Are these noob traps to bait you into expensive flights and hotels or do these actually save you money if you don't max them out like a retard?
Travel Credit Cards
Are these noob traps to bait you into expensive flights and hotels or do these actually save you money if you don't max them out like a retard?
1. The Amex platinum is a charge card you don't 'max them out'
2. From that fact alone I know you are too poor for this card
fpbp, I had the Amex Platinum when I was traveling a lot for work and it was awesome because you get 5x points when you use their travel portal, now the travel portal is shit and I would never use it for personal travel but for work travel that I was getting reimbursed for? It was great, I racked up like 500k points in little over two years and used that to travel and pay for hotels, also you get airline fee bonuses so the $500 annual fee goes down to like $200, which I convinced my manager to also reimburse
Platinum is not a charge card anymore. You can either have it as a charge card or like a traditional card that accrues interest.
They're still charge cards. Pay Over Time does treat purchases like a regular credit card but only purchases over $100 (Used to be this anyways) are eligible, so if you make a bunch of 70 dollar purchases you still have to pay off the whole balance
One of the best ways to spot a poor person is the fact that they don’t have enough financial discipline to funnel their expenses through a points/travel card. It’s literally free money if you aren’t retarded.
reason why Europoor will be forever europoor is because nothing like this exists here
What do you mean? Isn't the Miles and More credit card from Lufthansa basically this?
Not true. Amex has similar offering in many European countries as well. Visa, Mastercard, too.
I hate credit card companies too much to buy into this, but I know my parents save tons of money cause they do what
described. I think they save something like 5% on every expense since decades, cause they exclusively use that 1 Visa card and pay on time every month.
Explain. I have a credit card that gives back money once in a while. How is a travel card superior?
The redemption value can be significantly higher i.e. transferring points to an airline and booking a $20,000 first class ticket.
No foreign currency exchange fees, you can use it like a fee free ATM card in whatever country you are in. Better customer service with travel cards, being able to get a replacement overnighted to you is clutch. Good airline deals.
Point redemption value and card offers. No regular cash back card will give you credits for flights or hotel stays (see venture x and chase sapphires). Some travel cards will also do improved insurance for rental cars, others will straight up give you hundreds of dollars for cancellations and delayed flights, in addition to possibly covering a free hotel stay overnight for cancellations. More point earnings for travel purchases as well. Expensive cards also have lounge access.
Credit cards are in two buckets: cash back and travel, you've got cash back and thats fine but if you want to get more out of the points you have your fare better with a travel card.
Thats a good amount of points, you can probably do a round trip intl flight on economy, maybe a business class flight one way if you go somewhere close like Spain or local US. Timing is the biggest factor. You'll want to do the following:
>google flights for where you want to go
>see which airlines on that google flight list are partnered with AMEX for point transfers
>go to the site of each partnered airline and test the dates you want with points to see how much it will cost you
>make an account with the cheapest one
>transfer points from amex account to airline account (you tend to get more value from points this way)
>buy flight with points, pay taxes and fees in dollars
Amex partners include delta, british airways (and all one world alliance airlines), iberia, ANA, air canada, singapore air, emirates so check all of these airlines that have a flight headed to where you want to go and choose the least point expensive flight.
Be aware that you cannot send points back to your amex account, the transfer is one way so ensure you have enough for one way or roundtrip and know that you may lose a few hundred points since you'll likely have to send them by the thousand.
Individual airlines tend to give more value for points than the actual credit card company, thats why you transfer them.
based, and the credit card companies spread out the expenses to the poor fags, so it’s basically poor people subsidizing rich peoples points travel and purchases
One of the best ways to spot a middle class person is the fact that they have time to funnel their expenses through multiple points/travel card.
The wealthy only use one card because they don't need the hassle of juggling multiple cards to save pennies on the dollar. Reviewing statements take time. They have one card that typically pays cash back.
I have a card that pays 2.5% cash back on the first $10K in monthly spending, with a credit limit of $50K. I know someone with a 3% cash back card (unfortunately it's unavailable to new applicants).
Wealthy can get a card that does it all, while goyim can only get a speciality card.
Centurion card has shit earnings
whats a good starter points/travel card for someone who never had a credit card before?
Chase Sapphire Preferred is one of the best entry ones.
amex platinum is bretty good, you get free entry into amex lounges at airports which is nice if you travel a lot
Getting a Platinum or two or four for the signup bonuses is great. What no one here has mentioned is the Plat and Amex in general are actually shit cards to use when traveling outside the US. Outside of hotels and Ubers, I don’t think there’s a single country on Earth that has decent acceptance of them. You always need to have a Visa or Mastercard with no FTF when you’re traveling somewhere at a minimum, and ideally some cash for when a place is a cash only
Amex lounges are usually shit because they’re all overcrowded. They’re only good when a lounge isn’t slammed with people
Yep. Capital One Venture card all the way. Amex is shit.
I feel the overcrowded complaint. The new policy limiting non-cardholder guests is great though. Gotta keep the screaming babies and disgusting children out.
You went to an Ivy League school and you can't write in complete sentences. I totally believe you.
I don’t have a lot of faith that it’ll work unfortunately. I won’t start traveling regularly again until next month, but I’ve been hearing that there’s still a bunch of screaming children in the lounges because the parents have either spent the $75K for the waiver, or they just reluctantly pay the fee
Only for babby mode <80k spenders
>Amex lounges are usually shit because they’re all overcrowded. They’re only good when a lounge isn’t slammed with
I like Delta lounges. Their card is AMEX branded
Amex lounge means their own Centurion brand, separate thing. I think you can get into both with an Amex Platinum but the Delta cards aren't good at Centurion lounges.
The Delta Reserve card gets you into Centurion lounge but that's the only one of the Delta cards that gets you the perk
AMEX platinum also get you into Delta lounges if your ticket is booked through Delta
Travel cards are good for their signup bonuses. Most of them aren't worth keeping around due to their annual fee. Make sure you're traveling/spending enough to justify the heftier fees if you're planning on keeping one around. I use the Chase Sapphire Preferred because it's a $100 a year but it includes 5x points on Lyft rides, and I think points go 10-15% further when you redeem them on Chase's travel portal. Plus some other decent goodies like a nerfed Priority Pass Select for lounges.
What's the point in credit cards? Why not just have savings?
To get cash back or points from things you were already going to buy.
What is cash back? I keep hearing about this, I think I asked a supermarket cashier for it once and they just withdrew money from my account and gave it to me. What is the point in this?
So that would be a cash advance or a withdrawal if you're paying with a debit card. Cashback for credit cards in this scenario means that you're typically getting 1 to 1.5% back on every single purchase you make with that credit card. This is real cash that can be used to redeem gift cards on the vendor's website, or can be used as a credit to your current account in order to reduce your balance.
This shit is so confusing, why didn't they teach this in school?
how do you think rich people stay rich and poor people stay poor? Chad's dad taught him about proper credit usage, finance, mortgages, etc. Your dad ranted about the garden gnomes or morons making him poor and retarded.
They don't teach any of that shit in school because teachers are broke asses with no financial sensibilities. If they had any, they wouldn't be teachers.
>Chad's dad taught him about proper credit usage, finance, mortgages, etc. Your dad ranted about the garden gnomes or morons making him poor
based take, poorfags perpetuate their family financial cycles, yuropoors like me are even more fucked because elites control industry and I have no prospect for upwards movement
I do agree financial literacy is ridiculously undertaught in the US, if at all. I think economics was either taught with US Govt/History in my senior year of high school. All we did during that section of the class was make a projected budget for real life expenses that was 1 month in scope and then we moved on. This was in 2009 too so I don't even know if high schools are still even doing that now.
Too busy teaching you how to fuck.
Seriously, why don't they teach finance that might actually be useful?
Look at who the teachers are
>Too busy teaching you how to fuck.
>Look at who the teachers are
Not inaccurate
I was never raped so I was taught nothing
Schools really could use a financial education class that focuses on taxes, retirement, and credit.
I have a degree in economics from an Ivy and thought credit cards were the devil until three months ago - it's a culture thing. Even if Americans were financially literate, they'd still make shit decisions
We had personal finance class in my high school
you wouldn't have listened anyways given the fact that you can't even google what cash back means
They did, in my public school. In 8th grade. It was a required class called "Choices and Decisions." Sounded like namby-pamby liberal nonsense. In retrospect, a great class.
Hmm, looks like liberalism does have the people's best interests at heart.
>What is cash back
its literally what it sounds like. you spend $100, the credit card company will give you %2-3 (IE $2-3) of that purchase back.
What do they gain from this?
The minority of non-retards who use credit cards to their advantage are statistically irrelevant to the credit card companies. You are basically gaming the system because dumbasses will max their cards out and carry balances to pay for you.
Also, they do make a tiny amount of money when you use your card, but it comes from the fees the business pays to take credit cards, not from you.
Lol, that's a different thing, cash back for credit cards refers to getting a few % of what you spent during the month off your bill
>Travel cards are good for their signup bonuses. Most of them aren't worth keeping around due to their annual fee.
This. You really need to decide how much the bullshit benefits they throw in are really worth to you.
You can't really go wrong with getting a card with no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees and just completely forgetting about the idea of racking up the retard points.
Also this
That doesn't mean anything to me. Like that poster already stated, if you have zero financial discipline, credit cards are your worst enemy.
The points are there to bait you into thinking "If I spend more money I'll save more!" so that retards with no impulse control can justify ruining their lives to themselves.
If you aren't one of these people then yeah it's free money.
Free money if you just pay on time. I feed all the expenses I can though mine and build miles and just pay the whole balance every paycheck. I got a flight to Miami for like $10 plus miles lol. With my gold SkyMiles I get my first checked bag free and get priority boarding. I still don’t know if it’s worth it compared to another card because some places don’t take it or charge a fee but I’m comfy so far.
