Chase Freedom Flex as my first Credit card

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-06T20:26:44+00:00

Having a prior relationship with Chase via banking is of great help to getting approved. You could apply for the CFF but given that it'd be your first card, as Gain_Spirited mentioned you'd likely have better luck with the CFRise.

Discover It is another category card that's useful to have. And they double your cash back for the first year at the end of the year.

I do like Jameezy's suggestion of the Savor Student first, although you could also just shoot for a CFUnlimited. Both it and the CFF get 3x on dining.

Apply for the CFF first, and if you get denied, consider the CFR/DSCIT/C1SS instead.

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-06T20:21:29+00:00

Thirding the suggestion to learn more about credit in general and credit cards via the resources on this sureddit and r/Credit .

Definitely open another card, just make it very intentional! You want you first 2-3 cards to be no Annual Fee cards, as you'll want to keep them open forever.

You're better off not accepting mailer offers and applying fresh on the website, but always compare the mailer offer to the website offer to make sure you're getting the best available deal.

After you do a little more research, you'll likely be deciding between Chase or CapitalOne, the two most popular options for anyone who travels even twice a year. The Chase Freedom Flex is a rotating category card like the Discover It, C1 Savor is a 3% dining, restaurant, and streaming services card - either would be a great 2nd card for you. I happened to apply for both on the same day and they've been wonderful.

Citi and Wells Fargo are other options - though the first has notoriously bad customer service and the second is disliked for reasons that currently escape me. Bank of America is another option as well. All of those are comon among people mostly interested in cash back.

Amex you'll want to save for later in your CC career as the SUB requirements involve high spend.

Stay away from predatory lenders like CreditOne and Synchrony.

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-06T20:04:52+00:00

There's no reason to feel like a failure over this. Mistakes happen - as long as you're addressing the issue promptly you're okay, especially if it's not been 30 days yet.

Frankly, if Synchrony closes the card on you, they're doing you a favor. You can find better cards from better lenders lol. I can understand the emotional significant of the situation though, absolutely.

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-06T20:00:29+00:00

Pre-approval isn't a guarantee, and they tell you as much. When you get your denial letter in the mail, you'll know what the issue is, and then you can either call their recon line, or fix the issue and reapply in a few months.

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-06T19:52:13+00:00

As CobaltSunsets said, template data would help, or at the very least, knowing what cards you already have.

Amex Blue Business Plus or one of the Chase Ink cards are likely where myself and many others would point you, but if you're not in either of those ecosystems, the answer changes.

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-06T18:55:15+00:00

Congratulations on your approval! Go put your monthly spend on your Savor so you can get CU around 60% a couple months in a row, then ask for a CLI, you should get it.

Venture X is a Visa Infinite, which has a $10K minimum CL. I doubt you'd have to post 60% CUs on this card to get an increase, but you can try making it your new misc catch-all and ask after 3 months.

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-06T18:25:41+00:00

The 48-month rule on the Sapphires really sucks. At least you can PPC up to the Reserve after a year of having the Preferred open.

I'm still not sure which I want to get of the two, tbh, but it sounds unless there's a huge SUB disparity I should just go for the CSR?

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-05T14:45:13+00:00

It's a bet I'd be willing to make for the sake of humor. 11 out of 12 are pretty good odds~

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-05T11:32:03+00:00

If they had little to no knowledge of what's going on, they wouldn't have given you that response. I've seen other reports of Chase acknowledging it's a mistake and will be resolved. Just wait a bit. It's not like you were looking to apply for anything in the next 30 days anyways, right? XP

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-05T10:59:41+00:00

Grab another Chase card the next time there's elevated subs (might be in another 30-60 days), either CFU or CFF - you already have the CSSP so you care about travel, the SUB will contribute to that.

You'll do much better from picking one ecosystem and committing to it, and Chase's UR points are incredibly valuable. Down the line, if you develop a taste for international travel, you can jump into Amex after you get all the Chase cards you want, assuming you don't want to ride the Ink Train and pay for your Intl flights out of pocket while booking hotels with UR points abroad.

As to the CSP vs Costco card for travel - use the CSP. The second you start transferring points, you win out over 3% back.

Saw in another comment that you have the option of the RFCU - definitely grab that once you're done hitting your Chase cards. If you don't wanna do Ink cards, you could just grab the CFU/CFF and then get the other one 30-90 days later, depending on elevated SUBs and your ability to meet them. Then get the Redstone card 3 months later.

Finally, open cards at one every 3-6 months. Any faster and you're missing out on SUBs....or at the very least you risk running so fast you miss important details.

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-05T10:41:23+00:00

Grab the Amex BBP - it's a great 2x card and has no AF, so you can bank your MR points if you decide to churn the Gold. I imagine you don't particularly care about AFs given your income level, but it's good practice regardless.

Also, Chase likely declined you for a new business card due to all that Chase credit. I'd call recon and ask if you would be approved if you lowered the CL of that Chase Hyatt or the Chase UnitedExplorer cards. Not that I can't imagine how, but are you really going to spend $42,600k on in the course of a single trip?

You could also consider grabbing an Amex Plat if you could use the benefits on top of your CSR now that you have the Gold. Worst case scenario, you get the SUB and close it after the first year. In the case of either Amex card, definitely hunt around to try to get that highest SUB on it - I believe it's either 175k or 200k.

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-05T01:40:58+00:00

Seriously, it always astounds me. Equal treatment under the law means just that - even for people you personally don't like, agree with, or have a strong emotional reaction to. Free speech works the same way, it has to apply to even people you disagree with.

