Here I’m covering exactly 5-and-a-half steps as described in How to Fly For Free (Part 1) – Your Wallet Thanks You! To recap, those steps are:
- Find and sign up for a new credit card that offers a Free Miles Bonus
- Make sure I’m able to spend the specified amount in the allotted time frame
- Call the credit card company and confirm the bonus still applies
- Increase my revolving credit if possible
- Spend the money in the allotted time frame (I’m more than 2/3’s the way through spend amount in the first month).
For my first Travel Credit Card, I narrowed down my choices between these three:
- Citi Platinum Select / AAdvantage World MasterCard – (this link gets redirected often, if it’s broken, go from the FlyerTalk forum)
- Citi Platinum Select / AAdvantage World Visa – (this link gets redirected often, if it’s broken, go from the FlyerTalk forum)
- Chase Ink Plus or Ink Bold – as recommended by Nomad Matt
Ultimately, I decided on the Citi MasterCard (MC) for several reasons:
- Solid bonus: 50K miles after $3K in 3 months.
- That spending goal of $3K in 3 months, between my girlfriend Amy and I, we could easily meet.
- The $95 annual fee is waived for the first year, so I have plenty of time to cancel the card before I’m hit with that charge.
- Immediately after canceling that card I can sign up for the Citi Visa, to earn another 50K miles — not that the order matters, but it just sorta makes sense in my head. 🙂
If You Plan on Keeping the Card Open…
You can look at all the various details of credit cards all day, trying to find the right combination that matches your needs. If you plan on getting a card you want to keep open, then there are more important factors than what I listed above. Factors like:
- APR (annual percentage rate, aka, interest you pay on the balance carried over every month)
- Foreign transaction fee (a surcharge — typically of 3% — of any spending you do overseas)
- ATM Fees (did you know there are cards that don’t charge ATM fees?)
When examining these factors, I know this is NOT a credit card I’d hold onto for the long run. We’ll get more into what credit card you should keep further into this series.
For the sake of “burn and churn,” though, all that matters is a solid bonus at an acceptable spending limit, with a waiver on the first year’s annual fee.
Opening the Card
November 3, 2013 – I applied for the Citi MC. I was told I needed to call the customer center to confirm my application (1.888.845.9452). I did immediately, and the customer representative confirmed my application. They ran some numbers, turned a few dials, hit some widgets, and then…
They accepted my application, and told me I’d get the card a week from now!
Immediately, I did two things: I entered into my calendar a reminder to cancel the card 6-weeks before the end of the year, to make sure I avoid the annual fee. Second, I requested to increase my revolving credit (from $2K to $4K). Unfortunately, the rep said they couldn’t make any changes to the revolving credit yet.
Receiving the Card
November 9, 2013 – I received the credit card, and called the automated line to activate it. Then, I called customer service again to ask several questions. Here are, word-for-word, the questions I asked, and the logic behind them:
- “Can you confirm the promotion of earning 50 thousand miles after spending three thousand dollars in three months?”
This promotion isn’t listed in any of the terms and conditions of the card. I don’t want to assume – otherwise I’m just wasting my time using this credit card that, besides the travel bonus, is not a great card.
- “Can you tell me exactly when I need to spend the three thousand dollars by in order to earn the promotion? Do I just need to spend that money, or do I need to pay the bill?”
This question is about getting complete clarification on the terms. (There’s a negotiation mantra: “you can set any price, if I can name the terms” and if I learned one thing from working on literary contracts, it’s that the party that best understands and controls the terms, wins.) The rep confirmed that I had until February 4, 2014 to spend $3K, not pay off $3K.
- “I’d like to increase my revolving credit line. Can you help me with that?”
My credit line was automatically set for $2K. I asked for an increase so I could clear the $3K benchmark as quickly as possible, rather than having to pay the bill of $2K before I could resume spending. The rep asked a few questions, (what was my salary, what was my rent) then told me they’d have an answer for me in a few days. I could call back in a business day, or wait for an email letting me know their decision. I asked for an answer right away, but he said that particular department was closed (it was late, so this made sense).
- I asked for a bump from $2K to $4K. So on the next credit card, I’m going to ask for an increase from $2K to $3K, and see what happens then.
- I’m told I don’t have sufficient “credit history.” This is something I’m going to want to improve. Better credit history makes little difference when getting a credit card, but when it’s time for a big purchase (car, house, etc.) a few points difference in interest rate can add up to a lot of money over a significant period of time (e.g., a 30-year mortgage).
- Getting declined reminds me I should check my credit score.
Declined for My Credit Increase
November 12, 2013 – I was declined for my credit line increase. A week after that, I got a note in the mail to let me know the reason for the decline was lack of credit history.
If you get declined, DO NOT TAKE THIS REJECTION PERSONALLY. (It’s a little strange to write this, but a lot of us take rejection really hard, even when it’s from a credit card company that inputs your information into a formula and automatically spits out an answer, “yes” or “no.”)
More importantly, we can see how this decline will inform my future behavior. For example:
Planning Out my Spending
If you don’t hit the minimum spend, then all the time you’ve put into the card is for nothing. So take a few minutes to think about your spending for the next 3 months. What major purchases do you have coming up? Are there automated bills that you could switch over to this card (like auto insurance, or your cell phone)?
Have a plan that allows your normal spending patterns to satisfy the requirement — otherwise you’ll find yourself scrambling to spend on indulgences. You’ll hit the min spend… but you’ll be buying shit you don’t need, which is exactly what we don’t want.
At the time of this writing, Amy and I have already spent (just under) the allotted credit limit.
Set up my Citi Online Account
Finally, I set up my Citi Online Account. I created an Autopay so the bill is automatically paid before the due date. I marked this on my calendar so I know when I can start spending again, and can complete the min spend. The last step, is linking this online account with my Mint, so it’s part of my tracked income/expenses each week.
If you have any questions or problems getting started on earning your free travel miles, please let me know. I’d love to hear about your experience, so shoot me an email or leave a comment. Thanks!
#####
Photo Credit: jsmoral
{ 0 comments… add one }