Credit Card Churning May Get More Difficult.

[theblank]

Last year in Europe, I spent the extra dollar several times paying off my 28 Degree card while over there, and still had over $7000 debt on it to pay off when I got home. So it saved me about $300 relative to using other cards with fees. I can't close this card, it is too valuable.

How could a credit card with no points/benefits be valuable? You can get just as much value with a Debit card, whilst keeping the extra funds in a interest bearing account and not cost a cent to transfer it. If you are counting the cents, it will work out better in the long run.

And if you are spending that much on a Credit card overseas, you could an ANZ Travel Adventure visa and get the FF points as well at 0.75 VFF per dollar. That alone will pay the annual fee

Life is tougher for us superannuation pensioners. The cards we can apply for generally don't have the big bonuses we could apply for when working, and for the ones we do apply for, we spend ages explaining to people somewhere in the Philippines or India that our net income is nearly the same as our gross income.

nothing is changed in that regard and you are in the same boat as self-employed small businesses.

 

[Demonoid]

How could a credit card with no points/benefits be valuable? You can get just as much value with a Debit card, whilst keeping the extra funds in a interest bearing account and not cost a cent to transfer it. If you are counting the cents, it will work out better in the long run.

And if you are spending that much on a Credit card overseas, you could an ANZ Travel Adventure visa and get the FF points as well at 0.75 VFF per dollar. That alone will pay the annual fee


nothing is changed in that regard and you are in the same boat as self-employed small businesses.

+1 on the ANZ Travel Adventures. Free return domestic flight pays for the fee and you get the frequent flyer points as well with no international transaction fees - and an excellent exchange rate as well. I alternate it each year with my wife and we each get between 40,000 - 80,000 points sign on bonus. Visa is accepted just about everywhere these days and for the few times you need cash, I team it with the Citibank Debit Card for no/low fee ATM withdrawals, as well as an excellent exchange rate.

 

[ragingsheep]

How could a credit card with no points/benefits be valuable? You can get just as much value with a Debit card, whilst keeping the extra funds in a interest bearing account and not cost a cent to transfer it. If you are counting the cents, it will work out better in the long run.

In general yes but there's a bunch of stuff like hotels and car hire companies putting large pre-auths on your cards. Also in cases of fraud, it's makes things slightly easier when it's the issuer's money that's on the line, not your own even if you get it back eventually.

 

[burmans]

In general yes but there's a bunch of stuff like hotels and car hire companies putting large pre-auths on your cards. Also in cases of fraud, it's makes things slightly easier when it's the issuer's money that's on the line, not your own even if you get it back eventually.

Plus with a Debit Card they are taking "your" money straight away whereas with a CC you can leave it in your interest bearing account a bit longer. Agree though with the Travel Advenures card.

 

[Dr Ralph]

you can leave it in your interest bearing account a bit longer.

Funny.

Seems there's no point:

https://www.smh.com.au/money/saving...hreat-from-cash-rate-cut-20190131-p50ust.html

 

[burmans]

Funny.

Seems there's no point:

https://www.smh.com.au/money/saving...hreat-from-cash-rate-cut-20190131-p50ust.html

Yes, I did think that as I was writing it, actually! Of course not everyone actually has money lying around so they might actually be paying debit interest rates or even for some CC interest rates.

 

[andye]

Yes, I did think that as I was writing it, actually! Of course not everyone actually has money lying around so they might actually be paying debit interest rates or even for some CC interest rates.

or even more commonly offsetting a home loan (tax-free)

 

[Renato1]

How could a credit card with no points/benefits be valuable? You can get just as much value with a Debit card, whilst keeping the extra funds in a interest bearing account and not cost a cent to transfer it. If you are counting the cents, it will work out better in the long run.

And if you are spending that much on a Credit card overseas, you could an ANZ Travel Adventure visa and get the FF points as well at 0.75 VFF per dollar. That alone will pay the annual fee


nothing is changed in that regard and you are in the same boat as self-employed small businesses.

Thanks for your input.

What you say about Debit cards is workable - though two factors have to also be considered.
Firstly, security. If your card is emptied by thieves, it is your money that has gone, not the financial institution's money. About eight years ago, I was rung up by CBA bank early in the morning and asked if I had just spent $10,000 using my Mastercard at a Texas casino (Answer was "NO", of course) - and there was no way they had my PIN number. So I always only keep a couple of thousand dollars in my Debit card overseas, and keep topping it up as I require more cash from an ATM - and only use it at ATMs to minimize risk.

Secondly, when car fines inevitably come in from overseas car hire companies - one has to keep money in that Debit card for quite a while afterwards for such instances or other residuals. Else one defaults, and pays penalty fees, or gets a bad credit record.

What you say about the ANZ Travel Adventure Visa card makes sense if I was taking the annual free plane trip with the card. But I have no interest in flying around Australia. When I had the same deal with Amex Platinum Edge, I had to give a flight away one year to an acquaintance, when nobody in my extended family wanted it either.

So, if I spend $10,000 overseas and earn 7500 Velocity points, that's worth about $75 to me, at a cost of $225 per year. That's a loss to me.

