Noob Q&A: Do You and Your Wife Apply For the Same Cards?

Posted by on Dec 28, 2012 in App-Party, Credit Cards, Miles, Points, Uncategorized | 2 comments

Q: Do you and your wife apply for the same rewards cards?

This question was emailed to me this week, from an inquiring mind. And it’s one that I get often, so I thought I would let you guys in on how Jordan and I do our app parties.

A: Yes, we do.

Jordan and I usually sign up for the same rewards cards. This helps us maximize our points/miles. Many loyalty programs will allow households to pool their points together. Just another perk of being married.

We use Chase’s Ultimate Rewards program the most to combine points, or to transfer out to each others’ loyalty programs. I know what you’re thinking, and yes – I steal Jordan’s Ultimate Rewards points all the time. Shhhh.

Being able to pool together our points earned from the Chase Sapphire PreferredSM, Ink Bold®, and Ink Plus® cards has helped us tremendously to travel classy for pennies. We have earned over 300,000 Ultimate Rewards “household” points just through sign-up bonuses on these cards this year. That’s incredible. Through the sign-up and purchase bonuses, we were able to stay at many Hyatts, fly on Southwest throughout the year, and we were able to go to Europe in September on business class. We are also going to start off 2013 by visiting Thailand in January on first class.

We apply for the same cards, but we don’t apply for them at the same time. We’re both pros at throwing app parties (apply for multiple rewards cards on one day every 90-95 days). Shocker? Probably not to anyone who reads the blog. Again – we usually sign up for the same rewards cards.

Even with the easy ways to meet minimum spending requirements (Bluebird, Amazon Payments, & Buying Vanilla Reloads), it would be crazy hard to meet them if we were both singing up for multiple cards on one day.

Instead of both of us applying on the same day, I space out our applications about 45 days. That way, we’re constantly meeting minimum spend requirements and earning mega miles/points. Plus, it’s easier to manage. I will space out our apps farther if I’m not comfortable applying for more cards, if our credit scores haven’t bounced back, or if we have enough minimum spending requirements to meet.

We are more conservative with Jordan’s applications because she wants to be – and I respect that. Even if I’m more aggressive, you should only apply for cards that you’re comfortable applying for.

Being able to double-dip and apply for the same cards as someone in your household is a huge advantage that allows you to be able to travel at a price you can afford. If only one spouse is applying and earning miles, it’s going to make it more difficult to travel together with miles/points.

I love love love traveling, but I love traveling with my wife even more. We wouldn’t be able to travel as much as we do without each of us applying for multiple rewards cards every 90-95 days, and then using these cards daily.

— Noob Master

  • Robert

    Can you really transfer out points/miles to each others; program without a fee just because you’re husband and wife? or does one have to ‘steal it’:)

    • http://www.NoobTraveler.com/ Noob Traveler

      Yes, you can transfer Ultimate Rewards and Membership Rewards points to household members without a fee. It’s not stealing – I was just joking, because my wife has no idea I’m transferring her points to my account, but it’s all the same in our household. :)

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