Disney for $1.10 for a family of four...

[eliza61]

It also sounds exhausting.

Lol Jana, It was exhausting for me, I. have serious short term attention problems. I tried one year and it was a disaster

 

[loveshak22]

Lol. 3 YEARS. ok God bless ya. So after you get the 1000points on one card, how do you combine all the points over 8 cards??

Well most are 50,000 points and you don't always need to combine for a benefit, although that can help. For example, I just opened an American Airlines card and will get 50,000 points towards flights if I spend $3,000 in 3 months. Depending on when I go that could be 2 round-trip tickets (25,000 each ticket) on AA or US Airways. If you are a family of four then you'd at least have two tickets there. Then after you hit those points your spouse could open a card and then do the same thing and there's 100,000...you each could use your points to book two tickets without combining the points. And that's 6 months to get the tickets.

Southwest, United, Delta and other airline cards also have offers so you'd have to find the airline that works best where you live.

For the Barclay card you get a $400 statement credit after spending $3,000 in 3 months so, for example you could open that next. Then if you buy tickets from Disney or Undercover tourist you'd just apply that statement credit to that set of tickets purchase and then your spouse could do the same. That's 12 months for 4 round trip tickets and $800 in statement credits. If you want to stay at Swan and Dolphin you get an SPG card and then I think you could transfer points between accounts once you and your spouse earn the bonus - so between the two of you that's another 6 months so 18 months for a lot of savings.

So I was overestimating for 3 years unless you want even more points for more savings, like opening the Disney Visa if you find the offer for a $250 gift card, which comes out on occasion. So another 6 months for those points...so 24 months if I am doing my math right!!

Or you could just plan on 6-months and get the savings from the airline points alone and not do the more complicated option over multiple cards.

 

[eliza61]

Well most are 50,000 points and you don't always need to combine for a benefit, although that can help. For example, I just opened an American Airlines card and will get 50,000 points towards flights if I spend $3,000 in 3 months. Depending on when I go that could be 2 round-trip tickets (25,000 each ticket) on AA or US Airways. If you are a family of four then you'd at least have two tickets there. Then after you hit those points your spouse could open a card and then do the same thing and there's 100,000...you each could use your points to book two tickets without combining the points. And that's 6 months to get the tickets.

Southwest, United, Delta and other airline cards also have offers so you'd have to find the airline that works best where you live.

For the Barclay card you get a $400 statement credit after spending $3,000 in 3 months so, for example you could open that next. Then if you buy tickets from Disney or Undercover tourist you'd just apply that statement credit to that set of tickets purchase and then your spouse could do the same. That's 12 months for 4 round trip tickets and $800 in statement credits. If you want to stay at Swan and Dolphin you get an SPG card and then I think you could transfer points between accounts once you and your spouse earn the bonus - so between the two of you that's another 6 months so 18 months for a lot of savings.

So I was overestimating for 3 years unless you want even more points for more savings, like opening the Disney Visa if you find the offer for a $250 gift card, which comes out on occasion. So another 6 months for those points...so 24 months if I am doing my math right!!

Or you could just plan on 6-months and get the savings from the airline points alone and not do the more complicated option over multiple cards.

I do understand the process, for example when i went to Paris, I did that with amex but after you get the first year, you have to start all over again? now I've got the American
Express from last year, I'd close it down and open 3 new ones this year or after two years we've got 15 credit accounts, now since i set up all my bills electronically every three months Im rearranging my monthly bills to meet the minimum. yikes

I do admire those that do it successful though.

 

[minnie45]

It definitely takes some time; however, in the next 18 months I'll have done 3- 8 day wdw vacations only paying for food and souvenirs (and some of those I cover with cash back cards) and 5-10 weekends around the Midwest at very minimal cost- it is well worth the time imo

I am going to do this, but I want to take it slow until I get use to juggling things. It's going to be work...making a spread sheet, reading fine print, understanding how the points/rewards work, getting creative with making purchases "fit" into defined categories , etc... The way I see it, I could get a second job etc, to help pay extra travel expenses OR do this. (which will be extra work...but I can do it at home, on my own time, and in my PJs if I want) I get 2 or 3 credit card apps. daily...now I need to figure out which ones to get.

I do have a Disney trip coming up May 31...Villa is paid for (DVC) and using the remainder of our Non-expiration tickets for parks. We will be paying out of pocket for dining plan. (saved a little per month all year to pay cash) Now I'm thinking about using a card with rewards to pay for it and then going on the computer to pay it off the next day to get the rewards for the purchase...Any suggestions on which card might be best for this type of purchase?. Also, we are driving so, I'm going to pay for the gas on a card also. I'm thinking Bankof America 3%---got application in the mail today...I can apply this years "cash back/or points" to next years trip. Or heck...maybe I'll go again later this year..

