As I wrote about in the last post, there is a great current offer on the Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express Open ~~ 75,000 points and a zero intro fee! The only “catch” is the $10,000 spend requirement.
Welp, my first impression was — dangit, I’m going to get me this card! So what if the spend requirement is high – I have the money and I know all the ways to meet spend requirements: how to buy gift cards, to pre-pay certain expenditures, to use Amazon Payments. I even went so far as to put in an application for the Card (which was initially declined but I’m sure would be approved on reconsideration).
But then I thought about it. I already have a gaggle of credit cards that I got within the year. I don’t have any spend requirements currently to meet, but I sure have a bunch of gift cards laying around. I don’t have any large expenditures looming at the present. And somehow I was overwhelmed and frightened by the prospects of spending so much time and energy just to meet the spend requirement. Heck, I could spend $10,000 on my Chase Ink Bold card and get 50,0000 Ultimate Rewards points, so why was I getting myself so nuts over having to get this card? And, I should add, that at the same time I was considering this new Amex card, I also applied for the US Airways Mastercard from Barclay’s Bank, and was approved. That one has a great promo of 40,000 miles and no minimum spend. Wow, that was simple. And no agita! (If you’re interested in the US Airways card, see this discussion and link at Million Mile Secrets).
Perhaps what I need is a lower spend requirement even if it means less points or miles?
So, while I love points and miles, and great deals, that doesn’t mean that every great deal is right for me (or you), or that there won’t be another great deal next week or next month. So, sometimes I need to be still for a moment and reflect and ask “Is this right for me?” or “Is this right for me at this moment?”
A New York frequent flyer who elegantly combines her passions for worldwide travel, running a gazillion marathons all over the globe and staying fit ... without sacrificing her fancy for good wine and food.
its so easy to spend 10k in nyc, buy 5 of the new 15″ macbook pro retina laptops at the Apple Store! 😉
if you’re going to buy 10,000 dollars worth of apple computers, I recommend going to Oregon where there’s no tax. (but I like the way you think).
I use some CC for our wholesale hardwood flooring business, we have a few vendors we buy from that take cards (most don’t)but a few who do that can be quite large. I think the most I have ever put on a card in one charge was $12,000! That helps quite a bit.