Seeking CC help/suggestions - Specific conditions

If you have the Discover Miles card, even though everything is presented in terms of miles, there is an option to collect cash instead.

pattyb53, you need to tell us exactly which Discover card you have. There are a number of different types. On the front of my Discover card, for example, it says “Discover it <Miles”. If you have that card, even though it says “Miles”, you can readily collect cash, instead. It is a GREAT card!!

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Thanks for the update.

Discover customer service is what Amex customer service used to be - professional, friendly, knowledgeable, easy to understand, little to no delay.

I just wish Discover were accepted at more places. I’m not filling up my double rewards as much as I want.

What card should I get next? Target identified. Thank you. I just hope their online security is also set to paranoid.

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Be careful about prepaying your limit charges before the due date and then charging more on your cards. Most banks are ok with this on occasion but I do recall a certain 5% cash back card from Chase in the old days of FWF where issuers would black ball you and close all of your accounts. With the AMEX ratpack on the prowl too, I’d be leery of making a habit of churning your limit.

I have done this with AMEX myself once or twice earlier this year, but tread carefully not to make a habit of doing so. Prepayment is fine, but be careful about prepaying for the purpose of spending more than your alloted credit line in a given month. The last thing you want is to be on a black ball list from an issuer, unless of course the juice really is worth the squeeze. :wink:

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I am respectful of what you wrote. As with so many other policy-related things, it is most difficult to elicit from any bank or CC issuer a reliable statement of their guidelines where such as this is concerned. My only success was with Discover, where I was told in unambiguous, certain, terms to spend (and then replenish) as much as I wished to spend. At Citizens Bank I received mixed messages, one clearly limiting and worrisome, the other similar to Discover.

Obtaining such readouts is made even more challenging when bank representatives are offshore. One can only hope a warning will precede any possible closing of the account.

Back a few letters earlier, I said I love the Citi Double Cash credit card. At that time I had a $7000 limit. Well after a few months, today I decided to request an update on my limit. And wow, I got an immediate limit raise to $14000.

Pretty decent!

I just product changed my Citi AAdvantage to the Double Cash no fee card. This is the first year in forever that Citi didn’t offer to waive the fee (sometimes with bonus miles), even after I pointed out I could get Barclay AAdvantage with less fee and 60,000 points. They must be phasing it out.

They tried to talk me into their AA Miles Up card, but as far as I can tell, it offers zero benefits,

[Point of order: Do we need a thread just for reward card discussions? This one started with a specific scenario.]

If I’m not mistaken, we already have Reward Card Discussion.

It’s all good, until you wake up one morning and find it isn’t. The only fact is that you are asking questions to which there is no scripted response, and the person making up an answer for you is far removed from anyone who actually makes such decisions. Specifically to your Discover response, yes your credit limit resets after each payment so you can keep spending as much as you want - but that’s just referring to logistics, before anyone in compliance/risk gets eyes on your account.

And for the record, Citi will shut you down. It’s only a question of when, not if. Maybe in one month, maybe it takes 12 months, but cycle your credit limit multiple times per statement and it will happen.

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BUSTED!!

Guys, I’m pretty sure I’ve been busted. IOW: AA

One of my cards has been frozen. There are no answers forthcoming over the telephone; I’m expecting a letter.

I have only one real concern and am seeking input from those with experience. To wit:

I can afford to lose this one card, perhaps even more than one though, so far, I’m only receiving AA on just one card and all the others are fine.

My worry is that this one bank will mess up my credit report, hurting my prospects with my many other existing credit issuers and with new ones where I might make application. To be clear, the bank giving me AA is owed NO money by me; zip, zero, nada. I have a perfect payment record with them. My guess is they instead have taken exception to my spending pattern only, i.e., the nature of my spending, which is fine with me provided they do not run up a red flag, via the credit reporting agencies, for all my other credit card issuers to view.

Any input would be appreciated. Am I worrying unnecessarily . . . about the credit reporting aspect, I mean?

Sounds like Citi shut you down quicker than we thought.

Yeah. No, it wasn’t Citi. So far so good there. Did not mean for the perp to be a secret. It was Citizens Bank that got me. Good card, too, at 1.8% reward and a MasterCard to boot.

After research, though, it appears my AA might not be owing to my spending patterns . . . or it still could be. But it also might have ensued as an outcome of my overly aggressive attempts to obtain new credit. I will read their letter with interest as it might offer a clue . . . or not.

Law says they have 30 days to get word to me, so it might be a while before I know what is on their mind.

Also, merely as a matter of ongoing business, at present have my latest $100 Citizens Bank reward sitting in my Citizens Bank checking account. Still have access to that account, at least for now. Hope they do not discover and claw back that reward before I can snag and extricate it.

Make sure they follow the law regarding closure notification. They must provide a specific reason for the closure within 30 days. If not, you can make them pay you a closure bonus.

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You are worrying about nothing.

Source: my own first-hand experience, plus the reported experience of dozens (hundreds?) of reports both here, on the old Fstwallet, and other such sites.

Thanks, much appreciated. That is great news!

I’m new to this and I really did not know what to expect.

Thanks, Argyll. That surely might be worth a try. I agree with you that best time to call is on a regular business day, not on a weekend.

What is AA?

I know you don’t like to call yourself a manufactured spender, but since you have given us no description of what you are doing, I will continue to lump you in with them. As so, it’s important to point out that this is just part of the game. Getting shut down by Chase and Citi are a big deal because they are big time issuers and banks. Getting shut down by Citizen’s Bank is probably not that big a deal. I have no idea what goes on your credit report about why the account was closed. Your best best is to just wait a month after the account closes and run your report to see what it says. Anything else would just be a guess. Other manufactured spenders would be able to make the most educated guess on what it will say based on your situation.

You pretty much have two options:
You could slow things down a bit and hope that you continue to fly under the radar as long as possible with the rest of your issuers. Or you could go full steam ahead hoping to take full advantage as long as you can assuming that you are eventually going to get shut down by all of them. Choose wisely!

Sorry. AA is shorthand for adverse action.

It’s OK. I do not mind. What I’m up to is a form of MS, though not a commonplace form because it’s less profitable when compared with the “real deal”.

There are professional MSers who post here from time to time. They really know what they are doing. I’m certainly not a professional. I just do this for fun and amusement in my retirement. It certainly beats watching TV and you make some money, too! :grinning:

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Argyll, I did not telephone them earlier today. Dunno whether or not to do it. I may end up waiting for their letter. Want to know their stated reason for handing me the AA. My reaction will be different depending on that reason.

And I thought you were going to say you were a friend of Bill. :worried:

I acquired my Discover It Miles card many months ago as a result of help received far up thread. It’s a great, wonderful, credit card, easily among the best I own and use. However:

I still have roughly four and one half months to go before collecting my “double the rewards” bonus early in July. I already have circa two grand on the line, not an amount of money I would be comfortable losing.

Only way I can see Discover could get out of paying the two grand is if they shut me down prior to July. Does anyone have any experience with Discover when it comes to that “double rewards” bonus? I welcome any and all advice or counsel. Am thinking at this point maybe I should just stop using the card, or else use it only very carefully and cautiously prior to July . . . so as not to risk AA (adverse action) and the loss of my two grand.