g10ny said:OP,
I just noticed you do not have any MasterCard, just AmE><, Discover and Visa.
Is this just a coincidence or there is something interesting lurking behind?

It's just a coincidence. I never hit upon an really good offers that MC offered that VISA didn't, so I never bothered to apply for MC cards - nothing against MC.

Subconcious conincidence?

HappyGuy said:The first thing i would do is push AMEX for as big of a personal line as possible. Having a $35-50k CL reporting will majorly improve your AOR success.

I just called AMEX Blue and they immediately pushed my CL up 127% - from $11k to $25k. They said their account services would look at it tomorrow (this department was closed when I called) as they are the who needs to authorize anything above $25k.

How do you know if they will make an inquiry or not if you ask for increse? Do they have to ask you first to check your credit again?

HappyGuy said:The first thing i would do is push AMEX for as big of a personal line as possible. Having a $35-50k CL reporting will majorly improve your AOR success.
Go for even bigger, What a great way to rack up rewards


AMEX Makes Room for Condo Down Payments

By JANE J. KIM, The Wall Street Journal

Coming up with the money for a down payment on a new condominium may soon be as easy as charging it: American Express Co. is expected to announce today that it will allow some customers to use its cards to make condominium down payments.

For now, the service appears to be limited to a select few: luxury-condo buyers in Manhattan. American Express is rolling out the program with New York real-estate firm Moinian Group, for one of its properties currently under construction -- the Atelier condominium in Midtown Manhattan. Both companies say they plan to expand the service to other properties and partners.

For condo buyers, the deal will allow them to earn reward points or frequent-flier miles on big transactions, while extending the amount of time they have to meet the down-payment requirements and eliminating the hassle of getting certified checks. Buyers will earn one point for every dollar charged.
Joseph Moinian, Moinian's chief executive, says the company is offering the service as an amenity to attract high-end condo buyers.

Bill Glenn, American Express's head of merchant business, says the move is part of the company's efforts to expand the ways its clients can use its cards. The companies didn't disclose the terms of the agreement, although Moinian will pay American Express a fee on each transaction. The condo buyer won't be charged an additional fee.

American Express says the program is available across all of its cards, including its bank-issued cards. Since AMEX charge cards -- Green, Gold, Platinum, and Centurion -- don't have preset spending limits, cardholders will be able to charge the large amounts required for down payments.

Customers may run into a snag in some cases. If the amount charged is "widely out-of-pattern" for the customer, then the transaction may be flagged until the company gets more information, a spokeswoman notes. Customers who hold AMEX credit cards -- such as Blue -- may be limited by their card's credit limits, which are based on their spending patterns and credit-worthiness -- although a spokeswoman says the company, in some cases, may extend the credit limit for the down payment.

Siva Tayi, a potential Manhattan condo buyer from Houston, plans to charge the 10% down payment on a $1.2 million two-bedroom unit in Moinian's Atelier condo on his Platinum card. "I thought it was a good idea to use the [card] and gain the points," says Mr. Tayi, who runs an information-technology staffing and outsourcing company. Not only does it eliminate the hassle of writing a check or having to wire money, he says, but with the 120,000 points he expects to get -- combined with the 300,000 points he has already accumulated -- "I can probably make a trip to India."

The program expands American Express's partnerships with real-estate merchants. The firm currently works with over a dozen property-management companies in 34 states to allow their tenants to pay rent with an AMEX card.

The move comes at a time when more landlords are allowing tenants to pay their rent with plastic. About 15% of the rental apartments in the U.S. accept credit-card payments, estimates Matt Golis, chief executive of YapStone Inc.'s RentPayment, a San Francisco processing firm that works with apartment owners and managers to enable acceptance of credit cards. Most of its new customers this year are offering to pay the costs incurred by offering credit cards as a payment alternative in order to have a competitive advantage over other properties, he says.


September 13, 2006


Copyright © 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Ok I'm ready for the reds but please be gentle.
Can someone explain to me the concept of app-o-rama. What are the benefits?
I'm sure i'm not the only here who've seen it but never sure what it means.

djspray said:Planetshining said:Ok I'm ready for the reds but please be gentle.
Can someone explain to me the concept of app-o-rama. What are the benefits?
I'm sure i'm not the only here who've seen it but never sure what it means.

Read this thread, and come back and ask if anything is unclear. SteevyNIU's thread is one of the most comprehensive, start to finish.

EDIT: SIS's AOR FAQ is also a wealth of knowledge.

i read all that but still i am confused i don't see any benefit. if someone can explain it to me it will be nice. thanks

jurilda said:djspray said:Planetshining said:Ok I'm ready for the reds but please be gentle.
Can someone explain to me the concept of app-o-rama. What are the benefits?
I'm sure i'm not the only here who've seen it but never sure what it means.

Read this thread, and come back and ask if anything is unclear. SteevyNIU's thread is one of the most comprehensive, start to finish.

EDIT: SIS's AOR FAQ is also a wealth of knowledge.

i read all that but still i am confused i don't see any benefit. if someone can explain it to me it will be nice. thanks
see the App-O-Rama faq question 7 by SIS.
you take money the banks make available at 0% interest and invest it in something nice and safe (because you are playing with someone else's money). Lets say you get 100k of the banks money at 0% interest for 12 months by balance transfers. You invest it in a high yield savings account making 5% a year. After one year, you have 105k in the bank, and pay back the 100k you owe on the credit cards. So you have $5k left over, which is step 3 profit!

LoneShadow said:But what would be the monthly min. payments for 100k to 200k of borrowed money ?

- LS

Who cares, you pay it out of the borrowed money. Sure it reduces your net profit but it is small and unavoidable. So you make $4,800 instead of $5,000, it is still profit.

Any updates Azurik? When do you plan on pulling the trigger?

viperx116 said:So you basically borrow money from the bank at a lower interest rate, then you invest it in a high yields savings account? I haven't been keeping up with financial strategies and kind of new to this.yes thats exactly what you do.

Ideally you borrow it at 0% and put it in an account paying 5%+. The people with good credit in this forum have been able to do this with 2-300k or more, resulting in tens of thousands in profit per year, all for doing nothing but shuffling money around.