a dedicated beer bar (of course) and a bunch of pasta dishes made by some chef from Denver. Well worth it if you fly out of Denver frequently. Almost exclusively lol.
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Feb 25, 2021 22:35
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