I love credit cards so much!

[CyndiLouWho]

I feel like this just makes it so hard for the people who don’t churn. For example, DH got a Delta Gold probably 7-8 years ago when he was traveling a lot for work on Delta. The only charges he would put on it were flight related and at Costco, since that was the only Amex we had. He no longer travels for work, and hadn’t used the card since whenever Costco stopped accepting Amex (20 months ago?). His only reason for not using is he’s not flying on Delta currently. I feel like he would be pretty irritated if he applied for an Amex and didn’t get approved because he didn’t put enough spend on it.

But then again, perhaps they’re only doing this to the people with multiple cards with very little spend. Sometimes it just seems like CC rules would make no sense to anyone but churners!

Yeah but to AmEx he’s the same as a churner. They make money from people using the card. From their perspective, if you’re not using it why give you another?

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I feel like this just makes it so hard for the people who don’t churn. For example, DH got a Delta Gold probably 7-8 years ago when he was traveling a lot for work on Delta. The only charges he would put on it were flight related and at Costco, since that was the only Amex we had. He no longer travels for work, and hadn’t used the card since whenever Costco stopped accepting Amex (20 months ago?). His only reason for not using is he’s not flying on Delta currently. I feel like he would be pretty irritated if he applied for an Amex and didn’t get approved because he didn’t put enough spend on it.

But then again, perhaps they’re only doing this to the people with multiple cards with very little spend. Sometimes it just seems like CC rules would make no sense to anyone but churners!

I made this funny comment in r/churning yesterday...

Welcome to the new AMEX...where you CAN’T MS to earn the bonus but if you DON’T MS after earning the bonus, they’ll deny you future cards. LOL!

 

[georgina]

OFF topic...but since my name is @SouthFayetteFan...

Tonight the South Fayette Lions lost 34-33 to a team one class up. It was a GREAT game. But it ends our 57 game regular season winning streak. To put some perspective on it...the last time SF lost was Oct 2011 and I had only 3 Credit Cards!

At any rate, this is a non-conference game that means nothing to the overall season and the team played very well coming back in the second half so I'm encouraged they'll have a great season!

Did you see what IMG Academy did to my local HS team (last year's PA state champs) Friday night?

I can't believe we are still doing the CC churning thing with DH retired, but my DD was able to generate a referral link and he was approved for a CSR this morning. Will try for CSP this afternoon. It's all your fault!

 

[DisneyMandC]

Yeah but to AmEx he’s the same as a churner. They make money from people using the card. From their perspective, if you’re not using it why give you another?

I understand that logic, but I just think many wouldn’t see it that way. Before I started churning, if you asked my DH why he didn’t use it, he would tell you truthfully “I haven’t flown on Delta recently so I haven’t had a reason to use it.” To him, a Delta credit card is to put Delta flights on and that’s all he’d use it for. He’d be confused about why he’d want them to use it for other charges when he has a standard BoA credit card to put everything else on.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Did you see what IMG Academy did to my local HS team (last year's PA state champs) Friday night?

I can't believe we are still doing the CC churning thing with DH retired, but my DD was able to generate a referral link and he was approved for a CSR this morning. Will try for CSP this afternoon. It's all your fault!

Yeah - poor Pine, that wasn’t a fair fight. That Pine team last year was Legit tho! I love following all the teams in Western PA!

 

[DisneyMandC]

Well, glad I went for the SPG Biz. DH told me this morning that he’s fed up with listening to our noisy washing machine. It makes a terrible screeching noise. We’ve had the issue diagnosed and it’s more to fix it than it is to buy a new washer. Plus, I looked in it when it was running this morning and noticed it will no longer agitate in one direction, so it just keeps spinning the same way. So I’m going to go to the Sears Outlet next weekend when they’ll hopefully have some Labor Day sales and see what I can get.

 

[Lain]

From my discussion yesterday on r/churning this popped up: https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/c...sion_thread_august_20_2018/e4jdc22/?context=1

Apparently somebody saw that message, spent around $1,000 across a couple of statements and then tried again and was fine. This is certainly an "anecdotal" piece of info...but it sounds like it is possible to get back in good graces!

This would make the most sense to me. When Amex mentions based on your "history," I have to assume that they’re evaluating the relationship on an ongoing basis rather than putting customers on a blacklist forever because spend on their cards dropped off for a few months. (There are lots of reasons for spend dropping off unrelated to churning.)

I get Amex is probably thinking they approved you for their cards (and bonuses), but you’re not spending on them, and then you try to apply for more cards, Amex would be like hold up, you’re a gamer trying to play me aren’t you? So you get the pop up message. But if you go back to spending, and Amex does its history check and sees that, I’m hoping that factors in to get you back in Amex’s good graces.

