9 Reasons Business Credit Cards are Worth It

A lot of people don’t realize the enormous value that they can get from business credit cards.

Sure, there’s the obvious value from those lucrative welcome bonuses they offer but the value extends well beyond earning lost of miles and points.

This article will take you through nine different ways that business credit cards are worth it and why you should consider going for them.

1. Great welcome bonuses

Business credit cards often offer higher welcome bonuses than personal cards.

For example, with the Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card you can earn 100,000 Ultimate Rewards after spending $15,000 in the first 3 months.

Compare that to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offering 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months.

By earning these huge welcome bonuses, you’ll be able to accumulate high balances in various reward programs quickly and be able to take advantage of those amazing business class and first class redemptions more often.

The drawback is they that they do often require more spend to hit these welcome bonuses so that’s something you have to be on the lookout for.

2. They don’t report to your personal credit report

Many business credit cards do not report to your personal credit report. For example, small business credit cards from Chase, Amex, Bank of America, Citi, Wells Fargo and others will not show up on your personal credit report as new accounts.

However, some like those from Capital One will sometimes report to your personal credit report.

This is very important for a few reasons, which I’ll get into below.

Business cards from American Express will NOT report to your personal credit report.

3. Stay under 5/24

By signing up for business cards that don’t report to your personal credit report, you can fly under the radar longer with Chase since those cards won’t count towards your Chase 5/24 status.

The Chase 5/24 rule does not allow you to be approved for certain Chase cards if you’ve opened up five or more new credit cards (or revolving accounts) in the past 24 months.

This is a harsh rule because it means you might not be eligible for some of the best travel cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® or Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

But by picking up business cards, you can remain under 5/24 for a very long time or you can slowly work your way to getting to 4/24 so that you can pick up at least one card subject to the rule.

4. Won’t lower your credit score (as much)

Since you won’t have new accounts showing up on your credit report, you won’t have to worry about your credit history dropping due to a lowered average age of accounts.

Your credit history only makes up 15% of your FICO score and your average age of accounts is the second most important factor for that category, so this isn’t a huge factor in your credit score.

But when you’re opening up a lot of cards, any help you can get to lengthen your average age of accounts is good to take advantage of.

But do keep in mind that the credit inquiries from business credit cards will still show up on your personal credit report. The effect of those hard inquiries will diminish after 90 days or so and they usually only impact your score by a handfull of points.

5. Easier to cancel cards

If you ever need to cancel your business card, it won’t affect your average age of accounts so you don’t have to worry about trying to keep these cards open like you would a personal card.

This is a huge advantage if you’re facing a high annual fee but you’re not able to get the fee waived or receive a retention offer.

6. Won’t affect your credit utilization

Sometimes things come up and you might need to put a large purchase on a credit card that you don’t have the funds to immediately pay back.

Well, if you do this on a business card that is not reporting to your personal credit report then you won’t have to worry about it affecting your credit utilization, which makes up 30% of your FICO score.

There are business cards which offer 0% APR and are perfect for these situations. You can avoid paying interest AND you can avoid hurting your credit score with a high balance.

7. Makes award travel more sustainable

By picking up business cards here and there, it will make award travel more sustainable for you in the long-run.

Your credit score will be in better shape and you’ll be able to capitalize on more opportunities as they appear, whether they are for personal or business credit cards.

We’ve been able to put together a couple of amazing round the world trips and there’s no way we would’ve been able to make those happen without hopping on several business business credit cards over the years.

Premium redemptions are much easier when utilizing business credit cards.

8. Solid perks

Some of these business cards offer perks that are rare to find on similar cards.

For example, the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card and Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card both offer primary rental car coverage and they have no annual fee.

This is virtually impossible to find with other no annual fee credit cards.

The Chase Ink Preferred’s cell phone protection will protect you against damage, theft, or involuntary and accidental parting of your cell phone when you use your Chase Ink Preferred to pay your phone bill.

The protection requires a $100 deductible per claim and allows a maximum coverage limit of $600 per claim and $1,800 dollars per 12 month period.

Other times business cards can open up special opportunities like the Southwest Rapid Rewards Business Credit Cards.

Chase prevents applicants from picking up two personal Southwest credit cards which makes obtaining the coveted Southwest Companion Pass more difficult.

But with the Southwest Business Credit Cards, you can get a personal and a business card allowing you to still earn the Companion Pass with only two credit cards.

9. Extra bonus earning potential

Business credit cards often allow you to earn bonus points in categories that personal credit cards just don’t offer.

For example, the Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card earns 3X on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on:

Travel
Shipping purchases
Internet, cable and phone services
Advertising purchases with social media sites and search engines

The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card will earn you 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases each account anniversary year at:

Internet, cable and phone services
Office supply stores

If you’re already earning bonus points on things like dining and travel, then business cards can allow you to supplement your earning with your internet, cable, and phone bills, in addition to things like shipping or gift cards from office supply stores.

Final word

Business credit cards play a vital role in maximizing credit card rewards. They allow you to go much further in award travel and to mitigate the damage to your credit report in the process. If you are serious about optimizing your miles and points, then business credit cards should be involved in your strategy somehow.

Featured business credit card welcome offer:

Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card — Earn 100,000 Ultimate Rewards after spending $15,000 in the first 3 months.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analysis & recommendations are UponArriving’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Daniel Gillaspia

Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and creator of the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned full-time credit card rewards/travel expert and has earned and redeemed millions of miles to travel the globe. Since 2014, his content has been featured in major publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Forbes, CNBC, US News, and Business Insider. Find his full bio here.

Make Out like a Bandit with Amex FHR

Advertiser Disclosure: UponArriving has partnered with affiliate partners and may receive a commission from card issuers. UponArriving does not display all credit card offers and affiliate relationships may impact how offers are presented. Amex Disclosure: Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

There’s nothing better than wiping out an entire annual fee with one use of one perk.

Below, I’ll show you an example of how to make out like a bandit with the American Express FHR benefit. It’s all based on a special offer that is still active and that you can still take advantage of if you have the right credit card.

Amex FHR program

Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts, also known as “Amex FHR,” is a luxury hotel program that offers special perks at world-class properties all around the globe.

The perks are very similar to what you receive as a typical hotel elite member but the perks get even sweeter as you’ll see below.

When you stay at an FHR property, you’ll receive the following:

Noon check-in, when available
Guaranteed 4pm late check-out
Room upgrade upon arrival, when available
Daily breakfast for two people
Complimentary Wi-Fi
Special amenity unique to each property

If you want to take advantage of FHR, you’ll need to have a card like The Platinum Card® from American Express.

