Green for title!!!

Green for doing it, and great formatting!!!

Red for leaving me out of the acceptance speech (J/K)!

so, you still get GREEN!

BTW, AMEX has something called "account manager" or something like it.... your wife calls, tells them she wants YOU added to speak on her behalf for HER account (not an AU, don't let them add you ...). I will get the formal name for you in a bit (unless someone beats me to it!). I call AMEX all the time for my wife's card... and move stuff around.

You can find out the title by calling on one of your own cards, and if it asks if you are the account holder, say no....
then it asks if you are the ???? account manager????.... whatever it asks, that is the real title they use!

Hang up, then have your wife call about her card, and have you added as the ???xxx???

PS... nice lines for a "homemaker" with high 5 figure HHI!!!!

Hey ahself, it's nice to be married, isn't it? It's only after reading some WOR threads did I start to understand the mormons .

I'm pretty much in the same situation as you described and seeing my wife's FAKOs hovering around 780 "unused" generates quite an itch ... I've almost had my wife join the club, but then the HYS rates started to drop, so we're back to applying for great bonus cards only while my AOR 1.0 is winding down.

I think your WOR plays out pretty well (congrats!) and I like the fact that you emphasized bonuses as I believe it's almost as profitable a thing to pursue in a current rate environment as BT arbitrage, but a lot safer one. I do have some questions/comments:
1. You have your wife as an AU on an AMEX and a BOA cards. Do you plan to keep her as an AU after all of the WOR decisions are in? I've read that should A/A ensue it might affect spouse's accounts, esp. with AMEX...
2. BOA NEA card is key, don't forget to CLI (I'd ask for 20-25K) and reallocation from that GA Alumni card should be easy.
3. AMEX cards -- I'd not do a BT on any them (not sure what your plans are for the IN:NYC). As far AMEX as "account manager" -- I don't think you need that. You can reallocate and CLI online, but should you chose to close/convert the cards -- there isn't anything tricky in those kind of calls (except, perhaps, the ability to evaluate the retention offer on the spot).

Technologist said:Green for title!!!

Green for doing it, and great formatting!!!

Red for leaving me out of the acceptance speech (J/K)!

so, you still get GREEN!

BTW, AMEX has something called "account manager" or something like it.... your wife calls, tells them she wants YOU added to speak on her behalf for HER account (not an AU, don't let them add you ...). I will get the formal name for you in a bit (unless someone beats me to it!). I call AMEX all the time for my wife's card... and move stuff around.

You can find out the title by calling on one of your own cards, and if it asks if you are the account holder, say no....
then it asks if you are the ???? account manager????.... whatever it asks, that is the real title they use!

Hang up, then have your wife call about her card, and have you added as the ???xxx???

PS... nice lines for a "homemaker" with high 5 figure HHI!!!!

Double Green!

thetrump said:Venturion said:...
Based on information I've read in other wife-o-rama threads (e.g. Thisguy's 2-part AOR, DjPiLL's Wife-O-Rama 1.1, dmlavigne1's Bonus AOR 2.0 WOR) and information I received from other users, I've learned a few options for how to handle CSR interactions:
1) Call and pretend your her...works particularly well if your wife has a gender neutral name (mind doesn't).
2) Let her call and handle it (obviously), but lay out instructions beforehand.
3) Have her call and verify her identity and then say "my husband will be handling it from here"...or, call and tell them you're calling on someone else's behalf, let her verify her identity, and then take over from there. This is the option I plan on doing.
4) Use the online chat or messaging options.

My wife doesn't like talking to credit card CSRs so I use a software-based voice changer and make calls using VoIP. My wife thought I really was a woman the first time I called her with it. Good times...
Just make sure she knows about it or you could get in some real hot water.

Wow I need that software myself.
Could you post a link to the software page?

TIA
Little

ahself said:Cyberkost - Yeah, it's good to be married.
3. I decided to get the IN:NYC card in case I get worthwhile CLs between the AMEX cards and I want to do a BT...and the CL on the SPG card is a good start. If I keep the utilization below 50% on the BT, would you still discourage it?

