Exciting credit card rumors

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Greg The Frequent Miler
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A few bloggers have dropped hints recently about new credit card offers coming our way.  They had met with some of the top banks to discuss credit card offers, but had apparently promised not to divulge the secrets.  Luckily, I’ve made no such promise to anyone, so I feel free to speculate…

Million Mile Secrets

In June, Daraius, from Million Mile Secrets, wrote about “Visiting the Banks in New York”.  In that post, he gave some hints as to what we should expect regarding credit card offers.  First, he told us about general trends we will see:

We’re also going to see offers which require higher spending to get the full sign-on bonus (think Chase British Airways & Chase Ink Bold), offers which require you to hold the card for a second year (think 60,000 point Citi Thank You Premier), limited time offers to persuade folks to sign-up immediately (AMEX Business Gold and Platinum), and cards which offer a benefit which makes the card worth keeping after the 1st year (think free bags or free hotel nights with certain cards).

Then, he dropped a couple of bomb-shells:

There may be a new business credit card (as opposed to their current charge card) coming out soon in Q3 (July to September) with a decent sign-on bonus from a bank which offers the boldest business cards in the market.

And:

If a credit card had a history of increasing the sign-up bonuses during a certain period, that pattern may be repeated again – as early as this summer.

Frugal Travel Guy

Yesterday, Rick (Frugal Travel Guy) reported the following:

Insider News

I have it from a reliable “inside source”, we can look for a new product in the portion of the frequent flyer game where I earn the majority of my miles.  It is to be announced in about two weeks.  I promised that is all I would say, but I think we will all be pleased.

Frequent Miler’s Take

I have no inside information about this at all.  In fact, I’ve avoided asking Daraius or Rick any follow-up questions because they probably would have asked me to keep the answers quiet (if they told me anything).  So, now I’m free to tell you what I think is on it’s way.  Time will prove me right or wrong:

New Ink Bold!

The Ink Bold is technically a charge card instead of a credit card.  It seems clear to me from Daraius’ post that Chase will be introducing a credit card version of the Ink Bold!  Why am I excited?  Last time Chase introduced a change to the Ink Bold, they treated it as a new product.  That meant anyone who signed up for the new product was eligible for the sign-up bonus even if they had received the sign-up bonus before (for the old product).  Personally, I’ve received 110,000 Ultimate Rewards points from two Ink Bold sign-ups!

  • Timing: Daraius reported that the new card would come out in Q3 (July to September).  Rick reported tat a new product would be announced in about two weeks.  Was Rick talking about the same product?  My guess is yes.  I’m guessing we’ll see the new card around July 30 or so.
  • What to do: If you already have an Ink Bold (the one with 5X categories), then just wait to see what happens.  If you don’t yet have the Ink Bold (or you have an old non-5X version), then I’d recommend signing up before the new card appears.  We don’t know if Chase will continue to offer the current charge card, or if they’ll replace it entirely with the new card.  If the latter, this could be your last chance to get the current signup bonus and the new one.  The other reason to sign-up now is that we don’t know if Chase will continue the 5X categories with the new card.  I expect that they will, but only time will tell.  For tips on how to sign-up for the Ink Bold (and whether you qualify for it), see “How to sign up for the Ink Bold”.  I will also soon write-up some great techniques for meeting Ink Bold minimum spend.

 

Increased SPG Bonus

Last year, in late July and through most of August, Amex increased the usual signup bonus for the SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) card from 25K to 30K.  I think Daraius’ comment about a summer promotion being repeated is this one.  It may not sound like a huge bump, but SPG points are really valuable so it’s pretty exciting to me.  If this happens and you signup for both the business and personal versions of the card, you will earn 60,000 SPG points.  When you add in points earned when using the card, it won’t be long before you can take an all expense paid vacation with a redemption like Starwood’s Night’s and Flights.  With this option, you can redeem 60,000 Starpoints to get 5 nights in a category 3 hotel and you’ll get 50,000 airline miles to cover your flight!  Or, redeem 70,000 Starpoints for 5 nights in a category 4 hotel and 50,000 miles.  This is just one example of the many great redemption options available through SPG.

What do you think?

Do you have any guesses as to what’s coming?  Did I guess right?  Daraius?  Rick?  Others?  Feel free to comment below.