Because you are going to spend the money anyway. And you have the benefits of dispute resolution that you don't on your debit card. The points you accumulate by spending with your card can be used for other things, especially flights. Why anyone would use a debit card is beyond me. Literally zero benefits. You are safer using cash.
Long post incoming
The fraud protection alone is worth using a credit card. You can dispute a charge and get the money back with a credit card in 48 hours a lot of the time. With a debit card, it might take 6 months. They almost always deny your initial fraud claim with a debit card. It takes an insane amount of work to reverse a debit transaction in most cases.
I have a high interest rate on my credit card, so I have to pay it off really quickly or I do end up paying more in the long run.
I got scammed after using my credit card in LA at a parking garage 2 weeks ago. It was the only time I used the card. Within an hour, someone tried to spend like $500 at the Nike store, and then a bunch of other shit started coming in. They reversed all of it in minutes after I called and mailed me a new card with next day shipping.
Conversely, someone stole my dad's debit card and withdrew $5,000 from his account using cashapp. It's been 4 months. They denied the claim 3 times and we're still fighting it.
This all depends on the bank you use. 10 years ago my capital one debit card information got stolen and used on the other end of the country and they restored my balance within a week.
>Within a week
Only time I ever had fraud on an AMEX it was reversed in three minutes and I was never out a penny. There is zero reason too ever use a debit card.
unironically only in true in U.S, in my country you can get your money back with a debit card only, with the credit card you must always pay out the debt even if your credit card was stolen
Basically this, when i was on a trip, my credit card got skimmed somehow (I'm sure it was on a clothing store, but idk), i called my bank and the charge was reversed in two days and the card was instantly cancelled, visa called me a while later and offered some emergency cash (Refused it because i always carry extra cash if shit like this happens), then they asked me where i was staying, this was on saturday, on tuesday my new cards were delivered (Normal one plus a new lower tier one linked to the original)
This was with a non-us card before anyone says "Only in america lol"
The Plat isn't really a great travel card unless you're booking lots of airfare for 5X. The perks are nice but you're better off with a Venture X or Chase Sapphire Reserve. It's still worth churning a few points. Then just open and AMEX Gold/BBP and keep the points alive. If you actually want to earn points you'll want a variety of cards to maximize return on all of your expenses. If you aren't a Dave Ramsey swill drinking retard you can get tens of thousands of dollars of travel from cards.
if you want to use miles on a specific date to a specific place you arent going to have a good time.
if you want to roll with the deals and are flexible with locations. (ie want to visit x amount of countries/national parks)
>The Plat isn't really a great travel card unless you're booking lots of airfare for 5X
agree with this but they have killer bonuses sometimes. I was able to land the 150k bonus and then was able to refer people to that targeted 150k for 100k extra bonus points that first year. 256k (had to spend $6) AMEX points for $695.
my mom's richfag friend has an amex black
what benefits does the black have over the platinum?
its AMEX so nothing. Mastercard Master Race.
It costs like $7,500 per year but Klaus Schwab invites you to Illuminati meetings. You do NOT get this from the Platinum.
basically everything the plat gives u x4 give or take
its a status symbol
Do the travel reward centric cards even work that well? I have been using my capital one 2% cash back on all purchases but about to travel again this summer.
ehh, if you play the card juggling game like some guys do and/or only fly with a specific airline, then yeah. if you just want to keep one card and not muck about with that bullshit then a regular ol' capital one card is about as good as it gets. the Cap One card really is the best general travel card imo. the free TSAPre makes up for the annual fee alone.
How limited are you with your options if you go chase saphire reserve vs venture x? I would expect at least 1k in airplane travel tickets at least in a yeae from me currently.
My capital one cards are two seperate quicksilver lines.. Why I have two seperate quicksilver is that I started in college with one low credit rating card and then applied for a better one but kept the card open to help credit history and just had my monthly bills go to old card to keep it active.
First thing you should do is confirm that you aren't paying an annual fee for that older Quicksilver card (there is a lesser variety of it for low credit that comes with a fee). If so just close it. They won't budge and the credit history isn't worth literally paying for.
The Sapphire Reserve and Venture X offer pretty equivalent perks in terms of travel. The big difference is the airport lounge membership they offer through Priority Pass (sometimes airports don't have a lounge but PP partners with restaurants that Chase's membership gives a credit to but Capital One doesn't). I don't put much stock into the lounges because I'd rather just eat a snack at home and get to the airport closer to flight time.
The Sapphire Reserve's real power comes from either redeeming points through Chase's travel portal or transferring those points to airlines or Hyatt hotels. And even there you need a Chase Freedom card to earn more points with its quarterly 5% categories for the annual fee to be worthwhile, because otherwise it's just a 3% cash back card and you can get that for free elsewhere.
tl;dr most people spending at least $400 per year on travel and airfare specifically (like you) are going to be best served by the Venture X
>close it
before you do that see if you can downgrade to a free card to keep the credit history without the annual fees.
In general this is the way to go but Capital One in particular doesn't make accommodations to those cards. Worth asking but expect you'll have to close it if it's the annual fee/bad credit version of the card.
My quicksilver cards have no annual fees. I guess looking at what got posted it the Venture X would be the best. It's essentially "free" yearly from the travel credits etc if they get used and same general rewards if I can't be assed to close it and open another one.
Sometimes people get fucked by portals screwing up their reservations but so long as you aren't booking something for next day you can always call the vendor directly to confirm before your travels.
Specifically with what I'm assuming is your Venture X, if you're not using the portal travel credit you can just book with the vendor directly and redeem your "miles" for cash back later.
>do they actually save you money if you don't max them out like a retard
Yes. You generally want cheap cards and build a swarm of points maximizers within a single company. Chase is the biggest one where you get the Freedom Unlimited for most stuff (groceries, gas, etc.), Freedom Flex for whatever they decide is getting more points than the Unlimited in the next 4 months, and the Chase Sapphire at $95 annual for anything travel related like hotels, flights and rental cars. Using these just to buy things you would normally buy, you can finance yourself some free flights depending on how much you spend on the cards to pointsmaxx.
>Amex Plat?
Garbage. Most loungeshit is garbage. It will always be cheaper to just eat and drink before coming to the airport. If you really need drinks then go buy some at a bar and be social. The juice isn't worth the squeeze given how expensive the $495+ annual cards are.
>CapitolOne VentureX
The APR on it is fucking dogshit and if you have a single year where you don't spend $300 then you've gotten scammed. They've got like 2 lounges realistically and it isn't worth it. The Chase Sapphire is cheaper at $95 and functionally the same when it comes to points.
Still, given this data, if you want the Venture X because you travel at least once a year then get it, and then get CapitolOne cards to rack up points with just like I suggested with Chase.
>do they work well?
Yes, depending on whether you spend enough to make it worth it. Your 2% card will give you $20 on a $1000 flight, but a chase sapphire or venture x will give you $50 back. While abroad, if you charge to the travel card that 5% rate will apply, so if you spend $4000 on a trip then you'll get $80 vs $200 cash back. Essentially amounts to a free overseas trip every couple of years depending on how responsibly you can utilize credit card. Expensive cards like the venture X have this big cashback for travel but you've still got annual fees to factor in.
>APR
moot point, you shouldn't be retarded and carrying a balance.
I know how to handle credit cards, it's something to bring up when you have people here literally asking how cash back from credit cards works as they likely will carry a balance.
I like my Platinum for lounge access (I fly at least once a month) and I can offset most of the fee with all the shit they give you. On the hotel front I'd say about half the time I've booked a hotel their fine hotels program is justifiable ($100 dining credit [albeit hotel dining prices make that one (1) meal for two], breakfast, and a room upgrade basically makes it similar to what I'd pay at a random hotel but a much nicer hotel) but their airline travel portal is rarely worth it. I just book direct.
>had a "Gold" card
>received an offer to upgrade to "Platinum" or "Ion"
>the Ion is a tier above Platinum
>upgrade to Ion
>it looks so shitty
>no embossed numbers/letters
>no signature field
>the credit card number and expiry are printed on the back in black; pretty sure the font is Arial
>the front looks like a dentist's business card or a community college ID
>the back looks like a bus pass
I haven't traveled with it yet, so we'll see if hotel receptionists laugh at me.
>nooo stacy will laugh at me and think i am pathetic 🙁
Shut the fuck up and man up you literal high school retard
I don't have a question about points or rewards, but I just have a general question about credit cards. How many does a normal person have? Would it be a good idea to get a second card if you're traveling? I have this weird paranoia about losing my one & only card while traveling, and thought how nice it would be to have a second card stashed away in my backpack or suitcase.
any good travel card can get you fedexed a replacement in 24 hours or so. its part of the deal.
>normal
I have 10 but I've never paid interest ever. It's purely for rewards maximization. So long as you aren't getting them to max out and move on don't worry too much about the number.
If you have one it's probably worth having two not just for the reason you bring up but the much more common problem that one will be compromised from online shopping eventually.
Anyone use the Visa Signature cards and website to book hotels? The Signature benefits seem mediocre (except for free upgrade and food credit) but some of the hotel booking deals on the website seem nice.
Most of them are not worth their annual fee outside of their sign up bonus unless you spend a LOT of travel. For example, just for MR points you're probably better off holding a gold than a platinum since you're probably gonna get a lot more mr from the 4x on groceries than the plat's 5x on tavel (unless, again, you travel a LOT). And most of the ways to "earn back" the annual fee are dumb shit like uber eats where you have to already be wasting money to use the credit.
In the UK at least, there's a free Amex card called the 'American Express Rewards Credit Card'. Presume there's an equivalent in other markets.
You can only receive the sign-up bonus once with Amex, so you're best off getting a card with a huge sign-up bonus (like the platinum), then getting the no annual fee card and asking them to link the MR accounts so that both cards share the same balance. Once you've got your sign-up bonus for the platinum you can cancel it (or at the end of the first year if it's free for the first year). Amex give pro rata refunds for annual fees, so if you cancel midway through a year, you get the remaining annual fee back.
