What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

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Wannaretireearly
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Wannaretireearly »

I just applied for the citi card and got approved. Less than 800 score as I’m carrying a 0% balance.

My credit limit is only 3k ;) hopefully for one month? Else I cannot achieve the 4K spend!
“At some point you are trading time you will never get back for money you will never spend.“ | “How do you want to spend the best remaining year of your life?“
TravelGeek
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by TravelGeek »

Wannaretireearly wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:28 am
My credit limit is only 3k ;) hopefully for one month? Else I cannot achieve the 4K spend!
Yeah, shouldn’t be a problem. Charge $2k first month, pay it off, charge $2k second month, done.
ZinCO
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by ZinCO »

Wannaretireearly wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:28 am My credit limit is only 3k ;) hopefully for one month? Else I cannot achieve the 4K spend!
The credit limit is the total amount of credit they are extending to you. As soon as you pay off whatever amount you owe them, that amount returns to your available credit limit. So yes, if you charge $3k the first month and pay it off the day they cut your statement, you would be able to spend $3k each month.
Wannaretireearly
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Wannaretireearly »

TravelGeek wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:31 am
Wannaretireearly wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:28 am
My credit limit is only 3k ;) hopefully for one month? Else I cannot achieve the 4K spend!
Yeah, shouldn’t be a problem. Charge $2k first month, pay it off, charge $2k second month, done.
Thanks!
“At some point you are trading time you will never get back for money you will never spend.“ | “How do you want to spend the best remaining year of your life?“
michaeljc70
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by michaeljc70 »

Leesbro63 wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:14 am OK, so I applied for the Citi Premier card and was rejected. I called the "reconsideration" number and they told me that my available credit-to-used credit ratio was too high. Which is true. I have big, unused credit and an 800+ credit score. I've never been rejected before but it was almost as if they realized that I probably was just getting the card for the bonus (which is true). Any suggestions other than just to move on?
Are you saying if you have a total of $80k in available credit it is better to owe $30k than owe $2k? I think you may be misinterpreting what they told you. I believe you can have too high of a utilization or too much total credit but not too low utilization.
Wannaretireearly
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Wannaretireearly »

ZinCO wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:32 am
Wannaretireearly wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:28 am My credit limit is only 3k ;) hopefully for one month? Else I cannot achieve the 4K spend!
The credit limit is the total amount of credit they are extending to you. As soon as you pay off whatever amount you owe them, that amount returns to your available credit limit. So yes, if you charge $3k the first month and pay it off the day they cut your statement, you would be able to spend $3k each month.

Thank you. My wife just got rejected. She has an 800 + score. I’ll follow the credit reallocation advice. How should she go about this? Call them up?
“At some point you are trading time you will never get back for money you will never spend.“ | “How do you want to spend the best remaining year of your life?“
Leesbro63
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Leesbro63 »

michaeljc70 wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:41 am
Leesbro63 wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:14 am OK, so I applied for the Citi Premier card and was rejected. I called the "reconsideration" number and they told me that my available credit-to-used credit ratio was too high. Which is true. I have big, unused credit and an 800+ credit score. I've never been rejected before but it was almost as if they realized that I probably was just getting the card for the bonus (which is true). Any suggestions other than just to move on?
Are you saying if you have a total of $80k in available credit it is better to owe $30k than owe $2k? I think you may be misinterpreting what they told you. I believe you can have too high of a utilization or too much total credit but not too low utilization.
Yes. I’m saying this. It’s as if they realize I never carry a balance and won’t be profitable for them.
Leesbro63
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Leesbro63 »

Wannaretireearly wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:28 am I just applied for the citi card and got approved. Less than 800 score as I’m carrying a 0% balance.

My credit limit is only 3k ;) hopefully for one month? Else I cannot achieve the 4K spend!
You can pay DURING the month, before the statement period closes. So charge $2000, pay as soon as it posts, then you’ll have your original $3000 available again.
Leesbro63
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Leesbro63 »

TravelGeek wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:27 am
Leesbro63 wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:14 am OK, so I applied for the Citi Premier card and was rejected. I called the "reconsideration" number and they told me that my available credit-to-used credit ratio was too high. Which is true. I have big, unused credit and an 800+ credit score. I've never been rejected before but it was almost as if they realized that I probably was just getting the card for the bonus (which is true). Any suggestions other than just to move on?
Do you have any other Citi cards with high credit limits that you could offer them to reallocate credit from?