Making FHR even sweeter

With the addition of the $200 hotel credit on the Platinum Card, it’s now more tempting for cardholders to utilize FHR. As long as you book the prepaid route, you’ll trigger the $200 credit which essentially gives you a $200 discount.

Many popular luxury resorts in the desert drop their prices by a large margin when those crazy summer temps arrive which can work out very well with this credit.

Last year, I used this credit to cover a $200 stay at the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson and this year I used it to cover a night at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix.

It’s a really cool historic property that every US president has stayed at since Hoover and was known for being a hotspot for Hollywood stars like Marilyn Monroe.

It also has unique qualities like a mystery room that once housed a hidden speakeasy and the resort boasts a thrilling (by my standards) 65 foot drop water slide.

You can check out the full review of my Arizona Biltmore stay here.

With all of the taxes and fees, the first night came out to $336 so with the $200 FHR credit I was out of pocket about $136 (earned 5X on the $136).

Finding special promotions

Another way to sweeten the FHR deal is to find properties offering special promotions.

You can often find properties offering additional benefits like the third night or fourth night free or offering you property credits that stack in addition to the $100 property credit you receive automatically.

We jumped on a promotion offered at the historic Arizona Biltmore which offered a $250 property credit on top of all of the other benefits. (This offer is going through October so you still have time to take advantage of it.)

So going back to the $136 out-of-pocket I spent for the first night at the Arizona Biltmore….

Take a look at the line-up of credits that came along with that:

$60 FHR breakfast credit
$50 Diamond food and beverage credit
$100 FHR Property food and beverage credit
$250 FHR Promotional Property credit
Two free drink coupons up to $25 in value each

All of that was just for the first night so we had $510 to spend in food and beverage credits in 24 hours.

The biggest challenge was actually using the credit but luckily, my brother-in-law accompanied us one night so we didn’t leave anything unspent.

The annual fee for The Platinum Card® from American Express is $695 (rates & fees).

So it’s pretty crazy that with the $200 credit and all of the special $500+ FHR benefits, I offset the entire annual fee with a one night stay — at least from a value received perspective.

Adding other cards to the mix

You can also make these FHR redemptions workout by utilizing other credit cards.

For example, for the second night we used one of our free night certificates issued from the Hilton Aspire.

Our upgraded room total ended up coming out to around $488 with all taxes and fees so that was pretty good value for the free night certificate.

Obviously, we didn’t receive all the FHR benefits but we did get a $50 food and beverage credit and the additional night helped us to really enjoy the resort a lot more.

The other great thing about the Aspire and Hilton resorts like this is that you can use the $250 resort credit. So you could use that towards the room rate or for charges such as the resort fee.

Final word

Benefits like the FHR program can already be really lucrative. But when you can combine these with additional credits and time them with special promotional offers, the value you receive can start to get ridiculous. If you can handle the desert heat, look for amazing deals to use this credit in the desert during the summer.

If you want to take advantage of FHR, look into a card like The Platinum Card® from American Express.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analysis & recommendations are UponArriving’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Amex Disclosure: Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

Daniel Gillaspia

Putting Value on WalletFlo’s Hottest Summer Credit Card

Right now the Citi Premier® Card is offering one of the best ever welcome bonuses of 80,000 ThankYou Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.

This is proving to be the hottest card for WalletFlo users for the summer and so I think it would be a good time to take a look at what type of valuation you should be giving your ThankYou Points.

Citi Premier overview

As mentioned, the Citi Premier® Card has an outstanding welcome offer of 80,000 ThankYou Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.

But in addition to the bonus, you can also get:

3X on air travel and hotels
3X on dining
3X on gas stations
3X on supermarkets
1x on other purchases
$100 Annual Hotel Savings Benefit
No Foreign transaction fees
$95 annual fee

While you can do better on some of these individual spend categories, the Citi Premier® Card is certainly a strong all-around spender.

If you want solid rewards but don’t want to mess around with multiple cards, this card can make it easy to earn a lot of points with your spend.

Interested in the 80,000 ThankYou Points welcome bonus? Learn how to apply here.

ThankYou Points valuation examples

That 80,000 point welcome bonus is very attractive but exactly how much value should you expect to receive for those points?

Below, I’ll show you how it could range from $800 to over $28,000!

And no, that $28,000 is not a typo.

Remember – You can input your own custom points valuation into the WalletFlo app and that will impact how your credit card ranks on your Cheat Sheet!

Cashback and gift cards

Valuation: 1 cent

You can redeem Citi ThankYou points for cashback/statement credits or for lots of different gift cards at a rate of one cent per point.

Gift cards are one of the most convenient ways to redeem points and if you can get one cent per point it’s not a terrible use of your points (but definitely not optimal).

Generally, for me gift cards are a last resort when redeeming transferable points but as long as you get one cent per point it’s not the end of the world.

Citi Travel Portal

Valuation: 1 cent

You can use the Citi Travel Portal to redeem at a rate of one cent per point for things like airfare, rental cars, cruises, and hotels.

When you book airfare, you’ll also earn miles for your flights so you do get a bit more value than one cent per point if you factor that in.

While the value is still on the low side, the benefit of using the travel portal is you don’t have to worry about award inventory so you can book any flight you see.

This method is for people who want to save money on travel but don’t want to bother with the challenges of transferring points. It can also be useful for cheap flights and some hotels.

Sometimes you may just want to book your travel outside the travel portal and reimburse yourself with direct deposit cashback so you can get your full benefits, travel protections, etc.

Tip: If you utilize the $100 Annual Hotel Savings Benefit you can technically get over one cent per point for hotel redemptions.

Citi Travel partners

If you’ve been in miles and points for a while you know that the best value for your points comes from utilizing transfer partners.

So let’s take a look at some of the Citi partner redemptions to see what type of valuations you might be working with.

We’ll start small and then ramp up the value.

Interested in the 80,000 ThankYou Points welcome bonus? Learn how to apply here.

JetBlue (USA Domestic)

Valuation: 1.2 cents per point

An economy redemption on JetBlue from LAX to MIA would run you 12,900 points for a $164 flight. So that comes out to about 1.2 cents per point.

You should be able to do better than that on other JetBlue flights but not that much better. (If you can get around 1.5 cents per point you are doing pretty good with JetBlue.)

Because JetBlue award prices are tied to revenue prices (similar to Southwest), these are always going to represent the lower end of redemptions for ThankYou Points when it comes to travel partners.

Tip: If you have the JetBlue Plus Card you can get a 10% rebate on your point redemptions which increases the value of your points.