 

[calypso726]

This also requires a good deal of disposable income and not something that a family with two single streams of income would want to attempt (unless both of those income streams are six figure plus). The average person, I feel, would become so mired in debt that the sea would close over them before they could realize the savings. My wife and I are both professionals with "decent" incomes, but the minimum purchases that most of these cards require for the rewards to kick in would overwhelm our monthly disposable income. I could not find room in my budget to pay off a 3000.00 balance before the next billing cycle. Sounds good, but not for the "average" American worker ($50,500 per annum).

No it doesn't. I have taught my mom how to do it and her income as a retiree falls well below the average American worker. None of us spend $3K in a month in real money. We simply pay our normal bills, do our normal household spending but use the one card that is offering the bonus. That and add a little manufactured spending to the mix. The bonus rewards and spending requirements are usually over 3 months so it is really $1K per month.

It also sounds exhausting.

I suppose for some doing this would be exhausting. I would guess my efforts may average out to 15 minutes a day of effort overall between learning and managing spreadsheets. Doing so has allowed us to travel more, have experiences that we would have never been able to. The thousands of dollars it would have taken to replicate what we have been able to do over the last three years would have required a second full time job. For me, that would be way more exhausting

You just need to get creative- there are plenty of ways to meet minimum spend without actually spending any money- plus they're not one month requirements- most are three months some are six. Google manufactured spending and you can get some ideas

Thank goodness for manufactured spending! Learning that allowed each of us to get the American Airlines Executive card last year when it was 100K miles for $10K spend in 3 months! No way we could have managed it without manufacturing the spend. But because of MS we each got two of those cards and were able to add 400K AA miles!

It definitely takes some time; however, in the next 18 months I'll have done 3- 8 day wdw vacations only paying for food and souvenirs (and some of those I cover with cash back cards) and 5-10 weekends around the Midwest at very minimal cost- it is well worth the time imo

We have managed 3 first class international round trip flights, 4 RT first class domestic flights, stayed at several hotels in Europe that would have cost a few thousand out of pocket for $0, wiped well over $1000 off of the credit card for travel related purchases in Disneyland Paris. This year, we are going for wiping $2000 off the credit cards for travel related purchases on the 11 night Disney Cruise to Norway, Iceland and Scotland.

 

[MinnieForMe]

I've also been churning for years. We keep our score above 810 and pay all bills in full every month. This is NOT worth it if you don't pay your bills in full, are not organized or financially unable to meet the spends necessary to earn the rewards. Anyway, one way you earn enough points is to make sure the cards you get have the ability to transfer to the airline program you want. A great first CC to get into this is the Chase Sapphire Preferred. It transfers to many airlines or hotels. So, our family of five flew to Aruba for free by getting two Southwest Visa CC (one for me and one for my husband) and then we transferred all of our points from the Chase Sapphire over to Southwest. For a serious churner, this may not have made the best financial sense because Chase Sapphire points are so valuable but for our family, free flight to Aruba was worth it. The Southwest CC does have an annual fee but it's worth it and I cancel after the first year. Most CC's waive the credit card fee the first year. We've only seen our credit score increase since churning but we are not over-the-top churners. I make sure we have enough points to fly our family free at least once a year for our vacation. This year I threw an Amex card into the mix and our rental car was free.

Many people collect American Airline miles by getting the AA Advantage card and a US Air card that's 90k points in one shot. Add, a husband with great credit and you now have 180k which is enough to fly a family of five for free to many locations. This particular churn is no longer possible because of the merger between US Air and AA but I believe there is a new Aviator card out that might work with the AA advantage card.

I don't bother with a Credit Card unless I get $400-500 value for opening it.

I also highly recommend reading "Million Mile Secret", "Mommy Points", flyer Talk forum and Miles and Points as a start.

Good luck and happy travels!

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

I'm also a miles/points credit card churner. I follow several blogs to learn. My family was able to go to Hawaii last month for almost free! We even stayed at Aulani for 5 nights. We used miles for airline tickets and 8 nights of hotel, just had to pay around $50 in taxes for the flights and parking at the hotels. The Barclay cards played a huge role in getting our hotel expenses for free.

 

[la la limon]

MinnieforMe--I'm glad you posted this: "I don't bother with a Credit Card unless I get $400-500 value for opening it."