Chase's 5/24 Rule: With most Chase credit cards, Chase will not approve your application if you have opened 5 or more cards with any bank in the past 24 months.

To determine your 5/24 status, see: 3 Easy Ways to Count Your 5/24 Status. The easiest option is to track all of your cards for free with Travel Freely.
Chase 5/24 semantics ("Subject to" vs. "Count towards"): Most Chase cards are subject to the 5/24 rule. That means the rule is enforced in making approval decisions. In other words, you probably won't get approved if your credit report shows that you opened 5 or more cards in the past 24 months. Meanwhile, most business cards (such as those from Chase, Amex, Barclaycard, BOA, Citi, US Bank, and Wells Fargo) are not reported on your personal credit report. These cards do not count towards 5/24.

Example: Chase Ink Business Preferred is subject to 5/24, so you likely won't get approved if over 5/24. If you do get approved, it won't count towards 5/24 since it won't appear as an account on your credit report.
Amex credit and charge card limits: If you apply for a new Amex credit card, you may get turned down if you already have 5 or more Amex credit cards; or 10 or more Pay Over Time (AKA charge) cards. Both personal and business cards are counted together towards these limits. Authorized user cards are not counted. See also: Which Amex Cards are Charge Cards vs. Credit Cards?
Applying for Business Credit Cards

Yes, you have a business: In order to sign up for a business credit card, you must have a business. That said, it's common for people to have businesses without realizing it. If you sell items at a yard sale, or on eBay, for example, then you have a business. Similar examples include: consulting, writing (e.g. blog authorship, planning your first novel, etc.), handyman services, owning rental property, renting on airbnb, driving for Uber or Lyft, etc. In any of these cases, your business is considered a Sole Proprietorship unless you form a corporation of some sort.

When you apply for a business credit card as a sole proprietor, you can use your own name as your business name, use your own address and phone as the business' address and phone, and your social security number as the business' Tax ID / EIN. Alternatively, you can get a proper Tax ID / EIN from the IRS for free, in about a minute, through this website.

Is it OK to use business cards for personal expenses? Anecdotally, almost everyone I know uses business cards for personal expenses. That said, the terms in most business card applications state that you should use the card only for business use. Also, some consumer credit card protections do not apply to business cards. My advice: don't use the card for personal expenses if you're not comfortable doing so.
Manufacturing Spend Caution: Many, many things can go wrong when manufacturing spend. If you suddenly increase credit card spend, your accounts may get shut down. If you cycle your balance often (e.g. spend to your limit, pay the bill, repeat) within a billing cycle, your accounts may get shut down. If you repeatedly pay your credit card bill from an anonymous bill payment source, your accounts may get shut down. If you buy lots of gift cards you may lose money due to gift card fraud, theft, loss, or simply mishandling those gift cards (e.g. maybe you thought you already used a gift card and tossed it into your “used” bin). If you rely on only one method to liquidate gift cards, you may be stuck unable to pay your credit card bill when that method gets shut down. In other words, don’t try this at home unless you know what you’re doing, and you understand and accept the risks..
Chase Ultimate Rewards points are super valuable and super flexible. At the most basic level, points can be redeemed for cash or merchandise, but you'll only get one cent per point value that way. A better option is to use points for travel. When points are used to book travel through the Ultimate Rewards portal, points are worth 1.25 cents each with premium cards (Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred, for example) or 1.5 cents each with the ultra-premium Sapphire Reserve card. Another great option is to transfer points from a premium or ultra-premium card to an airline or hotel program when high value awards are available (see this post for details). If your points are tied to a no-fee "cash back" Ultimate Rewards card, then first move those points to a premium or ultra-premium card before redeeming them in order to get better value.
Amex Membership Rewards points can be incredibly valuable if you know how to use them. In general, if you use Membership Rewards points to pay for merchandise or travel, you won't get good value from your points. One exception is with the Business Platinum card where you'll get a 35% point rebate when using points to book certain flights. This gives you approximately 1.5 cents per point value, which is pretty good. Another exception is with the Business Gold Card where you'll get a 25% point rebate when using points to book certain flights. This gives you approximately 1.33 cents per point value. If you don't have either card, then your best bet is to transfer points to airline miles in order to book high value awards. More details can be found here: Amex Membership Rewards Complete Guide.
Marriott points can be redeemed for free night awards, travel packages, airline miles, or experiences. 5th Night Free Awards: When redeeming points for free nights, the 5th night within a single reservation is free. Airline miles: Points can be converted to airline miles at a rate of 3 points to 1 mile. With many programs, a bonus is added on when you transfer 60,000 points at a time, such that 60,000 points transfers to 25,000 miles. Also, you'll get a 10% bonus when transferring points to United Airlines.

