This morning, I got an email detailing changes coming to Ultimate Rewards for people with Chase Checking and Chase Freedom accounts. I have both: the Chase Freedom was my second rewards credit card ever, and I got a Chase checking account last year to get a sign-up bonus. Essentially, there will no longer be a…
There have been a number of posts recently about MS for hotels (see posts on the Frequent Miler, Saverocity, and Travel is Free (all great blogs btw)). In the past, I haven’t really focused on hotels since I’m a cheapskate and will do things like book overnight trains or sleep in capsule hotels or crash on people’s…
In my mind, I arbitrarily divide manufactured spending into two camps: that which you do on an ongoing basis, and that which you do to meet minimum spend requirements. I don’t really do much of the former (mostly because I’m lazy, but also because I don’t have a car and live in SF where there’s…
Yesterday, I said that I had applied for three different credit cards. I was instantly approved for the Barclays US Airways card, but I received pending decisions for the Citi Executive AAdvantage card and the Bank of America Alaska Airlines card. I called reconsideration for both Citi and Bank of America. The Citi call was…
I wrote last week that I was feeling pretty meh about credit card churning, which is true. But it’s also true that not applying for new credit cards is like leaving miles on the table, and so I got off my butt today and applied for a couple of new cards. #1 was the Citi…
I have a confession to make: I’ve only applied for one new credit card in the past 9 months. Last year, I got 11 new credit cards for nearly 500k miles and points and 4 free nights at hotels. This year, I’ve only gotten the Citi Executive AAdvantage card once for 100k miles. I’m not…
It’s almost February (how did that happen?), which means that the 7% dividend on the Chase Sapphire Preferred is going to post in addition to my annual fee. Last year, I convinced myself that it made sense to keep the card for another year, but now I’m not so sure. In my last post, I…
It’s no secret that I love credit cards, and not just for miles and points. Credit cards often provide a variety of other benefits and consumer protections that make me prefer to use a credit card over any other form of payment, like trip delay insurance or return protection. I usually don’t have occasion to take…
I’ve written in the past about my credit card strategy, and I usually have a pretty good idea of what I want to apply for during each round of applications, which I do every three months. But I’m really coming up empty this time around. I’m coming up on my annual fee for my Amex…
Like any good frequent traveler, I have a lot of credit cards (although I just cancelled 2!) Here’s a list of what I have (and have cancelled) and some preliminary thoughts on what I should get next. Citi Forward (keep) This was my first “points” card that I ever got, and I got it while…