Your rejection reason has been a concern of mine for a while. So far I have not been rejected, but Chase has several times reallocated credit from existing cards to give me a new card. Which is generally fine with me. They did it without asking me first, but Inwas Abe, to reshuffle things a bit later since they took from a card that I occasionally put expensive airfare on and let another card that I almost never use alone.
I have cards with 4 other issuers but none with Citi.
michaeljc70
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by michaeljc70 »

Leesbro63 wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:50 am
michaeljc70 wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:41 am
Leesbro63 wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:14 am OK, so I applied for the Citi Premier card and was rejected. I called the "reconsideration" number and they told me that my available credit-to-used credit ratio was too high. Which is true. I have big, unused credit and an 800+ credit score. I've never been rejected before but it was almost as if they realized that I probably was just getting the card for the bonus (which is true). Any suggestions other than just to move on?
Are you saying if you have a total of $80k in available credit it is better to owe $30k than owe $2k? I think you may be misinterpreting what they told you. I believe you can have too high of a utilization or too much total credit but not too low utilization.
Yes. I’m saying this. It’s as if they realize I never carry a balance and won’t be profitable for them.
The merchant pays a fee on every transaction. Believe me, they are making money.

They don't know from your credit report if you pay it off every month or not. They only see the balance at the time it is reported to the credit bureau.

I haven't paid a dime in interest in 25 years. I got the Citi Premier a couple months ago.
TravelGeek
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by TravelGeek »

Leesbro63 wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:52 am
You can pay DURING the month, before the statement period closes. So charge $2000, pay as soon as it posts, then you’ll have your original $3000 available again.
The problem is that some banks don’t like it when people cycle their credit limit, especially new customers/cards.
TravelGeek
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by TravelGeek »

michaeljc70 wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 11:09 am The merchant pays a fee on every transaction. Believe me, they are making money.

Yeah, so I got the Premier (for the second time in four years) earlier this fall. Charged my $4k, got my 80k, and now it’s in the sock drawer.

Let’s say they made 2 cents on each dollar I charged. That’s 80 bucks. I haven’t redeemed my 85k points yet, but I am pretty sure whatever I do with them will cost Citi more than 80 bucks.

If they had looked at our first time together with the Premier card, they probably could have predicted this ;) (per my spreadsheet, I had the card for little over a year, and charged $5600 on it)
michaeljc70
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by michaeljc70 »

TravelGeek wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 11:16 am
michaeljc70 wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 11:09 am The merchant pays a fee on every transaction. Believe me, they are making money.

Yeah, so I got the Premier (for the second time in four years) earlier this fall. Charged my $4k, got my 80k, and now it’s in the sock drawer.

Let’s say they made 2 cents on each dollar I charged. That’s 80 bucks. I haven’t redeemed my 85k points yet, but I am pretty sure whatever I do with them will cost Citi more than 80 bucks.

If they had looked at our first time together with the Premier card, they probably could have predicted this ;) (per my spreadsheet, I had the card for little over a year, and charged $5600 on it)
My comment was referring to them not making money because you pay the card off every month.

That's why all the big issuers that offer bonuses have limitations now. That card also has an annual fee. I will be closing mine before I have to pay it a 2nd time. Sure, there are a small number of customers they lose money on, but they try to limit it and they are getting better at it.
spammagnet
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by spammagnet »

flyfishers83 wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 8:35 am Are there any good tools available for tracking rewards associated with different cards? My guess is no, but thought I'd ask.

We do ok keeping track of regular rewards (including rotating categories and random bonus offers), and otherwise default to a 2% cash back card for 95% of spend. I find it annoying trying to check things like Amex and CapitalOne targeted merchant cashback. I know I've missed quite a because I didn't check for a merchant before buying.
Award Wallet does what you're looking for. Whether you like how it works, or not, is subjective.

