Author Topic: Credit Card Opportunity/Situation  (Read 3769 times)

Guizmo

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Credit Card Opportunity/Situation
« on: November 16, 2014, 12:56:31 PM »
Hi folks,

Looking for some advice here on my situation:

1) I will be getting some dental work done next month. The amount is $3,000. I have the cash for this.
2) I received an offer from a Citi American Airlines card. The sign up bonus is 60,000 miles after $3,000 spent within 3 months. It has an annual fee of $95 waived the first year and it also comes with 2 AA lounge passes. 
3) I have about 8 open credit cards with the newest being a Chase Sapphire that I opened up about 2 months ago to get me points for free airplane tickets to Europe next summer.
4) Lastly, I am looking to buy a duplex next year around March or April. I have a credit score of 765 and a stable job.

I am thinking of getting the credit card so I can get the points but I am afraid that it will hurt my chances of getting a good deal on a mortgage. So, should I open the credit card? Do I have anything to worry about if I do?

Thanks!

sekritdino

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Re: Credit Card Opportunity/Situation
« Reply #1 on: November 16, 2014, 01:40:35 PM »
If your credit score is over 760 that's all the mortgage companies should care about to give you the best rate. You'll get dinged a couple points for the hard line credit check. If it happens to dip you below 760, cancel a recent credit card (not thr new one or Sapphire, whatever the most recent before that is ) which will make your average time of open account number grow and boost you a few points.

GizmoTX

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Re: Credit Card Opportunity/Situation
« Reply #2 on: November 16, 2014, 02:53:04 PM »
How much do you have left to spend to earn any bonus points on the cards you already have? Citi AA cards only award double miles for travel purchases & single points for everything else. Your other cards may earn you more points.

Is American a good choice for your summer trip? Miles do you no good unless you can actually use them for available flights -- a hub city helps. Other travel cards let you book on any airline & then reimburse you for the points you apply.

A good thing about AA miles is that they are independent of the CC once earned & transferred to your AAdvantage account; other cards must be kept in good standing to retain their miles or points. However, AA miles do have an expiration date that must be watched, but this can be extended indefinitely by flying AA or earning more miles by their shopping or dining programs, which work with any CC.

Another benefit to the Citi AA cards with an annual fee is that they waive baggage fees & provide you with priority boarding.

chicagomeg

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Re: Credit Card Opportunity/Situation
« Reply #3 on: November 16, 2014, 05:59:14 PM »
The main thing that I see is that Chase Sapphire only lets you transfer to British Airways, not directly to AA. You could probably do one ways on separate airline if you need to, so it might not be a dealbreaker, but it would be ideal if you could merge all the points together. I've heard BA has high fees on flights that go via London, so you might look into that before applying.

What's the current offer on the United card from Chase? It might be a better one so that you can then have all United points for your trip, which you can use to book with any of the star alliance member.