PSA -Sapphire Reserve with 100K points bonus, LAST CHANCE is Saturday 3/11 at branch...

[brianmanahan]

bout 820

 

[Svnla]

i'm not talking america, i'm talking ATOT

i think it was alky who said that 100$k was like minimum wage around here, almost a decade ago

I live in the real world, not in make believe fantasy.

I think we need specifics. For those with 800+ scores. Are we taking 801 or 810,820,830 or more?

You worry too much about the score. As long as you have 760 or higher FICO, you are golden (best rates for CC, loans, etc.) . No need to worry about if your score is too low comparing to others.

For example, if you have an B average (3.0 GPA or better), it does not matter if your grade average is 3.01 or 3.49. It is all in the same range, Same as credit score.

 

[brianmanahan]

I live in the real world, not in make believe fantasy.

in software dev forums, making less than 150$k straight out of college is now considered to be failure

and ideally one is making close to 500$k by the time they hit 30

according to teamblind.com and levels.fyi, total comp is love, total comp is life, total comp is everything

i don't live in silicon valley so i had to get a side job just to compensate for my low non-FAANG pay

 

[Exterous]

bout 820

Pft pauper. Mine is over 9000!

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

in software dev forums, making less than 150$k straight out of college is now considered to be failure

and ideally one is making close to 500$k by the time they hit 30

according to teamblind.com and levels.fyi, total comp is love, total comp is life, total comp is everything

i don't live in silicon valley so i had to get a side job just to compensate for my low non-FAANG pay

Seriously though, what does a software dev get paid out of college?

I figure it's just like anything else in life - you're making breadcrumbs until you climb the ranks into project management, lead positions, etc...

 

[brianmanahan]

Pft pauper. Mine is over 9000!

there's no way that can be right!

 

[brianmanahan]

Seriously though, what does a software dev get paid out of college?

I figure it's just like anything else in life - you're making breadcrumbs until you climb the ranks into project management, lead positions, etc...

starting in smaller cities/companies seems to still be around 60-70k, not much more than it was a decade ago

starting at bigger cities/companies (but not FAANG) is looking to be around 80-100k now

starting at a FAANG (plus microsoft and a few high-flying startups) company is well over 100k. seems to be about 120k for salary and 50k for stock + bonuses. though with the startups, those stock options might end up being worth nothing or millions.

senior and lead positions top out at around 150k in smaller cities/companies, 200k in bigger cities/companies and like 400-500k at FAANG companies.

if you're really good and can get a "staff engineer" job (like an architect) at a FAANG company, those pull between 500k-1M.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

starting in smaller cities/companies seems to still be around 60-70k, not much more than it was a decade ago

starting at bigger cities/companies (but not FAANG) is looking to be around 80-100k now

starting at a FAANG (plus microsoft and a few high-flying startups) company is well over 100k. seems to be about 120k for salary and 50k for stock + bonuses. though with the startups, those stock options might end up being worth nothing or millions.

senior and lead positions top out at around 150k in smaller cities/companies, 200k in bigger cities/companies and like 400-500k at FAANG companies.

if you're really good and can get a "staff engineer" job (like an architect) at a FAANG company, those pull between 500k-1M.

Gotcha, thanks. So whats the probability of starting out a FAANG - I presume all these require residence in SF/Bay area?

 

[brianmanahan]

Gotcha, thanks. So whats the probability of starting out a FAANG - I presume all these require residence in SF/Bay area?

i'm not sure... the forums/subreddits where they post about it are filled will kids whose lives are defined by getting into a FAANG straight out of college, and who will grind leetcode for hours a day to make sure they get in.

so it seems the probability is high there, but it's selection bias.

i will say that i know 5 or 6 people who got into FAANG companies or unicorn startups after 5-10 years in their careers (some software devs, some project managers). out of all those people, i would have thought only 1 would have what it takes to get in. so maybe the bar is not as high as i thought.

most are in SF but amazon and microsoft (an "almost-FAANG" company) are in seattle. plus amazon has centers all across the country, and i think google has a few cities like that as well. nobody i know is fully remote at any of those places.

 

[manlymatt83]

.

 

[purbeast0]

Anyone know if you can "chain" companion passes?

What I mean is my wife is my companion for the rest of this year. She also has companion pass status but hasn't added anyone yet.

We are flying to Aruba in November with myself, her, my son, and my MIL.

Would it be possible for me to book my flight with my son, then add my wife as a companion, and then her add her MIL as her companion, if we designate her mother in law as her companion?

EDIT:

N/m, they say you can't do that on the FAQ.

 

[deadlyapp]

Anyone know if you can "chain" companion passes?

What I mean is my wife is my companion for the rest of this year. She also has companion pass status but hasn't added anyone yet.

We are flying to Aruba in November with myself, her, my son, and my MIL.

Would it be possible for me to book my flight with my son, then add my wife as a companion, and then her add her MIL as her companion, if we designate her mother in law as her companion?

EDIT:

N/m, they say you can't do that on the FAQ.

Yeah - I was going to say you can't do that. Best case scenario you would change your companion to someone else and you would have four tickets for the price of two.

 

[purbeast0]

Yeah - I was going to say you can't do that. Best case scenario you would change your companion to someone else and you would have four tickets for the price of two.

Yeah but there are 2 problems with that.

1. We have a trip with my current companion to Puerto Rico in August and it says to switch companions you have to cancel your current companion.

2. It says it takes 21 days to take effect and I'd rather book the flight sooner than later.

So I'd have to wait until August 17th to make the change, which would put the day I can book them around September 8th. I don't want to wait that long.

 

[deadlyapp]

Yeah but there are 2 problems with that.

