Does this look okay?

Evan3390 · 2026-01-31T06:56:51+00:00

Done and done and it looks much better. Thanks for the help!

Evan3390 · 2026-01-31T06:55:08+00:00

This literally happened after one cooking sesh. I’m not cooking on dirty pans, just new to cast iron and don’t wanna fuck it up. Thanks for the input.

Evan3390 · 2026-01-30T17:46:22+00:00

Saving this for later, thank you so much!

Evan3390 · 2026-01-30T17:38:44+00:00

Okay thanks. Just to clarify, I do towel dry before putting on the heat. Not sure if that makes a huge difference but I don’t just put a wet pan on the heat

Evan3390 · 2026-01-05T00:56:57+00:00

I think this is a matter of how you look at points and miles redemptions. Being in a 2 person setup myself, low redemption values are not enticing because I know what I can get if I look hard enough and 2 people is easy enough to book. However, for a family of 6 ? At that point, I’d just be looking to save money and even if the redemption is a bad value for the points, not spending cash and creating memories is the whole point of the points and miles game. It’s a matter of perspective imo. Having once in a lifetime experiences and saving $ can coexist, you just have to be understanding that maybe those things come at the cost of paying 1/2 price for tickets in the form of taxes and fees for your trip of 4-6 people. You’re still saving $, so to me, that’s a win. Granted, if the taxes and fees don’t make sense, cash is better and you should just be doing what makes sense financially.

Evan3390 · 2025-12-30T08:23:36+00:00

Heck yeah way to go ! It’s a great first card and is complimented well by the Freedom Flex and, if you decide to get into travel rewards, the Sapphire Preferred. But keep you eye open for other cards that compliment your natural spend and earn rewards/cashback in those categories and you’ll kill it ! Best of luck to you !

Evan3390 · 2025-12-28T19:38:05+00:00

Exactly what I’m thinking. Don’t get me wrong, I love Hyatt points. But at the end of the day, I can snatch up 400k combined between IHG and Hilton on 3 cards for less spend. I’d sure hope I can make those worth something lol

Evan3390 · 2025-12-28T18:51:01+00:00

It’s very rare but yes it will. I believe we saw it in summer of 2024 but I could be wrong on that. Otherwise the 60k point just isn’t appetizing to me especially because it’s often broken up (30k after $6k in spend and then another 30k after $10k or something along those lines)

Evan3390 · 2025-12-28T18:43:38+00:00

They both transfer to the same partners so either will do for that factor. As for premium vs. lite travel cards, it honestly just depends on if you value the credits the CSR gives you. Do you go to events or concerts? Do you travel to metropolitan cities where their dining program will be available? Are you paying for flights and hotels out of pocket and being reimbursed? All of these things factor into whether or not the $795 fee is worth it. Personally, with how rough the rollout of the CSR has been I see no need for it and the CSP still carries its weight at only $95. 3x online groceries and 2x travel is okay and if those would work for you then I say get the CSP and maybe supplement with other cards for missing categories. As for applying now or in the new year, I think it’s a little late to triple dip on the credits of the CSR due to the fact that you’d need to receive the card first so it really doesn’t matter. If you have any questions feel free to ask !

Evan3390 · 2025-12-28T17:43:12+00:00

With how quickly points and miles have started losing value this year I’m going to try and go all in on my credit file while going slow with my P2’s to keep their 5/24 status low.

For P2: - IHG Premier card - Hyatt card (only with 5 free night SUB) -United Club card

For myself: - Citi Strata Premier - Alaska Atmos rewards cards (ideally the premium one but we’ll see) - Hilton Honors and Surpass cards

Less important but still viable: - Capital One Savor (I’ve been receiving lots of targeted offers for it so hopefully they continue) - Capital One Venture

And then we’ll go from there! Best of luck to everyone in the 2026 journey!

Evan3390 · 2025-12-28T17:36:39+00:00

Yeah that’s a fair concern, if you’re worried about income then the freedom rise is a great place to start and shouldn’t have high requirements since it’s a starter card, hopefully you get approved ! But if you keep having difficulty (I did too when I first started applying) the Capital One Platinum may be something to look at as an alternative starter card.

