Affecting Your Credit

Posted on September 13, 2011 by wpengine

We always tell our readers to make sure that they are making wise decision about their credit when they begin applying for new credit cards.  If anyone is going to be applying for a big loan in the near future, I would always recommend that you exercise much caution.

Remember that credit is like an onion.  (Do I sound like Shrek?)  As you establish the credit with different accounts it builds and makes your credit more stable.  If you are new to the credit game then I would always recommend that you exercise much caution by making sure that you establish a good foundation first.

My wife is pretty new to the credit game, and you can tell that it affects her credit more than it does mine when she applies for a new line of credit.  Last month she scored the Starwood Preferred Guest card on the last day of the promotion.  She opened her first line of credit in 2008 with a bank credit card.  It was her only line of credit at the time and has kept it open and paid great on that account every month since then.  It has grown and become more established since then.  In the beginning of 2011 we applied for her second credit card and she got the AAdvantage 75,000 deal.

The Capital One “Match my Miles” promotion was too tempting to let it pass us by.  She had over 100,000 miles with American because of the above mentioned promotion and she scored this as her third card.  I knew that because she was new to the game I had to be more cautious with her credit than mine as mine has been established for much longer than hers.

I wanted to make sure that she was able to get the the Starwood promotion because I felt like it was such a great deal.  I was a little nervous applying for it because I knew that her “onion” didn’t have a lot of layers, and needed to be cared for.  I just checked her credit score with CreditSesame.com and I noticed that over the last month her score dropped by 13 points.  It is ok because we don’t have any loans that we are going to be needing for the near future and we will be able to bring her score back up again before we end up needing another loan.  Her score is still in the excellent category as it now sits at 764.


The interesting thing is that my score actually increased during the month for which I applied for the Starwood Preferred Guest card.  This just goes to show that your “onion” or credit needs to be well established before you enter this world of wanderlusting on credit cards.

CreditSesame.com has been a great addition to me and I would recommend it to everyone who is following this strategy.  It gives you an updated score every month based on the Experian score.  They don’t provide you with the report, but it helps you to understand where your current credit situation sits.

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How to Get a Passport

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Brad Christensen

I know, I know… for most of you, this is hardly interesting or useful, but wouldn’t you agree we need to help out the slim majority of Americans that don’t have one?  Wait, let me fact-check that… no, well this is interesting… it’s not a slim minority- it’s not even a minority.  Roughly 63% of Americans don’t have passports.  Excuse me while I shed a tear.

Ladies and gentleman, this is a travesty!  Should any of you happen upon our blog, let me be the first to implore you – Please take the opportunity to leave the country.  If you are patriotic, you’ll become even more so.  We live in a great place, but the world is full of amazing people, cultures, adventures, and experiences.

In times past, world travel was reserved only for the affluent.  Airline travel was cost-prohibitive, but times have changed.  If you spend more than $3000 a month, there are places you could go in the world, which would actually save you money – net of your airline ticket cost!  Now, compound that with WorldWanderlusting’s credit card exploitation and other travel tricks, and traveling the world may just be an expense-saving opportunity for you.

To begin, you’ll need to get a passport.  First time passport applicants must appear in person at a Passport acceptance facility, which you can search for here.

But first, you’ll need get together the following:

Once you submit this at a passport acceptance facility or US Passport Agency, as long as everything is in order, you can expect your passport in 4-6 weeks.  Chances are that it may come sooner, but don’t gamble on it. If you need an expedited passport, you can expedite shipping for another $60, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

If you’re in a hurry and you need a passport now, I’d urge you to contact Travel Visa Pro.  They can also help if you need a Visa to visit any particular country for an extended period of time.

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CouchSurfing.org

Posted on September 10, 2011 by wpengine

I was sitting in the sauna yesterday in Jackson, Wyoming talking with someone from Russia. He has lived in the US for the last 10 years and now owns a small shop detailing cars and doing oil changes. He was telling me about some of the experiences that he has had traveling across the world.

He signed up for Couchsurfing.org when he wanted to stay with some stranger on a trip to Kiev, Ukraine. Couchsurfing.org is an organization of people who are willing to allow you to sleep on their couch or in a spare bedroom. It gives you a free place to stay for your journey, and then builds credibility for a time when they would like to stay with you.

It was tough for him in the beginning when he began hosting. He lives in Jackson, WY, which is a huge tourism hub. He had tons of calls and emails of people who wanted to stay at his place. It is rather modest, and he has since downsized to where he doesn’t have options of hosting anymore. When joining you can choose if you would like to host or not.

I’ve dreamed of an idea like this for years, but had never stumbled upon it until yesterday. I’m really excited to see how it works and sign up myself. I’m not sure my wife would allow a complete stranger to stay with us, but we might see who looks us up first.

I wish that I would have known about this when we went to Banff earlier this summer. We could have saved big bucks sleeping on someone’s floor as I ended up sleeping on the floor of the hotel room and paying the same as other people who were sleeping on soft beds. What a bummer for me.