Everything you need to know about Marriott's rewards program, Bonvoy, can be found here: Marriott Bonvoy Complete Guide
Editor’s Note: This guest post was written by the same guy who showed you how to fly round trip to Africa (DC to Senegal) for 50,000 points, how to book business class to Europe for 80,000 miles roundtrip, and more. You can find John’s website and award booking service here: theflyingmustache.com/awardbooking.
-Greg The Frequent Miler

Amex Application Tips



  • Safe to Apply: Amex is the safest bank for trying your luck at earning a new welcome bonus offer. They don’t usually issue a hard pull when denying your application, and if you already have an Amex card, they won't usually issue a hard pull when approved for another one. Plus, they’ll now warn you during the application process if you’re not eligible for the bonus.

  • Lifetime Rule: If you've ever had the same card before, you are most likely prohibited from earning a welcome bonus offer for the card if you apply now. Fortunately you'll be warned during the application process if this is the case. Amex is known to "forget" that you've had a card after about 7 years.

  • 90 Day Rule: You can get at most two credit cards within 90 days. This rule does not apply to Pay Over Time (charge) cards.

  • 5 credit card max: Amex usually won't approve applications for new credit cards if you already have 5 or more Amex credit cards or 10 or more charge cards.

  • Better Offers: You may be able to get a better offer than the best available public offer. Details here.

  • Hard inquiries combine into 1 when approved same day


Check application status here.
If denied, call reconsideration: 877-399-3083 (new accountholders); 866-314-0237 (current accountholders)

Chase Application Tips

  • Shut-Down Caution: Signing up for new Chase cards can lead to Chase reviewing your accounts. This may lead to Chase shutting down all of your accounts if you appear to be a credit risk. See this post for details and recommendations: Why Chase shutdowns have increased and how to avoid them.
  • 5/24 Rule: With most Chase cards, you won't get approved if your credit report shows 5 or more cards opened in the past 24 months. Details here.
  • 24/48 Month Rule: With most Chase cards, you can get the same card and bonus again 24 months after having received the bonus as long as you no longer have the card open. With Sapphire cards, you must wait 48 months. No wait is required for Chase Ink cards.
  • 30 Day Rule: It is tough to get approved for more than 2 Chase cards within 30 days
  • Get Same Card Again: You can get the same exact card and again if you first cancel the older card and follow the 24/48 month rule. Ink cards are OK to get again without cancelling previous card if you apply with a new business.
  • Better Offers: You may be able to get a better offer than the best available public offer. Details here.
  • Hard inquiries combine into 1 when approved same day (not always true when mixing business and personal)

Call (888) 338-2586 to check your application status
If denied, call reconsideration here:1-888-270-2127 for both personal and business cards

Citi Application Tips




  • 48 Month Rule: With most Citi cards, you have to wait 48 months after receiving a bonus for the same exact card.

  • Velocity Rules: Max 1 personal card per 8 days. Max 2 personal cards per 65 days. Max 1 business card per 95 days.

  • Get Same Card Again: Citi allows getting same card again (even if card is still open) as long as you follow the 24 or 48 month rules and velocity rules (above).

  • Hard inquiries DO NOT combine into 1 when approved same day


Check application status here.
If denied, call reconsideration here:800-695-5171 (personal); 800-763-9795 (business)
If reconsideration # doesn’t work, try the Citi Credit Card Executive Office: 423-477-6858

Bank of America Application Tips


  • 3/12 or 7/12 Rule: You won't be approved if you have opened 3 or more accounts, with any bank, in the past 12 months. For those with Bank of America deposit accounts, the rule changes to 7+ accounts.
  • 2/3/4 Rule: Max 2 consumer cards per rolling 2 months, 3 per rolling 12 months, and 4 per rolling 24 months.
  • 5 card limit: You will not get approved for a new consumer card if you already have 5 consumer BOA cards open
  • Get Same Card Again: With some BOA cards, must wait 24 months after either opening or cancelling, depending upon the card.
  • Hard inquiries are usually combined into 1 when initiated within 30 days but there have been reports of TransUnion not combining.

