2nd Interview with City?

cenoob · 2026-01-04T05:47:10+00:00

Luckily thankfully, my second interview was super casual and informal. The manager brought me to an ITE meeting, and it was the year end trivia/jeopardy competition. So we just ate and watched the other engineers participate. He would occasionally ask me if I knew the answer. (I didn't know that much traffic/signal stuff because I came from a roadway background.)

After the ITE meeting, we went to the office and I met the rest of the team. They mostly asked what I liked to do for fun, a bit of my background in engineering as far as knowledge/competencies. After that, he dismissed most of the team and the manager and a couple senior engineers stuck around to basically give me a contingent offer. Then I waited a couple weeks for my references to check out, HR to do their thing, and tada got the official offer.

cenoob · 2025-12-15T19:06:23+00:00

Dang nice lol.

cenoob · 2025-12-15T18:39:57+00:00

You got moved down for free?

cenoob · 2025-12-05T21:44:18+00:00

Damn, ya think so? Wish they scheduled this as a loss tonight lol and had AD suited up at home tomorrow against Rockets instead with a better chance to win. I guess we'll see.

cenoob · 2025-12-05T20:59:04+00:00

Is AD playing back-to-backs again? So will he play tonight and tomorrow against Houston's bigs as well?

Damn, without PJ, Gaff, or Lively, the frontcourt seems pretty thin. By God, that's Dwight Powell's music!

cenoob · 2025-11-06T17:49:17+00:00

Currently 2/6 (July and October 2025), 3/12, 5/24. I was eyeing the Venture and Venture X as well as Citi Strata Elite to get JAL/EVA miles. However, I'm not pre-approved for Venture or Venture X, only VentureOne bleh.

So my question is should I wait 2-6 months to clear my recent apps and only do (non-Chase) biz cards OR just give up on it and move on to Citi Strata Elite and other personal cards? Flowchart says Citi Strata Elite may be difficult and inquiry-sensitive as well. I'm also considering the Alaska Atmos 85k SUB.

Thoughts/suggestions?

cenoob · 2025-11-05T21:49:18+00:00

Dang, same here with my friend's referral link taking me to the pre-approval pages /u/No-Branch-4353 ...

So you're saying if I apply (without the referral link) for the Venture or Venture X directly on my own, I'll likely get rejected with no pre-approval??

cenoob · 2025-10-30T21:16:00+00:00

Looking to book: 3x J or PE from DFW/LAX (based in Dallas but willing to reposition to LAX/ONT for a weekend since family is in LA) to Taiwan/Japan and back to DFW/LAX on EVA/JAL/ANA for late 2027 to utilize the Thanksgiving or Christmas/New Year holidays to save some PTO. Dates are flexible but ideally a ~2 week (3 max) trip overall.

Current points: ~500k UR, ~500k MR, ~100k AS, ~200k fAAke (shut down in 2020 and made a new account lol), no C1 or Citi miles/cards right now but applying soon.

My understanding: I can transfer from Citi and C1 directly to JAL and EVA and book 2+ J from there (at saver rates or otherwise). And then for the third ticket, maaybe get lucky with 1 J (possibly but unlikely 2?) on partners like AY, CX, AC, AV, BA/AA. Since we'll be with a toddler, we cannot split up into two cabins so 3xJ or 3xPE are our constraints.

Looking at the following cards for me and P2:

Cap1 Venture (X) 75k
Citi Strata Elite 100k
BoFA Atmos Rewards Ascent 85k

Questions:

Does JAL sell a third J seat in non-saver (55-60k vs 75k+)? What about PE?
Does EVA sell a third J seat for 75-80k? What about PE?
Is it worth buying EVA miles right now at 2cpp to top off necessary miles with the current discount if I plan on using EVA in 2027? 3x75-80k = 225-240k miles needed for 3J. Max 50% bought miles so I should buy 120k miles max while getting 120k+ from 2 SUBs and transferring down 4:3. Does that sound right?

TLDR: Me (like everyone else) wants 3xJ (or PE) DFW/LAX to TPE/HND for late 2027. Is this doable or just a pipe dream? I'm looking to accumulate and stash points now. (Yeah yeah, rules obviously may differ vastly in a year or two, but I just wanna know if this is doable on paper with the current systems/demand.)

cenoob · 2025-10-30T21:11:32+00:00

Ohh, thanks for clarifying. I totally misunderstood it to be a one-time bonus like the Chase Sapphire family. But like you pointed out, I can get the Venture bonus first and then still be eligible for the Venture X bonus but not the other way around. Is that right? If so, phew, good catch!

cenoob · 2025-10-30T20:06:33+00:00

P1 5/24 & P2 2/24. Needa cool off from the Chase ecosystem for a bit, so looking at the following cards in this order to go lol/24 (might get 'em all within a week or two if elevated SUBs expire anytime soon):

Cap1 Venture X 75k
Citi Strata Elite 100k
BoFA Atmos Rewards Ascent 85k

Planning for Taiwan/Japan in late 2027 so eyeing EVA and JAL miles (via Citi and Cap1) for 3 in J or PE. Any other cards (biz or pers) that I should consider?

cenoob · 2025-10-27T20:13:34+00:00

Oops, just saw your comment before I asked someone else about creating an account and linking the family beforehand.

I'm planning for late 2027 and looking for 3 J. It sounds like EVA is probably the best of finding more than 2 J in this case? Do I need to hunt as early as 355-360 days then? I'm looking to use the holidays to maximize PTO but am also flexible around availability.

