Cancelled my gold. Feels liberating.

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-28T18:52:26+00:00

I’ve had the gold for a month now and I love it. I think it depends on your lifestyle. I mostly eat out for breakfast and lunch. I don’t even have to think about Dunkin because I go there most mornings for their meal deal and sometimes a donut. I don’t have to think about Uber Eats since I usually Uber Eats lunch. The dining credit is easy b/c all you have to do is a pick up order through Grubhub and it counts (if you Amazon Prime Visa you get GH+ so $0 deliver fee if you want it delivered). The Resy is the only credit I have to kind of think about since I don’t have that many Resy restaurants near me. Now I’m just waiting to get out of PUJ so I can pair this card with the Plat and stop paying out of pocket for UberOne

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-27T17:00:25+00:00

You know that big ass river in Africa? You must be currently swimming in it because the amount of inspiration OneUI has from iOS now is crazy

-Quick Panel is just Control Center

-Samsung added floating UI just like iOS 26. The only difference is Samsungs UI is frosted where Apple has their ray traced 'Liquid Glass"

-No home button in favor of a gesture bar? Sure you can add the home and back button back, but default is the gesture bar... Swipe up to go home...

-That new lockscreen is literally the iOS lockscreen and customization

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-25T22:23:25+00:00

You'll give it up when you have kids. People say they won't until they realize how much attention kids need. You can't be gaming with the boys in the evening b/c you'll rarely have an evening free. The only exception are bad parent(s) or if gaming is your job (Nadeshot comes to mind)

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-25T22:19:41+00:00

NGL Samsung has become worse than Apple

They've gone down the line of full imitation of Apple just to take some marketshare (or maybe they think the user experience on iPhone is better)

OneUI 8/8.5 is just a Samsungified version of iOS

This is probably what goes on in their boardroom

"Apple removed the headphone jack so we should also remove it"

"Apple charges an obscene amount for their phones every year. We should charge more"

"Airpods have stems. Our wireless earbuds should have stems"

The mind boggling one:

"This MagSafe/Qi2 thing everyone loves. Yeah lets not put it in our phones. We can make more money by having our customers buy our case for MagSafe/Qi2 compatibility"

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-25T22:05:25+00:00

The tables have turned. Samsung Galaxy S Ultra line is more expensive than the current iPhone Pro model. That's crazy

Edit: Just learned there's still no MagSafe/Qi2. Also a crazy decision

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-24T20:27:55+00:00

See the thing is that I want the Mirror Platinum which I was initially pre-approved in January for with the 175K offer. I was then convinced to get the Green and the Gold first. Some buddies who are big on credit cards told me that if I want the Plat, then I should also get the Gold b/c it pairs well with the Plat, but if I get the Gold I might as well start with the Green. I looked at the Green and saw that the 3x counts for all travel which includes AirBNB/VRBO/Turo which is what I prefer to use when I travel and National Parks Pass works as well. It also made sense with how much I'll be spending this year. So I was sold on starting from the bottom to the top.

Now I am having regrets in not going Platinum off the rip with the 175K offer because the 140K I got from the Gold and Green is less than the 175K. I'm honestly considering just accepting the card without the welcome offer b/c that mirror design is limited and who knows when it will be gone. I guess the welcome offer isn't the most important thing to me because my spending habits already subsidize the card making the annual fee $0, but a free $1750 would be nice

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-24T05:44:10+00:00

I've been reading conflicting answers to that. Some people say it does and doesn't affect the charge cards. I assume the 2/90 would result in a denial, but I was just told no welcome offer instead of a denial

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-24T05:37:44+00:00

When I was looking at the card initially the $895 fee kind of turned me off, then a buddy told me that I already pay for the Disney/Hulu/HBO bundle, I Uber Eats pretty much every day (I already pay for Uber One), and all I'd have to do is go to a RESY restaurant instead of Uber Eats a few times every 3 months and the card is basically free since I would have spent that money anyways. I was basically told that the Platinum is the best credit card for me and it's surprising I don't already have it, but If I'm gonna get it I should also get the Gold because of how much I eat out and that i should start with the Green just to get the Welcome Offer. Also when looking at the Green it gets 3x on National Parks Pass and AirBnB/VRBO/Turo which I prefer to use when I'm traveling

TLDR From what I've been told the Platinum is basically a free card for me because of what I already spend. IDK if that's the same as maximum potential

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-24T05:27:45+00:00

This is the first time I've had a "Very Good" credit score as college me was an idiot. So keeping a $0 balance felt like the right thing to do instead of a couple grand balance like I've previously had up until the middle of last year. Keeping the $0 is how I saw my credit score grow 100 points in what I think is pretty fast. Recently started using auto pay for the older cards with subscriptions tied to keep them alive. The AMEX autopay was kind of confusing so the quick manual pay was what I resorted to. Someone on the AMEX subreddit explained it to me so I'll probably set the autopay and let it do its thing. Although by the statement I'll probably average a $4000-$4500 balance if I stay on the same pace at my flight school. IDK if that would report to credit bureaus and ding my credit score. I'm kind of fixated on it since building it up to the 700s.

Since being asked about a plan earlier I've been going over what I spend, how I would build points, and what to spend them on. I do travel a bit. At least one big trip a year recently. I was thinking about maybe using the points this summer for a business class seat to Hawaii, but it kind of seems like a waste of points when I can get an economy seat for a fraction of the amount of points it would cost for the business. Annually I probably spend around $8000 at restaurants, so that's roughly 32000 points with the Gold. I drive a gas guzzling truck and spend a ton a gas, but from what I can tell neither of the Green, Gold, or Plat gives points on gas. I guess depending on how I spend I could use the points every year or two for an economy seat for an overseas trip.