MR points are great because you convert them into so many things, but flights are still probably the best use.
The main thing to consider though before you sign-up is what you'll cash them in for. Economy tickets are often poor value for redemptions because so much of the ticket is tax.
Best value are usually premium tickets (business and first), but in particular, upgrades (you buy a cash ticket, then upgrade it with points).
So if you don't care about flying in business class etc. look carefully at how you will get value from an Amex card. It might be that you're better off just with a cashback card or some other form of rewards.
I have personally used mine for european flights (which can be good value in economy, especially when a flight is pretty full/last minute (I booked a flight to Thessaloniki with points less than a week before departing in peak season for about 28k MR points/avios vs £600+) . The rest of the time, I tend to use them for non-UK departing business class flights (to avoid taxes). Have used them to get to Asia and transcontinental US, which have also been great value. But I always weigh up whether I should just pay cash vs using points, sometimes cash makes more sense when fares are good.
I'm currently on gold preferred for the free first year and plan to switch to the free rewards one after. But the sign up bonus afaik is available after 18 months since the last card you applied for, though I'm unsure if you would have to close the account.
besides that have you also got the chase debit? The cashback seems nice but I do wish we had their sapphire credit cards available to us as well.
Credit cards are a trillion dollar industry. They’re the most heavily marketed consumer product on the planet. Every airline, retail store and tire shop you go to tries to get you to enroll in their credit card. Do you think they are so easily beaten by making your monthly payments?
You aren’t outwitting them by paying your balance in full every month, because the overwhelming odds are that you spend significantly more using a credit card. That’s more fees for the CC companies and a higher chance of you building a balance you can’t pay back, like an idiot.
I say this as someone who uses an Amex Plat personally as well as Amexes for both of my businesses and a Chase Sapphire for extra coverage. Just bear in mind that, simply paying back your balance every month doesn’t mean you’re spending wisely.
I’m still a wee lad so I haven't used a credit card yet. Can you explain how they could charge you extra even after paying off the card in full every month? I’m trying to get a CC soon, mostly for the free travel points, and my school taught us jack shit about this
He's saying that even if you pay it off every month, stuff like cashback and rewards points still tempt you into spending more than you would have otherwise for the rewards.
This is easily mitigated by having self-control and not being retarded.
Thanks man, luckily the Bhagavad Gita solved any potential impulse control problems for me
There's literally no point in using a credit card, whatever money you take out, you'll have to pay it back eventually. Just save up cash
>willingly discarding a completely free 30-days loan
>completely ignoring protective benefits established by not directly having payments hit your account
Not an American but your opinion is worthless.
How do you make purchases online? How do you buy plane tickets? Paypal is even worse than credit cards. Personal checks? I guess you could go to a travel agent or buy a ticket at the airline counter. Just be sure you buy for same day travel, and no luggage. That won't raise red flags or anything.
I wish I could go all Jack reacher style and have no cell phone, no car, no credit cards or financial history. Don't exist in the system. Fiat is a scam anyway.
You mean there’s literally no point in just using debt because you get free rewards if you just use credit and pay it off before any fees.
>There's no point in getting free cash back or travel rewards
If you are a zogbot you dont pay for the annual fee of amex platinum. I have plat for travel and gold for day to day.
What's the benefit of having both?
Just read the bonus for each card. Platinum gives you things for travel and bonus for travel. Gold gives you more for things like groceries or gas.
I wouldn't get both unless you are in the military and you can waive the yearly fee.
I don't play games with any "credit" lenders. get a card which refunds foreign atm fees and put cash on it. go and travel.
Stopped paying my credit cards for 6 months. Went from 680 to 530 credit score. How fucked am I for desirable travel cards? When will my credit recover enough for one? (burger)
>i have a 530 how fucked am I for desirable cards
Extremely so. Good travel cards like the Venture X require something like a 740/750 to get approved. Additionally, your history of non-payments will also mean you're a risk even if you raise your score back to a high level like that.
>Will my credit recover?
Will likely take years to get out of that hellhole at 530
>i stopped paying how fucked am I?
You could be forced to declare bankruptcy if creditors excise their right to have you pay them, though most just prefer to keep you on the hook at max APR forever. You really need to focus on paying back what you owe and then stop using credit cards entirely since you don't have the IQ/self control to own a credit card.
I figured
What's the maximum credit score? you talk about 530 and 760 without a reference point. Don't some credit agencies have a max score of 1000?
850 is the cap for FICO
FICO is the only one that matters and its a maximum of 850, the avg burger has a 714
>that's dystopian as fuck
Retard detected
>be banks pre-2008
>loan money to retards regardless of credit score
>these loans were called subprime loans and subprime borrowers were literally defined as "FICO score below 600"
>retards cant pay
>financial_collapse.exe
Not only are credit scores NOT dystopian, but had banks actually given a shit about credit scores when lending the 2008 collapse would have never happened.
>keep this insane credit culture to yourself
Lad, every country has its own form of credit scoring. FICO is actually pretty good because it's only concerned with payment history, utilization (card balance/credit limit), age and number of accounts, credit checks and handling of other types of debt (mortgage, car loan). Some places like the UK will negatively impact your score if you're not registered to vote, the US only gives a fuck about actual financial history and usage. Countries without FICO style scores will just use salary and debt payments instead, with a black mark taking over 5 years to be wiped with some not beginning that 5+ year count until the debt is paid off in full. Many countries won't let you stay besides traveler visa if your credit score is shit since they think you're avoiding debt payments.
So not only is it not dystopian, it's good for the country if adhered to and it's a pretty damn good model compared to other countries version of credit scoring.
No one's saying there shouldn't be credit you fucking mongoloid. Just that there's no need for everything to be so expensive. Imagine if everyone could live a decent life, rather than just the hard-working alpha males like you portray yourself you fucking pencil dick
>Just that there’s no need for everything to be so expensive
I don’t have any brainlet wojaks saved to share
>im not saying there shouldn't be credit you mongoloid
>im just saying that credit rating is dystopian!
>there's no need for things shouldnt be so expensive!
>i should just be able to buy things like a mcmansion outright!
>a-a-and if we just end the current dystopian credit rating system everyone would be able to have a decent life full of home ownership and a communist utopia can work if everyone just really tries this time and...
literal teenager lmfao
>you're portraying yourself as a hard-working alpha!
>he thinks me knowing basic credit card information somehow means I'm a hard-working alpha
The freudian slip where you admit your perception of me is a literal chad lmfao youre such a gay
You should time it with big necessary purchases, but if you're renting then you can try and shove rent payments in there to rack up the needed spending (not always an option I know). Otherwise, spend a grand on groceries, gas and a few treats for yourself a month and you'll hit the goal at month 6.
>just trying to rack up points
AMEX Blue card has better rates for everyday. After the 6 month bonus use that for daily stuff and the plat when you book travel stuff, primarily hotels and car rentals.
>The freudian slip where you admit your perception of me is a literal chad lmfao youre such a gay
Nope, I'm just telling you the act you're putting on is ridiculous
>the act you're putting on
me calling you retarded and explaining the basics of credit isn't an act, it's literally just me telling you that you're retarded and don't understand credit/economics at all.
>rising prices caused by inflation and low rates
The relation between interest and housing price is inverse, so if one rises the other typically falls. Your own stlouisfed citation shows this: interest rates rose in 2023 causing avg home prices to fall almost 10% from what they were in 2022's low interest rate period (479k in Q4 2022 to 436k in Q1 2023) and it's predicted to continue falling due to rising rates. Low rates cause price to increase because more loans are available easily and more people seek to buy, increasing demand for limited supply and raising prices. Inversely, now that rates rose, prices are falling, which helps as we're being hit with high inflation. High rates are essentially making it easier for you to buy a home and profit because the lower cost means putting the down is easier, and the higher the down (and the higher your credit score) the lower rate you can get. You should save for a high down, buy when prices fall further in a few months, then sell in a few years when rates fall and prices rise again, netting you high profit at similar to current rent cost mortgage payments. The biggest prevention for this profit isn't credit, it's inflation itself fucking you from getting your down as other COL expenses rise. This is yet another example of how credit is good for you, even at high rates, because if you're poor but manage to get a mortgage and pay for a couple of years, you can reap hundreds of thousands in profit, basically averaging double or triple a median/low income respectively if you know the basics of the housing market.
The problem with credit is that most individuals are shit at leveraging it (poors cant even leverage a low limit CC ffs), not that it exists as it does today. Credit is amazing if you're smart.
I told myself I'm taking a break from sighsee, so I won't respond anymore. But I still think you're wrong about the economics. It doesn't make me a commie to think things should be a little easier for the average joe.
>dont try to suggest that the rising number of mortgages and lower interest rates has nothing to do with prices peaking!
>i think you're wrong about the economics
I literally agreed that the economic relationship you proposed exists and used your own source to explain current market trends as a demonstration of why its true.You've essentially just stated that you believe your own economic opinion is incorrect solely because I said "A down if B up and vice versa" instead of "A up if B down and vice versa." This is negative IQ levels of dumbass.The example for leveraging credit here (using the same principle you said is true) is basically just housing market 101, it can be wrong if unpredictable market shit happens (like 2008 crash) but generally it will be true.
>i think it should be easier for the average joe
It's really not that hard:
>be poor
>get starter CC with low limit
>open more yet similar CC accounts that you do not use at all until you have a few and then stop opening accounts
>use one or two main cards for necessities only and pay almost all of it early to shred utilization before billing cycle which you pay same day
>do this for a few years
Congratulations, you now have a high credit score, potentially hundreds of dollars in cashback for some free money yearly and more favorable interest than most people in the country even if you're poor as fuck. It's that simple. That's all the average joe needs to do to qualify for better interest on loans: don't overspend and pay early/on time.