I need some advice. I became very interested in points and miles right before going to Disney last year (and was really kicking myself for putting so much spend on that Disney Visa). Over the past year I've learned a lot and really like our credit card strategy. We saving our points for a couple trips, including a Disney trip and I just got the Disney Visa referral offer. I could make a referral to my husband and I would get $50 for our Disney trip and he would get $200 after the minimum spend. At this point the $250 would be a great addition to our trip fund and I really don't see my husband applying for another card this year (we're not really "churners" but very focused on our spending). Any advice about whether the $250 is worth it? I know we won't put much spend on the card but it's also a no annual fee so we would not have to worry about an annual fee. I can't decide--so tempting!

 

[calypso726]

MinnieforMe--I'm glad you posted this: "I don't bother with a Credit Card unless I get $400-500 value for opening it."

I need some advice. I became very interested in points and miles right before going to Disney last year (and was really kicking myself for putting so much spend on that Disney Visa). Over the past year I've learned a lot and really like our credit card strategy. We saving our points for a couple trips, including a Disney trip and I just got the Disney Visa referral offer. I could make a referral to my husband and I would get $50 for our Disney trip and he would get $200 after the minimum spend. At this point the $250 would be a great addition to our trip fund and I really don't see my husband applying for another card this year (we're not really "churners" but very focused on our spending). Any advice about whether the $250 is worth it? I know we won't put much spend on the card but it's also a no annual fee so we would not have to worry about an annual fee. I can't decide--so tempting!

We also put a ton of spend on our Disney Viasa before we learned there were other cards that would get us more bang for the buck. For me the $250 wouldn't be worth it. I would sooner apply for the Barclay Arrival Plus that would get me $460 in travel redemptions after the minimum spend. Each time you redeem for travel related purchases you also get a10% bonus on the points you just redeemed. This was the card we used to wipe off a little over $500 each from our statements when we went to Disneyland Paris. It has no foreign transaction fees, is a true chip and pin card, comes with Trip it Pro for free and has a travel community forum that allows you to earn extra points for posting travel related stories. The $89 fee is waived the first year. An alternate would be the Capital One Venture which will also get you $460 after the minimum spend for travel redemptions, no foreign transaction fees, chip and signature and the $59 annual fee is waived the first year. Hope this helps. When the annual fee comes due the following year on either card you call the company and see if they will waive it. If they don't, then cancel the card.

 

[MinnieForMe]

la la limon - there is nothing wrong with $250 but so many options to make more. I love the Barclay's Arrival. I believe it's 40k points ($400) with a 2-3k spend in 3 months. You can apply your points right to your statement balance but I believe it's towards travel expenses. Please look into it because it's been a while since I used this card. My guess would be Disney tickets would count in this category but please check.

Do a google search on best reward cards for 2015 and that should point you in the right direction!

Just saw the person above me, gave the same answer. LOL.

 

[la la limon]

Thanks, you two! I have the barclay card already and I'm hoping to have enough miles to cover our hotel by the time we go. I'm going to look at the Venture card. Thanks much!

 

[calypso726]

Thanks, you two! I have the barclay card already and I'm hoping to have enough miles to cover our hotel by the time we go. I'm going to look at the Venture card. Thanks much!

You're welcome! Just keep in mind that the Capital One Venture only gives you 90 days to erase travel redemption purchases. The Barclay Arrival Plus gives you 120. Just make sure you plan accordingly.

 

[MinnieForMe]

La La Limon,
After the Venture, look into the Chase Sapphire Preferred or any number of Amex cards. Good luck!

 

[ski_mom]

Love this thread! I always think about getting seriously into this, but haven't pulled the trigger.

The only ones DH and I have done are the Southwest cards and we've done well with them I think. The first time we both applied and got 50,000 points. We then cancelled my card and kept DH's card. A couple years later, I reapplied for it and got 50,000 more. We then cancelled DH's card and will apply again in his name at some point. From those 3 times applying and the spending we've done on the cards, we've flown 2 to Las Vegas, 2 to San Juan, 6 to California, 5 to New York City and we now have enough to fly the 5 of us somewhere again. We just haven't decided when and where yet.

A couple of posters mentioned using an excel spreadsheet. I don't know if there is anyway of sharing it on here, but I'd love to see what you have set up if it's possible. If it can't be uploaded here, I could pm you my email and have it sent that way if anyone is willing to do that!

I also agree with a couple of other posters who said it takes a lot of time and sounds exhausting, but I consider something like this to be a hobby. Some people spend a lot of time on things they find enjoyable and this would be one thing that I think is fun to think and read about.

