ABC has an article on a mom who travels for almost nothing..

[Disneyluv111]

Or pay minimal fees. They have credit cards that offers rewards points and no debt (pays off balance at the end of month)! I was amazed. I didn't want to think negative or make assumptions so I kept reading the comments! Wow! I admire the moms who do this as a hobby!

 

[Marionnette]

Or paying next to nothing. They have credit cards that offers rewards points and no debt (pays off balance at the end of month)! I was amazed. I didn't want to think negative or make assumptions so I kept reading the comments! Wow! I admire the moms who do this as a hobby!

Credit card churning is nothing new. There are people on this board who do it to varying degrees. Some of the people on flyertalk and slickdeals have elevated it to an art form. Check thepointsguy's blog for up-to-date information about credit card offers and analyses of the best values for using your points.

 

[Disneyluv111]

Credit card churning is nothing new. There are people on this board who do it to varying degrees. Some of the people on flyertalk and slickdeals have elevated it to an art form. Check thepointsguy's blog for up-to-date information about credit card offers and analyses of the best values for using your points.

I'm sure it's not but it's new to me. I'm not interested in the hobby just wanted to say I admire those moms or those who do it. Definitely not for me.

 

[platamama]

Ditto what Marionnette said.

Good news is that almost anyone can do this, and you can start off small and work your way into more great deals.

First rule - pay off your credit card balance in full each month! Do not pass Go until you are able to do this.

Flyertalk was indispensable in learning more about how to do this; I've spent many hours there soaking in information.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

My favorite is million mile secrets. Lots of info and tips. With his info we've been able to get a southwest companion pass and tons of hotel points. We also learned how to maximize redemption on our points.

 

[dreamin_disney]

I would love to learn how to get free companion flights or cheaper rates.

On our winter trip we got invited to go with DH cousin and family . they have a timeshare so hotel for us is free.

We just have to pay for our own food, entertainment and 1/2 of gas.

Dh and I have been getting dining cards using shopkicks. We have 5-6 dining cards, plus about $200 in target cards.
I've earned $200 in paypal money from swagbucks

$50 in wal-greens rewards

Bofa $110 in cash rewards
citi $182 in cash rewards

so our food for this trip is paid for and if we cook I can use target giftcards or paypal money for stuff to make. Then we should have some sxtra spending money.

I plan on doing more swagbucks to earn gas money

so most of our trip is paid for

I owe it all to the dis board. thanks guys

 

[Disneyluv111]

There are many great tips and advice on here!

 

[manning]

The only thing you have to avoid is.....overspend

I like those sign up and get 50,000 points. All you have to do is spend....$3,000 the first 3 months.

It's back to the....nothing is free.

From someone who is enjoying a very comfortable retirement.

 

[JanaDee]

My favorite is million mile secrets. Lots of info and tips. With his info we've been able to get a southwest companion pass and tons of hotel points. We also learned how to maximize redemption on our points.

In order for us to get a SW companion pass, we'd have to put $110,000 on our SW card.

We don't even spend that much money in a year.

Credit card churning may have been around for a while, but for me, it crosses a line and borders on theft. I'm more interested in keeping our credit great than getting some stuff for "free", at the cost of our credit score.

Also, the more places you willingly hand over private financial info, the more risk you take with identity theft.

None of those are a chance I'm willing to take.

 

[RitaE]

The only thing you have to avoid is.....overspend

I like those sign up and get 50,000 points. All you have to do is spend....$3,000 the first 3 months.

It's back to the....nothing is free.

From someone who is enjoying a very comfortable retirement.

I think those kind of things work best for people like my husband, who easily spends $3000 a month on average on Work Travel. So we get the points and card benefits and his company spends the money.

I've seen people co-ordinate those types of offers with major expenditures though. Like, open a new card right before a kitchen remodel and get the new card benefits, then surf it over to a 0% offer on another card and get the low fee financing benefits.

 

[Marionnette]

The only thing you have to avoid is.....overspend

I like those sign up and get 50,000 points. All you have to do is spend....$3,000 the first 3 months.

It's back to the....nothing is free.

From someone who is enjoying a very comfortable retirement.

It's not hard to meet that threshold without spending an unecessary dime if you know how. I once hit the spending limit ($500) on a new CC by purchasing grocery GCs. It cost me nothing in the long run because I have to grocery shop anyway. I just "pre-paid" my grocery bill for a few weeks.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

In order for us to get a SW companion pass, we'd have to put $110,000 on our SW card.