Self-employed small businesses pay tax, and have paperwork to prove it - be it at the personal indiviual tax rate of the owners. or tax rate on the business. Superannuants on Allocated Pensions or certain government super pension have significant tax credits which reduces their tax to little or nothing.
Regards,
Renato

 

[theblank]

In general yes but there's a bunch of stuff like hotels and car hire companies putting large pre-auths on your cards. Also in cases of fraud, it's makes things slightly easier when it's the issuer's money that's on the line, not your own even if you get it back eventually.

the same can be said about *any* credit card. Who doesnt have a credit card. That doesnt answer the question why a credit card with no points/benefits is so valuable? Thats not saying its not beneficial, I also have a 28D credit card, I keep it in my sock as a spare in case I get mugged. But in saying that I dont consider it valuable by any means.

 

[EELS]

This is the new normal.

Score goes up when you take out a new card. Score goes down when you close a card.

Demonstrates how useless the scores are. At least banks seem to know this.

I keep saying this and will continue to repeat it: Don't panic about your score. Income and ability to repay remain key features.

My score just went up after applying for a card.

Does it look bad if they see that you're constantly applying for new cards?

 

[get me outta here]

Define “constantly”.

My score just went up after applying for a card.

Does it look bad if they see that you're constantly applying for new cards?

 

[Dr Ralph]

Does it look bad if they see that you're constantly applying for new cards?

Income and ability to repay remain critical things.

 

[cvmceg]

Credit savvy went up 100 with no activity except two positive repayments. lol

 

[theblank]

My score just went up after applying for a card.

could be coincidence, you will never know. Might have gone up by more if you didnt apply for a card.

Also note that when you make an application you have updated your length of employment and time at home address, these two factors also carry much weight with a lenders own assessments. However I do not know if these fake credit score companies we are being bombarded with take that into account - but they should.

 

[rock86]

could be coincidence, you will never know. Might have gone up by more if you didnt apply for a card.

Also note that when you make an application you have updated your length of employment and time at home address, these two factors also carry much weight with a lenders own assessments. However I do not know if these fake credit score companies we are being bombarded with take that into account - but they should.

Don't the free credit score companies just get there score from the actual credit reporting agencies (Experian, Veda, D&B)???

 

[Lynda2475]

So I was finally able to check my credit score.

I have an excellent Credit Savvy (Experian) score, but they only have a record of my bank issued credit cards (mastercard and visa), no mention of my Amex or my mortgage. The Mastercard is from same bank where I have my mortgage - so seems odd they'd report one and not the other. Only one inquiry which was for the Visa card, none for the Amex (was only acquired 13 months ago) and none the MasterCard I've had for 15+ years.

Applied for the Illion (formerly Dun&Bradstreet) and EquiFax (Formerly Veda) free reports but they aren't instant, so I wait and see if they know more about me.

Plan is to churn the Visa card shortly before annual fee is due. Will possibly churn the mastercard which i haven't used in forever (as both Amex and Visa give more points) but it is free for life, and earns more points than newer cards from that bank.

 

[andye]

So I was finally able to check my credit score.

I have an excellent Credit Savvy (Experian) score, but they only have a record of my bank issued credit cards (mastercard and visa), no mention of my Amex or my mortgage. The Mastercard is from same bank where I have my mortgage - so seems odd they'd report one and not the other. Only one inquiry which was for the Visa card, none for the Amex (was only acquired 13 months ago) and none the MasterCard I've had for 15+ years.

Applied for the Illion (formerly Dun&Bradstreet) and EquiFax (Formerly Veda) free reports but they aren't instant, so I wait and see if they know more about me.

Plan is to churn the Visa card shortly before annual fee is due. Will possibly churn the mastercard which i haven't used in forever (as both Amex and Visa give more points) but it is free for life, and earns more points than newer cards from that bank.

None of the agencies have Amex limit or repayment info. I understand Amex are not obliged to do so; wonder if they will ever feel it worthwhile

 

[albyd]

I did see Amex reporting payment data some time ago when the major banks weren't participating - then it just disappeared.Credit applications do show though.

 

[Mr_Orange]

So I was finally able to check my credit score.

I have an excellent Credit Savvy (Experian) score, but they only have a record of my bank issued credit cards (mastercard and visa), no mention of my Amex or my mortgage. The Mastercard is from same bank where I have my mortgage - so seems odd they'd report one and not the other. Only one inquiry which was for the Visa card, none for the Amex (was only acquired 13 months ago) and none the MasterCard I've had for 15+ years.

Applied for the Illion (formerly Dun&Bradstreet) and EquiFax (Formerly Veda) free reports but they aren't instant, so I wait and see if they know more about me.

Plan is to churn the Visa card shortly before annual fee is due. Will possibly churn the mastercard which i haven't used in forever (as both Amex and Visa give more points) but it is free for life, and earns more points than newer cards from that bank.

Both Illion and Equifax have free web site versions: Credit Simple and Get Your Credit Score.

 

[theblank]

Don't the free credit score companies just get there score from the actual credit reporting agencies (Experian, Veda, D&B)???

they are the credit reporting agencies, they just set up a different entity to heavily market loans under the guise of offering a credit score check service.