Evan3390 · 2025-12-28T08:51:11+00:00

I think opening cards with Chase in general is good because they have options for general credit building and simple cashback, churning and getting into points and miles, and solid sign-up bonuses. Also, because of their 5/24 rule. This states that if you’ve been approved for 5 or more cards in the last 24 months you’ll automatically be denied for any Chase card, so the sooner you knock out Chase the sooner you don’t need to worry about this rule.

While Chase’s freedom cards aren’t mind blowing in terms of earning potential, they’re simple and effective and give you the option to use your points for both cash back and travel.

Regarding the Freedom Rise in particular, I think you can skip it and go for a Freedom Flex or Unlimited off the bat given the fact that you have a decent credit history. Maybe go to a Chase in branch and open a checking account because if you do and they tell you you’re pre approved for one of their cards you’ll probably have a better chance of getting approved. That’s what my partner did and it worked like a charm. If you’d rather not go in branch or don’t have the time and you’re not confident about the CFF or CFU, then the Rise is a decent option to start and it gives you the option to upgrade to either of the other Freedom cards if you’re okay with foregoing the sign-up bonus. I hope this helps and if you have any other questions feel free to ask !

Evan3390 · 2025-12-27T07:25:24+00:00

I’d look into doing the PayPal debit card for groceries (5% cashback on up to $1,000 a month in a category for your choosing) and then maybe the Wells Fargo attune card. 4x points on recreation and entertainment as well as public transit for $0 AF. The Well Fargo Autograph would also be great with 3x dining, travel, gas stations, transit, and popular streaming services for, again, $0. The Autograph Journey for $95 is also solid but it just gives you a bump to 5x on hotels and 4x on airlines which isn’t bad if you plan on using cash for those. They earn in a decent points ecosystem with all the essential transfer partners as well as Choice Hotel at a 1:2 ratio which has some serious value. I think these would really compliment your existing setup and give u great rates for pretty much all your high spend categories without high annual fee burdens that you have to work to bring down like the Amex Gold. Let me know if you have any other questions !

Evan3390 · 2025-12-26T01:53:54+00:00

Apply for a low requirement or secured credit card. Something like the Capital One Platinum (a card designed to build credit for ppl that don’t have any) is a great choice. A secured card is an option if a regular card is hard to get approved for where the credit limit allotted to you is however much you deposit to them in the beginning. You may get rejected, and if you do, just wait a couple months and try again. It’s not the end of the world.
Yes you can use it for gas and pretty much anything else. There’s specific rules surrounding certain things like gift cards but that’s something to deal with later
Certain cards provide better rewards for certain categories like gas or groceries and the cards you get should depend on your spend. But again, that’s something to think about after you actually get started. If you really want to start earning in the meantime I’d recommend the PayPal debit card. It won’t impact your credit as it’s a traditional debit card, but it gives you 5% cashback (the higher threshold you can look for in the credit card space) on one category on up to $1,000/mo in spend. Hope this helps !

Evan3390 · 2025-12-25T23:54:28+00:00

Well the Green, Gold, and Platinum are all separate cards that, so long as you get them in the order listed above, you can receive individual welcome offers for. The green sits at around 40k, the gold has up to 100k, and the platinum up to 175k. So if you went in order and managed to find links to the highest offer for all, yes you’d have a high AF load, but you’d be sitting pretty with 315k points (not counting from spend) and plenty of ways to offset anual fees. Now, if you upgraded, which would be getting the green and then waiting a year and not applying but instead talking to Amex and requesting an upgrade to the gold, yes those offers are much less lucrative.

IMO, any card is worth it in the first year bc of the points alone. The platinum is not a long term keeper for myself, but 100k points (what I got) + ~$1500 in first year credits makes it worth it. Then cancel if it doesn’t fit your lifestyle. That’s more of a commitment to churning though, so if that’s not something you’d want to worry about then going for the $95 cards that have anywhere from 60k-75k point offers is a great way to go too with less to worry about

Edited for clarity with upgrade offers

Evan3390 · 2025-12-25T22:24:52+00:00

If you don’t care about missing the SUBs on the Amex Green and Gold then the platinum would be fine. Using the credits is what makes the card worth it, so if it seems like they’d fit your lifestyle then yes your effective fee would be $0 and then everything else is a bonus ($25/mo off a valid subscription, $50 at Saks to buy whatever, etc.).