We don't even spend that much money in a year.

Credit card churning may have been around for a while, but for me, it crosses a line and borders on theft. I'm more interested in keeping our credit great than getting some stuff for "free", at the cost of our credit score.

Also, the more places you willingly hand over private financial info, the more risk you take with identity theft.

None of those are a chance I'm willing to take.

I just want to clear up a couple of misconceptions in your post.

First , most people initially get the Southwest companion certificate by getting a personal and business sign up bonus, and charging $10,000.

Second, those with multiple rewards cards tend to have higher credit scores due to lower utilization. And I'm not sure how it's even bordering on theft to get a sign up bonus if you follow the rules.

Finally, I'm not sure how multiple rewards cards makes you more vulnerable to identity theft. I personally don't use debit cards to avoid problems with a hacked account, but whether you use 1 credit card or 10, your account number might be stolen.

In the end, it is a personal choice and you appear to be very happy with the choice you made. -- Suzanne

 

[RitaE]

The only way it could possibly be "bordering on theft" would be for the credit user to somehow apply for or utilize the card fraudulently or the run up the card and then not pay the bills or something like that.

Otherwise, it is just using the program for the intended purpose. Fidelity just sent me a letter "congratulating" us for utilizing their Investment Rewards credit program. Of course their congratulation came with some other sales pitches wanting us to utilize some other Fidelity products. So far in 2014 we've put over $1000 into our brokerage account from their credit card rewards program. There's no thievery involved, I assure you. We've just done a bathroom remodel and then my husband's work expenses.

And our credit scores are more than fine. Mostly because we have nearing 30 years of 100% on time payment history and a very low utilization rate on our credit cards.

 

[JanaDee]

I just want to clear up a couple of misconceptions in your post. First , most people initially get the Southwest companion certificate by getting a personal and business sign up bonus, and charging $10,000. Second, those with multiple rewards cards tend to have higher credit scores due to lower utilization. And I'm not sure how it's even bordering on theft to get a sign up bonus if you follow the rules. Finally, I'm not sure how multiple rewards cards makes you more vulnerable to identity theft. I personally don't use debit cards to avoid problems with a hacked account, but whether you use 1 credit card or 10, your account number might be stolen. In the end, it is a personal choice and you appear to be very happy with the choice you made. -- Suzanne

We will have to agree to disagree.

 

[DisneyEater]

In order for us to get a SW companion pass, we'd have to put $110,000 on our SW card.

We don't even spend that much money in a year.

Credit card churning may have been around for a while, but for me, it crosses a line and borders on theft. I'm more interested in keeping our credit great than getting some stuff for "free", at the cost of our credit score.

Also, the more places you willingly hand over private financial info, the more risk you take with identity theft.

None of those are a chance I'm willing to take.

This post cracks me up. I certainly understand not being comfortable with churning credit cards. I do it minimally (switch cards once a year or so), but mostly because I worry about my own spending habbits so I don't want too much going on at once because I am afraid I might lose track.

You are making assuptions at things you don't understand and asserting them as fact. The impact on your credit score has been proven to be both minimal and short term and I am not sure how spending on a credit card vs. cash or debit is theft.

Oh, and you certainly don't need to spend $110K to get a companion pass, but we will just leave that for another day.

 

[hsmamato2]

This post cracks me up. I certainly understand not being comfortable with churning credit cards. I do it minimally (switch cards once a year or so), but mostly because I worry about my own spending habbits so I don't want too much going on at once because I am afraid I might lose track.

You are making assuptions at things you don't understand and asserting them as fact. The impact on your credit score has been proven to be both minimal and short term and I am not sure how spending on a credit card vs. cash or debit is theft.

Oh, and you certainly don't need to spend $110K to get a companion pass, but we will just leave that for another day.

 

[MomToOne]

My sister does this sort of thing as her "hobby". It takes a lot of time - she monitors for exceptional credit card deals and churns like crazy (which is not a problem for people on very solid financial footings, but if you are not solid financially then this sort of thing might not be for you!), monitors for shopping deals that get her lots of extra points, monitors for the lower-point level ff seat/hotel room availability, takes random flights in her free time that are cheap but get her lots of "butt in seat" miles to get higher levels of status with the airlines, and also does the same with hotel stays. Plus I'm sure she does also stuff I don't even know about. She's an attorney with her own practice, so I have no clue how she finds the time, but it's something she's passionate about so she does! (No kids helps )

I am thankful I get to be the recipient of all her hard work on occasion - she has been covering most hotel and airfare for a vacation every two years with her, me, DD14, my sister-in-law, and my two nephews. We did China two years ago, and Paris this past summer. While there are still plenty of other travel expenses I have to cover (passports, meals, activities, etc.) we definitely would not have been able to take the trips without her help. But there is no way I would have the patience or the time to do all the wheeling and dealing to make it happen - I really can't undersell the amount of work she puts in to make this stuff happen.

