MyCardBlog

Many of us may still not know that credit score actually can help you earn some free money. Some of you might be worried that if you apply too many credit cards, your credit score will be dramatically affected. My opinion is: credit score is nothing if you’re not using it. If you are not going to buy a house (or apply for a mortgage) in the next two years (Credit inquiries will disappear from your credit report after 24 months.), you are free to use your credit.

My post”Earn ThankYou Points for A Free Trip To Europe and Asia” was a very popular post (update). Actually, there are many frequent flier programs out there. You may get a free flight ticket from any airline company. Following is a comprehensive list of frequent flier mile/point sign up bonus.

The Chase Sony Card is running another promotion in September. I received a mail from Sony Card stating that I could get $25 credit if I spend more than $100 during 09/12/2008 and 10/09/2008. This is a good deal since I can get about 25% cash back for the first $100.

My friends who also have this card also received the offer but in email. They have to sign up through the link in the email. Personally, I think the Chase Sony Card is a good credit card to own. Because it always offers some great deals to its cardholders. The most recent one is the “10 Below” from Sony Card. If you sign up a Sony Card according to this post, you can get $150 credit for purhcase of $299 or more.

Following is the content of the mail:

You already know that you Sony Card gives you the financial freedom you need to take care of whatever life brings your way. It’s also the only card that rewards you with the best of Sony, including electronics, CDs, DVDs, movie tickets and live entertainment. And when you use your card right now, you can also receive $25.

It’s easy to receive your statement credit-just use your card. As long as your purchases add up to $100or more from September 12 through October 9, 2008, you will automatically receive your $25 statement credit. And since every purchase counts-from a week’s worth of groceries to a weeklong getaway-chances are you’ll reach $100 in no time!

I don’t know whether this is a targeted offer or not. But you should keep an eye on this offer.

I should also admit that the Sony Card is good to keep but it’s not the card we should use daily. My top choice credit card in my daily life is the Chase Freedom Card which offers 3% cash back (or 3.75%) on everyday purchase. Another credit card from Chase is the BP visa card which is offering 5% cash back on gasoline purchase at BP locations (10% for the first 60 days).

J.D. Power and Associates just released the 2008 Credit Card Satisfaction Study yesterday. According to this study, American Express ranks highest in overall customer satisfaction with credit card issuers for a second consecutive year! Yes, American Express should pride itself on its outstanding customer service.I would also vote for American Express.

The Credit Card Satisfaction Study measures customer satisfaction with credit card by examining five key factors according to J.D. Power and Associates: interaction; billing and payment process; fees and rates; reward programs; and benefits and services. I would say this study really encompasses every factor of a good credit cards. The study is based on a 1000 point scale and relies on more than 7,600 customers’ responses. American Express scored 783 points and ranked highest. Discover Card followed American Express with a score of 751.

Ironically, although the industry average score is 721, only American Express and Discover can score higher than that. HSBC scored the lowest score—667. Capital One also performed not well with only 10 points higher than that of HSBC.

As indicated by the study, American Express performed well in every category. American Express got the highest score out of any of the other credit card companies in all of the five categories. Discover Card performed well in only 3 of the 5 categories: interaction, billing and payment processes, and reward program sections. In the press release of this 2008 Credit Card Satisfaction Study, Rocky Clancy, executive director of financial services at J.D. Power and Associates, pointed out that “American Express and Discover Card are very different in their fees, reward programs and incentives, and their strong performances indicate their ability to suit the various needs that dissimilar types of cardholders have.”

The study also revealed that people who pay off their balances every month tend to choose their credit cards based on rewards programs (77%). People who carry balances on their credit cards pay more attention on interest rates and fees when choosing their credit cards (65%).

This study also found that 72% of cardholders use some kind of reward program. And the most interesting part is free hotel stays are the most satisfying type of reward! I think the Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express and the Hilton HHonors Platinum Credit Card from American Express will be very popular in the near future.

Another find of this study is 25% of all cardholders don’t know if their card offers them additional benefits and 33% haven’t used any during the past year. (If you are reading this post, you should look at your credit card benefits now.) I hope this will change in the future as mycardblog.com becomes more and more popular among general American readers.

The pdf version of the press release of 2008 Credit Card Satisfaction can be viewed here.

My question is which credit card company can surpass American Express the next year.

Sam is a subscriber of mycardblog.com. He just finished an AOR (App-O-Rama) and wanted to share his results with mycardblog.com readers. He sent an email to me and listed all the credit cards that he applied for within one day. He told me that he was inspired by my post “MyCardBlog Reader Daren’s AOR Result”.

I believe the AOR trick is pretty easy to mycardblog.com readers. I have some posts about how to perform an AOR and what you should know about AOR. (App-O-Rama, App-O-Rama: Profiting from Credit) You must remember that the most important thing to do before an AOR is to pretty up your credit scores to present the most attractive picture to potential creditors. And you must reduce your accounts at a single credit issuer if you have many accounts there. You chances to get approved by a credit card issuer is significantly increased if you submit your applications in a short time period.

