For the last few months, my wife and I have been going through the mortgage process and I haven’t been allowed to apply for a new credit card! Sitting on the sidelines and watching isn’t something I am good with. Last week, we FINALLY closed on the house and I decided to pull the trigger on two new cards
Two new cards for my wallet
A little backstory
My wife and I recently moved, which sparked a new strategy for me, but we also were selling our previous home, while buying a new one. While I slowly died inside patiently waited a few months for the mortgage process to play out, we had a small stash of points to use.
Last week, I told you how I booked our trip to Barcelona. Then, the other day I used the rest of my Ultimate Reward points to send my dad to New York City for Christmas. This left us with a “critically low,” amount of points.
We didn’t have any other trips planned, so it wasn’t a big deal. I would like to have some just in case we wanted a spontaneous trip or to plan for the fall.
Over the weekend I applied for 2 new cards, both American Express. Why did I apply for these 2 cards and what is my point haul from them?
Opening Cards with American Express
I really enjoy American Express for their generous sign up bonuses, and American Express offers. I always try to maximize my potential, this includes combining hard pulls if possible. American Express (currently) will do this when you apply for multiple cards on the same day.
The catch to this is..
It MUST be one charge card and one credit card. It can’t be 2 charge cards or 2 credit cards. If you have done 2 credit cards or 2 charge cards, please let me know if the comments!
Card Number 1: American Express Green Card
Now at face value, this card would never sniff being in my wallet.
It earns 2x Membership Rewards on travel booked through amextravel.com and 1x Membership Rewards everywhere else. That is pretty boring in the earning categories. Especially, since the card comes with a $95 fee after the first year!
The question then becomes, why did I open this card?
The sign up bonus!
If you can be patient (sometimes it opens on the first try!), you will be able to find a bonus of 25,000 Membership Rewards after spending $1,000. The trick is you have to be incognito or private browser to find this. I typically use Google Chrome, but I have seen it work on other browsers
It took me about 15 to 20 tries, but then it happened…
Like a child’s excitement on Christmas day, I entered in all my information as fast as I could. I was excited to get another card, especially since I’ll have more access to Amex Offers.
As I finished up my application and hit submit. I was relieved, until….
I received a pending status for my application. I had this happen one other time, but when I looked at the status online, it was approved. Not this time! I had to call.
I would call, but first I needed to apply for my next card, since this was going to cost me a hard pull anyways
Card Number 2: Delta Platinum
I can honestly say, when I lived in New Hampshire I never thought I’d be opening this Delta card. Since we have moved, having Delta miles is a must.
You might be asking yourself again, why would I apply for this card? The best offer is 35,000, right? WRONG
When everyone was telling you to apply for the Delta Platinum 70,000 mile offer because it was going away, that wasn’t entirely true. This offer is still accessible via refer a friend links.
I had a link sent over to me, knowing this card could be on my radar. Since I just applied for a charge card, I needed to apply for a credit card! This was the best offer for us at this time.
The sign up bonus for this card is 70,000 Delta miles after spending $3,000 in 90 days. It also comes with 10,000 Medallion Qualification Miles, which I don’t care about ( I don’t chase status). This also comes with free checked bag for up to 4 people.
The real (possible) gem for this card is the companion pass. This will give me one “free (coach) ticket” each year. This isn’t an issue since we typically fly coach.
Tickets from Bangor can easily cost $500+, so this can be a real money saver! The companion pass should come in handy, especially flying from BGR!
I do realize the annual fee is $195 for the first year, and I will get $100 in Delta gift cards for future use. If I can use my companion ticket for a ticket greater than $195, then I am getting my monies worth.
As I finished up this application, I was doubting this would be instantly approved, I submitted the application. And again, it asked I call in to give more information.
Calling In
I have called in to companies before, but I haven’t had to call in for two new cards at once. I learned that American Express isn’t open on Sunday’s (well the department I needed), and I had to make a sizable purchase with another card, it couldn’t wait.
When I called in, I spoke to a very nice representative who told me she was happy I was looking to extend my relationship. When she started to review my profile, she asked about my address. I had literally closed on my new house about 24 hours prior to applying for these two new cards. Their system hadn’t updated yet to reflect that.
I did change all my accounts over to my new address, but I guess that didn’t help.
Since I had few documents to verify my new address, I was asked a few questions for verification of my identity. I can always appreciate that, even though it can be time consuming.
After answering a few other questions, I was put on a brief hold. When she came back, she told me the thing I wanted to hear most, they were giving me a million points I had been APPROVED (close second 😉 ).
I did tell her I had purchases for the house I needed to make and if possible would like the cards expedited. I haven’t ever had luck requesting this from American Express, but I figured I try again. She actually told me they would be expedited and I would receive them in 24 to 72 business hours.
My Point Haul:
It might not be super exciting, but for my two new cards, I will earn 95,000 total points! It will break down to 25,000 Membership Reward points, 70,000 Delta miles, and $100 Delta Gift card. I will spend $195 in annual fees upfront (boo).
I will likely use the Membership Reward points for Delta flights. I am not opposed to using the Delta pay with miles, if it makes sense. At a minimum, these are worth $1,000 in Delta flights and I could easily exceed that!
What new cards are you applying for? Do you apply for multiple American Express at one time?
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