I wish I knew danger of carrying balance on credit cards. Just like casinos, banks are in the business of making money. Charging on credit card is a Temporary Loan that needs to be paid before any interest is added.
I just got my first card, a student discover card. I am only going to spend 10% of the credit limit per month and pay it off in full every month. Is this good for starting off or should I be doing something else and what should my next card be and in how long?
@andrewroldan That sounds fine, autopay would make that process easier too if you consistently underspend 10%. Your next card should be at least 6 months out in my opinion. Some people say 3 but 6 months is pretty safe. Maybe go for the Chase freedom unlimited or flex cards because you should get them earlier on as they’re a part of the 5/24 rule (Google it).
To build your credit, you should try to keep your credit utilization below 10%. Always keep it below 20-30%. Pay it off in full. Rinse & repeat. Since that is your first card, it is best you use it for at least a year. Try to maximize the benefits. 5% cash back categories from Discover. Then think about which card you want next based on the benefits that are for you. Chase Trifecta, Capital One Duo, American Express Gold card. These are the top travel cards on the market rn
What I always recommend is paying your balance down to 1% of your credit limit aka 1% credit utilization before your statement closing date. It doesn't matter if you spend more than 10% as long as you pay it down to 1% by the statement closing date. Pro tip pay down the balance a few days before your statement closing date though, it takes some time for you're new balance to reflect.
Is there a card for travel points that doesn't lock you into one particular airline? Also I've thought about using a credit card to pay monthly expenses to get either points or cash back and then pay that card off with what I was going to pay without the card but often those bills have extra fees associated with using a credit card to pay those bills like rent, cell phone, electric, car insurance, etc. does the cash back or points make more sense even if you have to pay the fees for now I've opted not to do this to avoid those fees.
I believe (I could be wrong) but you can only get a sign up bonus on the sapphire line every 48 months. So even if you got the reserve u cant get the preferred bonus until 48 months.
You're only able to get the sign up bonus on any Chase Sapphire product if it has been over 48 months since you have received a bonus from the Reserve or Preferred.
as long as you got the Bonus from the Reserve 48 months ago or greater you can downgrade your Reserve to a Freedom card. Then apply for a Preferred to get the bonus again
How do you convert 50k points to a 4k dollar flight instead of 500 dollars ? When I try booking a flight it tells me my points will be the same amount as if I redeemed it as cash. Unless I’m not understanding right.
You have to have a travel card like the sapphire preferred or venture x and transfer all of your points to that card. On top of that, using travel partners will get you even more bang for your buck
He has a recent video called “how to maximize American Express points”. It goes over that, and it’s somewhat applicable to other cards. Maybe he has videos on different cards
@@TrentonMatthews i said propably, so iam not certain. We basically have the Schufa Score, which functionality wise is similar to a Credit Score -> If its bad, you would pay higher credit rates for new credits. But our Credit Cards do not have big signup bonuses and such.
After I graduate from college, should I still keep my student credit card or will it be closed by the bank? (I currently have one from Bank of America.)
How do you convert 50k points to a 4k dollar flight instead of 500 dollars ? When I try booking a flight it tells me my points will be the same amount as if I redeemed it as cash. Unless I’m not understanding right.
Great question! You can take 50K Chase points and move to Air France. Then on Air France you can find saver award availability from North America to CDG for 50K points. I actually booked the entire family from Boston to Paris, 4 tickets for a total of 200K