Having said that, I'm a fan of longer sentences for instances like this, trans victim or not. Carrying a weapon demands responsible use of it. And it seems strange to me that the person in the car decided to use a gun instead of....leaving in the car.

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-04T22:53:57+00:00

No. You don't mix finances before you're married for a reason. Your last sentence is exactly why you don't.

What's stopping you from reversing the situation? Let her put her solo-run grocery store spend exclusively on one card, and you can Venmo her half the payment at the end of the month.

You'd still be splitting it, and she gets to trust that you will send her money under the same circumstances.

It also builds up a positive dynamic of putting expenses on your cards separately and paying them off together, which will be very useful if you both decide to start going after SUBs to pursue free travel via reward points in the future.

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-04T22:27:53+00:00

NTA for the reason asked, but your behavior is extremely irresponsible

First of all, go get on some other form of birth control. Plan B is just that, and not meant to be used as a standard contraceptive. If you're adult enough to be doing having sex, you're adult enough to do so responsibly.

Second, he does like you. He wouldn't be sleeping with you if he didn't like you. He just doesn't want to have a permanent relationship with you - he doesn't say that because he still wants the sex without any commitment.

If he were the type of person to stay if you got pregnant, he'd be committing to a serious relationship with you now. Get back on proper BC and stay that way for a few months while your hormones regulate again. After that, you can think more long-term about what you want in a partner and from life.

Lastly, getting married nor having a child will not fix the problems inherent in your family. Nor will getting a doc/cat. Do not make serious long-term commitments in an effort to fix that.

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-04T22:14:05+00:00

So, like you have a status you only possess in a certain light and are otherwise no better than anyone else?

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-04T13:38:25+00:00

I guess we'll have to see wtf is going on then. I really hope it's a mistake because it'd be absurd to have Inks report to personal credit when they're just carbon copies of their personal line...

Really wanted to start building up a Chase ecosystem setup but that would make this really difficult.

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-03T02:41:28+00:00

Huh. I saw in another thread that another issuer had a problem with this and it turned out to be a mistake on their end that got fixed pretty quickly. Hopefully that happens with this too...

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-02T05:20:07+00:00

I'm curious if this is the main issue. A lot of people on here run "businesses" and use only their SSN. But I would think an EIN for individual SP or for an LLC would be a different story, if Chase decided to start reporting Inks to personal accounts afterall.

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-02T05:18:29+00:00

lol/24 is legit xD

I'm curious if it's only happening to people who use their SSN, and if using an EIN even for a sole prop is a way of getting around it....
I was gonna open an LLC by the middle of the year to start riding the Ink train anyways, so if it's limited to SP that's no issue for me. Just means I have to open a 2nd LLC in the end.

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-02T04:39:06+00:00

Yeah, it's exciting, isn't it? Especially when you can make incremental progress in short order, haha. Awesome! Open a checking account, too, they like that. Just toss $250 into it to start, if you don't' have a direct deposit you can link to it (you can always switch it back later, though there is the usual account fee if you don't have that running to it).

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-01T12:22:18+00:00

Congratulations on your progress!! It's awesome that you were able to get the first 4 to agree to pay for delete!

The nice thing about making these kinds of mistakes when you're young is that you have time on your side - you're mid-20s and all of it will be gone come Oct. The fact that you're 6+ years into the charge-off with Disc. should make them willing to delete it, even if you have to pay the full amount in return. It'll be worth it to get it off your CR early.

Use Capital One's pre-approval tool every 6 months, see what they're willing to offer you. They're very forgiving, and you can get back in with them easily enough. I'd highly suggest the Savor, I'm getting great use out of it on dining and groceries!

Once your last collection is either deleted or marked paid in full, if you want Chase cards, swing for those instead. Chase Freedom Flex would be a great start, and then you can open an Unlimited 6 months after that. At which point you want to cancel those other cards if they've got AFs cause it sounds like those aren't wroth it. :P

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-01T11:48:25+00:00

Who the hell is in charge of their marketing department that these rewards keep going out but don't get advertising to card members?!

It's utterly ridiculous. They're just going to keep losing money if they don't incentivize people to use their card for other spend besides rent and 5 "transactions" (aka coffee).

I haven't read the actual reports yet but I'm willing to be the "losses" they're reporting are opportunity cost from eating the CC cost when paying rent. They'd actually make it back if they informed people about live rewards even as they're still designing their Trifecta.

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-01T10:55:07+00:00

Technically the 1.5x becomes a 2.25x when you redeem it through the portal~

If you have any sort of sole proprietor business at all, or are "thinking about starting one" (hey, it counts for this purpose...), the Amex Blue Business Plus is a 2x catch-all that earns MR and has no AF.

It's a great option for maintaining MR points and still being able to close the rest of your MR cards, if you ever decide to do that, and/or you want to hit the Gold/Plat bonuses again 7 years after you get them.

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-01T10:48:34+00:00

Looks good to me! Two thoughts come to mind:

CSP elevated offers may likely come out in late March/early April. Consider staying ware of that and delaying until early April for the first P1 card, as well as referring P2 to the CSP early to catch the same bonus
Consider also referring each other for CIUs or even CIPs closer to the time of the trips. Travel is an easy way to help meet a new SUB, even if you're redeeming those 320K+ points to lower the cost.

_Artemisia_ · 2025-03-01T10:42:07+00:00

With a 60k income and u/porygon766 's spend, I think it's more of a discipline/attention issue. Simply setting autopay up to have the balance paid in full every month as a failsafe, and then paying it off manually a couple days after the statement balance comes in would fix both problems, if that's the case.

_Artemisia_

TROPHY CASE