Avios (USA Domestic)

Valuation: 2.1 cents per point

Flying business class from JFK to MIA on American Airlines would cost $357. Using 16,500 Avios to cover that trip, the cents per mile comes out to about 2.1 cents per point.

The way this redemption would work is you would first transfer your Citi points to Qatar and then transfer them to British Airways where you could book American Airlines (using the British Airways site) at the above rate.

For those of you who live near an AA hub, using the Qatar-BA route for American flights can be a very easy and efficient way to get around with ThankYou Points.

Avianca (USA-Europe)

Valuation: 10.1 cents per point

This valuation is based on business class redemptions on both Lufthansa and United using Avianca Life Miles.

For 63,000 Life Miles and only $25 in fees you could book a one-way business class flight on either United or Lufthansa from Houston to Frankfurt.

These flights are listed at $6,399, so that means that your redemption value comes out to 10.1 cents per point which is pretty amazing for business class.

Emirates (USA-Europe)

Valuation: 15 cents per point

If you thought 10 cents per point was impressive, it’s time to bump things up a notch with first class awards.

Emirates awards can get expensive for premium cabins but they have reduced fuel surcharges so they are not nearly as expensive as they used to be.

For 72,500 miles you can fly their amazing first class from New York (JFK) to Milan, Italy (MXP) and you only have to pay $84 in fees. That flight is currently going for $10,922.

With $84 in fees the cents per mile comes out to 15 cents per mile!

Virgin Atlantic (USA-Asia)

Valuation: 27.4 cents per point

Here’s when things start to get stupid.

If you were to transfer your Citi points to Virgin Atlantic and book first class on ANA from JFK to Japan it would cost you 60,000 Virgin miles one way.

I priced this flight in October of this year for $16,574. If you assume fees of about $100 then that means that the cents per point comes out to an astonishing 27.4 cents per point.

If you want to get even crazier Citi has offered 30% transfer bonuses to Virgin Atlantic before. So if you took advantage of one of those bonuses you could transfer 47,000 points for this redemption, making the value of your points come out to 35 cents per point.

Final word

Some of these redemptions represent amazing outsized value.

Most people will want to stick to valuations that represent their actual travel savings rather than value captured from mega outsized redemptions.

That will typically be around one to three cents per point, depending on how you like to travel.

But knowing how insane the value can get with some of these programs can be a real motivating factor to help you optimize your rewards.

Citi Premier® Card: Earn 80,000 bonus ThankYou Points after you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analysis & recommendations are UponArriving’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Daniel Gillaspia

100K Avios offers: How to Use Them & What to Know

Avios have always been one of the most useful currencies to have when putting together award travel.

I’ve always been able to find a use for them pretty much wherever I go and there usually is pretty good value to be had with them, too. Plus, they are usually easy to search and book with, which can sometimes be half the battle.

With some 100K Avios offers floating around you might be wondering what type of use these points could have for you so let’s take a look!

Summary: There are several 100K bonuses for Avios which are airline miles that can be used on domestic airlines like American Airlines and Alaska Airlines as well as many great international partners. Many redemptions come with great value and low fees.

Current 100K Avios offers

You can currently earn up to 100,000 Avios with these different bonuses:

British Airways Visa Signature® Card – Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 within the first three months; earn an additional 25,000 Avios after you spend $20,000 in the first 12 months of account opening.

Aer Lingus Visa Signature® card – Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 within the first three months of account opening; earn an additional 25,000 Avios after you spend $20,000 in the first 12 months of account opening.

Iberia Visa Signature® Card – Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 within the first three months of account opening; earn an additional 25,000 Avios after you spend $20,000 in the first 12 months of account opening.

My take:

These are technically the highest public welcome bonuses for these cards but the high spending requirement knocks down the attractiveness.

75,000 Avios for $5K in spend is great but the the additional 25K points for $20,000 spend is a tall order for most.

This might be a tiered bonus where you just settle for the 75K, especially if you can supplement your Avios with points from other programs.

But it also might be a “no left overs” bonus if you can spend a lot since each card will offer you a special perk for spending $30,000.

These perks include:

British Airways Visa Signature® Card – Travel Together Ticket (pay 50% of the Avios fare when travelling solo or get a second seat for a companion)

Aer Lingus Visa Signature® card – Economy companion ticket with a paid economy flight

Iberia Visa Signature® Card – Discount voucher of $1,000 to use toward two tickets on the same flight

You might want to wait around for an offer to come back that doesn’t require as much spend.

But since these Avios cards are subject to 5/24 you some may want to pick them up and then move on to bigger and better things.

By the way, it is possible to get all three of these cards but you would want to stagger out your applications over several months.

But what could you do with these Avios if you were to go for them?

Below, I’m gonna give you some info on how to use Avios without overwhelming you with a bunch of awards charts.

**British Airways First Class Guide & Review**

6 quick things to know British Airways Avios

There is a ton of minutia that we could cover for Avios but if you’re just looking to get the fundamentals down, here’s what you need to know:

1. Avios can be transferred between airlines

You can transfer Avios between British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. (You can also pool points together with household members.)

To make transfers, your accounts need to be active for 90 days which is why I recommend people to immediately create accounts with all four programs. Might as well be prepared.

2. Avios bank transfer partners

British Airways is a transfer partner of Chase, American Express, Capital One, and Marriott. (Citi transfers to Qatar so it’s essentially a British Airways partner, too.) This makes it very easy to supplement your Avios with bank bonuses.

Consider adding to your Avios balance with these offers:

Citi Premier® Card: Earn 80,000 ThankYou Points after you spend $4,000 in within the first 3 months
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card: Earn 75,000 bonus miles after you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months

3. Avios award charts

Things can get a little bit confusing because each Avios program has its own award chart with off-peak and on-peak awards.

The award charts have zones and things get a little funny with the zones due to all of the tinkering they have done.

Then there are also separate partner award charts.

To simplify things below, I’m just gonna show you what would be possible if you were using British Airways Avios. I’ll also leave out the award charts for now.

4. Watch out for fees

When flying on British Airways, fees can sometimes get high, especially with business and first. Try to avoid ending up in London if possible.

5. Look for non-stop flights

You want to try to book nonstop flights as much as possible.

That is because you have to pay for each segment individually. One connection could easily add thousands of miles to your redemption cost. Two connections could nearly triple your cost.

6. Transfer bonuses

You can often find transfer bonuses from the banks to the different Avios programs.

Because you can transfer points between programs, a bonus to one program is essentially a bonus to all. Right now, WalletFlo promos shows Chase has a 30% transfer bonus that ends at the end of July 2022.