One thing to consider is that you have to give them login information to have it keep your data current. That means credit card web account login info. They offer an alternative of using your awardwallet account as an email address for account information to be sent to (they provide an email alias) but that really works only for travel awards like airline miles, where you can designate a third-part as recipient. Also, your AwardWallet account gets updated only when the travel account (e.g., Delta miles) sends a statement.
TravelGeek
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by TravelGeek »

spammagnet wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 11:44 am
flyfishers83 wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 8:35 am Are there any good tools available for tracking rewards associated with different cards? My guess is no, but thought I'd ask.

We do ok keeping track of regular rewards (including rotating categories and random bonus offers), and otherwise default to a 2% cash back card for 95% of spend. I find it annoying trying to check things like Amex and CapitalOne targeted merchant cashback. I know I've missed quite a because I didn't check for a merchant before buying.
Award Wallet does what you're looking for. Whether you like how it works, or not, is subjective.

One thing to consider is that you have to give them login information to have it keep your data current. That means credit card web account login info. They offer an alternative of using your awardwallet account as an email address for account information to be sent to (they provide an email alias) but that really works only for travel awards like airline miles, where you can designate a third-part as recipient. Also, your AwardWallet account gets updated only when the travel account (e.g., Delta miles) sends a statement.
I haven't used AwardWallet (even just for tracking my loyalty program balances, which is what they started with, because I have no desire to share my credentials). But I can't quite imagine a tool that would know all my credit cards, any offers that are out there (OP said targeted merchant cashbacks), and then make a recommendation for each purchase. There are just too many conditions and in-my-mind goals and rules that I would somehow have to feed into the system.

For example, right now my Chase UA Explorer card has a 5X Amazon+grocery bonus and a 10X gas bonus. Together capped at $1500. Let's say I am making a $1000 Amazon charge. Is that card the best card? No. Because I would rather not use up $1000 out of my $1500 for a 5X purchase when I could instead get 10X for gas. Especially since I can buy Amazon giftcards for 5X with my Ink Cash at office stores all day long. And award wallet wouldn't know, though, that I have a roadtrip coming up where I will buy lots of gas (or, uh, giftcards at the gas station).

Another example: sometimes I am working towards an award and need a few more points in a particular program, so I am willing to accept sub-optimal earnings because the great award they enable.

I just consider mentally tracking all these rules and offers a mind game. For some promos and offers I use the help of a spreadsheet to track things. Sometimes I make a mistake and do a sub-optional purchase. Not a big deal.
TwstdSista
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by TwstdSista »

Just signed up for the Citi Premier card and bonus - thanks for the heads up!
BashDash
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by BashDash »

I recently got the "Shop Your Way" card after reading about some great offers on this thread.....when do they usually start coming in? Do they come via email? Thanks!
bogleVB
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by bogleVB »

TravelGeek wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 11:10 am
Leesbro63 wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:52 am
You can pay DURING the month, before the statement period closes. So charge $2000, pay as soon as it posts, then you’ll have your original $3000 available again.
The problem is that some banks don’t like it when people cycle their credit limit, especially new customers/cards.
I do this heavily, and have not experienced any push back. Will you provide an example por favor?
bogleVB
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by bogleVB »

Leesbro63 wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:52 am
Wannaretireearly wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:28 am I just applied for the citi card and got approved. Less than 800 score as I’m carrying a 0% balance.

My credit limit is only 3k ;) hopefully for one month? Else I cannot achieve the 4K spend!
You can pay DURING the month, before the statement period closes. So charge $2000, pay as soon as it posts, then you’ll have your original $3000 available again.
Baby step further, push payment from your bank soon after purchase, regardless of when it posts to CC. If it gets there early, so be it, no worries.
michaeljc70
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by michaeljc70 »

Deleted
Last edited by michaeljc70 on Thu Dec 01, 2022 11:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
Leesbro63
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Leesbro63 »

bogleVB wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 9:55 am
Leesbro63 wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:52 am
Wannaretireearly wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:28 am I just applied for the citi card and got approved. Less than 800 score as I’m carrying a 0% balance.

