I am preparing to do a churn within the next few days. I am wondering if there are some benefits that are unique to the Alaska Airline card?

Also – I checked my credit score on Creditsesame but am wondering how I can find out how many and the dates of inquiries I have with each of the 3 bureaus – ? Is there any way to do that without signing up for a credit monitoring service that has a fee – ?

Last ??? – How long should one wait after canceling some cards before applying for the same type of new ones ie, closing Citi AAdvantage cards and applying for Citi Thank You cards or canceling AMEX P.R. and SPG and applying for a Hilton AMEX?

Richard, I signed up for the card about 2 weeks ago and only yesterday was approved. I immediately emailed chase using their secure email system and quoting the SV6, being polite and mentioning what a good customer I am (since 1998 – no less ;0, with quite a few cards over the years and they agreed to give 50K immediately and the other 50k once I hit my $3,000 spend. so it's definitely worthwhile talking to chase if you've just opened the card. unfortunately for you in this particular case 90 days is seemingly their limit, but brilliant information to keep for future reference.

My main goal for this churn is free hotel stays.

My preliminary Churn List:

No Fee Cards:
(1) Hilton HH from Amex – 50K – $500 spend
(gives 6 bonus pts. for gas, groceries, drug
stores, internet, cable & phone. Also 15%
bonus on all HH pts. received.)
(2) Citi Hilton HH Visa Signature – 40K – $1K spend
(3) BOA Hawaiian Air Visa Signature – 35K – $1K
spend. (Can transfer to Hilton 1:2 = 70K HH pts.)

ALSO CONSIDERING:
1) Chase Priority Club Select Visa – 60K – no min.
spend. Some have gotten "bonus bump" to 80K.
(includes Gold Elite Status & 10% rebate on
redemptions)
2) Citi Thank You Premier – 50K – $2K spend – $125
fee (Not sure if it would be wise to apply for 2
Citi cards.)

I CURRENTLY HAVE:
1 Citi card from '08
2 Amex cards (Plat from Mar '11 & Delta from '09… Dates on both are '09)
2 Chase cards (CO from '10 & BA from Apr '11)
1 Cap. One from Mar '11
1 Discover from '08

I'm looking for feedback with suggestions for my churn.

I got the sapphire preferred card in december for 25k…i missed the 50k boat…i emailed them and pushed really hard in 3-4 emails only to get 2500 courtesy points. then the 100k offer came. same thing: "sorry, policy is new apps or withing 90 days, here is 2500 points for your worries." Pushed hard some more on emails and got a similar letter that you did, Rick, explaining their management of the offers.

All i can do is suck it up and try to get my wife the card for 50k and bump that. Any evidence out there that Sapphire is churnable? can reapply for ANOTHER sapphire card? would they realize that i already have one?

Rick, I was given the bonus and I opened my account in May. I am not a "platinum member" nor do I have any special relationship with the bank. Response below:

Dear GA,

I would first like to take this opportunity to personally
thank you for choosing Chase Sapphire to handle your
account.

As per the offer on your account, you will receive 50,000
bonus points after spending $3,000.00 in purchases within
93 days of account open date. These points will post to
your account within one to two billing cycles once this
criteria is fulfilled.

I feel that every relationship is based on mutual trust
and support, including one between a bank and a customer.
As a gesture of commitment to you, I have added additional
50,000 points to the rewards balance on your account.
This adjustment will reflect on your next statement.

You can redeem the 100,000 points in total for a $1,000.00
cash back. In order to view and redeem your rewards
information online, please follow these steps:

1. Log on to our website at http://www.ultimaterewards.com and
select your credit card account from the "My Accounts"
page.
2. Click on "Rewards Details" located in the bottom left
corner of the Account Details page.
3. After viewing current reward information, you may also
click on "See Rewards History" for more information or
"Redeem Rewards" to complete a redemption request.

I trust this adjustment brightens your day and hope to see
a long standing relationship with Chase.

If you have any further questions, please reply using the
Secure Message Center.

Thank you,

I was approved on 6/20/11…I sent a secure SM yesterday 6/21 and was denied. Chase stated that is was a targeted offer and I was not eligible. I pushed back since I have been a Chase customer for 12 years, etc. After a few more SM's back and forth, they finally said they will send my request to the approriate department and will be in touch in 1 business day (as of last night 6/21). So at this point, they are not giving the bump anymore…

I successfully 'bumped the bonus' to 100k on 6/20 evening (myself) and 6/21 morning (wife). Both accounts are <90 days old. Requests sent via secure message center and replies came within 30 mins. Responses were virtually identical to that posted by GA.

