@AyaMai wrote:Which strategy would you choose to get the best cashback & getting Choice Hotel points excluding having a Choice Hotel Choce Privilages Select Mastercard. Your feedback is appreciated.
Citibank/Mastercard
1- Citi Double Cash
2- Citi Custom Cash
3- Citi Premier
or
Wells Fargo/Visa
1- Active Cash
2- Autograph
3- Autograph Journey
Citi looks like a great strategy.
I'm not familiar with Wells Fargo.
How do you normally book your travel? Do you book directly with airlines and hotels, or are you okay with going through a bank's travel portal?
In your case, the quickest way to transferrable points is two signup bonuses: Citi Premier and Wells Fargo Autograph Journey; 60k points each. Citi Premier has a limited 10x rewards rate on certain travel bookings made through the portal. WF Autograph Journey allows full rewards when booking directly with hotels (which allows you to use any elite benefits you may be entitled to).
The biggest obstacle I foresee is that both Citi and Wells Fargo do not like to approve profiles with multiple recent inquiries and new accounts. If I recall correctly, you have been applying for a lot of cards.
@AyaMai wrote:
@NoHardLimits wrote:In your case, the quickest way to transferrable points is two signup bonuses: Citi Premier and Wells Fargo Autograph Journey; 60k points each. Citi Premier has a limited 10x rewards rate on certain travel bookings made through the portal. WF Autograph Journey allows full rewards when booking directly with hotels (which allows you to use any elite benefits you may be entitled to).
The biggest obstacle I foresee is that both Citi and Wells Fargo do not like to approve profiles with multiple recent inquiries and new accounts. If I recall correctly, you have been applying for a lot of cards.
Yes you are correct that I have been applying for a lot of cards in the past. I am not going to apply for any card till my newest card passes 12 months which is about another 6-7 months away. Have no interest in Wells Fargo Autograph Journey as for Citi Premier is the last card I would get after Custom Cash, Wells Fargo Active Cash, Double Cash, I do have an eye on U.S Bank Altitude Reserve which I might apply for on the same day for Custom Cash. I do have 147,687 points with Choice due to sign up bonus and all year round promotions, hotel rates are low off season and on Monday and Tuesday which are my off days, the only draw back when I visit Seattle from Portland, many bakeries and resturants are closed for 2 or 3 days, few 4 days in a row due to labour costs.Tukwila, Washington a suburb of Seattle has the highest minimum wage in the United States at $20.29 per hour for large employers and $18.29 for mid-sized employers. The minimum wage in Tukwila is adjusted for inflation annually.
My apetite for applying for many credit cards is slowing down, luckily my lowest FICO 8 score is Experian 780 since most of inquiries are listed there, now I am into to new Bank Account Bonuses.
Waiting until your youngest revolving account is older than 1 year will greatly improve your odds of approval with Citi and Wells Fargo.
You say that you aren't interested in the Autograph Journey, yet you are considering Active Cash. How about starting with Journey and then product changing to Active Cash one year later? Get the 60k points and then switch without having to open another account. Your current standard Autograph card will still allow you to transfer points even after the Journey is converted to Active Cash.
If you truly prefer the Citi ecosystem, then forget about Active Cash and go with Double Cash instead paired with Premier. Add Custom Cash later if Thank You Points work well for you.