My credit limit is only 3k ;) hopefully for one month? Else I cannot achieve the 4K spend!
You can pay DURING the month, before the statement period closes. So charge $2000, pay as soon as it posts, then you’ll have your original $3000 available again.
Baby step further, push payment from your bank soon after purchase, regardless of when it posts to CC. If it gets there early, so be it, no worries.
I don’t think you can pay in more than the amount of credit used up
TravelGeek
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by TravelGeek »

bogleVB wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 9:54 am
I do this heavily, and have not experienced any push back. Will you provide an example por favor?
No personal experience, but having been a member for many year, it seems to be conventional wisdom on FT. E.g.,

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credit- ... limit.html

If you google for Credit Cycling or similar terms, you will find other sites talking about it. E.g., everyone’s “favorite” purveyor of credit cards, TPG:

https://thepointsguy.com/news/should-yo ... re-points/

Which bank(s) is your cycling experience with, and how long have you done it? How much do you charge per month relative to your credit limit and your stated income?
michaeljc70
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by michaeljc70 »

Leesbro63 wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 10:26 am
bogleVB wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 9:55 am
Leesbro63 wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:52 am
Wannaretireearly wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:28 am I just applied for the citi card and got approved. Less than 800 score as I’m carrying a 0% balance.

My credit limit is only 3k ;) hopefully for one month? Else I cannot achieve the 4K spend!
You can pay DURING the month, before the statement period closes. So charge $2000, pay as soon as it posts, then you’ll have your original $3000 available again.
Baby step further, push payment from your bank soon after purchase, regardless of when it posts to CC. If it gets there early, so be it, no worries.
I don’t think you can pay in more than the amount of credit used up
You can...but there is a good chance at some point they will mail you a check back if you have a credit balance when the statement closes. They don't like owing cardholders money. I don't know their specific policies, but If you have a substantial credit balance when the cycle ends I think most will send you a check. I've had it happen due to making a big return after paying the bill.
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ResearchMed
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by ResearchMed »

bogleVB wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 9:54 am
TravelGeek wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 11:10 am
Leesbro63 wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:52 am
You can pay DURING the month, before the statement period closes. So charge $2000, pay as soon as it posts, then you’ll have your original $3000 available again.
The problem is that some banks don’t like it when people cycle their credit limit, especially new customers/cards.
I do this heavily, and have not experienced any push back. Will you provide an example por favor?

Those who have a low credit limit, relative to their own needs... have you requested a higher credit limit, or even just for one time if it's a one time purchase?
I would have thought (could have been wrong of course!) that if one us using close to the max credit each month AND paying it off promptly (NOT running balances of high proportions), then it would be approved relatively easily,

Occasionally if I get a new card (for the bonus) with a low limit, after a few months of using it, I ask for a higher limit. Once, they only increased it by $2k, which seemed kind of silly. But usually, it's a nice bump up.
In the past, some would occasionally announce that I now had a higher limit, just from my usage patterns.

But separately, why would a card issuer care if you charge, say, 80% of the limit, pay it off, and then do it again, and then pay it off when the billing cycle ends. What is their risk?

RM
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TravelGeek
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by TravelGeek »

ResearchMed wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 10:59 am
But separately, why would a card issuer care if you charge, say, 80% of the limit, pay it off, and then do it again, and then pay it off when the billing cycle ends. What is their risk?
The TPG article I linked upthread lists some reasons. Based on my reading, some banks care more than others (as with many things related to credit cards).
DrGrnTum
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by DrGrnTum »

Here is a pretty good video on cycling your credit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4_vP3ts2y

On a CC churning site there are reports of Chase coming down hard on some people that do this.
These people report that Chase shuts down all their accounts.
They take back all their points from all their cards, close those cards and close their checking and savings accounts.
Leesbro63
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Leesbro63 »

DrGrnTum wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 12:44 pm Here is a pretty good video on cycling your credit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4_vP3ts2y

On a CC churning site there are reports of Chase coming down hard on some people that do this.
These people report that Chase shuts down all their accounts.
They take back all their points from all their cards, close those cards and close their checking and savings accounts.
Says “video unavailable”
DrGrnTum
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by DrGrnTum »

Leesbro63 wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 1:43 pm
DrGrnTum wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 12:44 pm Here is a pretty good video on cycling your credit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4_vP3ts2y

On a CC churning site there are reports of Chase coming down hard on some people that do this.
These people report that Chase shuts down all their accounts.
They take back all their points from all their cards, close those cards and close their checking and savings accounts.
Says “video unavailable”
I am sorry. I forgot to test the link before I sent it out.
It should work now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4_vP3ts2yI&authuser=0
Leesbro63
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Leesbro63 »