Sam’s case:

Inquiries within last 12 months: TU = 1, EX = 1, EQ = 0
Inquiries within last 24 months: TU = 21, EX =9, EQ = 5

HHI: $225K (Includes investment income and wife’s income)

Chase Flexible Rewards 9,000 CL
Citi Mastercard 3,000 CL
Citi Diamond Preferred 16,000 CL
Discover More 8,000 CL
HSBC GM Flexible Earnings 6,500 CL
BOA Financial Rewards Visa 21,000 CL
WAMU ESPN Total Access 21,000 CL
GE Money Cash Rewards Card 15,000 CL
AMEX True Earnings (Costco) 23,000 CL
AMEX Hilton Honors 22,000 CL

AOR Result

• Chase Freedom Visa Card—————————Approved, 16,000 CL
• Chase United Mileage Visa Card——Approved, 8,600 CL
• AMEX Preferred Rewards Gold Card————Declined
• The Gold Card from American Express OPEN———Approved, 13,000 CL
• AMEX In Chicago——————————-Declined
• One from American Express——————Declined
• Gold Delta SkyMiles Card——————Declined
• AMEX Starwood Preferred Guest Card—————–Approved, 7,000 CL
• AMEX Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card—————Approved, 10,000 CL
• Discover Business Card———Approved, 10,000 CL
• Citi Business Card with ThankYou Network—–Approved, 12,000 CL
• Citi Platinum Select AAdvantage World MasterCard———-Declined
• Citi Professional Card with ThankYou Network–——Declined
• Advanta Platinum Business Card with Rewards Options————Approved, 22,000 CL
• Advanta Life-of-Balance Platinum Business Card——————Approved, 8,000 CL

According to sam, he thought he would make his AOR much better if he can eliminate the credit inquiries within 24 months or wait until them disappear.

Happy labor day!

If you’d like daily tips, thoughts, and suggestions on how to maximum your rewards and how to catch sign-up opportunities, subscribe to MyCardBlog for free by clicking this link.

This is my monthly updated list of credit card sign-up bonus. I have a special page for credit card sign-up bonus where you can find a complete list of credit cards which will offer you a certain amount of sign-up bonus. I hope this list will be helpful for those App-O-Rama planners. I think it’s necessary to keep a tidy list of credit cards with some fulfillment requirements. The aim is to keep you updated with sign-up bonus offers. There are two main requirements for a specific credit card entering in this list: minimum $50 sign-up bonus and must be a mainstream brand like American Express, Discover, Citi, Chase, BOA, etc. Thus all the credit cards on this list are available to everyone.

All the credit cards are listed in order of value and I will try my best to keep this list updated in a monthly manner. Basically, I assume 100 points/miles=$1. Because you can always redeem your points or miles for certain gift cards.

The Chase Sony Card is my eleventh credit card. And I like it very much because you can always get some great promotional offers from the Sony Card. The most popular one this year is “Get 10,000 Sony Rewards Points for Spending $500″ back in this March. The 10,000 sony rewards points can be redeemed for a $100 gift card at www.sonyrewards.com.

There are also two promotions from Sony Card right now: 1. Earn 5X Sony Rewards Points with Your Sony Card from July to September. 2. 10 Below from Chase Sony Card. If you have a Sony card, it’s good to catch the promotions before they expire.

According to my post in this January, Sony Card was offering $100 card credit on purchase of $299 or more. However, right now, the Chase Sony Card is offering $150 card credit after your first qualifying purchase of $299 or more! Plus you can get o% APR on purchase of $299 at SonyStyle.com up to 12 months. Note: Your first single sales receipt purchase made at a SonyStyle store, including SonyStyle.com equal or greater than $299 (”Qualifying Purchase”) will automatically qualify you for a $150 Statement Credit.

Some Sony products that you might be interested in: Sony α (alpha) DSLR-A200 $499 (Your price: $349 after credit); Sony α (alpha) DSLR-A300 $599 (Your price: $449 after credit); 80G Sony PS3 $399 (Your price: $249!); Sony Cyber-shot H10 Digital Camera $299.99 (Your price: $249.99 after credit); or you may consider a Sony Blu-ray disc player.

Other features of this card:

• 0% APR on purchase up to 12 months (I got 3 months.)
• Full platinum Visa benefits
• Earn 5 Sony Reward Points for every $1 you spend–at SonyStyle.com and Sony Style stores
• Earn 3 Sony Reward Points for every $1 you spend–on any Sony product when purchased from an authorized Sony retailer
• Earn 1 Sony Reward Point for every $1 you spend–on everyday purchase

According to my experience, you can get about $100 credit (or points) every year from Sony Card. But I should say that my favorite credit card from Chase is the Chase Freedom Card which offers 3% cash back (or 3.75%) on everyday purchase. Another credit card is the BP visa card which is offering 5% cash back on gasoline purchase at BP locations (10% for the first 60 days).