Check Caleb Hammer's channel sometime, you'll find out why average joe (and even higher earners) is fucked and it's mostly frivolous and irresponsible spending. You shouldn't demonize your best tool to escape poverty just because misuse can keep you impoverished (i.e. dont ban knives just because they can cut you), you should promote discipline and research on how to leverage credit to your benefit instead if you want to help the avg joe.
I have no financial knowledge. Can you please explain why you should open up lots of of credit cards but only use 1 or 2?
Additional accounts and a higher overall credit limit will boost your overall credit profile. Generally, I wouldn't suggest opening cards just to open them. It is a good idea, however, to open cards with varying higher returns on groceries, gas, hotels, airlines, etc.
I take it most of these cards don’t have annual fees? It doesn’t seem optimal otherwise
Certain cards (amex gold lmao) will have fees but also have credits, so it basically becomes a coupon book that you pay for that may offset the annual fee if you max out the credits. It's really not worth it if your spending patterns don't already make use of the credits and you don't spend enough to get the annual fee back on points/cashback.
If I understand correctly I just have to look for cards whose benefits match my spending habits and not use money in a retarded way. I appreciate the help anon
more or less, yeah. good example is my capital one card is $99 a year but i get free TSAPre which is normally $90 so the fee is a wash.
Basically. Can start with something simple like a Chase Sapphire Preferred. Low fee and great perks with a solid earn rate.
they’re offering 80k points sign up bonus right now, just flew from DC to Tokyo for 77k United Points (you can transfer Chase points to partners), not bad
If you were flexible, for only 11k more you could have done it in business on ANA.
>y-you’re wrong and I’m taking a break from sighsee for having my feefees hurt
I kekd
Commie detected
>every country has its own form of credit scoring.
I said credit culture, not credit scoring system.
>You're not forced to take a loan at all.
It is very very difficult for an american with an average income to live normally without any form of debt.
>Credit isn't what makes things expensive, it's what makes it so you can get things you normally would never be able to afford outright (i.e. a home).
Which makes things expensive which causes more people to not be able to afford them. Supply and demand. Happened b4.
>This is really only true for student loans
No, this true for all types of loans. Just more pronounced in non-dischargable debt.
>But they're not, retards use them for shit they don't need like new tv's, a yearly phone upgrade, uber eats, doordash, amazon garbage purchases, etc
Yes
>2008 was because banks ignored FICO with subprime borrowers being defined literally as "below 600 FICO score"
Yeah, and those banks were run by people considered good with money. Besides, it was only obvious in hindsight. Fico score wasn't that old so it wasn't some ironclad rule. And fico cant protect lenders against feds suddenly raising interests after promising they won't like they did in the past year. And look at mortgage rates in 2020/2021 vs now. I bet the lenders who trusted feds are feeling it in their ass right now. Another thing i noticed is that the percentage of people buying with cash is going back up now that loaning has decreased.
>Then how the fuck would you buy a home or car, save tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for it in one go?
If most people couldn't pay for it then the prices would be cheaper.
>Because it would otherwise take you forever to save the money to buy the house/car you want and the endless rent payments would ensure you never own it, so you wouldn't ever be able to make it out of borderline poverty or rent slavery
Also you - Nobody is forcing you to take a loan
Again- loaning when really needed isn't bad.
>credit culture
There is no credit "culture" at all, it's really just having access to credit to finance shit you otherwise cant afford. What you originally described as a dystopian culture is really just financial responsibility on part of lenders.
>but its difficult to live without a form of debt
We're talking credit card debts, which are primarily raised by people spending on useless shit to live above their means despite being unable to afford what they used credit to buy.
>its not true for just student loans
Name another guaranteed federal loan that is not dischargeable in bankruptcy that has directly contributed to rising costs. You won't because it doesn't exist. Rising costs for car and home loans are more to do with market factors than availability of credit. Supply and demand alone are a big one with the chip shortage for cars and outright quantity for homes.
>Supply and Demand
He says as he ignores every other economic factor to pin it all on credit
>but the banks were run by people considered good with money!
That's a cop out and you know it. I said explicitly FICO would have prevented 2008 and its true.
>cant protect against interest rates rising
Interest rates rising doesn't affect your FICO score at all. If you have an 800 score, you will 99% be approved for a loan, high interest rate or not. You're just spewing economic buzzwords with zero understanding
>prices would be cheaper if people couldn't pay for things
They either wouldn't be produced or they would be luxury products. Most people can't afford Hugo Boss suits, it's not getting cheaper just because most can't afford it and it's not getting more expensive because of credit.
>Also you - no force to loan
Yeah, you aren't forced to do it. You can, in fact, rent forever.
>loaning when needed isn't bad
You could loan your money to people in need and make money back with interest, how would you determine which stranger in need is worth lending your money to? Just give it because need?
You just regurgitated your previous. Am I supposed to repeat everything again. Abd stop taking my words literally, you know what I meant when I said that "you're forced to take some form of debt." You yourself admitted it with a different wording. Unless your definition of being forced is being held at a gun point. No one wants to live in borderline poverty.
The rising prices were caused by high inflation and low mortgage rates. Here's some data related to that. Now you can suggest that rise in the number of mortgages and lower mortgage has rates has nothing to do with the prices peaking right then but I won't waste any more energy. Believe whatever you want in your freedomland.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/185206/us-house-sales-with-fha-and-va-insured-mortgages-from-2002/
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSPUS
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/mortgage-rate
>you just regurgitated your previous post
Because you really didn't address any of it and went on a tard mode "EVERYTHING SHOULD BE CHEAP AND COST ME NOTHING!" spree
>am i supposed to repeat myself?
It would be better if you actually answered something instead of dodging endlessly. You keep saying we have a credit culture but haven't described it at all (because it doesn't exist) and you had no response to "how the fuck should we loan if not scoring" and other loans besides student loans affecting prices either. You repeat yourself because you have no answer that isn't pants on head retarded.
>stop taking my words literally!
IT'S EVERYONE ELSE'S FAULT THAT I CAN'T EXPRESS MYSELF CLEARLY!
>you admit you're forced to take loans!
>no one is actually forcing you at gunpoint though
lmfao, you're forced to except you're not actually forced to. I didn't say you had to either, I clearly said you can rent forever instead of taking loans, this doesn't mean you're forced to do anything though.
>no one wants to live in poverty
And you don't have to either, I just said it means ownership is out of the question because of expense. You can have a family and rent a 5 bedroom home permanently, that's not poverty and you wouldn't be forced to take a loan for that either if you find a landlord willing to rent based on income. You can, in fact, live without taking out loans your entire life while also not being forced to live in poverty. Debt, however, is one of the best means for someone in poverty to get OUT of poverty if they can manage debt responsibly (which most can't do).
>EVERYTHING SHOULD BE CHEAP AND COST ME NOTHING
Never said that. Although an average person should be able to live reasonably well in the biggest economy of the world.
>It would be better if you actually answered something instead of dodging endlessly.
You literally said "no you" to me. Good response
>no one wants to live in poverty
You missed the word borderline. Afraid of getting called out again?
>That block of text explaining basic shit
wtf did you just look up Wikipedia or something?
You don't even understand what I am talking about. Well keep looking at more articles until it starts making sense to you.
Oh I know a good place to start - look up why the recent collapse of frb happened(hint - it has to do with low mortgage rates being provided to clients with extremely good credit scores and good reputation)
Please stop explaining basic concepts. You're the one who has no clue what you're talking about.
I sincerely hope that you're working for a bank or something, I can't see why anyone would try this hard to show debt as good thing.
This retard isn't me.
I thought you were taking a break from sighsee after your feelings got hurt, so what happened?
>an avg person should be able to live reasonably well in USA
they can and do, the average american has around a 714 credit score so your average american can reasonably handle credit but are obviously carrying a balance by overspending money they don't have. Most people can in fact afford a lot, especially if they get married or cohabitate with a long term gf. Credit is not causing your average citizen to live like shit.
>you literally said no you
No, I said you literally haven't responded at all to shit I asked you and that you don't need to repeat yourself because saying the wrong thing a hundred times won't make it correct.
>you missed the word borderline
The answer doesn't change. It's why I said you keep dodging, because someone renting a mansion with cash and no credit cards isn't borderline poverty. You refuse to address anything you have no answer for, sadly for you denying reality doesn't make your delusion real.
>that block explaining basic shit
Yeah, because the anti-credit retards ITT obviously don't know the basics.
>you have no clue what you're talking about
>"You literally said 'no you' to me. Good response"
You whine about no you but use it immediately, god damn you're desperate for a W.
>that retard isn't me
>afraid of getting called out again?
"I'm not the guy you were talking to but are you afraid I'm going to call you out once again even though I didn't call you out because I'm not that guy?"
Jesus this is fucking embarrassing.
Wow, you're pathetic at this point. Did you lose it because I pointed out your contradiction?
>Because it would otherwise take you forever to save the money to buy the house/car you want and the endless rent payments would ensure you never own it, so you wouldn't ever be able to make it out of borderline poverty or rent slavery
Wrong. Just plain wrong. Stop consuming mainstream media
Correct.. although I would say that feds were being stupid as well. They assured that they wouldn't raise interests and then they suddenly raised interests. Svb wouldn't have bought long terms bonds had the feds not assured that the interest rates will be low.
>look up the collapse of FRB
>it was because of low mortgage rates being given to clients with extremely good credit scores and reputations
No it wasn't. First Republic Bank collapsed because of a bank run wiping out $100 billion practically overnight. A big enough bank run, regardless of who is being loaned to, will collapse any bank because banks aren't vaults and lend the money given to them by account holders. FRB in particular loaned out far more money than it actually had.
Silicon Valley Bank is not your traditional bank. These two had the largest share in their lending portfolio in venture capitalism, loaning tens of millions to (mostly) tech startup companies. Their strategy was essentially: lend tens of millions to 20 startups and pray the 1 big success is enough to recoup the costs and make a profit. Most tech startups have nothing to them that make them viable creditors, most individual creditors seeking these loans for startups may have good credit but certainly not enough income to justify calling multi-million dollar loans safe.
