I love credit cards so much!

[Lain]

Most people on r/churning would say that’s crazy...”earn and burn” and all that crap.

I totally agree though. When my SW balance gets under 500k I start to get a little worried, LOL! I don’t fear devaluations, I expect them to occur at times but love the fact that we could fly anywhere at anytime with no worries or cost. We don’t quite maintain 3-4 million but I feel pretty good in the 2 million range. I know our travel patterns are different thatn yours @calypso726 so while you diversify in different programs I like to focus a few key programs (currently SW, Marriott, URs and MRs). We currently have 2.5 million across those programs which I estimate to be worth $26,757 in future travel.

I won’t rehash my long post on it but this ties back to the “no wrong way to churn” comment I made.

Oh, are we counting Marriott Rewards points, not Starpoints? I was looking at your 2 million and @calypso726 ‘s 3-4 million hoard with a bit of envy! Now let me go multiply my Starpoints by 3.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Hi, I was hoping to get some help with the Disney credit card bonus offer. I recently signed up for a Disney credit card to get the $200 signup bonus and just got my gift card yesterday. Is my husband able to sign up for a card as well and get the $200 gift card? It also says add an authorized user to get another $50 gift card- can we both sign up and be authorized users on each others accounts getting a total of $500? Do I need to do things in a certain order or anything weird to make it all work? Neither of us have gotten any credit card bonuses in the past 24 months. My other cards are chase freedom and quicksilver. He has chase freedom, citi double cash and discover. Thanks!

So the Authorized User (AU) question is an interesting one. If you were thinking of getting heavily into the game we play here (chasing numerous cards for signup bonuses) then you will NOT want to do that. The $50 isn't worth it compared to Hundreds and Thousands of additional rewards available to you.

You should however be able to refer your Husband to the Disney card from your card (try here: https://www.chase.com/referafriend/catch-all) and you could get $50 for referring him and he could get $200.

If neither of you have gotten ANY card bonuses in the past 24 months does that also mean you haven't signed up for ANY new cards in 24 months? You could be at a great place to sign up for some additional cards and greatly offset the cost of a trip. With 4-5 cards you could cover over $5,000 towards a Disney trip.

 

[Ngwira]

I remember someone on /r/churning got eleven different MLB cards... and that is why we now have the 2/3/4 rule. At least you can still actually churn and hold multiple BoA cards though. And weirdly, the rule doesn't apply to biz cards, probably because there are so few good ones.



Just don't call it grAAvy.



You mean like Chase shutting people down after a "periodic review"?

Yes, but Chase still allows MS and also will give you the sign up bonus as long as you meet the msr. You don't have to "fight" them to get your points. Amex hands cards out like candy, makes you spend on the card then pulls the rug from underneath you by denying you a bonus. They change the rules to benefit them and them alone. I actually like AMEX so it hurt to stop using them as an everyday driver.

Anyway, we agree more than we disagree so it's all good.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Hi, I was hoping to get some help with the Disney credit card bonus offer. I recently signed up for a Disney credit card to get the $200 signup bonus and just got my gift card yesterday. Is my husband able to sign up for a card as well and get the $200 gift card? It also says add an authorized user to get another $50 gift card- can we both sign up and be authorized users on each others accounts getting a total of $500? Do I need to do things in a certain order or anything weird to make it all work? Neither of us have gotten any credit card bonuses in the past 24 months. My other cards are chase freedom and quicksilver. He has chase freedom, citi double cash and discover. Thanks!

Your husband can sign up for his own card as well to get the $200 sign up bonus...not sure what your travel goals are but you may want to hold off on adding each other as authorized users if your interested in earning points on airlines or chase UR points...

 

[trenty]

.

That works great until you have a big spend that does not take credit cards. My main focus on getting the CIP and plastiq was to pay DDs tuition. My choices otherwise are check or bank transfer, no CCs allowed. Just set up payment yesterday, looks good so far! Hoping it goes all the way through with no problems.

One of my DS's school takes CC; the other does not. I am ok with the fact that I just don't get points for DS2's tuition payments and thankful that I can pay DS1's tuition with a CC. I can't let these things drive me nuts. I earn what I can and plan my vacations accordingly.

Again - this doesn't necessarily mean that I disagree with you for using Plastiq to pay tuition. It works for you and that is great. It is just not for me.

Going back to a post @SouthFayetteFan posted a while back - there is no one right way to churn. We all do what we are comfortable with.

One analogy I can think of here is "keeping up with the Jones." I love that some here have 2-3 million or more points. But just as I don't fee the need to keep up with the Jonses in the real world; I don't feel the need to keep up with them in the churning world. It is great that they have what they have - they worked hard for it. I work hard for what I have and am grateful.

 

[Calfan]

If we were to put all of our spending towards MSR that can be used for cash back or on a 2% cash back card we would have to put an abrupt halt on travel. Cash for points earned that way can’t buy me what the points can get me when I transfer to an airline.

