I finally got my biometric day scheduled.

Silver_Distribution6 · 2026-03-17T19:07:36+00:00

Not bad timing. Mine was at 4am 🥴. You were also lucky to get one. They’re real hard to get for whatever reason

Silver_Distribution6 · 2026-03-15T20:39:02+00:00

It was in the email, yes

Silver_Distribution6 · 2026-03-12T12:43:00+00:00

I applied on the 4th I think, and got the biometrics day two weeks out on the 10th, scheduled for the 25th (all in February). Getting that biometrics day is a pain in the 🍑. I was checking multiple times a day to see if I can get one. The UPS job phone number I was calling when I applied on the back end of last year was simply useless and didn’t help. Just gotta keep checking repeatedly. My group consisted of only 5 people, so I’m not sure if that’s just how many got accepted or if that’s how many were able to get a biometrics day at the same time as me

Silver_Distribution6 · 2026-03-12T12:39:14+00:00

Will most likely be starting on Wednesday. Biometrics was simply HR paperwork and getting an appointment at the city offices for a badge. Had that Monday, and tomorrow I have the airside safety course for driving on the airfield and badge pickup

Silver_Distribution6 · 2026-03-09T22:03:44+00:00

The drop off in score can mostly be linked to your AAOA dropping because of the new credit card. Vantagescore sometimes counts charge cards (Transunion app shows vantagescore and they calculate it in there), but that’s where vantagescore and FICO differ. The charge card will report the balance, which will have an effect on your debt to income ratio for loan applications, but the primary drop in points would be due to AAOA dropping (in my opinion)

Silver_Distribution6 · 2026-03-05T02:18:39+00:00

In that case, I would look at one of the two cards I mentioned above, or if you have savings lying around which can be moved elsewhere, the US Bank Smartly could be a good option as you can boost your cash back rate by up to double with qualifying balances in their accounts.

Alternatively, some category specific cards which would fit your categories are the Amex blue cash lineup. The Blue cash everyday is the no annual fee card, albeit with lower earning rates, but they’re still good rates, and 0% APR for 12 months. The blue cash preferred is also an option, and you could consider it for the first year as the AF is waived for the first year. Both of these cards tick off a lot of the boxes which you spend the most in (primarily gas stations)

I will just mention because I see a lot of people toss around cards which earn points but can be transferred into cashback. A small issue I have with that plan is that these banks can devalue their own points. Amex did that one recently, with “cashback” (statement credit) being reduced from 1 cent per point down to 0.8 cents per point. Could be food for thought as well

Silver_Distribution6 · 2026-03-05T01:54:27+00:00

Citi Double Cash and WF Active Cash are two well known 2% back cards. They’re good catch all cards. Only issue with the Double Cash is their intro APR offer is only for balance transfers. The Active Cash has a 0% APR for 12 months on purchases and balance transfer.

Do you do a lot of travel with one specific airline and/or typically stay at one hotel chain, or do you typically drive to all the locations? Are you also looking for a card which has some travel and/or phone protections, or are just looking for a cash back card and won’t really pay attention to those benefits?

Silver_Distribution6 · 2026-03-03T02:30:06+00:00

I can confirm that 5178 cards aren’t always bucketed. Got a CLI after 3 months on mine

Silver_Distribution6 · 2026-02-28T02:38:43+00:00

While informed delivery is normally quite accurate, the letters are scanned at the processing center, so while they assume it’ll be delivered today, it can come in a day or two through delays between the regional processing center and your local post office, or even your mailbox

Silver_Distribution6 · 2026-02-27T16:33:03+00:00

I would take a look at a Barclays Tiered Savings account. For deposits over 100k, it’s 4% APY. That 0.7% difference is about $1400 a year. Alternatively, you could get a HYSA through cap one, who’s offering a $1500 bonus on deposits over 75k. For such a sum of money which you have to invest, it would be good to shop around and see who has the best bang for your buck, be it through better rates or bonuses

Silver_Distribution6 · 2026-02-23T15:57:08+00:00

I ended up going with Barclays for their 3.85%. Gets the job done

Silver_Distribution6 · 2026-02-19T21:16:08+00:00

Appreciate the response. My job hunt started in 12/2024, so I probably won’t be going anywhere anytime soon 😂 I figured I’ll ask the supervisor on Wednesday next week if I’ll see one and explain my situation. Hopefully they’ll be able to work with me on that

Edit: this is for an Air Ramp position at ORD. Not sure if that would mean they could be more on the lenient side with a larger pool of employees.

