I love credit cards so much!

[SouthFayetteFan]

Share your churning history...fun little exercise to pass the time this week...
Another group I'm in has been doing this recently as we approach the end of the year - people sharing a little bit about how long they've been at this game and how many cards they've gotten during that time. This could help @Lain update his spreadsheet too At any rate, if you want to share I think we'd all be curious. I'll start!

Here's some facts on me (which many of you are probably familiar with):

• I've been at this hardcore for 4 years (played the game for 5 years in total)
• Always been in 2 player mode since the start, my wife and I got 2 cards in 2011...then started actually playing in late 2013.
• At my high point I was 29/24 (34/24 with biz cards) in Oct of 2017
• At her high point my wife was 16/24 (no biz cards at that time) in June of 2016
• My wife is now down to 2/24...and those 2 are one of the last successful CSR/CSP double dips in August before that got killed (or at least drastically limited with this new modified method)
• I've made it back to 6/24 (yes down from 29...) and will be under 5/24 in just 92 days

We have fairly simple and consistent travel preferences and and an abundance of points in URs, SW RRs, and Marriott so I'm moving to slow churner mode.

We got 5 cards total this year (would be 6 if AMEX would lift the popup on the Schwab Plat). That's after getting 13 cards in 2017, 29 cards in 2016, and 14 cards in 2015. Next year I'd say we're gonna get another 5-6 cards. I'm really enjoying being a slow-churner - I find it less stressful and we're still able to support all the travel we want.

 

[wendow]

I'm pausing on Papa Johns and Kohls which are probably the only 2 that we would have a guaranteed use for...I always like to be working on MSRs so forcing myself to use a non MSR card is painful...but I'm thinking if I can get the promo to work with my wife's BBP that maybe this is a way to get some spend on those cards to lift that popup restriction.

True! Good thinking on maybe putting some spend on an Amex card and getting rid of your dreadful popup!

 

[wendow]

AAAAND my wife apparently isn't eligible for this "invitation only" offer...What luck we're having here, lol!

Perhaps since I just added an MR linked account to her Amazon it may work in a few days, I'll try again then I guess. I can only shake my head at my recent streak of deal issues and churning problems, lol.

I'm sorry We only have it on one of our three accounts (mine) so maybe this promo isn't hitting as many. Previous promos have been on all three of our accounts (mine, dh, teens shared).

 

[pillow]

Did the GCs work for the Chase promo? Mine doesn't seem to like any GC I chose bc it says "Ships from and sold by ACI Gift Cards LLC., an Amazon company," not direct from Amazon. I also have a $25 Amazon GC burning a hole in my pocket. My first thought was a Landry's GC since I will be dining at Yak & Yeti, but only the $25 will apply.

I then remembered I never ordered a new video game I want that comes out 12/7. Figured ok, great! Pre-order and save the $15 and $25 and get a $10 prime credit. I am $0.12 cents away from $60 with the video game for the Chase promo. I gave up for the night.

I messed around with this for a while last night. Gotta filter by seller “amazon.com” on left side of screen. I ended up buying a $60 Whole Foods card.

 

[wendow]

Share your churning history...fun little exercise to pass the time this week...
Another group I'm in has been doing this recently as we approach the end of the year - people sharing a little bit about how long they've been at this game and how many cards they've gotten during that time. This could help @Lain update his spreadsheet too At any rate, if you want to share I think we'd all be curious. I'll start!

Here's some facts on me (which many of you are probably familiar with):

• I've been at this hardcore for 4 years (played the game for 5 years in total)
• Always been in 2 player mode since the start, my wife and I got 2 cards in 2011...then started actually playing in late 2013.
• At my high point I was 29/24 (34/24 with biz cards) in Oct of 2017
• At her high point my wife was 16/24 (no biz cards at that time) in June of 2016
• My wife is now down to 2/24...and those 2 are one of the last successful CSR/CSP double dips in August before that got killed (or at least drastically limited with this new modified method)
• I've made it back to 6/24 (yes down from 29...) and will be under 5/24 in just 92 days

We have fairly simple and consistent travel preferences and and an abundance of points in URs, SW RRs, and Marriott so I'm moving to slow churner mode.