This!!!! Not surprising because my approach to travel hacking and travel is very similar to yours (but not always up to Plane Princess standards, lol, since I'm most often booking for 4 people, which stretches the points a lot thinner). One very recent example. We are going to Africa next year and just hit the point in the calendar where I can book our outbound flights. My ultimate goal is business or first if I can swing it, but I pulled the trigger late last week on saver economy flights on United from SFO to Johannesburg because the route was the best I'd seen in terms of stops (only 1) and total elapsed time (under 26 hours, when I saw many many routes with total elapsed times of 30+ hours and some into the 40+ hours of travel time). Our layover in Munich is long enough (3 hours 50 minutes) to be comfortable that if we are delayed on the SFO to MUC leg, we still have a shot at making our MUC to JNB leg, but not so long as to be hideous. We had to be flexible on a couple of fronts. First, flying out of SFO instead of trying to fit Boise into the mix, and second, arriving a day earlier than we had originally intended because this routing was far superior and I'm hoping might offer the best upgrade opportunities since it is a Wednesday departure, whereas the weekend departures looked very bleak for that (bleak even for good saver economy awards). All of this is background to say that even at a VERY conservative estimate of the value of those flights I booked, the value I got from the award booking easily exceeded 1.5 cents per point. Now, I happened to have enough United miles to book these flights without hitting my UR stash, but I tend to pool my URs and United miles together in my mind, and I would have gone the same way even if I had to transfer UR to United to book this. Without using our points this way, we still could take this trip, but having to pay cash for those flights would have put a big budget hit on future travel plans. And I don't think I could have come anywhere close to accumulating enough cash-back from other points systems to have *paid* for those flights. I think those of us who travel a lot internationally and are looking to not pay cash for our flights put a different value on accumulating URs from regular category spending. Thus, I totally get the posters here who don't want to *sacrifice* bonus UR spend to meet MSR on non-UR earning cards. I am totally in that camp.

 

[happ]

This is a good question. I never was on the SPG train but what to use for everyday spend is a perpetual question. Right now I'm using the Capital One Spark for everything except groceries (2% cash back on everything, but has an annual fee and I'm not sure it's worth keeping anymore) and the AmEx PRG for groceries. The AmEx Blue Business could be my next card -- I need an MR earning card for when I cancel my Plat cards. Although with my kids as AUs on the PRG, the AmEx offers more than cover the AF for that card.

I use my Spark card for most everyday spending also. I was able to get my annual fee removed completely. I called a few days after it posted to ask about a possible fee waiver and they said "no". I called back a week later and they waived the fee and "upgraded" my account going forward to no annual fee.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

speaking of the CF, were u able to activate 5x on all your cards? someone told me Chase forced it down to 1 card only.

both of mine are working too.

speaking of...do Rx count at Walgreens?

 

[Lain]

speaking of...do Rx count at Walgreens?

No, only gift cards.















Jk jk. Of course they do!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

And my thinking is FREE is FREE. Why would I pay to earn rewards? Yes - you are earning more rewards than I am and at a faster pace. But I have less out of pocket expenses, travelling for close to free. This is why I don't use Plastique.

I am not disagreeing with you are telling you that you are wrong. We are both correct, just view things differently.

Lets take my daughter's tuition, for example...

I just sent $9k via plastiq...at a promo rate of 1.75%...total $157.50 fee.

I get back 27,000 URs. I could cash those out for $270 so I'm ahead by $112. (but I'm not crazy) So, I will use them through the UR portal and get $405 of value for them and I come out ahead by $247.50.

So I am not paying to earn rewards. I am fronting money to make a profit...just like an ebay reseller...or any business.

ETA: I see now that others gave you examples and you also aren't comfortable with biz cards. So never mind. You do you and enjoy your points...nothing wrong with that at all!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Going back to a post @SouthFayetteFan posted a while back - there is no one right way to churn. We all do what we are comfortable with.

I think it's super important that we remember this - and thanks for saying it again @trenty! We are NOT r/churning here, and we are NOT flyertalk (thank God)! We are a group that is (a) super welcoming and helpful to newbies and (b) operating on the DISboards. Now while other places on the DIS are known for petty arguments, one-upsmanship, and full of "I'm Right, You're Wrong" posters - that isn't and can't be us! We are my safe place on the DIS, and it's so awesome chatting about churning with the great folks here!

We also have people stumble on to our thread who are looking to just apply for 1 card...ONE CARD? Crazy, right?? But we help them make the best choice and they probably think we're crazy and move on. This is unheard of on places like r/churning where we must nail the newbie to the wall and lash them for their utter lack of knowledge of churning.