I don't think "act quickly" is the correct advice here given that Chase is apparently no longer giving the bump. Instead, I suggest patiently waiting.

I bet Chase has a non-targeted offer of 100,000 points in the next few months. I can't imagine that we won't see a 50,000 offer on this card again, so I see no rush to use a credit pull right now.

I contacted Chase today via secure message inquiring why my extra 50,000 points have not shown up yet. I have a secure message from Monday morning saying they would be happy to provide the extra bonus. Wellll – I received a message back saying they had changed their mind, I had been provided incorrection information and would not be receiving the extra points anymore. Of course I called immediately and although as nice as could be was told that they were REMOVING the points from those that had received them that did not have a legitimate invitation number. Period. Would not budge.

FYI : Bonus offer match within 90 DAY does not seems to be the CHASE policy..

My request (after 3-4 denial responses already)
———————–
My take is that official CHASE policy is to match ANY
public or targeted offer (SV6 in this case) during first
90 days of a card being opened. I am simply requesting a
match under this well documented bank policy.

CS response
————

Thank you for your interest in the Chase Sapphire bonus
points offer.

The 100,000 bonus points offer was made through a small
direct mail test and is non-transferrable. The Offer Code
and Invitation Number included in the mailing can only be
applied to the recipient?s account. If you are not listed
as the addressee of the mailing, we will be unable to
apply the offer to your account. I understand you may be
disappointed and I am sincerely sorry for any confusion.
Please know that we will consider reviewing the terms of
other offers you receive in the future.

Here was my response when asking for the SV6 promo at noon today Pacific time.

"Thank you for taking the time to contact us in regards to
the bonus offer on your Chase Sapphire account.

I would like to clarify this offer is valid for customer
who got the invitation. If you were sent an invitation for
this offer, I kindly request you to reply to this email
with the offer code and the invitation number, and either
myself or one of my colleagues will be happy to assist
you.

I apologize for any inconvenience that may have been
caused. If you have any further questions, please reply
using the Secure Message Center. "

Rick,
In light of this new info, would you recommend that those of us that receive the 50,000 points in our account already show cash them out by requesting a check or tranferring them. Do you think we need to act fast like today???
It is also possible this is just their statement to further inquiries so as to not give out anymore points. I was thinking that the time involved for the research of who received the points might not be worth it to them but they do not want to continue to give the points out. Any feedback would be great!
Thanks for the heads up!

Just wondering how a denial for a credit card affects a credit score … is it still a hard pull?

Also, I closed a couple of Citi cards and kept one open. I asked to have part of my credit limits from the two I closed transferred to the one I kept open. Called several times and each time I was told "New regulations" prevent them from doing that. (Funny 'cuz Amex did it for me – all in one phone call – twice in the last month.) Two Citi CS reps suggested I request an increase in the limit on the one I kept open but when I asked about a credit pull, they both said it would be a hard pull. Not very happy with Citi!!

Hi Rick,

How about a blog entry on when to cancel credit cards? I have a few high credit limit cards that I no longer use, but am keeping them to maintain my low usage ratio for my credit scores. I don't want to adversely affect that score, but I don't want a zillion cards open either. How does one balance that problem?

Thanks.

Sweet. Was given the "wait and see" initially for this 50K card. Got a phone call a few days later, asked me why I had applied for so much credit (previous app round was more than 60 but less than 90 days ago). Gave answers, put me on hold, then denied me.

Fast forward a week, I get the letter today. Call in, ask for reconsideration, close my most recently opened Chase account (UA card) and viola!

So I got Chase Sapphire 50K, Amex Gold 75K, Citi HHonors 40K. (I was too late for the Amex Hhonors 50K, sadly.)

I was also denied the BofA Alaska card (because I stupidly applied 2 days after the 3 previous apps). Called in for reconsideration but credit analysts are apparently east coast and gone for the day. Will try again tomorrow.

In the fall I hope an Amex HHonors deal is sweetened again, or I'll get the Surpass, and perhaps a conversion to the Amex Platinum will have a nice bonus – my existing US Club membership expires in October.

Newbie here asking for help. I plan to use Chase Sapphire points to bring my Mother from Lisbon to NY in the fall. If it is true that Sapphire will rescind the 50k bump, can I transfer points only one way to Continental? Both BA and CO fly that route, but I hear using BA miles will incur higher fees.

1) Once in the Continental account, I can't then transfer them back to Sapphire, correct? Am open to your suggestions where to transfer the points to a safe haven!

2) I applied for the BA Visa about 6 weeks ago and received the Sapphire one week ago. Now that I understand churning (thx, everyone), would you recommend I start my first churn next week or should I wait? Creditsesame is 777 and Truecredit scoresare 839/861/854.