The Chase dilemma

Chase is replacing AMEX to become the travellers' credit cards with BIG sign up bonus: Southwest 50k points, Sapphire Preferred for 50k point, British Airways infamous 100k miles, etc. Whether you like it nor not, you will have to become a Chase customer in order to take advantage of these deals. If you don't like Chase, I have a old saying for you: "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer". If you take advantages of these deals and by paying in full every month, Chase make very little money from you. Wouldn't it be nice to make your enemies work for your benefits? :-)

$833 in travel credits after 1st purchase!

As Chase is a big boy in reward credit card industry, it's important for you to make sure that you are not blacklisted from them. They are pretty generous with their credit limit, but it doesn't mean you can apply for whatever deals they have. Remember that you can only earn sign up bonus once, so be careful to choose the best sign up bonus available.

I'm also so temped to apply for the Hyatt card and the Southwest since the sign up bonuses are great. However, I will never fly Southwest because I will miss my 1K upgrades. On the other hand, $833 is a lot of money and I can use the credits for my friends to travel for free. I also want the Hyatt card since I will be staying a lot at Hyatt next year. However, if I do both, I would have much less chances to get approved for the United card that I'm patiently waiting for a big bonus. Then, there's the super sweet Marriott card with 70k points & 1 free night after first purchase. Believe it or not, this stress me out! Chase is selective nowadays if you have more than 3 cards so I don't want to get declined when another good deal come out. 

I don't know what to choose. What a pain of having good credit =.= ;-)

Com'on AMEX, you are killing me!

 I have a love-hate relationship with American Express. I'm so happy when they approved my Zync and Premiers Reward Gold cards instantly 3 months ago. Not only that, they backdated all of my accounts to 2010, effectively making my credit report look much older than before. Creditors also love to see AMEX on credit reports because AMEX has the lowest default rate in the industry. They helped me to churn other cards that I otherwise wouldn't be able to because of my limited credit history.

However, life is not that easy. AMEX charges cards are advertised to have "no pre-set limit". Truth is there is, but they don't tell you until when you receive this:

I got this email when I was on a trip to NYC last month. I was expecting the worst when I called them: a financial review. Fortunately (or not), the pleasant agent told me I was approaching my limit and asked me to pay my last month's bill early. She also asked me some questions regarding my upcoming spending patterns and gave me a fixed number for my credit limit. This is a little surprise for me since AMEX is well known for not disclosing charge cards' credit limit. My credit limit with them is around $4k so it is well possible that I will get another exact letter this month :) If I didn't check my email that day, I probably wouldn't be able to check in at the hotel and my trip would have been ruined. A little more transparency would be much appreciated!

Yesterday, I applied for the Starwood Preferred Guest card and was approved easily. However, when I called in to check my credit limit (SPG is a credit card, not a charge card), all they give me is $1k. I was speechless. How on earth a mainstream credit card has a $1k credit limit??? My promo is to spend $5k in 6 months for 25k SPG points, which mean I will have to max out several times to be able to meet the requirement. It's ridiculous! A simple search on flyertalk revealed that I'm not the only one in this situation. There are several cusomters who are with them for years also got $1k limit.

AMEX better do something to improve this. Otherwise,  Chase is taking away their customers, fast.

Com'on, AMEX!!!!