Wow is that card ever a good deal! I wonder if my current score is good enough, I think it's around 750+ or so. Mint guesstimates it at 751, which I suspect would be good enough for this?
FICO > 750 should be good enough. You want to report your
combined income
(both you and you spouse's) on the application. Also you don't want your total credit limit
at Chase to exceed a certain percentage of your reported income. Example: If your CL
on the CSP is $30K and your income is $50K, then it might be denied because the CSR
would put you well over what Chase would want to lend you. If you think you're close to
the limit, you can ask Chase to preemptively lower your CL on your CSP (maybe to $10K)
so your CSR application will breeze through their automated system -- avoiding you having
to call recon and offer to lower your CL after submitting your credit application. If you
decide to do this, wait several days for the lowered CL to percolate through the Chase
system before you apply for the CSR(*).
We spend at least $300 a year in "travel" (though it is whatever categories they decide). Though is that a "total reimbursement" or a "one time credit" type of thing?
Chase travel categories appear to be pretty broad, even including toll roads. If
I can't travel, I just purchase airline gift cards, e.g. I currently have 7x $100 gift
cards with American Airlines -- these never expire.
So basically, assuming I only used it for property taxes and cancelled it (or downgraded?) after the first year it'd net me, in cash:
$1040 in rewards (104,000 rewards points)
$300 in statement credit
-$450 in card fee
-$80 in extra processing charges
-------------
+$810
Except you can add an
another $300 of reimbursed travel credit
since the benefit is tied to the
calendar year, i.e. $300 of credit in
2016, then another $300 in 2017 (before your anniversary date).
So your minimum net is $1110, exclusive of finding better deals on
utilizing your UR points at a conversion rate > $0.01/pt. **
*
I don't know if this is strictly necessary, but I generally assume that
requested changes to my accounts may take a few days to be put
into effect.**
Disclaimer: The above information is based on all the data points
I've currently collected. YMMV. Please read the terms carefully before
submitting your credit application.