 

[loveshak22]

Love this thread! I always think about getting seriously into this, but haven't pulled the trigger.

The only ones DH and I have done are the Southwest cards and we've done well with them I think. The first time we both applied and got 50,000 points. We then cancelled my card and kept DH's card. A couple years later, I reapplied for it and got 50,000 more. We then cancelled DH's card and will apply again in his name at some point. From those 3 times applying and the spending we've done on the cards, we've flown 2 to Las Vegas, 2 to San Juan, 6 to California, 5 to New York City and we now have enough to fly the 5 of us somewhere again. We just haven't decided when and where yet.

A couple of posters mentioned using an excel spreadsheet. I don't know if there is anyway of sharing it on here, but I'd love to see what you have set up if it's possible. If it can't be uploaded here, I could pm you my email and have it sent that way if anyone is willing to do that!

I also agree with a couple of other posters who said it takes a lot of time and sounds exhausting, but I consider something like this to be a hobby. Some people spend a lot of time on things they find enjoyable and this would be one thing that I think is fun to think and read about.

I completely agree with the "hobby" comment! Vacation planning is something I love...and I love deals! So to me this is fun. It's about what people think is worth "it"...with "it" being their time, their money, etc. For me, I never could get into couponing because it's just my DH and myself and it would take a lot of time to save $20 a week. Now is $20 a week lot of money, over a year especially? Yes, of course! But for an hour or two of planning plus going to three different stores every week - it wasn't worth it. But have me spend several hours planning out and researching the best cards, applying and tracking the cards, and paying the bills across several cards to reach the spending limits worth it to save on a one-time purchase of $1,000 in airline tickets, or $500 statement credits for travel, or free hotel stays? That is more than worth it for me! It's all about what people find a valuable use of their time.

I don't use Excel. I have a Word table (I just don't use spreadsheets a lot so it's just as easy for me) which lists each card, payment due date, and what the spending requirements are for each card and the date to reach that requirement.

I've never done anything more than using points for flights or rental car from time to time. We haven't ever tried to pay off a whole vacation using credit card rewards. However, I'm trying pretty hard to get as much as I can paid for by the November trip!

 

[hsmamato2]

I am noticing one big omission here....if you are willing to apply for multiple credit cards for travel bonuses.... and you choose SWA be aware of the companion pass option. it is hands down the BEST airline deal out there. Instead of a husband and wife each getting a card, one of them gets 2 cards,in their name,on their Rapid rewards acct. That's 100,000 miles after the spending,annual fee,and bonus reward. If you get 110,000 points into that acct. in ONE calendar year, you get a companion pass. That means a companion travels for FREE with you until the end of that year,PLUS the calendar year following. (example, if I attained 110k status in Feb. 2014, the companion pass is good thru Dec 2016) That means you book your flight using those points you got as a bonus,and your companion flies FREE. So as great a discount as you had with just the bonus, it now doubles. To me,getting a family traveling, this was where I focused like a laser- till I got it. Lots of info right on the southwest site- it has to be all the points,within the same year,in the same RR acct.

 

[ski_mom]

I am noticing one big omission here....if you are willing to apply for multiple credit cards for travel bonuses.... and you choose SWA be aware of the companion pass option. it is hands down the BEST airline deal out there. Instead of a husband and wife each getting a card, one of them gets 2 cards,in their name,on their Rapid rewards acct. That's 100,000 miles after the spending,annual fee,and bonus reward. If you get 110,000 points into that acct. in ONE calendar year, you get a companion pass. That means a companion travels for FREE with you until the end of that year,PLUS the calendar year following. (example, if I attained 110k status in Feb. 2014, the companion pass is good thru Dec 2016) That means you book your flight using those points you got as a bonus,and your companion flies FREE. So as great a discount as you had with just the bonus, it now doubles. To me,getting a family traveling, this was where I focused like a laser- till I got it. Lots of info right on the southwest site- it has to be all the points,within the same year,in the same RR acct.

I've read a little about this and I think when I reapply for DH's cards I'm going to try this. I hope they have the promotion early next year.

Do you have to have the same companion every time you fly, or could he take me one time and one of the kids another time?

 

[alymae1010]

I've read a little about this and I think when I reapply for DH's cards I'm going to try this. I hope they have the promotion early next year.

Do you have to have the same companion every time you fly, or could he take me one time and one of the kids another time?

They typically do it in the late fall which is the best time to go for it. You hit the spend in January, then you get the companion pass for that year plus the next.

You choose a companion once you qualify, and you can change it up to 3 times I believe.