Just looking at my Amex cards, I've had cards with months where I had no spend:

I got my SPG Biz at the end of 10/17, put lots of spend on it as my everything else card from 11/17 - 4/18, then no balance on statements in 5/18 and 6/18 (because I got the MB Plat and SPG Personal in 4/18 and shifted spend to meet MSRs). Put ~$1k of spend on it in 7/18 to take advantage of the Staples 10% back Amex Offer while the SPG Biz still earned Starpoints.

My ~7 year old PRG has moderate amounts of spend on every statement in the past year except 4/18 (again, when I got the MB Plat and SPG Personal).

I got my MB Plat and SPG Personal in 4/18, and have spend on them for every statement from 4/18 - to date, more while meeting MSR and tapering off to mostly taking advantage of Amex Offers after MSRs.

This was enough to qualify me for the welcome bonuses on Hilton Biz (online, no pop up) in mid-6/18, the Biz Plat (over the phone, so no pop up) and Biz Green (self-referral online, no pop up) at the end of 7/18, and the SPG Lux (self-referral online, no pop up) at the end of 8/18.

I have spend on the PRG, SPG Biz, SPG Personal, MB Plat, Hilton Biz, and Biz Plat (and $1 on the Biz Green) in 7/18 and 8/18, mostly taking advantage of the Staples, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Best Buy Amex Offers.

 

[amalone1013]

Good news: I figured out what we can dress up as for MNSSHP

Bad news: I want to order some stuff on Amazon on it but don't have enough credit on the account, and I don't want to order until I can stop at Lowes/Staples and buy gift cards at 10% off...

#churnerproblems?

 

[pillow]

Well, glad I went for the SPG Biz. DH told me this morning that he’s fed up with listening to our noisy washing machine. It makes a terrible screeching noise. We’ve had the issue diagnosed and it’s more to fix it than it is to buy a new washer. Plus, I looked in it when it was running this morning and noticed it will no longer agitate in one direction, so it just keeps spinning the same way. So I’m going to go to the Sears Outlet next weekend when they’ll hopefully have some Labor Day sales and see what I can get.

Check the Amex offers on your SPG Biz. I had 10% back on Lowe's purchases. Also, 10% back at Staples. Staples sells Home Depot egift cards (takes about 2 hours to show up in my email). So Lowe's and Home Depot might be other options for you. Happy Shopping!!

 

[pillow]

Good news: I figured out what we can dress up as for MNSSHP

Bad news: I want to order some stuff on Amazon on it but don't have enough credit on the account, and I don't want to order until I can stop at Lowes/Staples and buy gift cards at 10% off...

#churnerproblems?

Can you find the same stuff on Ebay? I had a coupon in my eBay account yesterday + Staples sells Ebay egift cards online so you won't have to visit the store.

 

[Judique]

Safeway: $15 off two $100 Mastercard GC, $10 off two $50 Mastercard GC & More (Von’s, Randall’s, Albertson’s, Tom Thumb, Acme, Jewel, Shaw’s)

Should be fun to run through Plastiq's Masterpass promo. (If you can get it to work.)

Forgot about this and asked daughter to go to Safeway and get me some Parm cheese for my spaghetti and meatball dinner with broccoli and twisted garlic knots from sam's club. She could have picked me up some gift cards with my spg for my min spend. Those are okay from grocery stores or not okay? I can't keep it straight - I know cash equivalents are NOT okay but that if the store doesn't send the level 3 data, it will slip through when mixed with groceries?

 

[amalone1013]

Can you find the same stuff on Ebay? I had a coupon in my eBay account yesterday + Staples sells Ebay egift cards online so you won't have to visit the store.

I was mainly searching Amazon for 2 day shipping and free returns so I could order different sizes to see which is best, and because we leave Friday (and I'm working 12hr days until then). Thanks though! Occasionally I shop Ebay and I didn't know they sold digital gift cards!

 

[pillow]

Safeway: $15 off two $100 Mastercard GC, $10 off two $50 Mastercard GC & More (Von’s, Randall’s, Albertson’s, Tom Thumb, Acme, Jewel, Shaw’s)

Should be fun to run through Plastiq's Masterpass promo. (If you can get it to work.)

It never dawned on me to load a MC gift card to Masterpass to use with Plastiq. I might give this a try. Thank you!

 

[georgina]

Thanks to this thread, I now have to go out and spend $8000, as DH's CSP was also just approved.Yay!

