Here, we take control of rewards through expert credit card strategies!
From maximizing rewards to outsized redemptions, these videos provide actionable tips and tricks to help you achieve your true potential with credit card rewards. My goal is to help YOU unlock the full potential of your credit cards for you to get MAXIMUM value from cashback and OUTSIZED value for aspirational travel!
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Hi!! I did a Backdoor Roth conversion through Fidelity earlier this year and I noticed that the tIRA has accrued $4.59. What’s my next step that I need to do before the end of the year so I don’t cause any implications when I file my taxes?
Food for thought 🍎🥕
For sure! 👍
I just signed up for the Ink preffered. The 3x on travel outweighs the csp 2x for me, even if I don't get the $50 hotel credit.
Awesome! Yeah I agree, I’m also a big fan of the 3X travel category on the Ink Preferred!
I have had the Mariott Bonvoy Premier card for 12 years. Since this card is not available anymore can I get the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card and flip that to the Ritz card and get 5 free nights awards with this strategy??
Unfortunately, based on the terms and conditions you can't apply for the Boundless if you already have a Bonvoy Premier card. You would have to cancel the Premier card first. Alternatively, you could see if they could PC the Premier card to the Ritz Carlton card, but not sure if that's possible.
Are IHG hotels even good. I see a lot of them with bad reviews
Not sure. Will start staying in them soon and then I’ll know for sure.
@@TheCreditFrog thanks!
If I apply for Marriott brilliant, will I get the 25 elite nights automatically? I already have 35 elite nights and if I get the additional 25 I would need 15 elite nights to get to titanium.
You will get them automatically as long as the other elite nights are not from another personal credit card. These 25 elite nights stack with actual nights stayed and elite nights from the Bonvoy Business card
We just apply also. Currently working on the bonus! Lol. Good info as always!
Thanks Vince! Awesome!! Such a great bonus on this card right now!
PSA: It can be very difficult to get ahold of a live customer service rep that will actually push your application through reconsideration. On my first attempt (called the app status phone number and followed the prompts) I was actually told there is NO reconsideration process and they said after 30 days I can apply again, or apply for a different card. They even checked with their supervisor and confirmed. Called the number back again, skipped the 'application status' workflow and just went with 'main menu' and said 'representative.' The automated system kept trying to get me to input the last four digits of the card I was calling about but I just kept hitting the # key until it finally connected me with someone. THAT person was finally able to help. Verified that I had actually canceled one of my cards and then put it through to recon. Now I'm waiting patiently for the result!
Wow, sounds like they really did a lot of transfers when you called customer service! But yeah, you definitely have to find the right agent who knows what they are doing. Hopefully, you're situation will end up in an approval! It should since it sounds like you were just maxed out on cards and since you canceled there should be a slot open for the new one! Usually it takes less than 48 hours to get the approval email, at least, that's been my experience.
@@TheCreditFrog just got the approval first thing this morning!
@@Airport_Dad Alright!! Congrats on the new card! 🎉
Just a note, I used my Hilton Amex Surpass card for my onboard expenses on a recent cruise and got 3x points ($8000 x 3 = 24,000 Hilton points).
Makes sense. Those expenses would likely code as travel so they would get put in the 3X catch all category.
It depends on how often you fly, along with other cards in your wallet that you can transfer points into. Example being I have the Explorer card, along with other Chase cards. The other cards become my everyday spend cards and I use those to transfer into the airline card when booking a flight. The airline card covers priority boarding, lounge access a couple times per year, free checked back and tsa pre-precheck. So basically, if you fly once or twice a year it covers the 95 dollar annual fee.
Yup! It certainly depends on how much you fly, and if you only fly 1-2 times per year, the card would make sense! But it makes less sense if you fly often and have status with the airline as the credit card benefits overall with those elite status benefits!
Hey Stan! Thanks for the video. I'm looking to run a similar trifecta to you with BILT Mastercard (rent, non-mobile wallet dining), Bofa Customized Cash (online shopping), Costco Citi Anywhere (Costco + gas) and USBAR (everything else). Unfortunately, I live on the east coast so I can't develop a banking relationship with US Bank. However, I could open a CD (like you did in your process). I wanted to ask, would this help me towards getting approved for the USBAR or did you only take this step to go up in the US Bank rewards program? Also, I did just get the BILT mastercard earlier in July with 1 other hard inquiry (C1VX denial) in June. Do you suggest I wait at least 6 months from my last hard inquiry to increase my chances? Or 6 months from my June hard inquiry? I have great credit (750+) but lower income. I appreciate your help, thank you!