1. We have a trip with my current companion to Puerto Rico in August and it says to switch companions you have to cancel your current companion.

2. It says it takes 21 days to take effect and I'd rather book the flight sooner than later.

So I'd have to wait until August 17th to make the change, which would put the day I can book them around September 8th. I don't want to wait that long.

I think you can only change your companion once a year, so maximum two companions in a year, which may also affect you. There's a reason why they build in some limitations like that.

 

[purbeast0]

I think you can only change your companion once a year, so maximum two companions in a year, which may also affect you. There's a reason why they build in some limitations like that.

3x a year according to their FAQ.

 

[purbeast0]

So since this was of recent discussion, I just wanted to let people know that changing your companion pass is instant.

The website says 21 days for processing and the new card being mailed out, but I just did it now on the phone and changed it to my son and as soon as I refreshed my account page, it showed him.

Then my wife could add her mom as her companion.

And I now just booked my flight with points and added my son as companion, and booked one on my wifes account with points and added her mom as her companion, all for $340 for a round trip to Aruba for my 40th in November/December.

 

[Aharami]

So since this was of recent discussion, I just wanted to let people know that changing your companion pass is instant.

The website says 21 days for processing and the new card being mailed out, but I just did it now on the phone and changed it to my son and as soon as I refreshed my account page, it showed him.

Then my wife could add her mom as her companion.

And I now just booked my flight with points and added my son as companion, and booked one on my wifes account with points and added her mom as her companion, all for $340 for a round trip to Aruba for my 40th in November/December.

this is with Southwest, right? Not CSR?

 

[purbeast0]

this is with Southwest, right? Not CSR?

Yeah SW.

 

[Mermaidman]

CSR "FLASH DEAL"
20% cash back good until 10/1/22 at Shell Gas, Home Depot, Best Buy, McDonalds, CVS, Dollar Tree, Macy's, Jimmy John's.
Must register for the offer for each retailer. Varying caps on rewards and other fine print.
For example, "Earn 20% back on your Best Buy purchase, with a $20.00 back maximum."

(Oh . . . I forgot the HOT DEALS forum still exists!)

 

[zinfamous]

CSR "FLASH DEAL"
20% cash back good until 10/1/22 at Shell Gas, Home Depot, Best Buy, McDonalds, CVS, Dollar Tree, Macy's, Jimmy John's.
Must register for the offer for each retailer. Varying caps on rewards and other fine print.
For example, "Earn 20% back on your Best Buy purchase, with a $20.00 back maximum."

(Oh . . . I forgot the HOT DEALS forum still exists!)

I'm not seeing this for Shell or BB in my normal SR offers page in my online account. Where is this?

I also see nothing greater than 10% off for all of their offers.

 

[Mermaidman]

I'm not seeing this for Shell or BB in my normal SR offers page in my online account. Where is this?

I also see nothing greater than 10% off for all of their offers.

They were in my Chase Offers: (screenshot). Could they are targeted offers . . . hmm?

 

[Brainonska511]

They were in my Chase Offers: (screenshot). Could they are targeted offers . . . hmm?
View attachment 68375

Speaking of Chase offers, on my Amazon Visa, just got an email offer requiring activation for 10% back at gas stations and 3% back at grocery stores until 12/31/2022.

Won't be using the grocery store offer, because I get 6% back with an AmEx card, but the gas station one will be a nice little bonus for the approximately one time per month I might buy gas.

 

[purbeast0]

Anyone know what the best new card offers are to get CUR right now? Or United points?

We are flying to Italy next summer and most likely will try to fly United and since CUR points can be converted directly to United points, I'm down with either of these. These cards will be in my wife's name who hasn't gotten rewards in 24+ months so I'm open to getting 2 cards with different offers, one after the other too.

And then next year we'll open 2 SW cards in her name to get those points + companion pass.

 

[Brainonska511]

We are flying to Italy next summer and most likely will try to fly United and since CUR points can be converted directly to United points, I'm down with either of these. These cards will be in my wife's name who hasn't gotten rewards in 24+ months so I'm open to getting 2 cards with different offers, one after the other too.

Sometimes, I wish my spending was higher to justify getting an opening bonus for many a new card. We're looking at an overseas trip next March - my wife wants to go to Japan, but we have a few backup ideas for some places in Europe if flights are too ridiculous.

Though, I did just open up a Bilt card to pay my rent (no transaction fees for rent, and my corporate landlord is a Bilt member) - get 1 point per dollar in rent as long as there are at least 5 transactions per statement period (and 3x points on restaurants, 2x on travel), and they allow 1:1 point transfers to United and AA. That should at least help build up some miles for a flight or two with a major airline given monthly rent in the Boston metro area.

 

[JM Aggie08]

I've got 3 cards we use -- we don't use debit cards for shit:

• Lowe's
  • Use: Exclusively at Lowe's for 5% discount
  • Originally got this 2 years out of school for 12mo 0% financing for a large purchase
• Chase Amazon Prime
  • Use: Amazon and Whole Foods (...and Costco)
  • Originally got this to combine with a Prime Day deal for my NAS -- points are pretty excellent at WF and Amazon
• Amex Gold
  • Use: Everything with exception to Amazon, Whole Foods, Lowe's
  • The points on this are fantastic. I could probably use them for something more useful, but having it linked to our Amazon account and use them to buy stuff I'd normally feel guilting purchasing lol

I have been looking around at other alternatives to the Amex Gold. We travel a fair amount in a normal year -- the United cards seem somewhat attractive, but also the Capital One cards seem a great value. I'm not opposed to a higher annual fee if the juice is worth the squeeze.