We got 5 cards total this year (would be 6 if AMEX would lift the popup on the Schwab Plat). That's after getting 13 cards in 2017, 29 cards in 2016, and 14 cards in 2015. Next year I'd say we're gonna get another 5-6 cards. I'm really enjoying being a slow-churner - I find it less stressful and we're still able to support all the travel we want.

How fun!! So a bit about us
~ We began this 'game' back in 2011 churning Disney and SW cards. We were only in P1 mode for quite awhile cause I had NO idea that a simple, little housewife like me, with no income of my own, could get cards in my name. In Dec 2014, I was walking through MCO and the SW kiosk guy called me over and asked if I wanted to apply. I told him that my dh had a SW card. He said, "But, do you have one?" I said, "No, I don't work. I stay home with our kids". He let me know that I could indeed get cards based on our household income. :mind blown: That is when the real fun began.

~ It wasn't until I joined in on this thread in the summer of 2016 (after the very slow and painful death of GC churning) that I learned we could have multiple products from the same brand. We had been churning the SW premier and plus and the Disney premier and "non-premier"?? But never holding both at the same time. Again :mind blown:

~ Lots of us came over from the GC thread and this place has felt like home ever since (yes, I was really attached to my DIS friends from the GC thread!). But what I mean, is being here with friends, gave me the confidence to go for cards I'd never have gone for (well, and a bit of FOMO!).

~I am 5/24. The Amex plat pushed me up. No regrets (or as my kids quote from "Tangled", No Regerts). I got 100k from that card!! I'll be 4/24 in Feb 2019. I think I will go after a Chase biz. Probably the CIU since neither of us have that one and UR's are still my fav point to collect. My 'high point' is 6/24 lol! I still want to collect MR's and hopefully get the Schwab plat to cash out.

~Dh is 3/24. I just got him the SW Plus and am planning to get him the SW biz early in 2019. Not sure after that. He was 4/24 at one point.

~We have always been slow churners. Just how we roll

 

[wendow]

Did the GCs work for the Chase promo? Mine doesn't seem to like any GC I chose bc it says "Ships from and sold by ACI Gift Cards LLC., an Amazon company," not direct from Amazon. I also have a $25 Amazon GC burning a hole in my pocket. My first thought was a Landry's GC since I will be dining at Yak & Yeti, but only the $25 will apply.

I then remembered I never ordered a new video game I want that comes out 12/7. Figured ok, great! Pre-order and save the $15 and $25 and get a $10 prime credit. I am $0.12 cents away from $60 with the video game for the Chase promo. I gave up for the night.

The GC's from ACI do work for the promo as that is an Amazon company.

 

[wendow]

I tracked that I spent $98 on blu-rays alone this past week. I got 24 movies, some with dvds and digital copies. No MSR right now, just FOMO lol

Wow, $98 huh!?! What did you buy? Not remembering if you have kiddos. In the last week I have bought, "Incredibles 2", "Peter Rabbit", "Paddington 2" and "Christopher Robin". Getting ready to buy my older teens movies.

 

[Albort]

I started churning around 4 years ago, i only had a Freedom card and Discover card. My first churning card was the CSP.
I was never aggressive in getting cards, i was applying at the point maybe 1-2 cards every 6 month due to my income and my low levels of spendings being a student in all.
i think i hit the TYP and CSR and CI+ after that with a year or 2.
In the last year though, ive been a bit more aggressive in pursuing cards, i started to find and learn ways to cycle my credit and earn points while earning a small profit. this last month has been a busy month running around my town to stores. been learning from the pro MSer on how to earn more points.
As a college student, travelling is very hard to do on points as our vacation time is basically the high season time, i figured i just earn as much points now and burn a month after graduation traveling the world for free.
my count is still 3/24, ironically haha. Ive been more focused right now on MR right now. im got like 13 cards with 2 upgraded cards.

i came onto this thread helping ppl, thats just my passion to do. im glad it stuck around, lots of info and u guys are all pros!