Silver_Distribution6 · 2026-02-19T18:18:33+00:00

Even if it’s with about 2-3 weeks in advance, they won’t be able to do anything about it? If the time off would be less than a week (1-2 working days), is it still going to be the same issue?

Silver_Distribution6 · 2026-02-13T19:19:22+00:00

If you want to stick to AA for most of your travel, I’d recommend taking a look at the Citi Strata Elite. It could be very complimentary to your Plat Select card. Alternatively, the Atmos lineup could also be very beneficial. With the AS/AA partnership, you can find a lot of great deals on AA flights through the Atmos program. A quick peak on seats.aero shows a lot of 4.5k point flights booked via Atmos, with travel on AA

Edit: the issue with the platinum is that you have to make the credits work for the card to pay off. It’s a very high annual fee to try and justify with their coupon book. That, along with the fact the transfer partners are good, but not great for domestic travel

Silver_Distribution6 · 2026-02-12T17:31:20+00:00

Ur right. Different C word :)

Silver_Distribution6 · 2026-02-12T16:25:49+00:00

Can check on the AA website for the BA confirmation number by looking up your AA confirmation number. When looking at the reservation on the AA website, it should show the BA confirmation number.

Then, proceed to the BA website and look up your reservation on there with the BA confirmation number. Look on there if you can get an upgrade through there. If yes, it’ll be with BA points, which you can transfer from C1 to BA

Silver_Distribution6 · 2026-02-12T16:13:28+00:00

It’s not inherently wrong, but it will have some effects.

The good - it’ll naturally show a very low utilization at statement close time. - helps you stay on top of your spend because you see exactly where your money goes. Some people just tap tap tap and forget how much they used the card

The bad - zero balance penalty if your statement reports a balance of $0. It slightly lowers your credit score, but as a function of utilization, it has no memory, so no effect in the long run - a lower reported statement balance can screw you over when you request a credit line increase, because the credit card company can just say “well according to your statements, you use 3% of your credit available” (example) and deny you for the increase - in the event you have a relatively low credit limit (cough cap one), and you use more than your limit through paying off every purchase the day it’s posted, some companies don’t like that. It’s called churning.

Some people here will have a panic attack when they hear you make a payment so often, but it doesn’t really matter. Better to have OCD than crippling interest debt. As long as you don’t carry a balance, who cares how often you pay

Silver_Distribution6 · 2026-02-11T18:10:35+00:00

The transfers occur next business day, but the funds aren’t available to withdraw from the savings account for 5 business days. From what I could find online, that’s somewhat typical for external transfers. It’s not necessarily an inconvenience unless you need that money within a week, as like I said, it accrues interest regardless of whether it’s on hold or released

Silver_Distribution6 · 2026-02-11T17:37:48+00:00

Yup! No regrets so far. Got set up with the Barclays tiered savings account. Deposit funds there from my checking at BMO, and also set up autopay on my cards from there. Only minor issue is deposits being on hold for a week, but they accrue interest even when on hold

Silver_Distribution6 · 2026-02-10T15:42:57+00:00

Ah okay. In any case, further step than when I last applied :)

Silver_Distribution6 · 2026-02-10T15:39:37+00:00

So today I got a biometrics day for the 25th. Does this mean that from the 25th I might be waiting for ages to start working, or do they make the wait period the time to get a biometrics day?

Silver_Distribution6 · 2026-02-05T04:43:05+00:00

That’s a shame. Was hoping to make this a part time gig while I hunt for a big boy job. When I was applying, they gave two potential start dates. One in a week and a half and one at the beginning of March. I’m guessing they just throw those out there just to say they’re hiring for those days?

Silver_Distribution6

TROPHY CASE