What credit card?
03-08-2005, 02:27 PM
#44
Outnumbered at home
Originally Posted by Adam_Schwartz
Citi called me because I bought groceries and some stuff from Home Depot - apparently that is suspicious activity.
who the fuck buys groceries from home depot. I would be suspicious as well
03-08-2005, 04:08 PM
#46
Banned
Originally Posted by anothercls
Suspicious since you never buy that stuff....probably think Martha Stewart decided to go to TX and buy some stuff on a stolen card.
03-08-2005, 06:53 PM
#47
Tuxedo Cat
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Magic number for revolving credit accounts (primarily credit cards) is seven. If you have seven or less, you're considered cool. More than seven and it hits your credit score.
Other than that, utilization is key. If you have a total available revolving credit of $5,000 and run a zero balance, that probably translates into a better score than if you have a total available credit of $10,000 and are keeping a $6,000 balance going...
Cancelling credit cards can hurt your score because the total available credit goes down. I do this from time to time with smaller accounts that I no longer plan to use, but I try to avoid doing this if I expect to be applying for credit anytime shortly thereafter.
Contrary to popular opinion, "inquiries" do not impact your credit rating. These days, it's quite common to have inquiries made on a fairly regular basis by employers, potential employers, landlords, phone companies, utility companies, and all sorts of other organizations. My recent move included a change of phone and power companies, among other things and probably resulted in 3-4 new requests for my credit report. If inquiries hurt, my FICO would not be in the high 700s.
Requests for credit that are denied can be harmful. Requests for an increase in your credit limit for an existing account will generally not be reported in this manner though. Instead, the credit report will just reflect the increased limit, which is actually a good thing.
Other than that, utilization is key. If you have a total available revolving credit of $5,000 and run a zero balance, that probably translates into a better score than if you have a total available credit of $10,000 and are keeping a $6,000 balance going...
Cancelling credit cards can hurt your score because the total available credit goes down. I do this from time to time with smaller accounts that I no longer plan to use, but I try to avoid doing this if I expect to be applying for credit anytime shortly thereafter.
Contrary to popular opinion, "inquiries" do not impact your credit rating. These days, it's quite common to have inquiries made on a fairly regular basis by employers, potential employers, landlords, phone companies, utility companies, and all sorts of other organizations. My recent move included a change of phone and power companies, among other things and probably resulted in 3-4 new requests for my credit report. If inquiries hurt, my FICO would not be in the high 700s.
Requests for credit that are denied can be harmful. Requests for an increase in your credit limit for an existing account will generally not be reported in this manner though. Instead, the credit report will just reflect the increased limit, which is actually a good thing.
03-09-2005, 09:43 AM
#48
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I have the Amex Gold card (charge) and Amex blue (Credit). Both of those cards I use the most. I also have an ATT universal card (MC) and GM card (Visa) in case a place doesn't take AMEX. I have others too, but don't use them. I have charged 20-30k on my AMEX Gold card and they didn't say anything to me about it being excess. On the other hand, I charged 2300 once on my GM card and they denied it because they said it was considered a high charge, they put me through hell and back to get the charge through which they approved, but it was a big headache. I told them to reverse the charge on their end, and I just gave that merchant my amex card and called it a day.
03-09-2005, 11:21 AM
#49
1999 CL3.0
amex gold delta skymiles all the way. monthly balance is anywhere from 400-600.
this month was an exception.. balance was 1,7xx... i baught a powerbook g4 and other shit 2.
this month was an exception.. balance was 1,7xx... i baught a powerbook g4 and other shit 2.
03-09-2005, 11:53 AM
#50
Houses Won't Depreciate?
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No point on paying annual fees
Why pay annual fees, if you can get all the goodies with fee-free cards?
AMEX?
Consider Blue or Costo Rewards. I got that last one. At least 1% rebate and I pay in full each month. No annual fee. All platinum benefits included for free (except travel insurance ~ in that case I use Master Card).
MC?
I just traded in my Chase Platinum for Chase PerfectCard Platinum. No Annual fee, all paltinum benefits, At least 1% rebate sent back every month (3% for gas). I pay in full too.
I also have a visa card with no rebate but fee free and all platinum benefits.
I also maximized the benefits; they give you AUTOMATIC EXTENSION OF WARRANTY on an item you purchase. My DVD burner died on month 13; Master Card refunded me 100% of the purchase price when I sent the required documentation. I got a new burner for 1/3 of the price.
Good luck
AMEX?
Consider Blue or Costo Rewards. I got that last one. At least 1% rebate and I pay in full each month. No annual fee. All platinum benefits included for free (except travel insurance ~ in that case I use Master Card).