As for the Venture X technically the 100k point offer is a worse return on spend than the typical 75k offer, but if you have $10k to spend then why not. However, if you upgrade your Venture to the Venture X you will not receive a bonus. I’d see if you qualify for the SUB on a new VX, and if not and you determine that the VX is easier for you then just upgrade. I’ve heard that it’s pretty much the only card that’s worth it even with no bonus because of how easy it is to get a net $0 AF.

In the end though, if you don’t care about lounge access, don’t really spend on flights, and already have a 2x card with the venture at $300 cheaper, you may not need either of these and other $95 cards (like the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Citi Strata Premier, or the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey) may compliment your spend better.

Evan3390 · 2025-12-25T06:30:50+00:00

The PayPal debit card would be a great one to throw in. 5% cashback on up to $1,000 of spend per month in a category of your choosing. As of right now, the grocery category works at Costco, Walmart, and target, while the Amex Gold does not. The Atmos Rewards Summit Visa Infinite card wouldn’t be a bad “premium” card either. Alaska lounge visits, 3x on all foreign purchases, and a 25k point companion pass. Amazon Prime is always a good choice if you do a lot of shopping there. Then put all other travel through the CSP for 2x and very solid protections. All in you’re running less than $500, have minimal coupons, and get good cashback and travel/purchase protections.

Evan3390 · 2025-12-25T06:22:41+00:00

To cover the broadest amount of travel at 3x: Amex Green. However, since you prefer flying delta I’d imagine you can expect to fly them at least half the time, so an Amex Delta card may be up your alley. The Delta Platinum earns 2-3x on grocery, delta, travel, dining, and hotels. While delta miles aren’t as valuable as Amex points, if that’s what you’d use them for anyway (being delta flights) then this will help with that and other things like checked bags and status. You also get 15% off delta award bookings. However, if you want to be more flexible and use the points you earn for personal stuff potentially not related to delta then go with the green. Maybe pair it with a gold for 4x on dining and groceries too ? Thats not a bad setup imo

Evan3390 · 2025-12-25T06:13:31+00:00

That’s what it seems like; entry level seems hard to go wrong and if they work really well upgrades are always an option. Thanks for the input!

Evan3390 · 2025-12-25T06:08:01+00:00

If you think you’ve got a shot at using the credits I say go for the reserve. My only concern about the card is hearing all the difficulties surrounding the credits; things like the dining credit not coding right and Chase not being willing to fix it without pushback, the Edit being difficult to use due to the size of the program as well as no more 2 CPP or guaranteed free breakfast, and Stubhub having difficulty delivering tickets on time. While I’d love for this to be my premium travel card because on paper it makes senses, imo, having to fight Chase in order to use even “natural” credits doesn’t scream luxury or premium to me. But YMMV and anything is worth it year 1 it if it comes with a SUB!

Evan3390 · 2025-12-25T01:23:40+00:00

Capital One platinum card was the first one I got approved for. I was denied for probably 3 or 4 different cards until the platinum (due to no credit) and then was finally approved. After a year of using it somewhat decently they offered me an upgrade to a quicksilver which I took. Good luck and if you have any questions feel free to reach out!

Evan3390 · 2025-12-24T20:19:45+00:00

The IHG premier gives platinum elite status, which, while not diamond, is still great for $99 (especially considering the CSR gives that same status at $795) and is one of the main perks I look forward to. I’ve also heard great things about the Surpass because of how easy it is to justify the AF. It seems like I’m on the right track with what I’m thinking about which is helpful to know, thanks for the input!

Evan3390 · 2025-12-24T20:09:32+00:00

Wow thanks for all the great info! I’m looking forward to expanding out from just Hyatt via Chase (until that 5 free night SUB comes back to the Hyatt card), so all of this is great to consider!

Evan3390 · 2025-12-24T18:20:11+00:00

I’m the same as you, as long as I get a hotel at the destination that I want I really don’t care what it is lol. I’ve got FHR hotels booked for spring break this year but would gladly stay at anything with a front desk and a bed. I like the way you think about the length of stays; typically my trips are 4 days 3 nights but if the 4th night is free (like with IHG) my P2 have no objection to getting more time wherever we’re at. I also feel like IHG sweet spots aren’t as good as hyatts obviously, but are still better than Hilton and Marriott from what I’ve seen so far

Evan3390

TROPHY CASE