^ I pay my water and oil bills via credit card, but my electric company will only do an automatic EFT from my checking account.
Since we have a competitive electricity market here, they accept CC without a surcharge, where as gas and water charge an additional fee so I pay those by EFT from bank account.
Do they let you keep the miles you accrued when you cancel?
Yup, once they hit AA, usually a couple weeks after you pay, they’re yours no matter what.
What happens if you buy something online then return it? What happens to points? I know this is evil but I often buy an extra item then return it to get free shipping…
Points are awarded based on net purchases (so purchases minus any refunds that go back on your credit card).
Exactly. So assume you charge $250 in January and pay your bill. In February you charge another $250, but return something you bought in January for $50. Your February bill will be $200, so after you pay your Feb bill you will have received 450 miles YTD.
dont this hurt ur credit huistory keep opening and closing cards?
I see, makes sense. Thanks. I don’t have a cc with airline points (well my emergency card can be used for travel but I rarely use it), but I do have one with cash backs… I wonder what happens if you cash out and then you get a refund? I’m not that cheap nor evil though…
A hard inquiry for a new card costs a point or two at most. I suppose that could matter if you’re hovering around 720, but otherwise not a big deal.
It’s not just a point or two at most. . . Higgmond is probably talking based on his experience. There are many variables influecing the score, one of which is average age of credit in addition to the hard inquiries.
When I add new cards, it is expected to be a 10-20 point drop. I’m normally back over 800 in a couple months, but the point impact will depend on your situation. I suspect (but of course can’t know) the older your credit file is, the less impact they have. I’d also suspect high FICOs are less penalized than low FICOs. But who knows for sure
There was a blog post of one of the points guys who monitored his score for a few months while opening/closing accounts. His score flucuated about 15 up and down. I couldn’t find that, but I found a TPG article: http://thepointsguy.com/2014/07/how-card-applications-affect-your-credit-score/ and http://www.magnifymoney.com/blog/building-credit/#multiple-credit-cards-your-score
Personally I’d rather just get cash back – there are some cards that are currently at 2%
Get the Blue Cash Preferred American Express, that gives you 6% cash back at grocery stores. Then, buy gift cards at the grocery store for Amazon, department stores, or anything else.
6% cash back? I smell a bubble.
Yeah, actually it’s not as great as it sounds. Your reward purchase is capped at $6k a year, and there is an annual fee. So you only make a few hundred dollars a year when you count everything.
My grocery store (Giant) charges an activation fee for Visa gift cards, not sure about other gift cards.