Click here to check your application status
If denied, call reconsideration here: (800) 732-9194 (8am-7pm ET Mon-Fri); 800-481-8277 (business cards);

Barclays Application Tips


  • Get Same Card Again: Must wait at least 6 months after cancelling previous card (with some accounts Barclays requires waiting 24 months).

  • Hard inquiries are combined into 1 when approved same day. Most inquiries issued through TransUnion.


Consumer: Click here to check your application status
Business cards: Click here
If denied, call reconsideration here: 866-710-2688

Capital One Application Tips


  • Velocity Limit on consumer cards: Existing or previous cardholders are not eligible for the same card if they have received a new cardmember bonus for the same product within the last 48 months.

  • Hard inquiries usually get issued through all 3 credit bureaus


To check application status, call (800) 903-9177 or (877) 277-5901
If denied, call reconsideration here: (800) 625-7866

Discover Application Tips


  • 2 card limit: You can have a maximum of 2 Discover cards.

  • 12 month rule: Must wait just over 12 months after previous card was opened before applying for another Discover card.

  • Get Same Card Again: No known rules against getting same card & bonus again.


Click here to check your application status
If denied, call reconsideration here: 888-676-3695

TD Bank Application Tips


Call (888) 561-8861 to check your application status

US Bank Application Tips


  • Get Same Card Again: Depends on the product. For example, with the Altitude Reserve card you cannot get the bonus again. The terms state "The bonus is not available to Cardmembers who currently have, or had, a U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite account."

  • Hard inquiries may be combined into 1 when approved same day.


Call (800) 947-1444 to check your application status.
If denied, call reconsideration here: 800-947-1444 or 800-685-7680

Wells Fargo Application Tips


  • Bank first: Wells Fargo usually requires having a bank account open before you can apply for a credit card.

  • 16 month rule: Limit of one signup bonus per 16 months

  • Get Same Card Again: No known rules against getting same card & bonus again.

  • Hard inquiries are combined into 1 when approved same day.


Check application status here.
If denied, call reconsideration here: 1-866-412-5956 (consumer) or 1-800-231-9244 (business)
Under certain circumstances consumer Visa cards don't work with Plastiq. The following payments are fine:

  • Rent (residential rent, HOA fees, and commercial rent)
  • Taxes & government fees
  • Utilities (electricity, cable, internet, and telecom)
  • Tuition (including daycare and camp)
Payments outside of the above list are subject to the following limitations:

  1. Payments using personal Visa cards issued by Chase are subject to a limit of 20% of your credit limit.
  2. Payments using personal Visa cards from other issuers (other than Capital One or Wells Fargo) will code as a cash advance. That means you’d incur cash advance fees and wouldn’t earn any credit card rewards.
  3. The following types of Visa cards are not affected by these changes: Capital One personal Visa cards, Wells Fargo personal Visa cards, Visa business credit cards, Visa corporate, debit and prepaid gift cards.
In order to meet minimum spend requirements, people often look for options to increase spend in ways that result in getting their money back. These techniques are referred to as "manufacturing spend". American Express has terms in their welcome offers that exclude some manufactured spend techniques from counting towards the minimum spend requirements for the welcome bonus offer. For example, most new cardmember bonuses have terms like this:
Eligible purchases to meet the Threshold Amount do NOT include fees or interest charges, purchases of travelers checks, purchases or reloading of prepaid cards, purchases of gift cards, person-to-person payments, or purchases of other cash equivalents.
That said, many techniques for meeting minimum spend are perfectly fine. Here are some techniques that are safe for meeting Amex minimum spend requirements (click each link for more information):
We have added this to our running list of Black Friday deals, which will be constantly updated through Cyber Monday with a mix of gift card deals, merchandise deals, and travel deals. Check back often.
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.