Hey! That's awesome! This is a great setup to run, and I'm glad you're moving towards it! So for me, I opened the CD mainly for the elevated status in the US Bank Rewards program, but if you open one, this should still help with that banking relationship. At this point, it's not necessary for you to have a relationship with US Bank to get the Altitude Reserve, but I would maintain that it still helps. I think having a 0/6 would make the stronger application, but 1-2/6 would probably be ok too. I personally would wait, but you never know! There have been data points of people just straight up applying with 2/6 and even 3/6 and getting approved! The trick is not to take no with the initial denial and always call reconsideration to go through a manual review. There's where the relationship and your hard pull status will be the most helpful. Hope that helps!
@@TheCreditFrog thank you! That's very helpful!
I got my chase sapphire 6 months ago and called chase to match the new offer and they denied 😂. I tried lol
Dang, you shot your shot LOL. Respect.
I’m one for two on this. Player two got the CIP recently and was able to successfully match from the 100 K offer to the 120 K offer! 🎉 However, when I got the Aeroplan card about two years ago, they increase the sub from 50 K to70 K just a few weeks after I signed up, and my request to match was rejected. I can’t help but wonder if the standard is different for cobranded cards?
Aw man, well I'm glad they matched you to the 120k offer, but it sucks that it didn't happen for the Aeroplan card. The standard is probably different and Chase likely has more sway with their own credit cards for sure.
Can anyone speak to the "step transaction doctrine"? It appears Stan made his transfer from Trad IRA --> Roth IRA and then waited to transfer the funds after the New Year. Similarly, I've heard others (CPAs, etc.) say you should wait several months so that the appearance of the "step transaction doctrine" isn't applied to the transactions. Any help would be greatly appreciated here, especially if there is any IRS/CPA guidance on the step transaction doctrine in '24. I would prefer to NOT let the assets sit in the Trad IRA any longer than is necessary, but I don't know if that opens the door to the step transaction doctrine. Thanks
Yes, I would like to hear from any financial professionals as well about this. Just a small correction, the Trad IRA to Roth IRA transfer was one in the same year. I put the funds in a CMA prior to the new year, but didn't initiate the transfer from the CMA to the Trad IRA until the beginning of Jan. So the Trad IRA contribution and Roth conversion both occurred in the same year, for the same tax year.
@@TheCreditFrog Thank you.
🥂Congrats! That's a huge injection of Chase points, enough for both of you to fly Business somewhere for a trip
I appreciate it Kevin! Yes, we're going to have to take a nice international business class flight with these points!
Congrats to the Frogs family 😁👍
Thanks so much Chris!! 😃
Hey Stan so I have an Amex Gold and I just got approved an Amex blue business plus. My Amex gold is due for renewal in February. I am not so crazy about the new changes with the white gold and increase in the annual fee. I was thinking of asking for a retention offer when the time comes for renewal …. If they don’t give it to me then I will close the Amex gold / white gold … if I keep my Amex blue business I should be ok with my MR points ? On a separate note I was thinking of applying for the Amex green but I heard that there may not be a sign up offer since I already have the gold. Is that 100% true or can I try and apply and see if I get it ? Thanks Stan. And I am loving your channel !! Cheers
Yup! If you have the BBP, your MR points will be safe. In terms of the Green, yeah, if you already have the Gold, you are unlikely able to get the Green welcome offer. I think it's worth trying to see if you can get it, but if you get a popup, I would just move on. There's always the possibility of downgrading the Gold to the Green if you wanted to try out CLEAR or something, hah! I appreciate the support and thanks for the kind words!!
Congrats on the new CIP! I coincidentally applied for it this morning using the exact same 2 player strategy! I’ll message them once I receive my card to see if they’ll match. I’ve always wanted the ink preferred but the spend is so high, but I have some major expenses coming up so decided to go for it!
Thanks Cody! And congrats on your new CIP as well! It's definitely a great time to get this card so I'm glad that you were able to get it too since 120k is the all time high offer. And with the Ink referral bonus going away soon, I think you made the right choice - especially since you have some major expenses coming up!
My ref still doesn't show 120K for the CIP. Anything I can do?
Referral links don’t show as 120k so right now, the only option that has been fruitful is to SM to match the 100k referral offer to the 120k offer after the fact!
Great info. Thanks Stan.
You’re welcome!
How long did it take for them to respond to your secure message? Im in a similar situation as I originally applied on 7/1/24 and was denied but went into branch on 7/15/24 to contact reconsideration line and was approved. The 120k offer came out on 7/11 I believe but my app only shows 100,000 for spending progress. Hoping they honor this offer.