DrGrnTum wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 2:01 pm
Leesbro63 wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 1:43 pm
DrGrnTum wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 12:44 pm Here is a pretty good video on cycling your credit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4_vP3ts2y

On a CC churning site there are reports of Chase coming down hard on some people that do this.
These people report that Chase shuts down all their accounts.
They take back all their points from all their cards, close those cards and close their checking and savings accounts.
Says “video unavailable”
I am sorry. I forgot to test the link before I sent it out.
It should work now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4_vP3ts2yI&authuser=0
Thank you!
bogleVB
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by bogleVB »

Good discussions and references, IMO in response to
Wannaretireearly wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:28 am I just applied for the citi card and got approved. Less than 800 score as I’m carrying a 0% balance.

My credit limit is only 3k ;) hopefully for one month? Else I cannot achieve the 4K spend!
Making purchase, paying before statement cut (push from bank, or wait for post and pull pay), is highly unlikely to incite adverse action from the financial institution.

There's a few things going on here where adverse action is reported. The credit churners going after spend bonus's to the max repetitively (hit bonus, close, reapply in minimal period, rinse and repeat, "points chasers" maxing to the hilt non stop, previously the manufactured spending (buy product you can turn into cash like gift card->money order, use cash to pay, repeat, profit from bonus's without buying real stuff), and money launderers yeah those folks are at risk for adverse action. Chase's 5/24 rule slows down the churners on those lucrative bonus's, for example.

The youtube video provided and points guy link provided reasonable discussion. Paying before statement cut to keep utilization low is not "bad". Getting 4k spend in a month on a 3k card is technically cycling, and not likely to cause adverse action. youtuber suggest 20k over limit in a month may be a flag point, but if you have a legit reason you're doing it, call to discuss, not likely to be a problem, communicate. I take advantage of the bonus's within reason, but only w.r.t. my legit spending I'm doing anyway. And I pay before statement is cut more often than not.

Different financial institutions will treat this differently but, If your payment hits before transaction clears by a day or 3, they're not sending the check out. I've had a couple situations where checks were cut, usually they asked me what I wanted to do, but it's rare. I'm pushing lots of payments per month, every month, to more than a half dozen different financial institutions.

I should note what I'm doing is not technically cycling though in general. I have large limits, so while there are several payments per month, their sum is not normally greater than the card limit.

Don't be shy about kindly requesting (in super friendly manor with rep if not online) credit limit increases folks. When they choose to say no, just ask again later :-) They might say no again, it's ok, we're persistent.
Last edited by bogleVB on Sat Dec 03, 2022 11:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Mr. Potter
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Mr. Potter »

For anyone who has the Sams card does the 5% on gas only at a Sams club station or is that good anywhere?
Leesbro63
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Leesbro63 »

Mr. Potter wrote: Fri Dec 02, 2022 6:35 pm For anyone who has the Sams card does the 5% on gas only at a Sams club station or is that good anywhere?
Anywhere.
THY4373
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by THY4373 »

bogleVB wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 9:54 am
TravelGeek wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 11:10 am
Leesbro63 wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:52 am
You can pay DURING the month, before the statement period closes. So charge $2000, pay as soon as it posts, then you’ll have your original $3000 available again.
The problem is that some banks don’t like it when people cycle their credit limit, especially new customers/cards.
I do this heavily, and have not experienced any push back. Will you provide an example por favor?
I personally know folks that were closed by Citi and Barclays most likely for credit limit cycling (they never really give an explanation so you are left guessing). Amex doesn't care for the most part though it is possible they might give you a financial review. Chase seems pretty mellow about it especially on business cards. I suspect factors beyond credit cycling probably also play a role in whether they care or not.
lakpr
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by lakpr »

THY4373 wrote: Fri Dec 02, 2022 7:02 pm
bogleVB wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 9:54 am
TravelGeek wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 11:10 am
Leesbro63 wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:52 am
You can pay DURING the month, before the statement period closes. So charge $2000, pay as soon as it posts, then you’ll have your original $3000 available again.
The problem is that some banks don’t like it when people cycle their credit limit, especially new customers/cards.
I do this heavily, and have not experienced any push back. Will you provide an example por favor?
I personally know folks that were closed by Citi and Barclays most likely for credit limit cycling (they never really give an explanation so you are left guessing). Amex doesn't care for the most part though it is possible they might give you a financial review. Chase seems pretty mellow about it especially on business cards. I suspect factors beyond credit cycling probably also play a role in whether they care or not.
I hate debt like anything, including credit card debt. I therefore schedule payments to the credit card practically every week as soon as the transactions post. From the credit card's websites too, not a PUSH from my bank.