 

[PolyRob]

The GC's from ACI do work for the promo as that is an Amazon company.

...Do I feel dumb! It was defaulting to my Disney Visa (asking me to re-enter CSR #). I guess I haven't had my new Chase cards long enough to realize their last 4 digits. Landry's GC it is. Thank you!

Wow, $98 huh!?! What did you buy? Not remembering if you have kiddos. In the last week I have bought, "Incredibles 2", "Peter Rabbit", "Paddington 2" and "Christopher Robin". Getting ready to buy my older teens movies.

No kids, but I wish I had waited on Incredibles 2! I overpaid by $4.50 since I pre-ordered it before it actually came out. Too bad I opened it, redeemed the digital code, and watched it already.

On Wednesday I got all of the $6.99 Best Buy blu-ray doorbusters besides Coco since I already have it and some super cheap older movies like Jurassic Park and Edward Scissorhands. Sunday I took advantage of the Best Buy BOGO and used in-store pickup and saved $1 per title so I got 2 movies for $3.18 multiple times with multiple orders. Monday I browsed Target and snagged some $3.99 deals with the 15% off cyber Monday promo in addition to the Red Card 5% savings for $3.42.

 

[wendow]

On Wednesday I got all of the $6.99 Best Buy blu-ray doorbusters besides Coco since I already have it and some super cheap older movies like Jurassic Park and Edward Scissorhands. Sunday I took advantage of the Best Buy BOGO and used in-store pickup and saved $1 per title so I got 2 movies for $3.18 multiple times with multiple orders. Monday I browsed Target and snagged some $3.99 deals with the 15% off cyber Monday promo in addition to the Red Card 5% savings for $3.42.

I love Jurassic Park and Edward Scissorhands!! We don't own those. Adding to my list of movies to find for a good price! Sounds like I missed a great sale at BB.

 

[wanderlust7]

*sigh* I’m sitting in around 40k TY points and was planning to use them on hotels at 1.25x but I really hadn’t given it much thought and have yet to play around with their rates.

Do you have any interest in transferring your points to any of their partners? I transferred some to etihad (there was a week & a half of praying availablity for my flight wouldn’t disappear!).

Our flights to Europe are already booked, so no current goals. Have been mulling a trip to WDW, but not too sure if a domestic flight (from SFO area) would be a good deal with transfer partners. Will have to look into it some more.

 

[Mopedmom1]

I started this adventure about one year ago, specifically for WDW redemption. I was basically in it by myself as DH was a very RELUCTANT P2. I was never able to get any Disney love from this hobby, other than minimal discounted GC. I have come to terms with this and moved on.

When I showed hubby that I paid for our upcoming cruise 100% with UR's other than the deposit he became a WILLING P2! Lol

Monday we are flying to Vegas to do our GE interviews. Pdx, our closest airport, was scheduled out until mid April; Sea/Tac had no availability until just before Christmas. I figured flying to Vegas beat an 8+ hour r/t drive hassling with both Seattle and Portland pre-holiday traffic. Our airfare is paid for using RR points; the hotel is covered by a UR redemption on my CSR; I bought a couple Groupons on Black Friday going through Ibotta to get 6% cash back, while using dh's CIU to get closer to meeting MSR. No rental car, I will be using discounted LYFT rides. I have ~$160 in resort fees and a couple lunches and dinners that will be out of pocket (booked a room with free breakfasts) and will use the CSR to get 3x UR's. A mini getaway, Monday pm to Friday am, for under $100 a day cash outlay. I have close to $1000 in cash back on various cards but I am saving that for our big trip next spring. (We don't drink much, and gamble even less so I should be able to come in on budget.) A year ago I never would have dreamed I would spontaneously fly to Vegas to get something called Global Entry and be able to do it for practically what I would have spent on groceries and dining out at home for the week!