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[…] Rumors of several new rewards-based credit cards! Could a Citi Hilton be one of them? […]

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[…] the post “Exciting credit card rumors” I described hints given by Million Mile Secrets that indicated a new Ink Bold credit card was on […]

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Frequent Miler

Dave: of course, we don’t know what will happen so this might be the wrong answer, but I think the best bet is to get the Ink Bold now. If there is a new product, it will introduce a new signup bonus which you can apply for in 6 months (some people, including me, have been able to get approved for new Ink Bold cards in less than that time despite Chase telling us that it was a hard rule). We don’t know if the new product will have 5x categories (I think they will, but …) so getting the ink now is the only way to be 100% sure of getting in in that.

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Dave

All of these rumors are exciting! Here is my uncertainty… I have a Sapphire Preferred already (over 6 months old), and was thinking of applying for the Ink Bold in order to get 5x on cable, internet, phone, and 2x gas. The 5x at office supply stores is great as well, but not likely to abuse it. The current Bold is charge card, not credit, plus, I don’t anticipate spending $10,000 in three months to get the final 25,000 UR points. So do I apply for the Bold and get the 25,000, hoping that the new offer will be a credit card, which in turn should be a different product, allowing for approval. Or do I wait, and see if the new card is signifcantly better without the $10,000 spend? I’d prefer to just do a mass application to avoid multiple credit pull visibility…any insight or direction would really help.

I’d hate to apply for the current Ink Bold this week, and then have a new UR points card come out the following week which I would miss out on.

Thanks.

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Heather Miller

It’s a new product that’s pretty good and that should be around awhile 🙂

Actually one of the best hotel products I’ve seen IMHO.

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sil

Gary- If it is a New Citi Hilton Credit Card, I sure hope it will be around for several months. I just applied for 2 Citi HH, Amex HH and B of A Virgin Atlantic for HHonor points.

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Green Apple

Thanks Evan and FM. Appreciate your responses.
I will take it over email with FM from here on.

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Heather Miller

The Citi Hilton news I expected to come out today will come on Monday

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FrequentMiler

Thanks for the update Gary!

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Evan

@ Green Apple- I think most would agree the Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best all around miles/points card at the moment.

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Green Apple

Hi FM,
I recently got introduced to your blog and I really appreciate you help to the community. Being a newbie I have few questions and I would really appreciate if you can help me out here. Given that I only have a Chase freedom card (no annual fee one), what would be the best card to apply today? Going through your articles, I was thinking about Chase Ink Bold but it only guarantees 25K points on the first purchase and I have to spend $10K to get the rest of 25K points. I am sure I would not be able to spend $10K in 3 months.
Please advice.

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FrequentMiler

Green Apple: If you’re just getting started with this stuff I’d recommend that you signup for my free newsletter: click here to signup. A lot of your questions will be answered there. The specific question of which card you should apply for is tough to answer without knowing your goals. Do you want to fly free internationally? Fly free domestically? Get free hotel stays? Get cash back? Do you have a preferred airline? A preferred hotel chain? As Evan mentioned, the Sapphire Preferred is an excellent all-around rewards card and is really pretty good for most of those things. However, there might be better picks if you have explicit goals. Fee free to send me an email if you’d like personalized recommendations. Contact Frequent Miler

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Branson

@Exodus- The only thing I may do differently than others is that I still receive paper mail from my credit cards. That way I do not overlook any of the targeted new card offers. I have the Ink Bold and Sapphire and was sent an invitation for the Ink Plus. This would lead me to believe that they will be treated as 2 seaprate cards (meaning you can get the sign-up bonus on each). I will be applying in August and if it is not public by then, I will make sure to share my results.

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Steve

yea, I called the number from twitter. waste of time. Talked to 4 people, none of them had info, and they couldn’t put me on a mailing list. Just told me to call back on the 20th.

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stealph

Interesting: anyone want to call to dig some info?

https://twitter.com/Discover/statuses/225242227725697024

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Exodus

Hi everyone, I saw a few of you received invitation of the Ink Plus. I seem to never receive any Chase invitation in the past. I do have a few Chase cards and did once asked the Representative to remove me from the marketing list. Just wonder this maybe the reason for not receiving any invitation in the past two years or because I already have a few Chase cards so they stopped sending ads to me?

Would love to find out those of you who received invitations, what situation you are in as I would like to see if I may also receive these invitations. Thank you very much

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Steve

Just saw a commercial on TV. Trendy music.
The discover IT card arrives July 20.
No other details. Just a lot of pizazz.

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