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Well, glad I went for the SPG Biz. DH told me this morning that he’s fed up with listening to our noisy washing machine. It makes a terrible screeching noise. We’ve had the issue diagnosed and it’s more to fix it than it is to buy a new washer. Plus, I looked in it when it was running this morning and noticed it will no longer agitate in one direction, so it just keeps spinning the same way. So I’m going to go to the Sears Outlet next weekend when they’ll hopefully have some Labor Day sales and see what I can get.

FWIW, we checked Sears Outlet a couple weeks ago for a new washer (ended up fixing ours for $100) and prices were almost the same as buying from Sears on sale. Not much discount even with dents and scratches. Make sure to check the Sears sale ad first to compare.

 

[wendow]

Welp...Plastiq caught on to the Attn: Cashier trick that @vanjust14 came up with for us to pay our mortgage. They cancelled my payment

So glad I didn't apply for the Hilton biz card yet cause now I have a lot more MSR to meet on the Marriott biz and I've not even begun on the spg biz.

 

[Lain]

Forgot about this and asked daughter to go to Safeway and get me some Parm cheese for my spaghetti and meatball dinner with broccoli and twisted garlic knots from sam's club. She could have picked me up some gift cards with my spg for my min spend. Those are okay from grocery stores or not okay? I can't keep it straight - I know cash equivalents are NOT okay but that if the store doesn't send the level 3 data, it will slip through when mixed with groceries?

I buy VGCs and MCGCs from Safeway using my Amexes all the time. No L3 data. I just mix in some actual groceries so the total isn't a telltale $xx4.95 or $xx5.95, etc.

 

[wendow]

FWIW, we checked Sears Outlet a couple weeks ago for a new washer (ended up fixing ours for $100) and prices were almost the same as buying from Sears on sale. Not much discount even with dents and scratches. Make sure to check the Sears sale ad first to compare.

Agree. I don't even bother with Sears outlet anymore. Nothing is discounted much at all at our store.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

This would make the most sense to me. When Amex mentions based on your "history," I have to assume that they’re evaluating the relationship on an ongoing basis rather than putting customers on a blacklist forever because spend on their cards dropped off for a few months. (There are lots of reasons for spend dropping off unrelated to churning.)

I get Amex is probably thinking they approved you for their cards (and bonuses), but you’re not spending on them, and then you try to apply for more cards, Amex would be like hold up, you’re a gamer trying to play me aren’t you? So you get the pop up message. But if you go back to spending, and Amex does its history check and sees that, I’m hoping that factors in to get you back in Amex’s good graces.

Just looking at my Amex cards, I've had cards with months where I had no spend:

I got my SPG Biz at the end of 10/17, put lots of spend on it as my everything else card from 11/17 - 4/18, then no balance on statements in 5/18 and 6/18 (because I got the MB Plat and SPG Personal in 4/18 and shifted spend to meet MSRs). Put ~$1k of spend on it in 7/18 to take advantage of the Staples 10% back Amex Offer while the SPG Biz still earned Starpoints.

My ~7 year old PRG has moderate amounts of spend on every statement in the past year except 4/18 (again, when I got the MB Plat and SPG Personal).

I got my MB Plat and SPG Personal in 4/18, and have spend on them for every statement from 4/18 - to date, more while meeting MSR and tapering off to mostly taking advantage of Amex Offers after MSRs.

This was enough to qualify me for the welcome bonuses on Hilton Biz (online, no pop up) in mid-6/18, the Biz Plat (over the phone, so no pop up) and Biz Green (self-referral online, no pop up) at the end of 7/18, and the SPG Lux (self-referral online, no pop up) at the end of 8/18.

I have spend on the PRG, SPG Biz, SPG Personal, MB Plat, Hilton Biz, and Biz Plat (and $1 on the Biz Green) in 7/18 and 8/18, mostly taking advantage of the Staples, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Best Buy Amex Offers.

I have SPG personal, SPG Biz and Hilton Aspire. SPG Biz new from this year, so lots of spend to meet MSR. Then SPG personal, spend to meet retention offer. Got an upgrade offer for Hilton, so currently lots of spend there. I got an offer for 100k SPG Lux upgrade. I think somewhat regular spending is part of the key.

 

[disneybirds]

You have an EIN? Get excited. You could apply using the company EIN since you are an authorizing officer of the company as an owner.

Then you can each apply for another CIP for your other “business” using just your SSN and First Last for the business name- we’ve all got a side hustle of some sort or other, rental property, eBay, etc.

My parents successfully did this so I know it works!

You could end up with 380k URs for $380.

Wow! I didn't know this. Learn something new everyday on here!!