So you have massive loans going out to high risk startups, most of which will result in a loss and near-zero assets of any value post bankruptcy, in quantities exceeding the amount of money the bank itself had to loan out accompanied by a bank run causing it to collapse. Lack of profit forces startups to take more loans to remain operational, then the fed's interest hike, not low rates, hurts the already dying startups that must take out more loans which the bank must give because if the startup collapses the already distributed loans go up in flames and the chances at profit hit a permanent zero. The bank liquidates assets at below cost to remain operational, a bank run starts and suddenly there's no money to lend out and not enough time for startups to win big and pay back the loans. The problem here, obviously, isn't low rates, its super high risk lending done en masse.
SVB didn't die because of the loans, it was actually the deposits because the bank was run by retards and its clientele was too homogenic. SVB would get tons of VC money from startups depositing their loaned money, which they then used to buy lots of long term treasury bonds for "safe returns". When the interest rates started hiking up, the clientele felt the squeeze in unison and suddenly needed to withdraw significant amounts of cash to fund daily operations, which in turn skullfucked SVB because they had way too little liquid capital and the rest was mostly stuck in those long term bonds which were now much less valuable compared to the times of zero interest, so they had to eat billions upon billions of dollars in losses to stay afloat to the point they had to take out huge loans from other banks and even deploy an emergency stock sale. The news then triggered the panicked bank run that instantly killed them and got the feds involved.
>How fucked am I for desirable travel cards?
Gigafucked, not just for travel cards. Apartments won't rent to you, and the only loans you can get will have ridiculous conditions until you get back to 630+
>When will my credit recover enough for one?
7 years if you don't do this shit again
Anons going to owe me gay sex if he wants a place to live.
Thankfully I have more than one passport and don't need to rely on cucked burger good goy points for shelter
then go back to brazil bro
I don't think I've enjoyed my time here to be honest. Doubt I'll ever come back. I'll miss the feeling of being at the forefront of everything in this country. But watching the news on TV this afternoon made me physically ill. Not even the Tucker Carlson shit, just in general.
This is gigacope, but maybe it's for the best. Thanks for reading my gay blog.
Yeah I know I'm an idiot, I was jk. Was in a dark place.
itt: good goys
>get venture x at $395 annual fee
>travel abroad once a year triggers a $300 credit so realistically card costs $95 annually
>also get gifted $100 discounted towards next flight purchase thanks to annual miles bonus
>literally profit $5 yearly just by having the card and using it to buy one flight every year after the first 11 months
>assuming you only shove car rentals, hotels and the flight on the card (which you'd have to get anyway as you're not going to homelessmax abroad) you also get points to earn a free trip after a few years
>this whole thing is, again, assuming zero use outside of booking flights, hotels and car rentals
>other cheap cards like the $95 chase sapphire have enough points value that the annual fee is zero after booking a vacation and if you combine with their free cards results in profit that saves you hundreds on flights
>y-you're a garden gnome slave for getting a credit card hehe g-g-good goy!
This is why pointsmaxxers laugh at retards who can't handle credit cards. You're too retarded to see its literally free money if you just use credit cards wisely instead of maxing them out buying shit you cant afford. The good credit score also means shit like getting a home loan with lower interest is actually feasible so you can actually homestead instead of larping about it on 4chan as you rent from a garden gnome landlord.
This guy's right. My only cope would be to get a remote job and thirdiemax saving as much as possible, so I can buy a house without a mortgage. Given that I won't have good credit until like 37.
In America, not having credit cards at all is as bad as having them but being a retard (like me). You don't start off with an 800. It's only once you've been paying multiple balances consistently for years that you get good credit. The American way of life relies heavily on debt: housing, education, healthcare. Being able to finance this debt advantageously is a huge leg up.
Because of my lack of good credit, I can say goodbye to living in New York, or anywhere else that's expensive if I want to have any sort of financial future. That's a real-world impact on my quality of life.
Sounds dystopian as fuck. I hope you Americans keep this insane credit culture to yourself.
>Prove that you're responsible with money
>Be rewarded
>Prove you're irresponsible
>Don't get rewarded
Woah bro so dystopian
How is that dystopian? The credit system reward people who are able to prove that they are responsible enough to borrow and payback money when asked. If mortgages or other big loans started to get handed out to people with no credit or bad credit then they’d be fucked with a broke squatter who took 100k from them and smoked it
What’s a better alternative to this?
The reason people are forced to take these heavy loans is because of the credit system in the first place. Being able take these heavy loans to buy anything causes an increase in prices which further forces people to take loans until it is normalised. Supply and demand. If nobody took loans outside of emergencies then there would be less need for loans. There have been so many small or major financial crises that were caused borrowing/loaning/leveraging. And often times, people who were considered very good with money caused these crises.
>There have been so many small or major financial crises that were caused borrowing/loaning/leveraging. And often times, people who were considered very good with money caused these crises.
Enron's credit rating was immaculate until almost the very end. The whole system's a fucking scam.
>forced to take heavy loans
You're not forced to take a loan at all. You can, if you want to, never have a card and pay everything in full. Credit isn't what makes things expensive, it's what makes it so you can get things you normally would never be able to afford outright (i.e. a home).
>being able to take a loan is what causes prices to rise!
This is really only true for student loans, and the reason why isn't because the loans exist it's because it is non-dischargeable in bankruptcy so you'll be on the hook for them forever. Almost any other loan can be fully wiped in bankruptcy, so it has no effect on pricing as it would only increase the risk of default/discharge leading to less loans being given out in the first place.
>if they were only for emergencies
But they're not, retards use them for shit they don't need like new tv's, a yearly phone upgrade, uber eats, doordash, amazon garbage purchases, etc.
>financial crises
2008 was because banks ignored FICO with subprime borrowers being defined literally as "below 600 FICO score", so adhering to FICO scores when lending actually PREVENTS these from happening. Re: big companies being loaned, the issue there was other non-FICO credit rating companies classifying shit as AAA prime. Essentially, FICO was the best measure to prevent the crisis both in terms of lending out money to people and categorizing loans. FICO was ignored and the result was collapse.
You talk like either a retard, a credit retard, or a genuine teenager. You have no clue what you're talking about.
>How is that dystopian? The credit system reward people who are able to prove that they are responsible enough to borrow and payback money when asked.
Not him, but we shouldn't have to rely on credit so much to live dignified lives. If you want ANY claim at all to middle class status in the US, you'll be paying off loans your entire life, even if you're a doctor making $500k a year: homes in neighborhoods without Tyrone, college educations for children, healthcare for your foid and kids.
It'd be reasonable if a house cost roughly 3 times what an average worker makes, the way it was 50 years ago. It'd be reasonable if we didn't have to go into ridiculous debt in order to get qualifications of dubious quality for a chance at escaping wage slavery. It'd be reasonable if you didn't have to worry about bankrupting yourself whenever health issues occur, even if you do literally everything right financially. But none of those things are true in America in 2023.
This is a big fucking country, with plenty of land to build houses on. There's no reason why housing should be so expensive. That goes for everything else too. It's a fucked up dystopian system designed to keep people slaves for life, from the guy cleaning up shit on the streets to the high-powered lawyer mortgagecucking in Greenwich.
We are slaves to a class of hateful idiots who only grow more rapacious and hypocritical by the minute. If they were medieval lords or something making no justification for their behavior, I could stomach it. But they hide their disgusting acts behind cant about equality, progress, justice. I can't stand it.
Counterpoint:
Credit enables the average person to live well above their means, and has been the ONLY option for average people to participate meaningfully in the market economy for the past 20 years. The rise in housing costs can be correlated to the availability of credit, but it is much more closely linked to a myriad of other factors such as restrictive zoning laws, vindictive city councils, addiction to a car-oriented lifestyle, redlining, suburbanization, the rising cost of civil infrastructure, and more.
youre confusing credit with the chinese
True but Tyrone would be able to afford to live next to you then in what was once a high class neighborhood. Outrunning debt is what allows you to outrun Tyrone too
Also you don’t necessarily need to take out an absurd loan that will take decades to pay off, there are more moderate places to live and make a living especially with the rise of income on the internet. As for credit usage in general, you don’t even need to spend more than what you were already planning to spend.
If someone uses their credit card for their monthly bills, groceries, and moderate lifestyle happenings, then pays off the bill before any kind of free happens, is it still dystopian? If they do this then it’ll eventually provide them things like free flights saving hundreds of dollars
But yes the housing market is fucked right now
>we shouldn't have to rely on credit to live dignified lives
Then how the fuck would you buy a home or car, save tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for it in one go? Without credit all but the super rich would be unironic perpetual rentslaves with no chance at actually owning anything.
>you'll be paying loans forever!
Because it would otherwise take you forever to save the money to buy the house/car you want and the endless rent payments would ensure you never own it, so you wouldn't ever be able to make it out of borderline poverty or rent slavery.
>even rich doctors!
My bro is a fresh doctor looking at 300k next year once he's done with his final boards this year. He will be able to pay off his entire student debt in a year, then be able to outright buy a home (no mortgage) in 2-3, leaving everything after 3-4 years as pure savings/spending money.
>it would be fine without college debt
Nothing to do with credit in general. Student loans aren't FICO. They're gov guaranteed and non-dischargeable so its for life, thus colleges raise prices because why the fuck wouldn't they? It's free money for them. The alternative to this though is that unless you're the top of the class getting a full ride, your college loan would smaller but private so higher interest and not guaranteed so if you didn't cut it then you're shit out of luck for the rest of your life at the age of 18. You can do trades instead at no college cost btw, and earn a damn good salary, enough to hit middle class and actual ownership if you're fiscally responsible.
>housing shouldn't be expensive!
Credit isn't the reason for housing prices skyrocketing. While it's a factor, it really isn't as impactful as inflation and demand. The biggest reasons for the rise in TN housing cost is primarily all the NYC and Cali fags moving there. Cities like DC outright lacked over 150,000 housing units in 2019, a shortage exists and you cant realistically just add that many new homes to a hostpot.