**St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel London Review**

The best way to use British Airways Avios

My personal preference for using British Airways Avios is to use them on short to medium non-stop flights.

Long-haul flights can be doable especially because British Airways is a transfer partner of major programs so it’s pretty easy to build up a balance with them. Plus, there are some long-haul Avios sweet spots out there.

But generally, the short to medium haul flights is where it’s at for me.

I’ll walk you through some redemptions below so that you can get a sense of the value potential. I’ll show you flights within the US and also some international redemptions as well.

**Qatar Airways A380 First Class Review (CDG to DOH)**

Getting around the US

You can use your Avios to book flights in the US on partners like American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. In fact, these can be some of the best ways to use Avios.

Here’s a look at the single partner mileage requirements for North America flights:

Flights between 1-650 miles:

Economy: 7,500 Avios
Business: 15,000 Avios

Flights between 651-1,151 miles

Economy: 9,000 Avios
Business: 16,500 Avios

Flights between 1,152-2,000 miles

Economy: 11,000 Avios
Business: 22,000 Avios

Let me show you some examples of these prices in action.

Domestic flights

For only 16,500 Avios you could fly business class one way from New York to Miami. For 22,000 Avios you could get between Chicago and Los Angeles in business class. The latter is a $600+ flight so in terms of value that’s about 2.7 to 3 cents per mile.

Hawaii

Both American Airlines and Alaska Airlines fly to Hawaii. On my very first search from Phoenix to Maui, I found an economy flight with seven seats available for only 13,000 Avios each! Those flights can go for $490 one way so depending on your flight preference that redemption can get you about 3.7 cents per mile.

Alaska

Maybe you want to break away from the heat and hop around Alaska?

Taking advantage of the zone one pricing, you can get from Anchorage to Juneau, Alaska, for 7,500 Avios.

You can often find those flights for around $250 in peak season which means that you’d be getting about 3.3 cents per mile, which is a great redemption value for economy. Even the lower prices offer over 2 cents per mile.

International examples

Avios can also be a great way to get around other parts of the globe. Let’s take a look.

Europe

For 15,000 Avios you could fly from London to Milan, Italy, in business class. That’s a flight going for $331 so your cents per mile comes out to 2.2.

That value is not quite as high as other redemptions but paying $1 in fees to get to Rome? I’m always down for that.

**Trenitalia First Class/Executive Frecciarossa 1000 Review (Rome to Milan)**

Australia

If you wanted to fly Qantas from Sydney, Australia to Melbourne, Australia, you could use 12,500 Avios + $27.20. Those business class flights go for about $530 so that is about 4 cents per mile. Not bad at all.

Also, 11,000 Avios + $118.40 can easily get you from Sydney to New Zealand.

Asia

If you find yourself on the continent of Asia, Avios can be a pretty great way to get around between different countries.

Take a look at this premium economy redemption between Hong Kong and Bangkok on partner Cathay Pacific. It’s going for 18,000 Avios and that flight could cost you $750. That’s about 3.7 cents per mile.

Middle East

You could fly from Paris to Doha en route to places like the Maldives for 43,000 Avios in business class. Factoring in the $190 in fees, that still comes out to about 8.3 cents per mile which is definitely outsized value.

Final word

So as you can see there are lots of uses for Avios.

I generally always have some Avios in the reserve that I tap into whenever I need to complete a trip especially if it involves connecting legs that I can’t cover with other miles.

British Airways Visa Signature® Card – Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 within the first three months; earn an additional 25,000 Avios after you spend $20,000 in the first 12 months of account opening.

Aer Lingus Visa Signature® card – Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 within the first three months of account opening; earn an additional 25,000 Avios after you spend $20,000 in the first 12 months of account opening.

Iberia Visa Signature® Card – Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 within the first three months of account opening; earn an additional 25,000 Avios after you spend $20,000 in the first 12 months of account opening.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analysis & recommendations are UponArriving’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Daniel Gillaspia

7 Ways to Know a Credit Card Welcome Bonus Is for You

How do you know when a credit card welcome bonus is a good option for you?

What factors do you look at when evaluating a bonus?

These are common questions a lot of people have and in this article I’ll provide some insight into different factors you want to consider when thinking about jumping on an offer.

1. Is it one of the best offers?

The first consideration I think about when applying for a credit card is: “is this one of the highest offers available for this card?” You can easily miss out on tens of thousands of points ($100s in value) by timing your application poorly.

This is why in the mobile app, WalletFlo shows you icons for each offer: unicorn 🦄, diamond 💎, fire 🔥.

Typically, I would try to shoot for only unicorn and diamond offers since those are the rarest and best value offers.

A great unicorn offer right now is the welcome bonus for the Citi Premier® Card:

Earn 80,000 ThankYou Points after you spend $4,000 in within the first 3 months

The only time I would go for a lower offer is if I really needed the points to top off the required points for an upcoming trip, strategy called for it (see below), or I had a specific use in mind for some of the valuable credit card perks.

Tip: Don’t forget to see if you have referral link options for big bonuses.

2. Can you meet the minimum spend?

If you can’t meet the minimum spend then you won’t earn the bonus. And if you are struggling to meet a minimum spend you might be incentivized to spend carelessly.

So you really need to make sure that you have a solid plan for meeting the minimum spend. Sometimes that might mean putting rent on your card, purchasing gift cards, or getting creative.

But I would avoid applying for credit cards without putting serious thought into exactly how you will meet that minimum spend within the needed timeframe.

3. Do you have a plan to use the points?

Some people believe that you should never apply for a credit card unless you have a specific use for those points in mind.

I’m not one of those people.

Don’t get me wrong — I would not recommend applying for niche airline or hotel program credit cards if you don’t have use for those miles. For example, applying for a Korean Air credit card on a whim is probably not a good idea.

But when it comes to transferable points programs like Chase and Citi, you’ll have so many options to use those points that rarely (if ever) do you need to have an exact plan in mind.

While you may not have a specific redemption in mind, you probably want to have an exit strategy in mind when you apply, especially if you are applying for a card with a very high annual fee.

In that case, you just want to at least know the cheapest way to park your points if you want to end up canceling that card and avoid getting hit with a big fee.

4. Are you eligible?

Most bonuses worth picking up have some type of eligibility language tied to them. And sometimes that language can be confusing or it can just be difficult to keep track of things.

For example, sometimes you might be eligible to get approved for the card but NOT eligible for the bonus.

The best way to keep track of your eligibility is to use the eligibility checker in WalletFlo. As long as you have accurately input your open dates, it can help guide you so that you can always see if you’re eligible to apply or not.