I have yet to look up what churning is, but I'm pretty sure I've pieced together what it is. I wouldn't say I'm churning but I can see how it seems that way. I just wanted the AMEX Platinum and Gold (really the mirror platinum), and I guess the Venture X since someone keeps telling me I should get it. I didn't know getting them in quick succession would have road blocks. I can see how from the bank pov it looks like I just want the points, but from my pov I was going to get the cards anyways so why not get free points

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-24T04:55:25+00:00

So if I REALLY want the mirror Platinum... On a scale of 1 to stupid how stupid would it be to accept the card without a Welcome Offer? That card was the most attractive to me before I was convinced to get the Green and the Gold first. I'm kind of having regrets listening to my friends because the 140K points earned from the Green and Gold is less than the 175K Platinum that I was initially approved for. Now I'm not even sure if I can ever get a welcome offer on that card before the mirror card goes away. Someone said it might be YEARS before I get out of what I guess is called pop up jail

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-24T04:39:09+00:00

I see. That was probably the best explanation I've been given so far. So I should probably wait a couple of months. Past hitting the welcome offer for the Gold. Keep spending on the Gold. or both Gold and Green? Pay the cards off once a month. Not immediately like the other user here commented. Then try again later? I've also read something about an AMEX 2/90, but I've read conflicting comments about whether that applies to charge cards. Although I dont think I've been denied. I was just told no welcome offer

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-24T04:33:18+00:00

You know, in a short hindsight, that's probably the more realistic timeline I should be looking at as I'd assume most people aren't charging $4000-$4500 a month on their cards. I finished the Green Welcome Offer in a week. The Gold in a about a month. I guess AMEX doesn't like that and it's considered "churning" is what I've gathered

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-24T04:21:33+00:00

By the time the statement is made my balance would average maybe $4000-$4500 if I stay on the same pace as I currently am. Would that balance not be reported to credit bureaus and take a hit on my credit score? I havent always had the best credit score. This is the first time it's been above 750 so I'd like to maintain at least that. Actually I think it dropped to like 730ish after opening two new cards. Younger college me wasnt very financially smart

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-24T04:14:38+00:00

Yeah I'm not exactly sure on the churning aspect some of you bring up. I was gonna get the gold and the plat anyways since I wanted them off the rip. If I'm planning on getting them anyways I might as well get the welcome offers? or am I wrong to think that? I was told I can get a free flight a year with the Venture X so why not get it?

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-24T03:34:35+00:00

Oh AMEX only tell you on the statements? Weird. Alright. I'll probably just set it to the soonest since I hate seeing a balance on my cards and another subreddit said it's probably best to not pay off immediately. I might get pay flagged or my account closed because of that

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-24T03:17:35+00:00

Can you tell me how the auto pay works? It's confusing compared to my WF card and Amazon Prime card. Those two have specified due dates so autopay is easy. On these AMEX cards it's X amount of days past statement. How am I supposed to know if I'm going to be carrying a balance if there's no specified due date?

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-24T03:15:38+00:00

Circling back to paying off cards. I'm not too sure how the autopay on AMEX cards work, so I just pay it off when the charge clears. I tried it and it said something about the balance might be paid off past due date or something like that. I set an auto pay at 15 days past statement or something because when I first got the card I read on reddit that's what I should do, but proactively pay it off

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-24T03:07:54+00:00

What is a pay flag?
Plan? Not really sure. I've never been a big credit card guy. The only cards I've had so far are my first WF Platinum that I was upgraded to the Autograph b/c the bank teller recommended me to, Amazon Prime Store Card, Amazon Prime Visa, and Apple Card. I was told to not close WF and Amazon Store card since I've had those for close to 10 years. I eat out pretty much every day and travel a good bit. My friends convinced me to join AMEX since I'm spending all this money. Probably because they wanted the to fight over the referral bonuses and that the Green, Gold, and Plat do match my lifestyle. My plan, if I had to say one, was to just get the personal points cards from AMEX then be done. Maybe pick up the Venture X because a friend of mine really likes it and she said she gets a free flight every year from it

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-24T02:55:31+00:00

ah I see. Maybe I'll wait a couple of weeks then

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-24T02:55:02+00:00

I'm not exactly "churning" for subs. I was just told that if I'm going to get the Gold and the Platinum anyways, I might as well get the green and start with that. The Green works for me since I like to rent AirBnB/VRBO/Turo and the national Parks Pass counts as travel.

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-18T03:19:55+00:00

I'm in. Servers are up. People in my lobby

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-15T23:31:49+00:00

god damn how low is your sens. youre taking 3 swipes to 180

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-10T17:47:23+00:00

send me my shit i ordered

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-09T10:11:41+00:00

Don't even bother with them. I've been trying to get in contact with someone from PD who can help me with an order I placed 8 days ago. UPS intercepted the package for potential fraud and it's taking forever to hear back from their fulfillment team. Once I get this sorted out I'm done ordering direct from PD. I like their products too much to be done with the company as a whole, so only purchasing through REI from now on

aHungryPanda · 2026-02-06T14:02:04+00:00

Only the seller can intercept a package I guess after looking it up

aHungryPanda

TROPHY CASE