TND doesn't require you to get rid of credit cards.
no you just dont use gnomish apartment centers, character goes a long way with landlords, gainful employement and a ltter of recommendation, go chase NY buddy.
t. 550 to 795 the most recent report
I'm not wealthy but get about $2500 of value out of my two travel cards every year while paying $0 interest
only poor people with zero financial discipline call it debt. wealthy or even well to do people call it leverage. skill issue. credit cards rock, mortgages rock.
I got the plat, because my gf works for an airline and we travel together once a month. Unlimited airport lounges and some cashback to use at fancy restaurants. Gets accepted around 70% of the time in the UK, better than it used to be. It's a credit card here.
Has anyone ever used to concierge? Seems useful for concert tickets and maybe planning shit to do on holiday.
Just got my Amex plat card last month, not sure how I should spend 6k in the next 6 months to get my 125k bonus. Should I only use this card for travel related expenses, is it any good for everyday purchases? It doesn’t seem like I get any points for groceries purchases and etc
You should time your new cards with large purchases. Example, I recently got an IHG card b/c I have a few gigantic purchases to make that will cover my required spend in one swipe. If you don't have 1k+ worth of spending that you NORMALLY do in a month you may have fucked yourself. If you are planning to travel in the next 6 months though, put EVERYTHING on the card. Hope you can pay the shit off.
I pay off all my credit cards every month like a good goy, so no worries there. 6k is not even that much, just trying to rack up points while spending the 6k to get my bonus that’s all.
You could always buy something that has good resale value if that’s your last resort. Or maybe invest in some real gold
Amex Platinum is worthless outside of travel perks. Put everything you can on it in the meantime - gas, restaurant trips, groceries, the works. Anything you would normally use debit for, put on the Amex. Also, set up Pay Over Time if you haven't already, and if you haven't yet go through all the card perks on the website and sign up for all the things you want to sign up for - Hilton & Marriott status, Hertz perks, Airline credits, and so on.
Thanks for the advice, I will check out the perks on the website, and book some domestic trips to visit the family.
I find that most credit card threads are heavily US-centric, which makes sense since most sighsee users are from the US. I like it in concept, but unfortunately I can't participate much.
But as a Canadian, I'll shoot my shot here, in case anyone knows the answer: any good travel card options for Canada?
Yes, a United States resident alien green card
Depends on where you're traveling to. Most of the big U.S. ones are just as good in Canada.
Get a Chase card, or AmEx if you can stomach their member fees.
It's not just that its a mostly US website but American consumer finance completely mogs the rest of the world. I get 5% off gas with one of my cards, 4% off restaurants. That would probably be unthinkable anywhere else.
kek
>4-5% cashback
>tips 15% on fucking everything anyway
Nice mogging cancermong
no america hasnt fully imploded, the rest of the world basically has so credit is factored into all purchases, crazy how being so ignorant makes you so confident
okay, let me drop some knowledge on you retards because obviously nobody ever taught you shit about money and how it works nowadays.
financial discipline is the cornerstone of being able to do everything i'm about to say. if you are a retard and can't manage a budget and spend deliberately with thought, then don't even (You) me.
Credit cards are awesome, and not even from a points/miles perspective. Ever hear people say you should have 6 months """"savings"""" in case of an emergency? Yeah, no thats dumb shit, you should have a credit card with a limit that could cover 6 months expenses and put that "savings" into a money market account, ladder CD, stocks, bonds, crypto, literally anything but a fucking savings account. Credit cards a 30 day free loan, you can easily liquidate any of the above mentioned financial assets in that 30 days and pay it off instead of having it sit around being eaten away by inflation and not actually making money for you. and that extends to big purchases too, lets say $3k for a trip or plane ticket or what have you. In that 30 days you can make $20-30 off that money, a 1% refund. you might not think that matters but this shit adds up and it scales as you make more money. if you are a turbo broke fag making $30k a year then, yeah, i guess credit cards wouldn't make much of a difference, but when you start breaking six figs and being able to sock away decent amounts of cash, they are invaluable.
10/10 post.
But I do understand the fear behind credit cards. My gf racked up 20K in debt. If you don't have money management skills, it's probably better to not use one. But it's always better to have one just in case.
>gf
women are inherently financially illiterate.
You mean ex-gf, right? That lack of forethought and impulse control is a red flag for a lot of things.
She made her first mistake by being female and having a credit card
yours is a dangerous game and presuposes, A no trauma is experienced, and B, credit cards in this scenario dont cause you to spend more than you normally would. Its just anecdotal evidence from you, reality is, most ppl only benefit from the online purchase protection and would be better suited on debit, plus 401k contributions, regardless of income
Traveling with a credit card is the best way to avoid getting scammed or stranded.
Even If you're a begpacker who's staying in $10/night hostels and your daily food budget is $5, you would be safer carrying a credits card for emergencies. If your bag gets stolen with cash, you're fucked. With a credit card, you can get a new card overnighted to you the next day.
I knew a dude who tried to drive an electric car across the US. He ran out of juice when he was 100 miles from a charging station because the one he went to was out of service. He didn't have an emergency credit card for a tow truck, so he had to hitch a ride with a trucker and abandon his Tesla in the middle of the US. He made it to an airport in Denver. His mom bought him a plane ticket and his Tesla was impounded in the middle of Kansas or Nebraska, I forget where. He flies back to Nebraska, rents a car with his buddy and drives to the impound lot. But 30 days had already passed, and the impound lot sold his car. All because he didn't have a credit card. lol.
t. Amex rep
U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card, discuss.
Meh card, the USB Altitude Reserve is better for light travelers
This is the 4% back at restaurant, no annual fee, right? I have that and it's great
Does the 695 annual membership fee count towards the 6k I must spend to get the sign up bonus. I’m referring to amex plat card. Sorry for noob question. I’m 24 and this is like the first luxury card I own.
No, they don't. Also, you should have known this if you actually read the terms and conditions behind the bonus points offer. It literally says fees aren't included for the minimum spend. I can tell your credit card ownership is going to be great.
Bro? Why would you think the annual fee contributes to the first 6 months that you need to spend 6k for the bonus
They have already charged me for the annual fee, I didn’t think they would do it until a year has passed or something.
I’m very responsible with my finances. I pay off all my credit card bills monthly, it’s just that all the cards I have been using until now have no annual fee whatsoever.
Annual fees don’t count toward the spend requirement. If you don’t have that much in spending check out buying groups.
I'm not even 4chan but this credit shit is gnomish. These credit companies are owned by garden gnomes, they make money out of thin air, the wealthy benefit the most from the system, the poor get trapped and raped by it, it promotes consumerism and living beyond your means. This is just old-skool garden gnomeing AKA usury.
wtf I looked into this because of this thread and It seems like a good idea because of the free flights but these fuckers require me to have a monthly income? I don't work I'm already rich, so wtf mr shekelstein you don't want my money?
if you call up customer service and explain to them you're loaded, they'll sort you out. they'll just want to see a bank statement or something.
If you are "rich" how do you not alreafy have one. That said if you are rich you can account dividends as revenue stream
Ok, hol up. So which card is best? Chase? Capital One? Amex?
>AMEX
AMEX is your worst option for most people just because their good cards (including travel card) have really high fees. They're also charge cards (must be pain in full each month) so they're the least friendly cards for most people.
>Chase
Arguably the best one. 3 credit cards to be used on rotation for pointsmaxxing (Freedom Unlimited, Freedom Flex, Chase Sapphire), only one of them has a fee at $95 annual. You accumulate points based on best multiplier per category and move all the points to your travel card which get a 1.25x multiplier in value when you use them in the chase portal. They have great partners though so you can move those points to a partner (hyatt and marriott hotels, and tons of airlines including iberia, united, american, british, etc.) and get even more mileage from points that way. The sign up bonus on the Sapphire card is also way up right now, at 80,000 points if you spend 4k in the first 3 months of getting the card.
>Capital One?
Only need two cards the Savor and VentureX. $395 fee but really $5 profit if you use the credits the VX gives every year. It's easy to rack up points with it but you don't get the multiplier like chase does and you don't get as nice/many partners to maximize value with.
VX is the best travel card but the cheapo chase card potentially gives you more money from points. Additionally, you'll need at least a 745/750 credit score to be approved for the VX.
Credit cards are used for points which you redeem for one of two things: cash back (literally free money) or travel (free tickets/stays). Even if you don't travel, cash back is a good reason to get CC's. When it comes to points, think of it as each point being worth 1 cent. For cash back rates change (capitol one considers 1 point worth 0.8 cents for cash back but 1 point as 1 cent for travel), Chase i think is 1-1 but the travel card considers it as 1.25 cents per point (where 4 points = 5 cents) when used for travel.
Realistically, the benefit comes from partners you can transfer points to because they will give you the best deal. An easy way to view how much points go for would be this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYLDpV06VDc
To pick a card company, you'll want to essentially find out:
>annual fees for cards
>transfer partners for points
>point value
>rate of point accumulation (X points per dollar spent on Y) compared to your annual spending habits
If you're new to the game, just go with Chase. It's easy and there's a lot of information on youtube where you can be taught easily how to handle and transfer points. If you know what you're doing and can do some math, maybe roll with Capital One. A big factor should also be where you fly to, Rick Steves wants a card with partners flying to Europe but coomanon wants the one with more partners flying to Asia.
Great effortposts, learned something new, thanks a bunch.
Capital One is also going for customers who carry a balance. I was denied for a venture X despite having pretty much perfect credit and a high income. I think because my credit report shows that I'm the sort of person who opens lots of card cards for the signup bonus and pays them off in full every month. On paper this leaves me with a very high score because I have so much unused credit, but capital one seems to be one of the few who knows I'm not a profitable customer and they wont even recoup their bonus on merchant fees because I'm going to move my spending to the next for a new signup bonus within a few months.