Tip: If you’re not eligible just add the card to your “future apps” and you can receive a notification when you become eligible.

5. Is it strategic?

Even if the bonus is great, you can meet the minimum spend, and you are eligible, you still may want to hold off for strategic reasons.

For example, right now I would recommend some people to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card instead of the Citi Premier if they are under 5/24.

That’s because even though the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card bonus is not a unicorn level bonus, you can still pick it up and then get the Citi Premier later.

But if you were to go over 5/24 by going for the Citi Premier and a couple of other cards down the road, you may have to miss out on the Sapphire Preferred (and other valuable Chase cards) for another couple of years.

6. Is there a risk?

Every now and again an offer comes around that may get you into trouble.

Perhaps there is a way to take advantage of certain referral loopholes or leaked links. Jumping on these could be tempting but you could be jeopardizing your points or even your good standing with the bank.

Sometimes these “too good to be true” offers can come back to bite you in the rear end so proceed with caution when you encounter these.

7. Credit score

And finally you obviously want to be aware of the effects the application will have on your credit score.

A typical hard inquiry will drop your credit score temporarily anywhere from 2 to 5 points on average. But sometimes opening up new accounts can cause a further drop.

On average, to protect your credit score, I would recommend waiting three months between credit card applications with the occasional one-two (maybe 3) punch happening to quickly boost your earnings.

Final word

If you take into consideration all of the factors above, you should be able to make smart decisions when going for credit card welcome bonuses.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analysis & recommendations are UponArriving’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Daniel Gillaspia

Should You Upgrade Your Amex Card? Read This First!

Offers contained within this article maybe expired.

American Express offers some of the most valuable credit cards on the market — no doubt. They have a wide selection of cards that come with great welcome bonuses so typically to get the most value you want to apply for a new card offering you a sweet new bonus.

But on occasion American Express may offer you the opportunity to upgrade to a new card and earn a bonus while doing so. When this happens, there often is one easy strategic move that you can utilize to optimize your earnings.

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

Once per lifetime rule

One of the most important things to know about upgrading American Express cards is that upgrading can trigger the once per lifetime rule. This rule states that you can only receive a bonus for a American Express card once per lifetime.

The good news is that there are exceptions to this rule.

For one, sometimes you can receive an offer that does not contain the once per lifetime language which means you will likely be able to still earn the bonus.

Also, some people are having success at earning a bonus again after waiting around five years from the time that they closed the card.

While these exceptions do happen not everybody is able to get around the once per lifetime rule. For that reason, it is highly recommended that you only seek out American Express cards when you can earn an optimal bonus. (Use WalletFlo to help you find the best offers.)

As mentioned above, when you upgrade to another American Express card that upgrade automatically triggers this once per lifetime rule, regardless of if you actually received a bonus for the card.

So let’s say that you upgrade from the Amex Gold Card to the Platinum Card. You will then be ineligible for a Platinum Card bonus — even if you never earned that bonus.

This is why it is typically only recommended to upgrade when you receive a very nice upgrade offer or when you have already opened up the card before (and hopefully received the bonus).

American Express upgrade strategy

If you ever receive an upgrade offer to an Amex card that you have never opened before then you are an ideal candidate for the upgrade strategy.

How does it work?

First, let’s say you receive an upgrade offer to upgrade the Amex EveryDay to the EveryDay Preferred.

Assuming you have never opened the EveryDay Preferred, the first step will be to apply for the EveryDay Preferred (ideally for one of the best bonuses). Once you are approved for the card and on your way to earning the bonus for that card you would then accept the upgrade offer to the EveryDay Preferred.

This means that you will end up having two EveryDay Preferreds. In the process you will earn the welcome bonus for the new card and also earn the upgrade bonus. As long as you can meet the minimum spend for these two bonuses you should be good to go.

This type of thing might be YMMV in some cases so it may not always work 100% of the time but this has been the established method for optimizing bonuses when presented with upgrade offers for a while.

Upgrade offers with no lifetime language

In some cases you might be offered an upgrade offer to a card that you already had a bonus for. You might be worried that the once per lifetime language will disqualify you from earning that bonus but that is not always the case.

Be sure to read over the language of the upgrade offer very closely because sometimes the upgrade offer will NOT contain lifetime language.

For your reference, the lifetime language usually looks like this:

Welcome offer not available to applicants who have or have had this Card

Here is a full example of an upgrade offer with no lifetime language:

You must charge $2,000 (the “Threshold Amount”) of eligible purchases on the American Express Gold Card within the first three months of Card Membership to earn the 40,000 Membership Rewards® points starting from the date your account is approved. Points will be credited to your Program account within 8–12 weeks after you have met the Threshold Amount. If we in our sole discretion determine that you have engaged in abuse, misuse, or gaming in connection with the welcome offer in any way or that you intend to do so (for example, if you applied for one or more cards to obtain a welcome bonus offer(s) that we did not intend for you; if you cancel or downgrade your account within 12 months after acquiring it; or if you cancel or return purchases you made to meet the Threshold Amount), we may not credit Membership Rewards® points to, we may freeze Membership Rewards® points credited to, or we may take away Membership Rewards® points from your account. We may also cancel this Card account and other Card accounts you may have with us. Eligible purchases can be made by the Basic Card Member and any Additional Card Members on a single Card account. Eligible purchases are purchases for goods and services minus returns and other credits and do NOT include: fees or interest charges; purchases of travelers checks; purchases or reloading of prepaid cards; purchases of gift cards; person–to–person payments; or purchases of other cash equivalents. Some American Express® Cards are not eligible for enrollment in the program. Your Card account must not be canceled or past due at the time of fulfillment of any offers.

If you had already opened the Gold Card before and you received an upgrade offer from your Green Card to the Gold Card with the same language as above you would actually be eligible to receive a bonus for the Gold Card a second time (this has been confirmed with multiple data points)! So it really pays to read these offers closely!

Final word

American Express upgrade offers can be very enticing and often can be worth it under the right circumstances. But if you receive an upgrade offer to a card that you never had before you should highly consider applying for that card first so that you can optimize both bonus offers. And even if you have had the card before you should check the upgrade offer for the once per lifetime language because it might not be there.

Daniel Gillaspia

American Express Product Change Guide (Upgrades and Downgrades) [2021]

Offers contained within this article maybe expired.

American Express has some pretty specific rules and requirements when it comes to upgrading and downgrading your credit cards and charge cards. Some of these restrictions are pretty intuitive while others are not as obvious and could cost you a lot of rewards if you don’t know what you’re doing.

In this article, I will cover everything you need to know about product changing with American Express including upgrades and downgrades.

