Questions and Answers

Lucky,

Greetings. I’m relatively new to the points/miles hobby, so your site has been a great resource for me, so thank you. I’m wondering if it’s possible to go “too hard, too fast” when first starting out. For example, since Nov. 2016 I personally have been approved for a Delta Gold Amex, Hilton Amex, CSR, Chase United, and Barclays AA Red (the last three on the same day last week). Now, I see juicy offers for the Citi Hilton Visa and SPG Amex I really want to cash in on. Would it be better for a relative newbie like me to be patient, or is it better to “strike while the iron is hot” on these boosted sign-up bonuses? Thanks for your help!!!!

Maybe Andrew. It’s best to pick your spots and have a strategy. For example you have Delta, AA, and UA. Did you get enough points from each card to even get a one-way saver award? It might have been better to focus on getting as many points as you can in a program before moving on.

The second thing is for what purpose are you getting the cards for. You mention Hilton AMEX and now the Citi Hilton. For what? Do you plan on staying at a Hilton? Have you valued the points and what they mean to you? That is all part of the strategy.

[SIZE=5]Then you have to be mindful of the restrictions placed by the banks. Chase and their 5/24 rule as well as AMEX and the number of cards they allow. Promotions come and go as do “Juicy” offers. The SPG promo is a great offer but can you meet the minimum spend after getting 3 cards last week?

I would try to get the SPG card if you can meet the spend without manufacturing it as AMEX will take it back if you do. Beyond that my next step would be to come up with a strategy and wait for REAL deals, like the AMEX 100K offers that come from time to time. [/SIZE]

I second this completely. A lot of these offers come around regularly so there is no need to jump on them unless you have a need for the points. A good general strategy these days for someone starting out would be to start with Chase products slowly along with business cards from other banks and then expand.so as not to run afoul of 5/24. Not much you can do about that at this point but be judicious going forward!

I agree with all the advice above and add that your credit score can take a hit with this many pulls in a short time along with other factors. Take a deep breath and formulate your strategy before proceeding.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I did sign up for all the cards with a purpose in mind, except for the United card mostly because I got a 70k targeted offer for a card usually in the 30k range. All the other card bonuses are for upcoming trips to Rome (fall 2017), Orlando (fall 2018), and Hawaii (2019) to cover airfare and hotel. The Hilton 75k point card would be to bank more points for a longer stay in Hawaii. The SPG I have no plans for but since the sign up bonus is so good seems hard to pass up, particularly with the Marriot merger and question on how long Starwood Points will be around. Chase 5/24 is a concern, but I’m targeting other non-Chase cards in the coming 2 years so all my early 2017 approvals will fall off when I’m ready for new Chase 5/24 vulnerable products in 2019. My score did take about a 50 point hit recently, but I’m still 750+ so I’m not terribly concerned there yet. Just wondering if others have gone overboard and had a bad reaction (I.e. Credit score, increased denials, etc.).

While I would normally say that if you have enough expanses to meet the spend get the card, but with a 50 point drop I will have to be part of the group that says stop for a while until the applications start to fall of.

You never know when you might need a extra loan in case large unexpected expenses comes up.

If you have large amount of spend each month that you can put on cards why not go with cards that you already have that will give you airline or hotel status after extra spend?

Both the Delta and United card will get the revenue part of qualifying for status removed after spend, and the Hilton card will get you Hilton gold.

If you can meet those extra requirements easily on your next round of credit card applications after your credit score goes up again get cards that can get you even higher status and put spend on those.

Also consider get a card that is good for everyday spend and not just the signup bonus, unless you already got one of course?