Cap1 drives me nuts, I got declined w an 800+ score and they said I had too many inquiries on my record ... I hadn't applied for shit in over a year.
Inquiries last 24 months.
>.<
I used my visa cc for the first time yesterday. The transaction says "reserved". The fuck does that mean? Reserved until when and why?
If you're a beginner with travel cards I would go with Chase before Amex.
The Chase annual travel credit is much easier to use than the bullshit airline incidental fee and hotel collection credits. You also get bonus points and restaurants and travel with one card whereas you need Amex Platinum and Gold to accomplish the same thing. Also if you don't get your Chase cards early you'll be locked out by 5/24.
I just got my platinum signup bonus and I'm about to get a gold and start spending to get that bonus. If I can't get a good retention offer, they probably won't be worth keeping after year one.
Also worth mentioning Chase Visa & MC cards are still more widely accepted than Amex cards.
I think this used to be much more of a problem than it is now. Only one place has told me they don't accept Amex so far since I got the Platinum. Even random dive bars take it nowadays.
Do cards ever give retention offers? I've never heard of that
no, they don't.
There are multiple videos of people calling and treating to leave and getting the annual fee waived or reduced for a year or getting free miles. Though I think the ones I’ve seen are more for low their cards like citi. Don’t know how much luck I’ll have with amex
Yes
I went to close my Amex Gold charge card because I said I wasn't getting value from it and they gave me 10k MR points. I then cancelled a few months later and just kept the free MR card.
Do people seriously treat credit cards like they're their own personal infinite money cards?
I'm pretty fucked alongside them as a 26yo neet whos never had a bank account, so my credit is nonexistant, and perhaps I have no idea how complex the world of vanking and credit is, however it just seems so easy to me to simply use the card to buy essential things that you're already going to buy, and then pay it off with your money later.
You can build credit by getting a secured credit card. You put down $200 up front. They give you a credit card with a $200 limit. You use it and make payments. After a year, they bump you up to 500. After 2 years, it's usually 1000. If you keep using the card and making payments, they will keep increasing you limit. That's how I built credit. They keep the initial $200 until you close the account in good standing. Then you get it back.
>spend 10000 on bullshit like uber rides or hotels
>get 100 worth of meme points
basically you'll only ever get enough points to be worth bothering with the card if you have a huge amount of disposable income already, at which point it doesn't really matter that you can get 50 bucks off your plane ticket
You get 6 percent back on a lot of shit on my Chase card. I also got 1k bonus after 3 months for spending 5k when I booked my trip. So that was $1,250 back for 5k total spent. Pretty great as long as you pay it off before the 0 interest rate ends.
It also saved my ass when some Mexican without insurance hit my rental car in Miami. The credit card company covered all the damage to my rental. That would have been another 5k.
>you will never get enough points
>he doesn't know about sign up bonuses
lol, lmao even.
>do people treat them like infinite money cards?
retards do and that's how they get into severe financial trouble
>im fucked because i never had a bank acc and no credit
you should open a bank account and deposit some money in it then do as the other anon said and get a secured credit card to start building credit.
>it seems so easy to just buy essentials and then pay it off with your money later
that's how you're supposed to use credit cards. Shove necessary purchases on them, pay the whole balance in full when the bill arrives every month, rack up points which you then redeem for free money or free travel. It's really that simple but the low impulse control population just can't handle it.
Retards like him don't realize you get a lot of perks and benefits from the cards themselves. Chase Sapphire's rental car protections are fantastic.
I have sapphire reserve is it good
yes
help
I have about 80k amex points to use now... I live in New England and plan to take a week off within the next month or two. What's some decent travel I could get with these points?
probs a free ticket to anywhere in the US economy or maybe an upgrade to business class. maaaaybe a flight to spain or france if you can time it right.
Flying Blue is probably your best bet right now. They have some solid US to Europe promotions and a 25% transfer bonus with AMEX right now.
If you're a retard, yes, otherwise, you can get incredible fares, recently i got a return flight to Miami for 150 dollars 2 days before departure with Avianca while the cheapest fare was well over 600 dollars, and last year i got a return flight to Madrid for 670 dollars in Iberia while the base fare was 1,700 dollars, both using miles from their branded cards
Combine welcome rewards, normal usage and if you're really desperate, buy miles, it can be a lot cheaper than shit low cost carriers
Anons I have pretty decent credit (750) but I only have 1 credit card through Bank of America where my dad got me an account and a credit card a few years ago when I just turned 18. I also have a citi corporate card through my job. Besides rent, I spend less than 1k a month and only make roughly 50k a year. Is it still worth it to switch to Chase and would I be able to actually use the benefits or should I continue saving up? It seems to me to be more for people making close to 6 figures or higher. But at the same time I don’t think my current card has any benefits at all.
You can most likely do better than your shitty BoA card. You'd want to take a look at your monthly spending and break it down to see where you'd get the best return. Are you spending mostly on groceries, dining out, gas, utilities etc.
Thanks anons. I think I'll hold off on more than 1 extra credit card for now, because I want to make sure my credit stays good and I don't think I could really make use of a travel card at my salary level.
What do you guys think of the Amazon Prime/Chase card? My most expensive consistent purchase per month is on groceries at Whole Foods, so I was thinking the 5% cash back could be useful. Don't use Amazon much but when I do the 5% cash back is nice. I still get Chase travel 5% cashback if I can use it, 2% on rideshare, gas, dining out, and 1% on everything else.
rule of thumb, take the yearly expenses you'd funnel through your card and multiply it by the percent cash back. so say you put $10k on the card each year and get 2%, that's about $200 in value. if thats more than the annual fee for the card, its worth.
personally, travel cards aren't really worth it until you break 6 figs.
I'd say that you should wait a bit more, but it depends on whenever your average monthly/yearly consume is enough already to either get enough rewards to pay the annual fee or even get it exonerated
As an example, i have two cards, i pay ~200 dollars each as the annual fer, i use the first one as my daily driver, so i get no annual fee with that one, while the other one i don't use it nearly enough, but not only it has some very good local benefits, but it also includes free lounge access to my local airport lounge for me and an extra person with no limits (2 passes every day), so i'm almost paying back the entire annual fee only in lounge access (35 dollars per pass with PP), that's before any other benefits like the travel insurance, miles, local deals, and free PP passes
>is it worth the switch to chase?
Yes if you actually travel every now and then. The current sign up bonus is spend $4k in 3 months and get 80k points, about $1,000 worth right now. If you spend 1k a month and funnel it all on the card, and then book a flight in the next three months on the chase portal you'll get 80k points + 3x points on your groceries (main spender) + 5x for the flight, 2x for hotel (and a free $50 annually on some hotel stays via card credits/benefits) + 3x dining + 1x everything else. You could realistically have about 83-85k points after that sign up bonus, enjoy a flight this year and then another flight next year for either free or very little cash.
Part of your credit score is number of accounts and age of accounts, you should unironically take the hit now and take out a few more cards so you can start growing that number to get a higher score later in life when you'll actually be doing shit like getting a mortgage. Most cards that you should take out should have no annual charge and remain unused but they will contribute to lower utilization avg and length/no. of accounts to raise your score in the long run. Wait about 4-6 months in between each app to limit how it will drag score down, but realistically the hit won't be too bad. I had 2 credit inquiries in a month (applying for a card and becoming a lawyer this summer so bar went with a hard inquiry) and my credit score dropped from 801 to 795, I can essentially fix that in a few months but have the benefit of racking up points now and aging my account more.
Get the chase trifecta to start since you won't have the credit for the capitol one duo. You'll only be plunged into debt if you don't use your credit card like a debit card. Raise your score quickly by fucking with utilization, pay all but $2 or $3 the day before you get billed and then the remainder the day you do get billed. Set phone reminders/alerts.
Chase usually doesn't want to be somebody's first credit card. Discover It also does the 5% rotating categories and will approve anyone, living or dead.
Usually better interest rates at a credit union.
I travel a bit and slowly start to travel more. I got chase Sapphire preferred today for the 90k branch bonus. Should I of picked a different card or no? I buy dumb shit here and there but no overall debt is zero month end.
Great card, good earning atructure but if you don't have any big purchases in your immediate future you'll need to get creative to make the apend for the welcome bonus.
I put all my google ads spend through my amex. I actually factor in the points when thinking about ROI. I'll happily pay a higher CAC than competitors because even if I break even, I'm still getting the points but I'm also acquiring a customer and I can get repeat business from and grow LTV.
Google keep trying to get me to move to invoicing, but no way am I giving up those points unless they make it worth my while.
For most people having a cashback card is the best option. You can get points as benefits and then change to miles but its a bit complicated to make it worth it. Either you have a card whose points do not expire, or you spend a lot in your credit card every month (in this case it is really worth it). But most people that can get great benefits (think business class roundtrip tickets every now and then) are those who have business credit cards (so spend a lot for business related expenses but still get the points that can be use for non business activities) or those that travel a lot for business. For the normie, it would take a long time to get a decent amount of points, than he would have to wait till could get a transfer bonus, than wait again till he has a good offer to pay for tickets with the points (which also means having flexible dates). It requires time and some research as well.
Transfer to hotel membership programs are also mostly not worth it. Not a good convertion rate.
But yes, if you have an Amex platinum and spend 10k a month you could get a business class ticket for a roundtrip every year. If you have a centurion and spend 50k a month you could get half a dozen business class trips for "free". But if you spend 2k a month I don't really see a true benefit.
My credit score is 798 but I only make ~50k a year, are the 3 Chase cards still the best I can do or is there anything better? My current CC doesn't do any rewards, but it does give me a ton of time to pay a bill. Now that I have enough savings, debt free, and have a salary though I'm thinking it's fine to switch.
Your income is now but your score is high. As long as you don’t have an inch of inquiries you should be able to get a decent starter card. Where does most of your spending go?