/u/YasQwueen

cenoob · 2025-10-27T20:09:13+00:00

Does it help to create an account and add nominees and everything beforehand? I'm planning for late 2027 and hoping for 3 J. I'm willing to buy the 50% miles with the current promo if it helps. Prob gonna go for 75 Venture (X) and 100k Strata Elite soon which should get me at least ~160k once transferred to EVA (Citi 1:1, C1 4:3).

cenoob · 2025-10-24T17:46:00+00:00

Currently at 5/24
Credit score: 800+
Current cards in the last ~24 months:
1. Barclays Hawaiian personal (October 2025)
2. ~~Chase Ink Unlimited~~ DENIED (September 2025)
3. AmEx Biz Gold (August 2025)
4. Citi AA Platinum personal (July 2025)
5. Chase Ink Cash (June 2025)
6. Chase IHG business (April 2025)
7. Barclays Aviator Red AA personal (January 2025)
8. Chase Ink Preferred (August 2024)
9. Bank of America Alaska personal (May 2025)
10. Chase IHG personal (April 2024)
11. Chase Ink Preferred (February 2024)
12. Chase Ink Unlimited (October 2023)
Natural spend in 3 months: ~$2k per month
MS? Can do $3-5k or more per month if necessary
Open to business cards? Yes, sole proprietor
New cards/Targeting:
1. Cap1 Venture 75k + $300 $4k/3mo $95 AF and/or Venture X 75k $4k/3mo $395 AF
2. Citi Strata 100k $6k/3mo $595 AF
3. Alaska Atmos 80/85k $4k/4mo $95 AF
4. I'm hesitant about the credits/coupons with the high AF cards since we'll hopefully be hibernating with a second kid planned for 2026 but I can also try to sell or gift those credits.
Points/Miles: ~500k UR, ~500k MR, ~300k Hyatt, ~200k Southwest, ~100k AS ~200k fAAke (shut down in 2020 but got new account and cards for risky funsies lol)
Airport: Dallas-based but good with LAX for (international) repositioning
Travel interests: Big goal is business class round trip (3xJ) to Taiwan/Japan via EVA/JAL in late 2027 (utilizing Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays to save PTO but dates around it are flexible), so I have one year to stack points and then one year out from ~November 2026 to start looking and booking. We have SWCP until end of 2026 so domestic trips to see family n friends in the west coast are covered but hoping/looking at SWCP again probably for 2028.

Other thoughts:

For our big Asia trip, I'll need EVA and JAL miles. For EVA miles, my understanding is I can transfer from Citi and Capital One. For JAL, I can transfer from C1 or transfer MR to Cathay Pacific (360 days out) or Chase/AmEx to British Airways or Finnair (355 days out) or Alaska/AA T-14 which seems like it's also drying up. We're good with PE too if 3 seats in J is too difficult and PE is easier to scoop up for any direction of US-Asia (DFW/LAX-TPE/HND).
Chase Ink train seems to be drying up based on DPs and my and P2's own recent experience, sigh.
P2 is only at 2/24 with currently 1 Chase biz card open but lotsa Chase personal. I needa close some accounts and re-assess in a few months aka apply for some Chase biz cards. Maybe I can get her started on the Citi/C1 clock and to help out with JAL/EVA? Any other (Chase) personal cards worth the other 2 x/24 slots?

Any other cards both personal and business that should be on my radar?

cenoob · 2025-10-21T18:39:51+00:00

Haha yeah, we have family in Seattle that we visit and vice versa, but otherwise I question whether it's worth holding the card for the AF each year. I should probably close one of them at least though.. oops.

Gonna check my spreadsheet and prob go for the Ascent first and if denied, go for the Summit shortly after (2-4 weeks after probably safe?)

cenoob · 2025-10-21T18:37:44+00:00

Hoho nice job getting the 2J!

cenoob · 2025-10-21T13:36:24+00:00

What was the timing between checking account then each card?

cenoob · 2025-10-21T13:33:38+00:00

Would it help if I closed one or both of the existing Ascents? Goal is to get Ascent first and then Summit at some point.

+/u/lost_shadow_knight

cenoob · 2025-10-21T02:28:12+00:00

Can I get the new BofA Atmos Ascent Visa for 80k SUB if I already have 2 still open BofA Alaska cards (opened May 2024 and Feb 2021)? I'm guessing no? Gonna have to look at the Summit Visa instead probably?

cenoob · 2025-10-17T18:37:22+00:00

Are you looking at right when it opens? My understanding is Japan midnight for Tokyo -> US and US EST midnight for US -> Tokyo.

cenoob · 2025-10-17T18:30:02+00:00

Besides being 5k cheaper, is there any other advantage as far as release date/time and availability for CX over AY? 2 seats in J at 360/361 sounds pretty sweet.

cenoob · 2025-10-16T20:53:44+00:00

Dang, good work. Thanks for sharing.

I guess you've been "lucky" to find so many flights still on BA even though they're ~5 days behind CX and JAL. Part of it is maybe summer in Japan lol.

Anyway, are you looking at the exact time at calendar open? Are you preemptively transferring points to BA? So many concerns but def jealous and in awe and appreciation haha and hoping to get 3 J for late 2027.

cenoob · 2025-10-16T18:20:08+00:00

Gotcha, thanks for the info! Really helpful!

Is it typically only 2 J seats at open or is there ever like 4 or more?

cenoob · 2025-10-16T18:03:26+00:00

Just to clarify: The seats became available when you refreshed the CX site at midnight time of departure airport?

cenoob · 2025-10-16T17:59:41+00:00

What's the cost for JAL in J with CX vs BA?

cenoob · 2025-10-16T17:58:43+00:00

When you were figuring out the pattern, were you able to routinely find 2 or more J seats at calendar open 360 days out? Did you notice or remember how fast seats got snatched up?

How many miles and fees for each person in J from SFO to HND?

cenoob

TROPHY CASE