I have 26 years of credit history, and never had I had a card close because I chose to pay the credit card multiple times within a billing cycle. Citi, as it happens, is my first and oldest card and I do that with that card too.

I had a Barclays's card (old Sallie Mae card), but I closed it once the rewards of 5% on books and Amazon purchases got nerfed. To the best of my memory, I did that with that card too.

{ I do get that @THY4373 is only providing anecdotal evidence, I want this post to be taken also in the same spirit - anecdotal evidence that in no way validates or invalidates the premise that "banks hate credit cycling" }
TravelGeek
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by TravelGeek »

lakpr wrote: Fri Dec 02, 2022 7:06 pm
I hate debt like anything, including credit card debt. I therefore schedule payments to the credit card practically every week as soon as the transactions post. From the credit card's websites too, not a PUSH from my bank.

I have 26 years of credit history, and never had I had a card close because I chose to pay the credit card multiple times within a billing cycle. Citi, as it happens, is my first and oldest card and I do that with that card too.

I had a Barclays's card (old Sallie Mae card), but I closed it once the rewards of 5% on books and Amazon purchases got nerfed. To the best of my memory, I did that with that card too.

{ I do get that @THY4373 is only providing anecdotal evidence, I want this post to be taken also in the same spirit - anecdotal evidence that in no way validates or invalidates the premise that "banks hate credit cycling" }
Does your aggregate monthly spend on each cards exceed the card’s credit limit? Regularly? Significantly?

If your credit limit is $10k, and you charge $1k per week and pay it off at the end of the week, that’s not credit limit cycling.
lakpr
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by lakpr »

TravelGeek wrote: Fri Dec 02, 2022 8:13 pm Does your aggregate monthly spend on each cards exceed the card’s credit limit? Regularly? Significantly?

If your credit limit is $10k, and you charge $1k per week and pay it off at the end of the week, that’s not credit limit cycling.
No, my credit limit on the Citi card that's 26 years old is $22k. I usually charge around $1k per week (it's the Double Cash, so my everyday driver card), but as soon as the charge exceeds $500 I get crazy and immediately pay off the outstanding balance. I am a bit obsessive-compulsive that way.
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by TravelGeek »

lakpr wrote: Fri Dec 02, 2022 8:44 pm
TravelGeek wrote: Fri Dec 02, 2022 8:13 pm Does your aggregate monthly spend on each cards exceed the card’s credit limit? Regularly? Significantly?

If your credit limit is $10k, and you charge $1k per week and pay it off at the end of the week, that’s not credit limit cycling.
No, my credit limit on the Citi card that's 26 years old is $22k. I usually charge around $1k per week (it's the Double Cash, so my everyday driver card), but as soon as the charge exceeds $500 I get crazy and immediately pay off the outstanding balance. I am a bit obsessive-compulsive that way.
Yeah, so that’s not credit limit cycling and thus not anecdotal evidence for banks not caring about that behavior,
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by CletusCaddy »

TravelGeek wrote: Fri Dec 02, 2022 8:56 pm
lakpr wrote: Fri Dec 02, 2022 8:44 pm
TravelGeek wrote: Fri Dec 02, 2022 8:13 pm Does your aggregate monthly spend on each cards exceed the card’s credit limit? Regularly? Significantly?

If your credit limit is $10k, and you charge $1k per week and pay it off at the end of the week, that’s not credit limit cycling.
No, my credit limit on the Citi card that's 26 years old is $22k. I usually charge around $1k per week (it's the Double Cash, so my everyday driver card), but as soon as the charge exceeds $500 I get crazy and immediately pay off the outstanding balance. I am a bit obsessive-compulsive that way.
Yeah, so that’s not credit limit cycling and thus not anecdotal evidence for banks not caring about that behavior,
If banks actually cared about credit limit cycling, it would be easy to prevent. They would just institute a limit of how much has been charged statement-to-date, regardless of whether it was paid down or not.
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Leesbro63 »

lakpr wrote: Fri Dec 02, 2022 8:44 pm
TravelGeek wrote: Fri Dec 02, 2022 8:13 pm Does your aggregate monthly spend on each cards exceed the card’s credit limit? Regularly? Significantly?