It took them about 48 hours to respond. You should still be good because there are DPs going back to May that have successfully offer matched to the 120k offer since it officially started in late June, so you’re well within the range to match!
@TheCreditFrog good to know! Got my card about a week ago and I'm about halfway through the spend requirement with reimbursed expenses for work...lol
This might be a dumb question but does the referral link in the video description give an applicant the 40k bonus UR if they are approved? Or is it a different kind of referral
No, the referral link would give me the 40k referral bonus, which I would appreciate, but if you have a family or friend, you could use theirs and they would get that 40k. The applicant does not get the 40k.
@@TheCreditFrog Ah ok I understand, thank you!
Stan the Man !!! You forgot the credit limit 🤣🤣
Oh yeah! Sorry, when we get approved after the sign up page. We don’t get the CL message right away. We have the card now though and the CL is $6k!
Always smart to utilize 2 Player Mode, and you got in right at the right time before September! Congrats to Vicki on the CIP, a great choice!! I don't necessarily have a specific Card in mind as my next welcome offer so I 'm highly considering adding the Ink Preferred as well. Great video Stan!
Thanks so much Matt! Yeah, if you can meet the MSR, there’s no better Chase offer than this. And not sure if it’ll be back, at least the 40k referral offer piece. Chase is becoming more restrictive with those so you’ve got another month or so to see if it could work out for you!
Previously I’ve been able to send a SM right after opening to get them to match the offer rather than waiting till hitting the spend About to try this tomorrow on my P2. She has only 1 Chase card, an Ink unlimited with a maxed out 6k on 0% til November. I’m paying off 2k to make some space but didn’t want to pay all of it because figured we could finesse that in recon 🤷
Oh interesting! Yeah my SM said I had to wait to get the extra 20k matched. I don’t think it matters either way as long as we get our points after the MSR! Good luck with your application! Hope you’re able to snag this offer too!
Congrats Stan’s wife!!! I really enjoyed watching how you broke down this card and also showed your wife’s current Chase setup with credit limits. Good call on getting that offer matched. 160k total is definitely awesome!
Thanks so much CJ! Yes, it was the only way to get that 120k offer with the referral bonus that I could see. Yeah, her Chase setup is so much stronger than mine, but it’s nice that she has those Chase cards so I don’t need them myself.. at least, not yet!
That is so awesome ! Congratulations you both. I can’t wait to apply for ink Cash starting August just waiting for my inquiry drop off from my Experian.
Thank you Neno! August can't come soon enough, last I checked it's this week so the time is almost now!! 🙌
Wow !! I just got my well Fargo log and it’s working on cc's it’s * tornadomenXXG* the legit vendor he is honest, reliable, and trustworthy. Thanks man
Congrats. I got denied for the Chase Ink Business cash last week for being over 5/24. Tried to appeal. No luck 😭.
Thanks! Sorry to hear about the denial 😥. Chase 5/24 can be brutal, especially at times like these.
Do you have any joint accounts with chase?did that impact the referral bonus?
We don't have any joint accounts with Chase, but I'm not sure if that would make a difference. I don't think it would, but don't quote me on that.
Great strategy and walkthrough! Congratulations 🎉 on the approval mi hermano!🫵
I appreciate it hermano César!!
🎉
💯
Awww I thought we could get 160k straight and I have had bad experiences with secure messaging with many replies not even making sense and clearly made by foreigners who seem to be trained to deny anything which may cost Chase more. Referral link tried this AM still shows 100k. I am going to pass on this, and one major reason is the extreme inexcusable delay in opening the PHX Sapphire lounge since we paid $550 plus $75 AU fee to use this and it is now been 2.5-3 years and not opened. Shame on Chase and PHX, where administrators got bribed to give the lounge contract to Chase instead of Capital One's bid. Did go way out of my way to use the JFK lounge and it was not at all worth the hassle.
Yeah, sadly personal links are still listed at 100k. Sorry to hear about the PHX Sapphire lounge delay, but there's so many factors that go into that, that it's almost to be expected. Hopefully it'll be open soon. I've heard good things about the JFk lounge, but I've neve been there myself.
Congrats 🍾🎈🎉
Thanks Jimmy James!
Why would you PC your wife's Preferred card to the OG Freedom card and not the Freedom Flex? The only benefit the OG Freedom card has is that it is a Visa, allowing her to use it at Costco. However, the disadvantage of the OG Freedom is that it doesn't get 3X at drug stores and restaurants. It seems like PCing to the Freedom Flex is the better move, unless she shops at Costco a lot. FYI, I have an OG Freedom card and am only keeping it because Costco won't accept Mastercard (Freedom Flex) in-store.