Per month, it's probably groceries since I don't use my CC for rent.
I’d consider an AMEX Gold if you can make use of the credits. Annual fee might feel a little steep but it’s 4x on groceries and it you use the Uber and dining credit, it’s a wash on the fee.
I've been churning cards like a motherfucker to the point where I just got declined for a IHG Primier card because I think I hit 5/24. My 815 score is fucking MEANINGLESS
I just can't believe that ive only now just had an epiphany about getting a credit card... all my life my friends and family had told me never to get one and that it will plunge you into debt and debt is bad, etc. They also never taught me about credit history as I have cheaply been paying for things all these years with just a debit card alone. I am 30 years old and I have ZERO credit history because of this. Instead of getting a loan through for a car and building a credit history, I would save a few thousand and buy a shit heap car that would eventually break down.
Now I will go and get one of these cards and work my way up for all those travel benefits. I will unfuck my financial shit.
So long as you pay your statement in full every month (except for any 0% interest offers you're taking advantage of while ensuring you have that full amount saved up earning you interest at the same time) there's nothing to fear and plenty to gain.
If I don't feel like shuffling points around and just want perks that make life easier, is cap one or chase better?
What kind of perks?
wrong board retard, but also check your RAM.
My bad, thanks anon.
>credit/debit cards
Don't.
Just either bring the money in cash or leave it on your regular bank account.
It's a slippery slope of letting you spend more money than you have and losing massive amounts of money from interest fees. If you think that you are a good with money and won't go into the red then you don't need a credit card in the first place. The "nice bonuses" of signing up for credit exists for a reason. Don't trust banks that they are acting in good faith. They want you to overspend during your trip.
>leave it on your regular bank account
giga poor fag advice. your bank account should be zero as much as possible instead of sitting and being eaten away by inflation. CD's, a money market account, crypto, stocks, literally anything other than sitting in pure cash. you funnel everything through the credit card and liquidate assets at the end of the month to pay the balance. the points are cool, but not the main reason to use a credit card.
you are correct, but I thought we are currently talking about where to have the money when travelling abroad and not as a general advice.
the card is still worth it just for travel purposes if you travel frequently. if its your poor fag once-a-year 2 week vacation, then like you said, just bring cash or your regular bank card for ATM withdrawals.
Where can I learn more about this shit that is not the shithole board known as sighsee?
you either had a dad or rich uncle to teach this shit to you or you figure it out on your own.
You could talk to a financial advisor and learn this shit or try to figure out some basic stuff online for free (shady since they'll all want to sell you their program or w/e). A quick rundown of the very basics for you:
>A dollar is worth more today than it is tomorrow because inflation
>This means the more dollars you don't invest today become increasingly worthless tomorrow
>You'll still need cash in an emergency so start with a savings account that has enough money to sustain you for the next 6 months to find new work or pay for a hospitalization.
>Credit Card cash back is an instant fighter of inflation since it gives you some cash back, but only on the fraction of cash you spend so a CC will cover some of your cash and is a minimal though useful aid
>If your employer matches a 401k deposit, maximize how much you can put into a 401k every single month and have your employer match those deposits as it's literally free money for retirement
>Investing in CD,s, ETFs, Stocks, Money Market Accs is generally better than keeping money in a bank acc because they will accrue value, pay dividends, etc. instead of simply burn to inflation at no gains to you.
For reference, the S&P500's annual return from 1957 to 2022 is 10.15%, and 8.5% if adjusted for inflation so investing a set amount in SPY, Vanguard, Fidelity, and other ETFs every single paycheck are pretty good starts.
>Continued investments into different types of assets accrue interest and worth in the long run, essentially giving you compounding interest and increasing your returns year after year, giving you a massive payoff after 20-30 years.
>also look into treasury bonds and government bonds if you want lower risk (although lower reward) investments
>if you ever need a serious loan, avoid banks and seek credit unions
>if you ever need a serious loan, avoid banks and seek credit unions
Why?
You guys are fucking leaving your accounts as close to zero as possible? Sounds terrifying tbh, I agree with most of the advice posted in this thread but this sounds like asking for trouble. I get wanting most of your money well invested rather than just sitting in your bank account pointlessly, but not having some money in there seems dangerous.
I agree with the sentiment. I leave about 1-2k in my checking account in the event I need to withdraw quick cash. Everything else stays in investments or an emergency fund. I'll take the "loss" on a measly grand or two for the peace of mind that immediate cash will provide.
I generally keep about $5k in my checking.
its not terrifying. you have liquidatable assets in the form of some kind of financial security and it typically takes, at max, 10 business days to sell off some off some stock/crypto/etc so you can pay off your CC balance.
"emergency funds" are a meme. the credit card IS your emergency fund. its a 30 day free loan.
I have about $20K cash on hand right now. About 1/4 of it is me sitting on my Roth IRA funds waiting to see what happens with this schizo stock market. The rest is an actual emergency fund if I needed the cash. You should at least buy treasuries or throw your cash into money market accounts with interest rates actually giving a yield again
t. Takes advice from Dave Ramsey
The money you supposedly save from doing this pales in comparison to the money you actually earn from using a rewards card as well as letting the cash earn interest or market gains during the statement grace period. If you aren't explicitly paying a ~3% surcharge for using a credit card (or getting an explicit cash discount), you are paying it implicitly in the cost of goods or services that are jacked up with the expectation the merchant is going to have to pay a credit card acceptance fee on the transaction. You're losing on every transaction when you pay cash or even with a debit card.
Government agents cant take your credit card but they certainly can take your cash. Bribes are much cheaper when you only have a couple dollars in your wallet.
>bribes
nta, but what the fuck
where do you usually go which neccessitates preemptively calculating with bribe money for government authorities?
>get stoppped by police in Mexico city
>take the gringo to jail?
>nah just loot his wallet
Some more adventerous types might march you to an atm. Thats more risk on their part. Others might throw you in jail for the night. Thats even more risk. In Europe the youth just take you wallet while speaking in drill
literally anywhere that isn't on the dollar/euro. you get busted driving a rental scooter in thailand without a helmet, or without an international license, or with any amount of alcohol in your system and you are up for grabs by the cops. if all you got is that nights drinking money in your pocket and a credit card, its a bad night. if you got all your dough in a money belt, thats a bad week.
You don't have to not carry any cash to use a credit card in the 99% of all other spending cases.
poorcel detected, just avoiding cash back alone means you're losing money to interest every year.
>its a slippery slope
and if a credit card user spends the way you do and uses it like a debit card, you won't ever slip. Credit cards can be a slippery slope but have the benefit that you don't randomly start tumbling, you have to willfully jump in to begin the descent into debt. The obvious solution is don't be a retard, don't jump in.
Even if its just a once a year, 2 week vacation its still worth it to bring a cash back card for some savings.
>arrested by cops looking for bribes
alternatively you could avoid breaking the law in the first place so the police don't arrest you at all and don't demand a bribe, what kind of dumbass shit are you doing abroad that this is a concern?
You have an emergency savings account which has enough for you to live on for about 6 months that you never touch. The rest goes into investments like an index fund, bonds, individual stocks, 401k, etc. I'm fine having a checking account with a few thousand (beyond rent/utilities payments) if it's being invested and earning me money via compounding interest rather than a big number doing nothing in my checking account. Not having an emergency fund is retarded though, it's the first thing you should build after getting your first job. What you fail to realize is most of those assets can be liquidated quick in case of emergency so it's not that you have $0 in your account, it's that you have an asset that can be turned into thousands in a few days and placed into your account when you need it and makes you free money when you don't need it.
I have a Visa Infinite that I basically keep around for points and lounge passes so the yearly fee pays for itself and then some. Also don't have foreign exchange charges which is nice when I'm in Europe twice a year.
I’m only a oneworld Ruby member… Any Emeraldchads want to rest their beer on my head?
I have a credit card that works overseas, but I'm wondering if I should get one of those Wise debit cards with foreign currency as well.
there is some legitimately bad advice in here and if you think you're the one giving it, stop posting entirely.
I am about to put a whole fucking vacation on a credit card if this house refinance buyout I am making to family doesn't work out in time.
Good time to open a new one and get a sign up bonus.
Thats what I am thinking. Otherwise my summer vacation will be over before cash hits the accounts. Put it on a credit card with intro apr and get reward, let my income stream build cash back to finish the house buying process after I come back with a sore dick and a std
Oh fuck no intro apr
My last paycheck is in mid june and wont get paid again until September (teacher and I dont do reserve pay). If I travel in july to August I think I should be fine with money coming in to pay it off
What cards and programs are available for norwegians? I can only find really bad and inflexible cards like Norwegian. SAS EuroBonus looks alright but I don't think the SAS partners are great
>try looking up flight on google flight
>1800$, has a layover but thats fine my ass hurts on long trips so I need one
>go to capital one, find same one
>its $2500
>other flights more closely match what is found on google flights
>but flight I want is $600 more
Fuckers
Pay off your bill every month like a responsible adult and they're great.
AAdvantage affiliated cards are also a quick way to status since American has done away with miles in favor of 'loyalty points.' The Citi Exec card is a cheaper way to get Admirals Club membership as well.
Anyone try buying or sell airmiles? Wondering if I could save some money on first/business class if I bought airmiles from a 3rd party and then used them to pay for the flight.
I've booked plenty of award flights on miles. Never make speculative buys though.
Venture, or Venture X?
dropped AMEX Gold after 6 years and went with the Chase Sapphire Reserve back in January. I fly 2x/month for work. I've already made like $2,500 worth of points on this piece of shit lel. I regret booking travel thru the Chase Portal, though. It's a mess to navigate, the prices are more expensive than booking directly with an airline, and it's a bitch and a half if you need to change anything. IMO not worth the 5x points.
Anyone have experience using travel portals like Capital One? Fucker won't show me Saudia Airline flights that I can book through Google, their airline seems to be the cheapest and offers the best flight times