MC?
I just traded in my Chase Platinum for Chase PerfectCard Platinum. No Annual fee, all paltinum benefits, At least 1% rebate sent back every month (3% for gas). I pay in full too.
I also have a visa card with no rebate but fee free and all platinum benefits.
I also maximized the benefits; they give you AUTOMATIC EXTENSION OF WARRANTY on an item you purchase. My DVD burner died on month 13; Master Card refunded me 100% of the purchase price when I sent the required documentation. I got a new burner for 1/3 of the price.
Good luck
03-10-2005, 05:21 PM
#52
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Originally Posted by Jinen
I work for Amex and I'll answer your question:
1) 1/3 comes from the annual fees
2) 1/3 comes from the discount revenue (everytime you charge something, that merchant has to pay amex a certain percentage, around 2-2.5%)
3) 1/3 comes from other areas such as late fees, and other penalties of that sort
The advantage of using a credit card for all your transactions as opposed to cash is that you can earn membership reward points or airmiles points or you could even get cash back. Once those points accrue to a certain amount, then you can redeem them for many many many types of different items.
For example, let's say if I have 60000 points on my card, then I can get a "free" ipod...now keep in mind that you don't necessarily have to spend 60000 dollars to earn those points...there are times when certain companies will offer you 10x points per 1 dollar...for example FTD.com...they had that deal before (not sure if they still have that)...they would give you 10 points for every dollar that you spend...so you can accrue points that way...
another way to accrue 5000 points easily is if you seek help from a financial advisor...you don't necessarily have to "purchase" anything, but just have a meeting with them and for that they would give you 5000 points...
basically, there are a lot of ways to accrue these points, but you have to be smart about it...and the amex gold card offer that you get, it probably waives the first year's annual fee, so you won't have to worry about paying that 75 or 90 dollars (not sure exactly what it is in the US, since i work on the international side)...
another card that you should look into is the AMERICAN EXPRESS BLUE CASH BACK...they would give you up to 5% cash back on your purchases, depending on how much you spend annually and whether you carry a balance...just research it and decide...i personally have gone for that card and i also have the gold card too...
but to make a long story short, if you are in the market for a new credit card, then look around...check sites like bankrate.com ....that site should be able to help you with your decision...
if you have any additional questions, feel free to pm me...i kind of like talking about this topic hahaha
1) 1/3 comes from the annual fees
2) 1/3 comes from the discount revenue (everytime you charge something, that merchant has to pay amex a certain percentage, around 2-2.5%)
3) 1/3 comes from other areas such as late fees, and other penalties of that sort
The advantage of using a credit card for all your transactions as opposed to cash is that you can earn membership reward points or airmiles points or you could even get cash back. Once those points accrue to a certain amount, then you can redeem them for many many many types of different items.
For example, let's say if I have 60000 points on my card, then I can get a "free" ipod...now keep in mind that you don't necessarily have to spend 60000 dollars to earn those points...there are times when certain companies will offer you 10x points per 1 dollar...for example FTD.com...they had that deal before (not sure if they still have that)...they would give you 10 points for every dollar that you spend...so you can accrue points that way...
another way to accrue 5000 points easily is if you seek help from a financial advisor...you don't necessarily have to "purchase" anything, but just have a meeting with them and for that they would give you 5000 points...
basically, there are a lot of ways to accrue these points, but you have to be smart about it...and the amex gold card offer that you get, it probably waives the first year's annual fee, so you won't have to worry about paying that 75 or 90 dollars (not sure exactly what it is in the US, since i work on the international side)...
another card that you should look into is the AMERICAN EXPRESS BLUE CASH BACK...they would give you up to 5% cash back on your purchases, depending on how much you spend annually and whether you carry a balance...just research it and decide...i personally have gone for that card and i also have the gold card too...
but to make a long story short, if you are in the market for a new credit card, then look around...check sites like bankrate.com ....that site should be able to help you with your decision...
if you have any additional questions, feel free to pm me...i kind of like talking about this topic hahaha
Do you know how much needs to be charged to receive the AMEX platinum? I just was sent the Gold Rewards a year ago and will have done about 25K on the card in a year.
03-10-2005, 07:16 PM
#53
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Originally Posted by mustangman
Do you know how much needs to be charged to receive the AMEX platinum? I just was sent the Gold Rewards a year ago and will have done about 25K on the card in a year.
I kept if for a year, but ultimately decided that $300 a year was too steep, I just wasn't using the benefits. To this day I've resisted the urge and the offers on any variants other than my green card. It is the only card I'll pay for.
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