Product changes explained

Product changes are when you change from one credit card product to another (e.g., changing from the Green Card to the Platinum Card). Typically, when you product change with Amex you will be either upgrading or downgrading.

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

How to product change

The process for product changing your Amex card is very simple.

You can product change your American Express card by calling the number on the back of your card. When you get a hold of an agent, simply tell them that you want to product change your card and they should be able to help you or transfer you to someone who can.

It’s possible they might ask you some questions about why you want to product change so it’s a good idea to have a your reasoning already decided.

Common reasons for product changing might include:

Change in spend habits
Change in benefit use
Wanting to avoid a higher annual fee

Sometimes you can make product changes via chat but at other times that possibility has been taken away.

If you are looking for an easy way to keep track of all of your product changes, then I would highly recommend you use the app WalletFlo.

With just a couple of clicks, you can select your product change details and always have it on hand when needed. Plus, it tracks your eligibility for bonuses which is something I talk about below.

Bonus eligibility

One of the biggest considerations for choosing to upgrade or downgrade a card with American Express is your future welcome bonus eligibility.

Typically, when you product change to a new card you are disqualifying yourself for a future bonus for that card. This is the result of the “once per lifetime rule” which states that you can only receive a welcome bonus for a card once per lifetime.

You would think that the rule only applies when you open a new card but this is simply how American Express does it.

So let’s say that you have the American Express Green Card and you are going to product change it to the Gold Card. Once your Green Card is converted to the Gold Card, you lose eligibility for the Gold Card’s bonus.

If you have the ability to hit the minimum spend for something like a 60,000 point bonus, you could be costing yourself over $1,000 in rewards by choosing to product change!

This is typically why people only recommend product changes when you have previously opened the card you’re product changing to.

The big thing to note here is that you can receive special upgrade bonus offers. Targeted upgrade offers can come via email, snail mail, or could potentially just show up elsewhere (perhaps Amex Offers).

In some cases, these upgrade offers will not contain the once per lifetime language which means you may have a shot at earning the bonus again.

Take your travels to the next level by strategically product changing and maximizing your bonus points.

Retention offers

Another factor in the mix is the possibility of getting a retention offer.

A retention offer is a special offer made by the bank to keep you from closing your account or in some cases just switching to another product.

If you were thinking about product changing, I would always inquire about possible retention offers before doing so. If you are not offered a retention offer or if they offer you a retention offer that you think is subpar, I would call back and speak to at least one other agent.

What counts as a good or bad retention offer is all based on your circumstances.

A lot of times the best retention offers go to those putting a lot of spend on their cards but you don’t always have to put a lot of spend on a card to get a decent offer.

Also, sometimes these retention offers require you to put spend on your card to earn the bonus while other times you will be instantly given bonus points. So it’s not always the amount of the retention offer that matters but the process you have to go through to get it.

Charge cards and credit cards

American Express does not allow you to cross pollinate between charge cards and credit cards. So for example, you cannot product change an American Express Platinum card to an Amex EveryDay card.

However, based on some online reports, you can try to change a credit card to a charge card if you pay off the entire balance of the credit card. (I’ve personally never attempted this before so I can’t verify if it still works.)

Different product lines

The other thing to be aware of is that you cannot product change between different lines of product. So for example, you could not product change the Marriott Brilliant Card to a Hilton Aspire. (The good thing is that with co-branded cards, American Express has a lot of no-fee options).

This also means that you cannot change from a card that earns Amex Membership Rewards to a card that earns cash back.

Business to personal

You cannot product change an American Express business card to a personal card or vice versa.

You also cannot change the name of your business on your credit card in many cases such as if you have a new EIN with the new business.

Keeping your points alive

Another thing to consider if cancelling a card is on the table is that you want to always make sure you are keeping your Membership Rewards alive.

In order to keep your Membership Rewards alive, you must always have at least one active Membership Rewards earning card. A lot of people recommend the Amex EveryDay card because it is a no annual fee card and that’s an easy way to park your points and keep them open.

So don’t ever cancel a Membership Rewards card without having a way to save your points.

Length of account history

A big factor to consider before requesting a product change is how long your account has been open.

The CARD Act of 2009 prevents banks from raising the annual fee of a credit card within the first 12 months of account opening. This means that you will not be allowed to upgrade from something like the Gold Card to the Platinum Card until you have had the Gold Card for 12 months or longer (some wait until the 13th month).

If you are product changing your card to something with a lower annual fee then I don’t believe you have to wait 12 months to do so. I have seen reports of agents telling customers that they need to wait one year before product changing so this could be YMMV.

If you do downgrade prior to your one year anniversary, you can get the annual fee refunded on a prorated basis.

But be careful of trying to downgrade to a product with a lower annual fee too quickly.

If you just received a bonus for an American Express card and decided to quickly downgrade that card, that might raise red flags for American Express and it could affect your relationship with them.

This is made clear by their anti-gaming rules:

“If we in our sole discretion determine that you have engaged in abuse, misuse, or gaming in connection with the welcome offer in any way or that you intend to do so (for example, […] if you cancel or downgrade your account within 12 months after acquiring it; […]), we may not credit the Statement Credit to, we may freeze the Statement Credit credited to, or we may take away Statement Credit from your account. We may also cancel this Card account and other Card accounts you may have with us.”

Good standing

American Express wants your card to be in good standing when you request your product change. If you have had issues with payments or any other similar account issues, your request for a product change may be denied.

New accounts

If you product change to a new American Express card, this should not reflect as a new account on your credit report and there should be no hard pull involved.

One of the motivating factors for product changing is that you don’t have to worry about getting a ding on your credit report. And the ding I am talking about is from a new account showing up on your credit report.

Often, if you already have an American Express card and you apply for a new card, you will not be subject to a hard pull on your credit report.

Tip: For people trying to stay under 5/24, product changing allows them to take advantage of new products without violating the 5/24 rule.

Card numbers

When you product change, your card number should remain the same. However, the card will likely have a new security code and expiration date. Other details for your account such as your credit limit/spending power and your APR should also remain the same.

FAQs

How can I product change my Amex card?

You can initiate a product change by calling the phone number on the back of your card. You can also try to use chat.

Will product changing my card affect my credit score?

No, product changing with American Express will not affect your credit score.

Can I product change from a personal to a business credit card?

No, you cannot product change between personal and business cards.

Can I product change my Gold Card to a Platinum Card?

Yes, both the Platinum Card and the Gold Card are charge cards so you can change between the two.

Do I have to wait one year to product change my card?

If you are product changing to a card with a higher annual fee you will need to wait one year.

