My new thread keeps getting filtered out, so I guess posting here is best. Sorry in advance for the length.
I'm pretty new to this so be gentle. My wife and I are looking for advice on what our game plan should be with our goal of travel for the next year.
Goals: Take a trip to Hawaii next year for 7-10 days (flights+hotels), be able to take domestic flights every few months from the SF Bay Area to Las Vegas / Los Angeles / Texas (family). We might be leaving for Hawaii from either SF area or Austin area, but we can be flexible.
Me * 710 FICO (TU); this will be much better in a year when a bunch of negatives fall off * Chase Disney Visa (2003) - $500 * Barclaycard Rewards (2006) - $1,000 * Local credit union (2010) - $1,500 * Chase Southwest Premier (3/2014) - $10,000 * Amex HHonors (4/2015) - $10,000 * A couple of store cards for a few thousand each (all > 5 years old)
Her * 800-820 FICO * Chase Slate (> 5 years old) - a few thousand * Chase Freedom (~2013/2014) - $5,000
As far as spending, we can pretty easy do $3k/mo and could probably resort to MS for a few k more if needed.
Should I be adding myself as an AU on her Chase Slate account? Not sure if it will help my score or not. She is already an AU on my Southwest card (most expenses currently go there). Any reason to remove this?
Where do we go from here? We already both have 2 Chase cards which is slightly problematic given our cards aren't great (aside from the SW one, we never opened them for bonuses). I was considering trying to get her to get companion pass next January with 2 SW cards, but I don't know if that is the best use of our Chase slots. We do currently have ~18k SW points, but those won't last too much longer. We definitely need more if we are going to continue using it as our preferred airline.
Even more important, I need to figure out how to do the whole Hawaii thing. What airline is going to be best out of the SF area and what are the best hotel cards we can get?
We aren't yet sure of the island, but Maui is always a winner I hear. I've heard perhaps the Chase Hyatt would be good for 4 free nights, but I don't know if that is a good use of our Chase spots. I'm pretty clueless on the airlines.
We also have to be strategic in that she is more likely to get approved for the more difficult cards. What should we do eventually with regards to Chase? After 4 cards we aren't likely to get approved for more, right? Do you just close the most recent? Unfortunately, our oldest cards are also the worst.
I appreciate any help you guys can offer for our situation!
EDIT: Should we do the Chase Hyatt (if we do it) within a year of our travel dates to avoid the AF or is the 1 free night of any value for us?