If your credit limit is $10k, and you charge $1k per week and pay it off at the end of the week, that’s not credit limit cycling.
No, my credit limit on the Citi card that's 26 years old is $22k. I usually charge around $1k per week (it's the Double Cash, so my everyday driver card), but as soon as the charge exceeds $500 I get crazy and immediately pay off the outstanding balance. I am a bit obsessive-compulsive that way.
My situation and behavior is similar. Never had any card issuer shut me down or complain. 825 credit score
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by THY4373 »

CletusCaddy wrote: Fri Dec 02, 2022 9:46 pm If banks actually cared about credit limit cycling, it would be easy to prevent. They would just institute a limit of how much has been charged statement-to-date, regardless of whether it was paid down or not.
I suspect they don't care about cycling to a point (just like some issuers let you exceed the credit limit). Which is why I said other factors are also probably at play. For Citi they seem sensitive to credit cycling for spend that is earning 2x or more back. For example cycling the Citi Double cash regularly is considered a risk factor for getting closed by Citi is some circles. So in that case it may be the concern is profitability vs any real concerns about cycling itself. The bottom line is the banks are constantly evaluating your behavior, credit score and other data about you and making a risk decision it is very likely most risk decisions are based on multiple factors.
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by THY4373 »

Leesbro63 wrote: Sat Dec 03, 2022 6:41 am
lakpr wrote: Fri Dec 02, 2022 8:44 pm
TravelGeek wrote: Fri Dec 02, 2022 8:13 pm Does your aggregate monthly spend on each cards exceed the card’s credit limit? Regularly? Significantly?

If your credit limit is $10k, and you charge $1k per week and pay it off at the end of the week, that’s not credit limit cycling.
No, my credit limit on the Citi card that's 26 years old is $22k. I usually charge around $1k per week (it's the Double Cash, so my everyday driver card), but as soon as the charge exceeds $500 I get crazy and immediately pay off the outstanding balance. I am a bit obsessive-compulsive that way.
My situation and behavior is similar. Never had any card issuer shut me down or complain. 825 credit score
Yeah that is isn't credit card cycling at all and the banks would have no issue with it. You might have a different experience if you were charging $22k per week and paying it off and then doing the same thing the next week. Credit card cycling is doing some multiple greater than 1 of your credit limit within the month.

That said some banks don't care. Some years back there was a 5% cash back card that gave unlimited 5% cashback for six months. Folks were cycling their limits *daily*. Say they had a $30k limit (many did). They'd charge up $30k during the day, make a $30k payment in the evening and cycle again the next day (this wasn't possible on weekends though due to how things posted). There were folks who made (this is profit) well into the six figures during that six months. Folks were getting paper bills mailed to them that were several hundred pages thick. Bank didn't care for years. So YMMV like everything else.
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anon_investor
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by anon_investor »

I just got approved for the US Bank Cash+ Visa. Pretty excited to get 5% cash back on all of my utility and cell phone bills now.
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Jags4186 »

Well, I was adding up my rewards this year, which in my memory was a relatively slow year for me. I still managed to get $7,770 in cash, $600 in gift cards, and banked some 500,000 points between AMEX MR and Chase UR across all my "endeavors". I had two mishaps through the year:

1) Did not receive my $40 sign up bonus for a SYW Mastercard for whatever reason -- although this card delivered over $1000 cash and $300 in gift cards to me this year.
2) Got locked out of my Truist account and was unable to get them to let me open it. Lost out on $500 -- although my wife got her $500.