Well, the thing is that you are very likely to get a worthwhile combined CL with AMEX, especially if you wait a month and use AMEX CLI link (my wife went from $8K to $24.9K on her SPG after 30 days -- I did not believe my eyes and her profile is very similar to your wife's) ... you can then reallocate online to IN:NYC ... it's almost guaranteed to be tempting to do a BT. Now, what AMEX is gonna be seeing: 3 new cards, BT, and at least one of the "high risk activities": CLI or reallocation (I don't think 6 mo. BT is worthwhile on the IN:NYC without at least one of these). Given how sensitive AMEX has been lately, chances of FR and other A/A are not insignificant at all.

Nice thread, especially the commments about communication issues with a wife-o-rama. I strongly advise, though, against pretending to be her during phone conversations. Not only could that lead to trouble (possibly legal and otherwise), but it's unnecessary.

One alternative is for your wife to make the call, and for her to say to the CSR that she'd like her husband to join the call since he handles most of the finances, in case there are issues which need clarification. So your wife initiates the call, and is a participant in a joint call, with you helping out with certain details. No, not her name, birthdate, SSN, etc!

My wife is somewhat shy on the phone with people she doesn't know, but this worked out fine for us when she applied over the phone for the Citibank checking account $200 MVS4 promotion. We discussed it first, she agreed, and actually I initiated that call, saying that we'd heard about the promotion, and I wanted to verify the promotion was still available before my wife spent the time to apply for it.

When the promotion was confirmed as available, I said to the CSR that I'd turn over the phone to my wife, but with her permission, I'd join the call in case any questions arose that I could help out with since I took care of paying the bills and such.

With her agreement during the phone conversation, I was able to decline add-ons such as overdraft protection (me saying to the CSR: "But that would result in a hard credit inquiry on our report, right?", and to my wife: "I think we're OK without the overdraft protection and the inquiry.").

It all worked out fine, although it's much easier to communicate as much as possible online -- with her knowledge and consent, of course.

Received quite a few cards and results yesterday.

Cards received: CitiBiz, CitiBiz PremierPass, Citi AAdvantage, CitiProfessional, Advanta Biz, WAMU ESPN, and Discover More.

Updates to unknown CLs and results.
- I got an approval email for the IN:NYC AMEX
- CitiBiz: $15,000 CL
- CitiBiz PP: $9,000 CL
- Advanta Biz: $2,500 CL

All updated in the OP.

dmlavigne1 said:Defective line from Advanta. Not even worth a BT with teh fee.

That's pretty much what I was thinking. However, I was thinking that if I called to just cancel the card right off the bat due to the low CL compared to my wife's other cards, perhaps they'd consider raising the CL. Has anyone else been successful in getting them to raise the CL to something useful? The 15 mmonth BT offer is so attractive.

A few updates:

Received more cards today than the other day: Juniper I Fly America, SPG Biz AMEX, SPG AMEX, Chase AMA Biz, Chase United Biz, Discover Biz, National City Lifespring, BOA NEA, and Citi Associated Bank.

Updates to unknown CLs and results.
- I got an approval email for the Juniper Bank Atlantic Rewards Biz with an unknown CL.
- SPG Biz: $30,000 CL (wow)
- Chase AMA Biz: $10,000 CL
- Chase United Biz: $10,000 CL
- Discover Biz - $5,000 CL
- National City Lifespring - $15,000 CL

All updated in the OP.

I also got some disappointing news in that I received two "unable to approve" letters from Chase. Neither one says the specific card they'e referring to, but I assume it's the two personal cards since I received both business cards...I'll have my wife call on that later. The reason they were unable to approve was: (1st letter/card) Too many inquiries, and (2nd letter/card) Too many credit or loan accounts opened recently...both based on the EQ report. Both reasons seem odd since they did one inquiry on the day I did the A0R and the same day most of the other CC companies did their inquiries. In addition, unless they checked back in the last few days, my wife only had the few personal cards I mentioned pre-A0R. Is it worth appealing their decision?

Vmaxer said:Are there any issuers that require the BT's payoff CC's in YOUR name (i.e not let you payoff a spouses card). Most of my offers say "payoff your credit card balances..."

I've never had a problem paying off my wife's CC's with BT's or her paying off my CC's with BT's. Most recently went from Chase to Citi and Citi to Chase. I thought it might be an issue but no worries. The only thing I got bit on once was trying to pay off a Chase with a Chase a few years back (amateur mistake).