Wanderlust with us.

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Wanderlusting Fuel:Human Planet

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Brad Christensen

As if you needed a catalyst to send your mind spinning into the netherworlds of travel fantasy.  Aren’t Fridays for wanderlusting?  I mean, weekends are great and all, but if you’re like me, they’re more yardwork and lazing than they are excitement and adventure.  What we really need to set us free is a good dose of imagination generation.

If you’re like me, and this is precisely what you need, set your DVR to record Discovery’s “Human Planet” series.  If you’re a little more strapped for time and you need a quick fix, or even if you need a taste to get you fully convinced, check out the clips on the Human Planet site.

From Mongols who hunt with eagles, to New Guineas who live in trees, these episodes will take you from the ruins of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, to the western highlands of Papua New Guinea.   For all that we marvel at nature, both animate and inanimate, the human species is even more than amazing, it is miraculous.

I’ve added at least 8 more dream-locations just thanks to the few hours I’ve spent watching these specials.  The cinematography captures the experiences in ways I’ve never known video to do, so here’s just a sample of what you’ll see.

 

Thanks for wanderlusting with us.

Also check out: https://worldwanderlusting.com/2011/05/26/reading-like-viagra-for-wanderlust/

 

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Wanderlusting Languages

Posted on September 8, 2011 by wpengine

In the summer of 2006 I took an amazing trip across the world.  I had the opportunity to visit Russia.  It had always intrigued me the fact that they had been communists, and that they had semi converted to capitalism. I really enjoyed the food, people, and the sites. What an incredible place to visit. It is not very English friendly though.

Moskva Train Station

Nothing is written in English, so if you are going alone to Russia as a wanderluster, then I recommend that you pick up a book on the Russian alphabet. After studying for a few hours I could slaughter my way through almost any word. Their words seem to be much longer than ours, but that is just my opinion. I found it very fun trying to pronounce words in Russian in most places that I went. I found that many things are similar sounding to ours. I remember visiting a huge plaza and reading the word Geology on the side of a building. I couldn’t show you how to spell it in Russian today, but I was able to pronounce enough at the time to be able to see that is what the word meant.

I also found that a restaurant is similar, as is metro, and lots of other words. It because a challenge to me as I struggle to learn how to pronounce their words. It is a rather difficult language, and I didn’t learn how to speak anything but bathroom, water, etc.

Standing in Red Square gives you an incredible feeling. It feels as though you are in a

Me at St. Basil's

storybook. You can look in any direction and see a building that will blow your mind architecturally. Russia has some very beautiful buildings. On one side of the square you can see St. Basil’s Cathedral. This is the “Ice Cream Cone” building. Then you can see Lenin’s tomb with the Kremlin towering in the background. The Red Armory museum is an iconic structure that faces the cathedral. The famous shopping mall lines the the last remaining side to completely enclose you in history.

I had been in Russia for nearly four days when I visited the square at dusk. It had been four days of quietness on my end and lots of jumbled words I didn’t even know from everyone else. As I marveled at the beauty of the moment I heard something coming from behind me that came in full clarity. I didn’t know how, but I finally started to understand what people were saying. The clarity welcomed me with the feeling of seeing an old friend. When I spun around to see why it was so clear to me I found that a Spanish tour group. The leader of the group was explaining in Spanish the history of the buildings and their significance.  It was incredible because I didn’t even notice that it was Spanish when I first heard the voice, but it just felt so good to hear something that I understood.

Languages are a big part of a culture.  I know it feels like a daunting task, but learning just a few words in someones language can impress them.  I know that my efforts to learn Guarani always impressed the Paraguayans.  Learning Basque for Brad opened doors in Spain that never would have otherwise opened.  When you make an effort to learn someone’s language it makes a difference to them.

Make it a goal for your next trip to learn some of the language for the place that you visit.  It will pay you back as you see the faces of the locals light up.  It is a fun experience.

Wanderlust with us.


 
 

 

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Reader Feedback and www.annualcreditreport.com

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Brad Christensen

I got permission to share this feedback from a reader who’s gotten on the bandwagon.

Brad,

I took some more time to check out your web site today — it’s awesome!

… I ended up signing up for some new cards — a Continental OnePass Visa (free for first year) that I received a 50K bonus invitation on — I was able to transfer those miles into my linked United Mileage Plus account for free.  I also signed up for the AmEx Platinum Card with a 100K bonus that I was able to convert to 150K Delta SkyMiles as well as Silver Medallion Status through a promotion that they are offering.  That one did cost me
$450, but the 150K miles and other benefits definitely make it worth it for a year.

I was thinking of getting the Chase Sapphire card, too, for the 50K bonus that can be transferred to United, but I am not sure how nuts I should go with these applications.  I checked my score today and it is 780 after the two recent card additions to my credit reports.  What do you think the impact of one more card would be?

Here’s my response:

Yeah, buddy! Its great to hear that your taking the bull by the horns on this deal.  I just don’t see how we can go wrong… unless we get carried away and ruin our credit – which is your concern.