Final word

Navigating product changes successfully with American Express is not as difficult as it might sound. The key thing is just to make sure you are not limiting yourself when it comes to eligibility for bonuses.

Daniel Gillaspia

What Card Should I Product Change my Citi Premier to? [2021]

If you are serious about your credit card rewards and striving for an optimal strategy then you will no doubt have to make a decision on product changes at some point. In this article, I’ll break down what to do when you face this decision with respect to the popular Citi Premier.

What is a product change?

First, the basics so we make sure we are on the same page.

Product changes are when you change from one credit card to another. This could be an upgrade, a downgrade, or it could be changing to a different type of product line (American Airlines card to a cash back card).

For some banks, the consequences of product changing are pretty minimal.

You can proceed without having to think through your strategy too much and enjoy the benefits like avoiding the annual fee or jumping on a more premium credit card option.

But for other banks, such as Amex and Citi, you really need to think through the consequences of a product change. If you make the wrong decision, it could cost you a lot of bonus points in the future.

By the way, I recommend that most people use the app WalletFlo to track all of their product changes. It will allow you to track as many product changes as you need for a single card and it will help you keep up with your credit history in that regard.

Citi Premier options

If you hold the Citi Premier, you might be tempted to product change to a few different options. If you wanted to go to a more premium card, you could look into upgrading to the Citi Prestige.

But a lot of people who are product changing the Premier card actually want to lower or remove the annual fee so they will look for other options. One of the most tempting options is the Citi Double Cash but you should think twice before you product change to that card.

The reason is that if you product change from the Premier to the Citi Double Cash, your credit card number will likely change. And if your credit card number changes, it will probably reset the 24 month clock on your eligibility for a ThankYou bonus.

This means that you will have to wait an additional two years before you can receive a ThankYou bonus (*no thank you*). This could be a huge bummer if you have already been waiting a while for your ThankYou bonus eligibility to reset.

The best product change options

But there are a couple of cards known for NOT giving you a new credit card number and those are the cards you should be trying to probably change to if this is a concern.

These two cards are the:

Citi Rewards+
Citi ThankYou Preferred

Both of these credit cards have no annual fee and data points show that typically you will not be issued a new number for them. I said “typically” because a lot of things like this are YMMV. In other words, it’s hard to know for sure that you will not be issued a new credit card number but it seems like you certainly increase your odds of keeping your number if you go with these cards.

If you had to choose one of these cards, I would probably just go with the Citi Rewards+. I like that it earns 2X on groceries and gas but it also has a cool feature that rounds up to the nearest 10 points on every purchase. So if you make a lot of smaller purchases, this can be a nice way to rack up more points.

It also offers you 10% points back for the first 100,000 ThankYou Points you redeem per year, so for a no fee card it packs a good amount of value.

Final word

Overall, product changing with Citibank can be a little bit tricky sometimes. This is especially true with the 24-month ThankYou bonus rule. But by switching to the right cards, you can increase your odds of avoiding that reset and hopefully earn a bonus a lot quicker!

Daniel Gillaspia

Can You Get a Credit Card with No Job? [2021]

A lot of people have had issues with unemployment recently due to the pandemic and are curious if they are still eligible to apply for a credit card. Being in need of credit and not having a job can be pretty stressful but there may be some good news if you are in that situation.

Can you get a credit card with no job?

Yes, you can apply and get approved for a credit card even if you have no job. However, there are some limitations you need to know about and below you can find a lot of tips on how to best go about this process.

Tip: Check out the free app WalletFlo so that you can optimize your credit card spend by seeing the best card to use! You can also track credits, annual fees, and get notifications when you’re eligible for the best cards!

What actually matters for approval

First, it’s good to have a quick reminder on what actually matters when applying for a credit card. This will help you put your current employment status into the proper perspective.

Credit score and report

The most important factor for getting approved for a credit card is your credit score and credit report.

Each credit card will have different eligibility requirements and will require a specific credit score range so the first step of getting approved for a card without a job is to apply for a card that will accept your credit score.

And along with your credit score, you want to have a good credit report which means that you are not carrying a lot of debt, you have established credit history, and you have made payments on-time.

Even if you are CEO of a successful company, you would still be limited by your credit score and credit report since those are the most relevant factors for getting approved for a credit card.

And if you are a borderline candidate in terms of your credit score, selecting unemployed could be a knock against your approval odds.

Your credit score and report is always paramont for credit card approvals.

Income

Most credit card applications will ask you to input your income on the application page. But there are some things you should know about the importance of your income.

First, the banks are likely more interested in your income source type than who your employer us.

This is why some applications like those from Chase only ask about the “source of your income” (employed, self-employed, other, etc.)

The second thing to remember is that income is still not nearly as important as your credit score.

You could be making over $200,000 a year but if your credit score is in the 500s, you will still struggle to get approved for a lot of credit cards.

Also, if you have a huge amount of debt then your high income may not help you out as much. As CBS reports, these credit systems have models that can estimate your income based on your monthly payments. And that could help give them a sense of your disposable income which could be used for credit card payments.

For credit card applications, I’d argue income is more relevant when deciding your credit line and your eligibility for premium cards, such as the American Express Platinum Card.

While your income may not be the most important factor, it does help to have some stated income so that an issuer knows that you have a way to pay off your bills.

If you truly have no income, then that could be a major problem for a lot of credit card issuers, so you should seriously consider including accessible income which I will talk about below.

Mortgage or rent

A lot of credit card applications will also ask you to input your monthly mortgage or rent payment or at least indicate if you are renting or owning.

This factor is related to your income/employment because it determines roughly how much disposable income you may have to use to pay off your credit card bill.

If you have zero stated income, marked your employment status as unemployed but have included your rent payment, you could run into trouble because your bank may have serious doubts about your ability to pay off bills.

I have never had a credit card issuer request verification for my rent payment so this is typically something that is not verified by banks.

Bank accounts

Some banks will also ask you to select whether or not you have a bank account such as a checking or savings. It’s not clear how much weight these factors are given in the approval process.

Verification process

Employment checks

Some credit card applications will not ask you to supply an employer so there is no need to fret about a bank calling up your boss.

However, other banks may ask you to include your employer’s name and they might even ask you to include a phone number.

Something that might surprise you is that it is rare for a bank to perform an employment check.

I’ve opened somewhere around 40+ credit cards and I have never had a bank contact an employer to verify my employment.

I also know a lot of people who have a ton of credit cards and I’ve never heard of a bank verifying their employment.

I’m not saying that it will never happen (I’m sure it has) but the odds of a credit card issuer verifying your employment status by calling up your employer are probably very low.