I was going to apply for the SW card on the flight Monday but I was a casualty of the DD debacle in August so I am taking a little break. The CP will have to wait a few months.

I am currently 3/24 with five new cards and DH is 2/24 with 4 new cards. My next project is trying to scrape up the 75k to open up a targeted Sapphire bank account. Anybody want to give me a loan?

 

[speedyfishy]

I started this hobby in April 2017, before SO graduated college. We started with the Freedom Unlimited because I was scared we wouldn’t get approved for any other cards with student income. We applied on the same day I was so dumb and didn’t even wait to generate a link for him. In the summer of 2017 he had his job offer and I figured we could use that income to apply for more serious cards. I went with the Southwest cards and earned the companion pass. I started going hardcore in February 2018. I’m now at 5/24 (Amex isn’t reporting yet so I’m going to try for two more Chase cards) and I have gotten 13 cards in the past 12 months and my player 2 is at 12. I have no plans to slow down. I now also MS even when not meeting MSR to earn some cash.

Our trips are pretty much all Disney focused but I will branch out probably after our wedding in 2019. I went to World in July, August and September and I’m going back in December. We also occasionally go to Disneyland we went in January and August.

 

[striker1064]

Thanks for this. We are heading to Nyc for 3 nights in Apri and I booked Courtyard time sq - I think I will change it to the Central Park one. For some reason I can’t book any RIs when I look for rooms to accommodate 4 of us (2 adults, 2 kiddos).

We are also doing the Xmas Spectacular and just one night right after Xmas. I know it’s going to be mayhem in the city and I splurged for the Marriott Marquis for one night. We’ve done the Westin before. Should I consider a different property?

The Marriott Marquis is the big hotel in Times Square right? For 4 of you it's probably the most comfortable. Rooms are big for NYC (meaning about average size anywhere else). It's literally in the middle of Times Square though, so it'll be very busy all the time. But the nice thing is you can walk to Radio City Music Hall for the show, it's only about 10 minutes. And you're well-connected via subway lines to anywhere else you want to go.

 

[calypso726]

We started the hobby in 2012 as a way to afford our first Adventures by Disney trip to Scotland. DH was a slightly reluctant P2 at best. IN a few short months we'd accumulated nearly 1 million miles and points and I quickly realized we'd be able to have enough miles to fly in first class to this Scotland trip so we did. That changed everything. DH proclaimed he would not fly in coach again for any future international flights. That soon changed to any flights over 3 hours. I was amused that my DH had turned into a Princess when it came to air travel and you guys dubbed him "The Plane Princess" which makes us both smile.

We now maintain anywhere between 2 million and over 4 million points and miles at any given time. We have not dipped below 5/24 in years. We plan most trips a couple of years in advance but having the points and miles balances that we do we also will take spur of the moment unplanned getaways just because. Most here know we have flown to London for a weekend just to see a Harry Potter & the Cursed Child when it came out. We flew from Miami to San Francisco just to see Hamilton because we were able to get tix at face value with Amex Plat concierge service and their pre-sale. We've flown to DC to see Hamilton and have a New York trip planned to see it there too. We flew to Iceland to see the Northern lights and in a few months will be going to Dubai and the Maldives to stay in over-water bungalows and flying on a plane with a shower! A few months ago we flew in what amounts to a double bed in the sky on Singapore Suites and had over the top service.

I would have never thought we'd be able to do all of these things and more a few years ago. We would not choose to spend real money on these little adventures and getaways even if we had that kind of money to spend. As fun as alternating between crossing off bucket list items and choosing to do something ridiculous just because you can, I'd say the best part of it all is this thread and the wonderful people here. I haven't been posting as often since work has kept me super busy and the Bell's Palsy has me exhausted and running to doctors and the ER and what not but I do enjoy reading this thread and playing catch up when I can.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Share your churning history...fun little exercise to pass the time this week...
Another group I'm in has been doing this recently as we approach the end of the year - people sharing a little bit about how long they've been at this game and how many cards they've gotten during that time. This could help @Lain update his spreadsheet too At any rate, if you want to share I think we'd all be curious. I'll start!