You probably saw my brother’s post on “Doesn’t it hurt my credit?”, so you know that applying for credit can really only affect about 25% of your credit score (10% new credit and 15% length of credit history).  The other factor is that most of these credit card companies only make an inquiry at particular bureaus, so there’s a chance that some of these cards you’ve recently applied for have affected some bureaus more than others.  As you know, when applying for a major loan, such as a mortgage, banks generally pull your credit report from all three, and then use the lowest score.  Thus, it doesn’t really do you any favors to have a 820 at one and 780 at the other two… though that’s usually not the case.  Anyways, what I’m getting at is that, at least in the case of my wife’s Chase Sapphire Preferred, they drew from Experian.  I’ve heard that you can expect another recent inquiry to affect your score by 6-10 points.

My bet is that not all of your recent inquires have been at Experian and you’ll probably be safe to drop another one on there.

Have you gotten a credit report from www.annualcreditreport.com?  It is a service to provide a  free, legitimate credit report from each of the credit bureaus as you are entitled to by law.

Also, another blogger posted about some other methods, by which you can determine what bureaus banks may be using: http://millionmilesecrets.com/2011/08/23/credit-pulls/

Also, you have to remember that having another card with an open credit line may help your score from the standpoint of your “Amounts Owed” or Credit Used (30%), by increasing your overall access to credit without increasing your amounts owed.

We are thinking that about 5 cards per year is a good reference point.  Maybe even more if the inquiries are spread out.

You’re right on in taking some of those targeted offers… those are some of the best ones – and good job on pulling off the Silver Status.  See if there’s a promotion to get to gold if you fly twice before the end of the year.  (That’s what I’m on and I’ll be Gold after my trip to Tampa in October).

A few other ideas for you:

  • Once you meet the minimum spend on your AMEX Platinum, call them up and see if they’ll waive the $450 annual fee.  Use your best sweet-talk voice and mention your long relationship with AMEX and your excitement about the Platinum card… it never hurts to ask.
  • Look into the TDAmeritrade promotion as a way to get some more miles without more credit inquiries.  I dropped 25k into an account just to get 20k starwood points.  (Then I bought AGNC (19% dividend), WHX (14% dividend), and a couple others to grow it to $30k).
  • Travel like a freaking madman.  Last week I found tickets from BOI to Sri Lanka for $875… taxes and all.  Not only is that an amazing deal, but you also come home with 18k frequent flier miles.  Hands down the best search engine is: http://www.farecompare.com/search/flyertalk.html

Here are some other credit reporting resources.


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United MileagePlus Explorer and Continental One Pass

Posted on September 6, 2011 by wpengine

As Continental and United move toward their merger they are getting everything arranged. One of the things that they needed to work out was their credit card offer. Luckily for both of them they were already using JP Morgan Chase. This streamlined their process. The new cards came out about two months ago and I haven’t even bothered blogging about them until today. That is because I don’t see a huge value in the card right now. Especially when you put it next to some of the other offers that we have out right now.

The two cards have the exact same base offer right now. You are looking at the following benefits for these cards:

  • 25,000 Miles after the first use
  • 5,000 Miles for adding an authorized user on your account
  • 10,000 Miles when you spend $25,000 on the card in the first year (This is the big bummer-when you are churning cards this is a huge requirement for such little points)
  • Free checked bag when flying
  • Two United Club (Airport Lounge) passes per year
  • Priority Boarding- You must watch the Brian Regan about flying on airlines.  He is so funny!

Let’s be honest. This doesn’t look that great. I would definitely wait until they get to offering some specials before I signed up for this one.  The only other reason that I would consider this is because Chase is very particular about giving the same sign up bonus to the same person.  They will not do this.  They will probably stop offering the Continental OnePass card at the end of this year or beginning of next as Continental completely disappears.

You would probably still be able to get the United MileagePlus Explorer card later if a big special came around because you only had the Continental OnePass, but not the United card.

United is great because they fly right out of Idaho Falls direct to either San Francisco or Denver.  I would really love to get some points with them.  Almost all of my airline points are with American Airlines, which doesn’t fly out of Idaho Falls, only out of Salt Lake City.  So I have to add a 3 hour drive to my trip.

Almost all airlines are pretty much the same when flying within the USA.  It requires about 25,000 miles to go anywhere in the continental USA.  I find in interesting with all of the airline mergers because it will be easier for them to start bumping up the requirements.  Soon one company will probably want to charge 30,000 and the other two will follow.  We have seen lots of airlines merge over the years, but it seems like we are getting down to just a couple of airlines left.

United isn’t very generous on their redemption when you compare them to American.  I’m pretty sure that American is king when it comes to redemption of your frequent flier miles.  That also makes this card not near as attractive as the AAdvantage 75,000 deal.

What do you think about the United and Continental cards?  Let us know if we are off the mark here.

 

Posted in Chase, United | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment