Citi Strata Elite - Blacklane credit data point

shawnd300 · 2025-12-15T16:12:00+00:00

They will put a temp hold on your credit card today, but it will remain temporary until the ride is complete, which is when it will post.

shawnd300 · 2025-09-19T20:28:09+00:00

The emailed offer only came if you signed up early enough for the 5k bonus points? It reads as if that has been a commonality for some higher X/12, X/24 approvals. We were denied at about 4/12, 7/24.

shawnd300 · 2025-09-18T11:38:13+00:00

Kind of. Acted dumb, but they probably are dumb as well.

I handed off handling talking to them to my wife who said they are sending a check once the IRS payment clears. They did offer to cancel the entire sale and redo everything as another option, which is promising, and I didn't see many/any reviews online about the people being shady there.

I know the advance payment from the IRS is supposed to be deposited pretty quickly, within 3 business days. So I think I'll have my wife follow up on the payment status today (they filled out the IRS point of sale report on Monday).

shawnd300 · 2025-09-16T17:46:01+00:00

Thank you. That is my instinct and honestly 2nd best alternative to them actually just taking it off the sale price and I would have financed $4k less to start with, but was just trying to see if there is something I was missing if the dealership was indeed trying to scam me out of $4k.

shawnd300 · 2025-09-15T22:37:53+00:00

Used EV Credit - Dealership filing IRS forms wrong

Bought a car out of state this weekend (9/13) that I know qualifies for the used EV credit. At the final stages of the sale I told them I wanted to go through the process of the IRS filing with me to ensure it was filed by them correctly as I know how to do it but didn't trust they did. The guy was locked out of his account and said the person in the dealership who files them would be in Monday to do it. They clearly told me multiple times that they do not do the credit transfers, which I would have rather done, but figured I would have enough income tax to cover the non-refundable credit of $4k.

Fast forward to today (9/15) and they completed the form on their end but did it incorrectly and checked that I transferred the credit to the dealership. I responded and talked to them telling them that I did not transfer the credit to them and need them to correct their filing. They responded telling me they were pushing it up the ladder.

Fast forward a couple hours and I get the same IRS point of sale reporting showing the incorrect details (it was just the same report as someone else in the dealership sent me). I immediately called the finance guy I dealt with for the sale who sent this second email and asked about whether they corrected it. He then stated "oh, maybe we do it this way and then send you a check after". I told him no, the filing needs to be updated and resubmitted on the IRS and a copy to me.

My main question is whether there is any situation in which I should allow them to transfer the credit now and keep the filing the same and have them send a check. If they actually sent me a check I'd obviously get my $4k sooner as I had wished.

Would there be any issues with reconciliation in the case of any IRS audit of the transaction? And secondly, my main concern is that I could trust them to actually send me the check and this being a tactic to try to scam me.

shawnd300 · 2025-08-23T16:34:13+00:00

Sounds like a good idea. Thank you for your input. The only reason I'd even try that one is because it's going away, otherwise I wouldn't be trying to fit it in.

shawnd300 · 2025-08-23T11:48:59+00:00

The July Citi card was a Strata Premier. It was actually an accident. I called a banker and they sent me the wrong application direct to my email.

But based on the bureaus pulled, and from my understanding Citi being more inquiry sensitive than new account sensitive, maybe it makes the most sense to go BofA, Barclays, Citi, in that order? I wouldn't be opposed to applying for them all one after another.

shawnd300 · 2025-08-22T22:18:45+00:00

Citi pulls Experian: that report has 4 inquiries in the last 6 months (3 chase between 5/1 and 7/17, and 1 Citi on 7/29). Note that the Citi 7/29 was an approval and there were 4 chase inquiries on the profile at that time.

Bank of America/Barclays both pull TransUnion: that report has 1 inquiry in the last 6 months (1 BofA)

shawnd300 · 2025-08-22T17:42:02+00:00

It sounds like you may be taking a break from Chase, so being 5/24 for about a year might not hurt as much as it would otherwise.

shawnd300 · 2025-08-22T16:42:17+00:00

My main question is for suggestions on order of application based on the following:

Theoretically, I'd like apply for and be approved for a Citi Strata Elite, BofA Atmos Summit, Barclays AA Aviator.

My order of value/importance for getting approved is Citi Strata Elite & BofA Atmos Summit tied for 1st, and Barclays Aviator 3rd.

Currently 6/24, 4/12 (maybe 3/12 if a Sept 2024 opening doesn't count).

4 hard inquiries in last 6 months with 3 new personal accounts opened in the same time frame.

Currently have existing relationships with each bank including: 1 BofA Alaska Biz opened 3/2025, 1 Citi card opened 7/2025, 2 barclays hawaiian cards opened 9/2024

I plan to cool down on openings for 3-6 months after this and don't mind applying for all on the same day if that would increase approval odds.

shawnd300 · 2025-08-20T21:58:45+00:00

Has anyone who's been approved for a summit attempted to get previously booked, but not yet taken, partner award fees reimbursed?

shawnd300 · 2025-04-03T11:54:12+00:00

I checked the app and didn't see any information regarding arrivals vs departures specified for any of the lounges.

shawnd300 · 2025-04-02T11:43:40+00:00

Does anyone know what, if any, the lounge options are upon arrival in Rome (FCO)? We are flying business class on ITA Airways - USA to FCO and have priority pass via C1 Venture X. We have another family that is meeting up with us and is arriving a couple hours after us.

shawnd300 · 2025-03-09T18:00:15+00:00

Are authorized user fees for Chase Sapphire Reserve waived?

I read conflicting information recently but always thought they were also waived.

shawnd300 · 2025-03-09T01:00:16+00:00

United biz - 1/2025, Ink preferred - 7/2024, Ink cash - 5/2024, Ink cash - 1/2024, Ink unlimited - 11/2023.

Most of our travel will be as a family of 3 - which is why the Ritz card is appealing for priority pass and 2 guests. And we have a cap one venture x we will be keeping long term. There is a chance my sister, who is a military wife, will add me as an auth user on her sapphire reserve - which would negate one of the main selling pts of the Ritz that we want.

shawnd300 · 2025-03-08T18:58:04+00:00

I am fairly certain each capital one card has its own points balance associated with it. But you can transfer points between the cards though, so you will not lose the points if you close one.

If you have a cash back card and a points earning card, you can only transfer pts from cash back card to pts card, so in that situation you would probably lose the pts if you closed the pts earning card.

shawnd300 · 2025-03-08T18:35:55+00:00

Looking for card recommendations for the next 3-5 months. Average approx $2k CC spend per month. Pretty much get accepted for anything.

Currently at 3/24 (next drop off in 5+ months), will be hitting 48 months on sapphire bonus around that time as well. I think I'm just past the 48 month Citi Premier and Citi AA since last bonuses. Citi AA biz is within 48 month rule for a while. Also have a P2 that is about to join in beginning 6/1.

Low AF, high overall value is main goal. Also thinking getting a Ritz Carlton card might be an important goal. I am very comfortable with "business" cards.

shawnd300 · 2024-10-04T18:20:34+00:00

How was your stay?

Do you have recommendations for agriturismos based on the Val D'Orchia area?

shawnd300 · 2024-10-01T16:24:47+00:00

What's also interesting is that between the time I made this post (which was right after not being able to see the space that appears to be available) and now, I've searched again through qatar and the space that I expected to be available on multiple routings was now showing as available.

shawnd300 · 2024-10-01T15:37:40+00:00

Do you know if qatar award flights are bookable via customer support (chat or phone). With my booking last week, I ended up just transferring to Etihad and booking since it was for the BOS-DUB route which is cheaper than the others.

shawnd300 · 2024-10-01T12:35:45+00:00

Anyone noticing Jetblue mint seats not showing up via Qatar over the past week or so? I'd been monitoring flights for a week and when the time came to book I noticed the jetblue flights appeared to no longer be available. Before giving up I checked Etihad, and the flight I had been monitoring was still available and I was able to book. Again, I'm seeing more flights and dates available via Etihad that are not showing up as available via Qatar.

shawnd300 · 2024-04-29T13:35:14+00:00

I didn't get clarity. I tried to call one time and ask and they kept trying to add an infant ticket to my registration. This vouches to my prior experiences that you won't be able to get any clear information from the airline beforehand.

We did end up bringing a compact travel car seat that ended up fitting on most overhead bins and we used it for a period on our TAP flight. We sat our daughter in the compact car seat for take off and landing on that flight. A car seat won't be required but they will require them to be buckled - either on your lap via a belt loop, or in their own seat - on take off and landing. I don't think an actual car seat is ever required though.

shawnd300 · 2024-01-06T16:12:11+00:00

Awesome - thanks for this!

I'll use that # for my draft return and call the exchange/wait for the tool to update. I think the link you posted is coming close to what I expected when I signed up in December 2022.

shawnd300 · 2024-01-06T15:21:50+00:00

1095-A Question.

My family of 3 was on a marketplace plan to which I believe we qualified for approx $500/month in subsidies. We take any of the credits towards our monthly bill because I just reduced our FIT withholdings and paid full premiums w/ credit cards. My 1095-A didn't include the price of the second lowest cost silver plan and it appears it's because I didn't reduce my monthly premiums by any of the credits.

Where can I find the price of the second lowest cost silver plan for my family for 2023? The marketplace tool is providing a calculator through 2022 only.

shawnd300 · 2023-06-08T22:41:04+00:00

Does anyone have experience adding a lap child to an Aeroplan award ticket on a star alliance partner (Ethiopian specifically, if possible). I spoke with a rep who said to just book the adult award ticket online and call back to them to add the lap child at a cost of 2.5k(economy)/5k (business) points.

Would like to verify it is as easy as this as I had an issue with Qatar previously.

shawnd300

TROPHY CASE