Here's some facts on me (which many of you are probably familiar with):

• I've been at this hardcore for 4 years (played the game for 5 years in total)
• Always been in 2 player mode since the start, my wife and I got 2 cards in 2011...then started actually playing in late 2013.
• At my high point I was 29/24 (34/24 with biz cards) in Oct of 2017
• At her high point my wife was 16/24 (no biz cards at that time) in June of 2016
• My wife is now down to 2/24...and those 2 are one of the last successful CSR/CSP double dips in August before that got killed (or at least drastically limited with this new modified method)
• I've made it back to 6/24 (yes down from 29...) and will be under 5/24 in just 92 days

We have fairly simple and consistent travel preferences and and an abundance of points in URs, SW RRs, and Marriott so I'm moving to slow churner mode.

We got 5 cards total this year (would be 6 if AMEX would lift the popup on the Schwab Plat). That's after getting 13 cards in 2017, 29 cards in 2016, and 14 cards in 2015. Next year I'd say we're gonna get another 5-6 cards. I'm really enjoying being a slow-churner - I find it less stressful and we're still able to support all the travel we want.

Oh what a fun idea...really started this hobby 6 months ago in May...when I found this group and opened my first Chase UR earning card. Prior to that I had all SW and Disney cards...and made sure to have the SW CP each year., since the majority of our traveling is flying SW to FL to visit our son.

DH though it was all a scam, but was willing to let me open cards in his name as long as his credit score didn’t go down....he also will not make any phone calls. He now realizes it’s not since our trip next month to see our son for Christmas is being paid for with URs and SW RR points.

I’m a slow churner...keeping us both under 5/24.......so happy I found you all since we can now visit our son twice as often..and I enjoy reading about everyone’s international adventures....hopefully in a year or two we can do one trip to Europe

 

[Lain]

Idk how close our NorCal people are to the City but according to DoC Simon Malls is running $20 Amex gift card with the purchase of $150 Visa/Amex cards 12/1-12/14. Possibly SF Premium outlets only. https://www.doctorofcredit.com/simo...ican-express-giftcard-12-1-12-14-one-per-day/

SF Premium Outlets is deceptively not in SF, but in Livermore, some 45 minutes in light traffic from the city.

 

[Judique]

I will be in the same boat with DD deciding next year where she wants to go to school. BU is high on her list currently. She is also interested in University of Toronto (my alumna matter!) and 2 other Canadian schools. It is quite stressful currently as she is worrying that she might not be able to get into several of her top choices with her excellent marks (she has yet to write the SAT).

Let us know which one she chooses! I hear UF is quite a good school and difficult to get into these days.

Curious as to which other 2 Canadian schools?

 

[Judique]

I did it twice just now on each of our accounts...points may take 2 weeks to post it says. 10k points is definitely worth the time it took me to do this!

I found a very nice Holiday Inn Express in Pembroke, NC on our recent trip on our way down. For 10K points! Its about 10 miles off I-95 near Lumberton, NC. Great room, best breakfast, excellent staff. Considering most of the IHG's I look at are closer to a minimum of 20K, this was worth the extra 10 minutes of travel.

I should casually mention that this hotel blew the Fairfield away that we stayed at on our return trip. The Fairfield was 'just okay'.

 

[tink1970]

A problem only people on this thread would understand... DH got a mailer from AMEX saying 10K points if he lets them change his card so he can pay over time. Which card? We can't tell. It says his platinum. Which platinum?


Is there any downside to accepting this offer, assuming we can figure out which card it's for?

No downside! Easiest 10,000 MR ever. I received a flier Monday and had no idea for what card since I’ve signed up 2 cards (likely personal and biz plat). I broke down and called- the CSR was super helpful and now my (rose) gold card is enrolled- 24 hrs later the 10,000 MRs posted. I recommend calling (with the flier in front of you- there’s a code that tells their computer which card is targeted). Easy peasy!