All in all, I got over $10k which is my goal. I think though next year will be slower. I just can't seem to get approved for good credit cards any more (I wonder why :twisted: ) and with a little one it's becoming harder to manage the bank accounts.
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by spickups09 »

anon_investor wrote: Mon Dec 05, 2022 11:10 pm I just got approved for the US Bank Cash+ Visa. Pretty excited to get 5% cash back on all of my utility and cell phone bills now.
Yup, this was the last new card I got. I didn't mind adding a fifth card to my system, because I'll only be using it for the relatively rare bonus categories of utilities and tv, and with this card I doubled my cash back for those items.
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by spammagnet »

anon_investor wrote: Mon Dec 05, 2022 11:10 pm... Pretty excited to get 5% cash back on all of my utility and cell phone bills now.
I gather that you must sign up for a 5% category regularly, but I don't see a list of categories anywhere. Do they rotate? Or is the list static and the required signup is their approach to not having to pay it, if you forget?
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anon_investor
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by anon_investor »

spammagnet wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 3:03 pm
anon_investor wrote: Mon Dec 05, 2022 11:10 pm... Pretty excited to get 5% cash back on all of my utility and cell phone bills now.
I gather that you must sign up for a 5% category regularly, but I don't see a list of categories anywhere. Do they rotate? Or is the list static and the required signup is their approach to not having to pay it, if you forget?
I haven't received the card yet, but my sibling has it. It looks like the catagories generally stay the same, but technically US Bank can change them. In their FAQs it says you have a window of 45 days before to 5 days before the quarter to select your catagories. So you do have to select them at least 5 days before the start of the quarter. If you do not select your catagories then you will only get 1% cash back. I keep a pretty close watch on my CCs, so selecting catagories each quarter is not a big deal for me.
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Doom&Gloom
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Doom&Gloom »

spammagnet wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 3:03 pm
anon_investor wrote: Mon Dec 05, 2022 11:10 pm... Pretty excited to get 5% cash back on all of my utility and cell phone bills now.
I gather that you must sign up for a 5% category regularly, but I don't see a list of categories anywhere. Do they rotate? Or is the list static and the required signup is their approach to not having to pay it, if you forget?
The lists (5% & 2%) are relatively stable. Occasionally a new category will be added or an existing one will be removed. USBank is good about sending email notifications when it is time to select your categories for the coming quarter (2 from 5% list and 1 from 2% list), and the process is quick and dirty. A while back they added the option to keep your same categories as the previous quarter, so if you want to do that it only takes one click.

But, yeah, I guess if you forget then you don't get the bonuses. That's only a guess as I have not experienced it.
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anon_investor
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by anon_investor »

Doom&Gloom wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 3:25 pm A while back they added the option to keep your same categories as the previous quarter, so if you want to do that it only takes one click.
I assume you still have to go in and select they option it before the new quarter though, right? I was just approved for the card yesterday, still waiting to receive the physical card and the ability to select my catagories.
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by vshun »

michaeljc70 wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:41 am
Leesbro63 wrote: Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:14 am OK, so I applied for the Citi Premier card and was rejected. I called the "reconsideration" number and they told me that my available credit-to-used credit ratio was too high. Which is true. I have big, unused credit and an 800+ credit score. I've never been rejected before but it was almost as if they realized that I probably was just getting the card for the bonus (which is true). Any suggestions other than just to move on?
Are you saying if you have a total of $80k in available credit it is better to owe $30k than owe $2k? I think you may be misinterpreting what they told you. I believe you can have too high of a utilization or too much total credit but not too low utilization.
I am not that poster but I had identical reason for decline. I guess Citi ML models maybe figured out the category of folks who get the cards for bonus (many cards, low usage). It is quite controversial as traditional denial was for exactly opposite reason.
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Doom&Gloom
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Re: What's Your Credit Card Rewards Strategy?

Post by Doom&Gloom »

anon_investor wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 3:28 pm
Doom&Gloom wrote: Tue Dec 06, 2022 3:25 pm A while back they added the option to keep your same categories as the previous quarter, so if you want to do that it only takes one click.
I assume you still have to go in and select they option it before the new quarter though, right? I was just approved for the card yesterday, still waiting to receive the physical card and the ability to select my catagories.
Yes, you do. Takes about 10 seconds if you want to keep the same categories. Takes maybe a couple of minutes if you want to review all the categories again.

I've settled on the same two 5% categories for several quarters now. I have little use for their 2% categories. This card sits in my desk drawer as my two 5% categories are paid online. I probably should put it in my wallet once a year or so to use on some non-bonus purchase, but so far I haven't bothered.
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