I have a post about PayPal Plug-In ($10 off $50 from PayPal Plug-In) which is offering $10 off for using this new online shopping assistant. Today I received an email from American Express which is offering 2500 membership rewards bonus points for using their Online Assistant.

The Online Assistant is a new product from American Express aimed to make your online shopping even easier. Right now, if you download the American Express Online Assistant and register the Online Assistant (enter your American Express Card information), you can get 2,500 bonus Membership Rewards points. What’s the new online shopping service can do for you? Basically, the Online Assistant remembers passwords, automatically fills forms, and even saves receipts. It can store your credit card information and at the checkout it can automatically fill in the form for you. The Online Assistant can even store your receipts after each transaction! You can edit your credit card information at the Online Assistant at any time.

There are several features of the Online Assistant that will offer you convenience when you shop online.

• Websites: Use this option as a “favorites”. Websites will automatically be stored here for your convenience as you save receipts on the related sites.
• Passwords: Manage Passwords or link to websites where you have saved login information.
• Fill Form: Instantly access your eWallet to fill registration and payment forms online.
• Receipts: View saved purchases and reports.

You can store any or all of your American Express Card products, as well as information such as different addresses for billing or shipping.

Your information at Online Assistant is encrypted using 128 Bit AES encryption. And all of the information in your eWallet is encrypted and stored locally on your PC. If you don’t like it, you can uninstall the Online Assistant software and/or cancel your Online Assistant account at anytime.

You can download the Online Assistant at http://www.americanexpress.com/onlineassistant

According to the fine print:

To receive this offer, the download of the Online Assistant is required by 09/30/2008. This offer is good for solicited Cardmembers only. Bonus points will be credited to your account 6-8 weeks after the promotion period ends. To earn bonus points, prior enrollment in the Membership Rewards program is required at time of the Online Assistant download. One download per Cardmember only. Bonus ID 1696. POID K939:000.

It seems this bonus offer is targeted to my Blue from American Express Card. My friend who has the Preferred Rewards Gold Card also received the email.

To learn how to use the Online Assistant, you can click this link. Remember: Only Mozilla Firefox 2.0, Internet Explorer 6.0 & 7.0 are supported

I received an email from Daren who is “a loyal MyCardBlog.com” reader about his newly launched App-O-Rama. Daren completed his AOR a few weeks ago, and “it’s time to report the results and some nuggets of info and techniques gleaned in the process.”

App-O-Rama is a concentrated spree of applying for new credit and higher credit limits. The most important thing to do before an AOR is to pretty up your credit scores to present the most attractive picture to potential creditors. The trick of an AOR is by applying for many credit cards in a short time period (in an hour or so), you don’t let the creditors see the new accounts and inquiries while they’re considering your applications. You chances to get approved by a credit card issuer is significantly increased in this strategy. For brief introduction of App-O-Rama, you can refer to App-O-Rama. For detailed guidance on how to prepare an AOR, you can refer to App-O-Rama (AOR): Profting from Credit.

Let’s see how Daren prepared his AOR.

Pre-AOR Preparation

1. Increase current credit cards’ limit through online account. (NO way with Chase to avoid hard pull, so I gave up with Chase Card.)

2. Pay off all of credit card balances.

3. Find out all of the credit cards that I would apply for and get the links to those credit cards.

4. Check my credit report at www.annualcreditreport.com to make sure that everything is fine.

Goal: credit card sign-up bonuses

Credit score from creditkarma.com 773 (TransUnion)

Current Accounts:

Chase Perfect Card, 5k since 01/07

Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards Card, 8K since 07/05

American Express Blue Cash Card, 12k since 02/06

Age: 29, HHI: 120K

AOR Result

• Citi Business Card with ThankYou Network—–Approved, $10k CL
• Citi Platinum Select AAdvantage World MasterCard—-Declined
• Citi Professional Card with ThankYou Network–Approved, 12K CL
• Chase Freedom Visa Card—————————Approved, $8.8K CL
• AMEX Preferred Rewards Gold Card————Approved, $18K CL
• The Gold Card from American Express OPEN———Approved
• AMEX In Chicago——————————-Declined
• One from American Express——————Declined
• Gold Delta SkyMiles Card——————Declined
• AMEX Starwood Preferred Guest Card—————–Approved, $8K CL
• Chase Sony Card————–Declined (too many inquiries)
• Chase United Mileage Visa Card——Approved, 11K CL
• Discover More Card——–Approved, $7.5K CL (use code to get $100 after spending $500)
• Discover Business Card———Approved, 6K CL

Total earnings is around $1250(100 points=$1, 100 miles=$1) in about 1 hour!