In some cases, your credit report might reflect your current and past employers so banks sometimes have a glimpse into your employment history.

According to PocketSense, “this employment history provided on your report is supplied by lenders when they report the information from your credit application.”

Note: It is possible that if you fall behind on your payments that a credit card issuer could contact your employer and inquire about your employment status so keep that in mind.

Verifying income

Just like employment, it is rare to have to verify your income on a credit card application.

But that doesn’t mean that some banks won’t require it. In rare cases, you may have to supply tax documents or perhaps pay stubs to validate your stated income.

Also, in other cases you could be subject to a financial review and the bank may want you to support your income via official tax documents.

But in the majority of cases banks will accept your self-verified income.

Accessible income

If you are 21 years or older, you can claim any income that you have reasonable access to.

Typically, “reasonable access” means income that is recurring to you or income that is found in a bank account that you have access to.

Examples of this would be a parent that pays $2,000 a month for your expenses. In that case, you could claim $24,000 of annual income. Another example would be if you had access to a bank account that your parents deposit $5,000 to every month. You could argue that you’re accessible income in that scenario is $60,000 a year.

Accessible income also includes income from things like interest or dividends, investments, retirement, Social Security benefits, and public assistance.

So be sure that if you do not currently have a job but you have access to other income you include that income when stating your annual income on a credit card application page.

Alternatives

Students

Banks know that students are not always rolling in the dough.

For this reason, the income requirements may be less stringent for a student credit card. This will also likely mean that you will not have access to a large credit line with a student credit card but at least you will be able to have some credit and establish your credit history.

According to the Balance, you can boost your approval odds by including income that is deposited into an individual or shared bank account with your name on it. And if you are at least 21 years old, you can also include income if it is regularly used to pay for your expenses (as discussed above).

The other major question is what about financial aid? Not every bank provides guidance on this and it varies but a rule of thumb is that you can use certain types of financial aid as income that are left over after covering your education expenses such as tuition.

Some banks say applicants cannot use student loans as income, but again, if you are using the proceeds for living expenses you at least have an argument that it should be considered income.

Secured credit card

If you are having financial difficulties and/or have a bad credit score, you might want to consider a secured credit card.

This could prove to be difficult because most secured credit cards require you to put down a deposit and if you don’t have a job you might not have money to do that.

You could try to simply go for the smallest required deposit which could be something like $100 and then build up your credit history that way. Just beware of fees because many secured credit cards force you to pay a lot of fees such as activation fees or monthly maintenance fees.

Cosigner

Most credit cards that I have had or been interested in do not allow cosigners but there are some credit cards that do.

A cosigner will be responsible for the payment if you cannot make the payment so this would need to be someone that you have a lot of trust in. If you apply with them, you should be able to list their income on the application.

Authorized user

If you have no job and no access to income, then you will likely struggle to get approved for a great credit card.

In that case, your best move might be to ask someone that you trust and that trusts you enough to add you as an authorized user.

The individual adding you as an authorized user will remain responsible for the payment.

If they do not responsibly manage the card and max it out or get negative payments, it’s possible that those factors will damage your credit score, so that is why this route requires a lot of trust.

But if you can find the right person, this will help you build up some credit and allow you to get experience with dealing with a credit card.

FAQ

Do banks verify your employment status?

Typically, banks do not take the extra step to verify your employment status when applying for a credit card.

Do banks verify your income on credit card applications?

Most banks do not verify your income on credit card applications but it can happen. In those cases, be prepared to supply IRS documents to verify your income.

Final word

It’s entirely possible to get approved for a credit card when you are unemployed. However, you still may need a source of income so that banks can feel good about your ability to pay off a credit card bill.

If you do not have a job, consider including your “accessible income” to boost your approval odds. And if that is not possible, consider alternatives like getting added as an authorized user or opening up a secured credit card.

Daniel Gillaspia

3 Lucrative Cards to Simplify Your Rewards

When it comes to rewards, sometimes “simple” is better. The three credit cards featured below are three cards that I rarely talk about but that are actually extremely popular with people interested in credit card rewards. If you value simplicity with your credit cards, then these could be some of the best options for you.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is a super popular card largely due to the marketing done by Capital One. I like this card a lot because it earns 2X on all purchases and has such a great early spend offer at $500 after spending $3,000 in the first three months. This $500 can be used to cover virtually any type of travel purchase.

You simply make your purchase and then select to be reimbursed for that purchase when you are ready. Cards like this allow you to fill in the gaps so that you can travel for free easier since you could get reimbursed for things like award travel fees.

I’ve used the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card in the past to get reimbursed for hundreds of dollars of award travel fees so it definitely deserves a spot in the wallet of many travelers. While it does have a $95 annual fee, that is waived the first year.

It’s worth pointing out that now you can transfer points earned with the Venture to some very solid travel partners. (When transferring points, the ratio will be 2:1.5 for most of the partners.)

Here are all of the airline transfer partners:

Aeromexico
Aeroplan
Alitalia
Avianca
Cathay Pacific
Emirates (2 to 1)
Etihad
EVA
Finnair
Flying Blue
Hainan Airlines
JetBlue
Qantas
Qatar
Singapore Airlines (2 to 1)

I wish the transfer ratios were mostly 1 to 1 but there are some solid partners in there like Aeroplan.

Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card is basically the Capital One version of the Chase Freedom Unlimited. It is a no annual fee card that earns 1.5% cashback on all purchases on an unlimited basis. This can be a great card for every day non-bonused spend.

It has a 0% APR intro period of 15 months which is perfect if you have a balance to deal with or even a balance transfer you want to do. And the card also has no foreign transaction fees which helps distinguish it as a better card for travelers. Currently, you can get a $150 bonus after spending $500 in the first three months.

Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card earns unlimited 4% cash back on dining and entertainment and 2% back on groceries. You can also earn 8% cash back on tickets at Vivid Seats through May 2020.

This card will also start you off with a decent bonus of $300 after you spend $3,000 in the first three months. The annual fee is waived the first year and then it’s $95 after that so this is one of those cards that you can pick up and then test out for a year to see if the rewards outweigh your annual fee. For a high spender in dining and entertainment, this is one of the very best cashback cards you’ll find.

Final word

I think Capital One has a lot to offer for people interested in credit card rewards who value simplicity. With the addition of travel partners to the Venture card there is also potential to get outsized value for your points but for the casual person just looking to put money back into their pocket, they can’t go wrong with cards like these.

Daniel Gillaspia

1 2 3 4 »

Cookie	Duration	Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional	11 months	The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy	11 months	The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.