She already has a Freedom Flex so I don't think having 2 would be necessary. Also, if we ever wanted to get another Freedom Flex welcome offer, we could cancel the one we have and then apply for another one and get that welcome offer!
Your title says “160k points” instead of “120k points” you say in the video
120k point is the limited-time welcome offer, but if you do it with a personal referral link, it's 160k total points.
To summarize: apply for the regular offer and send a secure for them to match. Send another message after completing the spend.
Yes, that is the sequence. Make sure to use your P2's referral link, which would be the regular offer to get that juicy referral bonus too!
@@TheCreditFrog for sure! I use my other family members as my player 2.
You would think the first message would be enough since this is just entering info into a computer.
160k!!! That's really good to know about the combination of a lower referral link and secure messaging with Chase. I wanted my wife to apply for the Ink Preferred, but my referral link is still showing 100k
Thanks Jacob! Yes, even though personal referral are still 100k, you can still secure message to match! So if it's in you budget, 160k is a possibility for 2 player mode!
Congrats to you and your wife on the CIP! I'm consistently amazed at how many UR points one can rack up when on the Ink train, even if just on it for 1 stop haha.
I know. That Ink train is crazzy! Thanks so much Monty! This Ink bonus is nuts, and with the combo referral link, it was definitely too good to pass up!
Congrats to you and player2 Stan!🥂 This was a hell of a UR points snag👍🏾 Of course if you portal travel those 160k UR are worth 200k or 240k respectively (CIP, CSR)! Ironically, I receive my CIP in the mail today😊
I appreciate that Nkosi! Yes, this is probably the best welcome offer I've ever received both in size of total points as well as comparatively to the minimum spend requirement. You're totally right that the points can go even farther depending on how they're redeemed! I'm excitied for you to get your new CIP. Congrats man!! 🎉
Links are still 100k 😢
Such a bummer, but not all is lost! Just secure message to match, and they'll likely match the 120k offer for you!
Wising I was below 5/24 to apply for this one.
I got approved at 5/24. Doesn’t hurt to try!
Chase 5/24 ruins all the fun. 😢
@@aye415 Fortune favors the brave 🤣. Congrats on the new Ink card!
@@aye415 I am at 7/24
@@aye415 am at 7/24
Hey Stan, do you think there’s any value in keeping BofA PRE rewards within the PRE card and using them for travel flights later on? Or are BofA rewards best used when they’re cashed out? I know you can “save” 20% on flights within the PRE travel portal but wondering if BofA rewards are better used if cashed out.
Chase sapphire preferred is better for flights 😎🤝
It depends on if you can accrue a lot of BofA points or not. By redeeming for flights on the BofA Travel portal, you end up getting 1.25cpp value on those points. For me, I use the card so little that I'd never earn enough points in a quick enough time to make an airfare redemption, so I just redeem them for cash back at 1cpp. It's not better to do it this way necessarily, but I get the value back faster.
@@ToboeKey309 Value is the same for flights (1.25cpp), but the CSR is certainly better since you can redeem at 1.5cpp!
@@TheCreditFrogthanks for the response, I just hit the MSR on this. So I have about 880k “points” but wasn’t sure if cashing out was better or not.
@@zyzzuschrist3410 Redeeming for flights would be the more valuable thing for sure, but only if you have flights to buy. The points will not likey devalue anytime soon so you can keep them there for now, but start planning on ways to use them for air travel!
First!
Congrats CJ! You are FIRST 🥇🏆
First time applying for amex credit card BBP on Friday they asked me to send my cp565 and passeport so the application is under review they told me i should get an answer in 3 business days. Should i apply for personal gold or wait until i get approved ?
I would wait until this application is complete before submitting a new one.
@@TheCreditFrog i just got approved i am so happy my first credit card ever i don’t even have a credit score nor credit history , i was added as an authorized user to an old chase credit card 2 months ago maybe i’ve inherited my brothers credit history 🙌🏽
@@Thebboyy Congrats on your first approval! 🎉
Did you downgrade your BOA Elite? If yes, can you get the welcome bonus again from the BOA premium rewards?
I haven't yet, but if you downgrade the PR Elite to a card that is not the PR, certainly you can get the PR card welcome offer. But if you downgrade to the PR card, I'm not sure if you can again because based on the terms and conditions, it's not clear.
It’s restricted only to residents of Alabama and Tennessee 😢
Yeah, that's a new thing. So sad. 😭