ETA: I myself do participate in a fair amount of credit card churning, although I typically do so for other purposes (free baggage allowances on trips, free early boarding, monetary bonuses, etc). My credit score is outstanding, and takes only a few point hit for a few months whenever I get a new card or close an old one - which is the result of a hard inquiry on my report, not really the fact that I have yet another card. And I don't see how taking advantage of an offer a company makes to me for a sign-up bonus is "theft". My credit history clearly shows I churn cards, and they still make me the offers - in fact, the more I do so, the more/better offers I get! So clearly they think there is something in it for them.

I have 7 major credit cards in my wallet right now, and another in the mail on its way to me! Most I have gotten in the last few years, one or two I've had longer term. I will be closing one or two in the next year as the due date for an annual fee comes up that I don't want to pay. But I'm sure I will find others that have nice sign-up bonuses during that same time, so I will get those. None of them have a balance, in fact, most of them are rarely even used after I've qualified for the sign-up bonus (which I don't spend extra to achieve - the ones I apply for I can usually hit with just my normal spending - I just put as many of my normal expenses as I can on them, even things like my car registration or insurance which make a big splash). Even with all those credit cards with a ridiculous amount of open credit, my recent home refinance was a walk in the park because my utilization percentage was low, low, low due to paying off everything each month. The number of credit cards are generally not an issue - it's how you USE them, what the rest of your credit history looks like and what your debt to income ratio is.

 

[KKB]

Yet I just qualified for SWA companion pass this summer....50K points each on 2 SWA cards. Charged items we were going to buy anyway ($10K over a few months) (but do not usually charge) paid off--BAM, companion pass.

It is NOT theft. The credit card providers offer these benefits, and we simply maximize them.

DH & I play MyVegas on facebook--DH has never spent any $ on the game, I have spent $58 (allowed us to get 2 Cirque tickets we would have otherwise not gotten). Over 3 years, we have earned over $1K in free rooms, shows & meals. Now they are partnering with Royal Caribbean for free goodies on cruises (or free cruises!)
Social rewards is another site that earns me free spending $ for Vegas.

PS our credit is outstanding.

Really no difference than using coupons or mail in rebates. Vendors offer them & use them if you like. Personally I like to stretch every penny I make as far as it will go--and travel our my #1 hobby.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Credit card churning may have been around for a while, but for me, it crosses a line and borders on theft. I'm more interested in keeping our credit great than getting some stuff for "free", at the cost of our credit score.

You don't necessarily have to "churn" to take advantage of these deals and get points. I travel roughly a dozen times a year for business - obviously if somebody doesn't travel at all except for a vacation or two a year then I'd say travel credit cards and points may not be for them (especially when you look at paying the annual fees). I got the SW Credit cards to pay for my flights and to try and qualify for CP (I did get 2 of these to help get to 110,000 pts). I got a Marriott card to pay for hotels. We apply for all the bonus points offers with our cards and those companies. For example this summer I got double points on one of my Southwest Flights. At a conference in June I earned 2 free nights with Marriott because I'd stayed with Marriott multiple times in a 3 month time period.

Otherwise we just put all our monthly expenses on the Southwest Card each month and by the end of the year we'll have enough points for a couple of round trips. Just by doing my normal spending and travel this year we should have enough points to take a trip to DL next year where flight and hotel are covered. All we'll have to cover is food.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Yet I just qualified for SWA companion pass this summer....50K points each on 2 SWA cards. Charged items we were going to buy anyway ($10K over a few months) (but do not usually charge) paid off--BAM, companion pass.

That's awesome! Congratulations, hopefully you're able to take a bunch of flights over the next year and a half and really maximize the CP.

The Companion Pass is just one of the many reasons I love Southwest! I'm so glad they came to the Pittsburgh airport a decade or so ago, we'd have gone to Disney World a lot less without their great fares!