Last week was the 2 year anniversary of our thread (yup 7/18/16 it all started). I've been a lurker since the beginning and quite active for over a year myself. I know many here have been active for well over a year. Our DISchurners reddit group is almost a year old and now has 178 members. This thread often moves through 10 pages a day or more when it used to be a page a day. While it's exciting to see how we've grown, I hope we don't lose sight of why we are the BEST churning group on the internet. Let's respectfully disagree, admire others strategies if they are different, and always remember that there is NO WRONG way to churn.

 

[Albort]

I think it's super important that we remember this - and thanks for saying it again @trenty! We are NOT r/churning here, and we are NOT flyertalk (thank God)! We are a group that is (a) super welcoming and helpful to newbies and (b) operating on the DISboards. Now while other places on the DIS are known for petty arguments, one-upsmanship, and full of "I'm Right, You're Wrong" posters - that isn't and can't be us! We are my safe place on the DIS, and it's so awesome chatting about churning with the great folks here!

We also have people stumble on to our thread who are looking to just apply for 1 card...ONE CARD? Crazy, right?? But we help them make the best choice and they probably think we're crazy and move on. This is unheard of on places like r/churning where we must nail the newbie to the wall and lash them for their utter lack of knowledge of churning.

Last week was the 2 year anniversary of our thread (yup 7/18/16 it all started). I've been a lurker since the beginning and quite active for over a year myself. I know many here have been active for well over a year. Our DISchurners reddit group is almost a year old and now has 178 members. This thread often moves through 10 pages a day or more when it used to be a page a day. While it's exciting to see how we've grown, I hope we don't lose sight of why we are the BEST churning group on the internet. Let's respectfully disagree, admire others strategies if they are different, and always remember that there is NO WRONG way to churn.

Ur telling me if i sign up for the Wal-Mart Card, spend $500 get a 2 liter bottle of coca cola is a good idea?

 

[Judique]

Ur telling me if i sign up for the Wal-Mart Card, spend $500 get a 2 liter bottle of coca cola is a good idea?

I believe I remember a promo at Marshalls that involved a 2 liter of soda!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Ur telling me if i sign up for the Wal-Mart Card, spend $500 get a 2 liter bottle of coca cola is a good idea?

Bites tongue hard...

If it fits your strategy...bites harder...I guess it is a good...I can’t do it...no that’s a bad idea

 

[Limes96]

After reading the last couple pages, I fell like a big group hug is in order!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Double approval party! My dad got approved for the CIP#2 I've been helping him with! Address docs submitted in branch Fri, Mon he got a call from Chase (showed as "unknown" fyi, he hung up and called Chase himself) and had to do a bit more verification and was then immediately approved.

After being denied for the Arrival+ (because even being 11/24 with those 13 dps of approvals of people 6+/24 I needed to try!) I was instantly approved for the Citi Thank You Premier 60k offer! This will be my first foray into Thank You points! (Idk if we've discussed it but DoC posted a 60k offer on this card with af waived first year, says 60k is the highest they remember seeing on this particular card.)

 

[gottalovepluto]

Ur telling me if i sign up for the Wal-Mart Card, spend $500 get a 2 liter bottle of coca cola is a good idea?

You do you @Albort ! (....But maybe we should discuss your credit card goals first. After all if soda is goal #1 80,000 URs = $800 worth of soda! But it does involve a little more work.)

 

[Lain]

Ur telling me if i sign up for the Wal-Mart Card, spend $500 get a 2 liter bottle of coca cola is a good idea?

If you've got $500 to spend, can I interest you in the new Starbucks Rewards™ Visa® Card? You'll earn 4,500 Stars good for 36 food or drink rewards! That's a better deal than a 2 liter bottle of Coke!

 

[Lain]

Double approval party! My dad got approved for the CIP#2 I've been helping him with! Address docs submitted in branch Fri, Mon he got a call from Chase (showed as "unknown" fyi, he hung up and called Chase himself) and had to do a bit more verification and was then immediately approved.

After being denied for the Arrival+ (because even being 11/24 with those 13 dps of approvals of people 6+/24 I needed to try!) I was instantly approved for the Citi Thank You Premier 60k offer! This will be my first foray into Thank You points! (Idk if we've discussed it but DoC posted a 60k offer on this card with af waived first year, says 60k is the highest they remember seeing on this particular card.)

Double congratulations!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Double approval party! My dad got approved for the CIP#2 I've been helping him with! Address docs submitted in branch Fri, Mon he got a call from Chase (showed as "unknown" fyi, he hung up and called Chase himself) and had to do a bit more verification and was then immediately approved.

After being denied for the Arrival+ (because even being 11/24 with those 13 dps of approvals of people 6+/24 I needed to try!) I was instantly approved for the Citi Thank You Premier 60k offer! This will be my first foray into Thank You points! (Idk if we've discussed it but DoC posted a 60k offer on this card with af waived first year, says 60k is the highest they remember seeing on this particular card.)

Congrats!! What are your plans for 60k TY pts?