I love credit cards so much!

[mmmears]

The Pay Over Time doesn't change your card, it's just an option you can turn on or off for some purchases. It'll still be a charge card and nothing will change unless you decide to use that feature. You can always unenroll through chat after you get the bonus, I've read of people doing that if you're concerned about accidents.

Ah ok, thanks. That helps.

 

[GusGus16]

I can't call myself a churner yet...but hopefully over the next week I will have successfully churned SW to get another personal card to get the CP again. I'm a slow churner, it all started about 2.5 years, when I stumbled onto something about the CP, typically fly SW anyway and thought why not. I hadn't opened a card for more than 2 years prior to that and only had a target card and a BOA card. It was easy enough and I was able to get the CP. I really wasn't interested in doing much more at that time and was pretty hesitant to get into much more, until the SPG personal and Marriott bonuses caught my eye early last year, since that time I have been slowly picking up more cards. Things have been much busier since this summer when I jumped into the business cards opening CIP, SPG BUS, and SW Bus and also product changing my SPG personal to the Lux. Current plan is to get an inflight offer for one of the SW personal cards and earn the CP (fingers crossed) in January and then will slow down for the first part of the year (I will be 5/24 until 3/2019). That is unless something catches my eye before than.

Looking forward to my quick weekend trip, checked in to the SW flights and got a B22 boarding assignment so happy about that and what made me even happier was the TSA precheck on the boarding pass (will be my first time using this). Also hoping to stop in the MCO PP lounge! Staying at dolphin but not on points. I'm going to try to pull up the SW Visa offer tomorrow on my flight and apply if available, just in case I can't get things to work and at least have a 2nd chance on my flight home.

 

[mmmears]

I hear the PHs in Paris and Tokyo are the gold standards. I'm sure this will be great for you. It's definitely not the Palace, but not much is. It is fairly close the Moma/Met though.

The one in Paris was really, really nice. It was only partly paid for with points, but totally worth it. Plus I loved being able to walk everywhere.

So do you think the Palace is nicer than the Park Hyatt? I know our rooms there have been large, really large for a big city hotel. I've always booked through FHR, so they upgraded us to the tower rooms and the included breakfasts were wonderful. I was pricing it a few days ago, and at least right now it's a much lower price than the PH.

 

[wendow]

this is helpful! We have 4 peeps,I have CSR,and we have some Hh provided one time PP passes to use,so if I'm correct that's 3 on my one PP and then 4th uses the single use(?) and I wanted to try restaurants- do you show the card upfront,or at time of payment? how exactly do you use it?

My experience is only at the DIA restaurant but I've been there 3x now. We show the PP early on and the server takes it and, my guess, verifies it is active...? Then, at the end, brings the bill and you pay with that card(s) that your PP is through. Like I said, in our case, we didn't even hit the amount allowed on one of our cards so I just gave dh's CSR and put the tip on that card (PP doesn't cover gratuity). Server never even took my plat.

 

[Judique]

Got a spend offer on my Barclays Wyndham - spend $750 each in December and January, get 1,000 bonus Wyndham points per month. I wonder if this has any correlation to my AF coming due next month. I'll probably spend it just to see if it helps with a retention offer.



I hear the PHs in Paris and Tokyo are the gold standards. I'm sure this will be great for you. It's definitely not the Palace, but not much is. It is fairly close the Moma/Met though.

I got a timeshare offer from Wyndham - 2 nights for $149. Almost tempted to use it but I'm scared they would put me up in a less then my desired hotel. For 2 hours and $149 it would have to be a 'good' Wyndham property.

 

[amalone1013]

A family member had stolen my identity, run up credit cards and not paid them I had the hard choice of paying off several thousand dollars or pressing charges. I paid off the card, closed it, and spent a few years cleaning up my credit. (That's the cautionary tale of TRUST NO ONE ).

A hard choice! I've been in a sort of similar place - probably could pursue legal action, but at this point just ignore them best as possible... the only good thing for me is the money mismanagement things were not in my name specifically. I keep a close eye on credit karma though since that person still has all of my personal identity information. Bummer is they have some of my stuff, like things I kept over the years or family things given to me by my grandma, and I don't even know what of it they kept and what they got rid of - I just know they have some because they've tried to use it as a trump card before.

 

[Judique]

..though that's nothing compared to the stories of people buying US Mint coins with cc's and depositing the coins into their bank account!

Daughter did this plus the Amex travelers checks. I stood by with my mouth open.

-people use points and miles differently and that's fine...also fine if they ignore your fabulous advice re: cards

That's the essential idea that keeps this thread successful.

 

[trstno1]

Do you have Amazon or Visa/MC gift cards in the order?

Nope - it happens even when I purchase a single physical item. I get the 20% off discount for using MR points, but I cannot apply my gift card balance. It's happening on my wife's Amazon account also.

 

[striker1064]

So do you think the Palace is nicer than the Park Hyatt? I know our rooms there have been large, really large for a big city hotel. I've always booked through FHR, so they upgraded us to the tower rooms and the included breakfasts were wonderful. I was pricing it a few days ago, and at least right now it's a much lower price than the PH.

Just to make sure, are we talking about the same Palace - The New York Palace? I've never stayed there, but I've always read it's one of the premier/flagship luxury hotels.

https://www.lottenypalace.com/

 

[Mopedmom1]

exactly. Our income isn't huge(which is why people are shocked we get to do what we do) and we aren't close to rich.... hence my slow churns.

This is us exactly. DH is close to retirement so ALL our extra income is being dumped into his 401k. If I want to fulfill my travel itch I need to find money somewhere.

When I started this hobby I was FREAKED OUT about a 5k/3 mo spend. Less than a year later I was willing to attempt an 8k spend with the DD. Chase wasn't willing to play ball with me, so I didn't get the opportunity to find out if I could do it.

I am in a great position in that I work from home and many of my hours are logged over night while I am sleeping. (I just need to wake up when the phone rings, and be coherent enough to speak to the person on the other end. Almost as good as @SouthFayetteFan job, I just make a whole lot less than him!) Churning and looking for low cost ways to do our adventures has become my (slightly lucrative) second occupation.

 

[Jaime4004]

Came on here to post that I was approved for the CIP today (woo-hoo!) so i'll add in the rest of my "churning" story.
I had been sort of churning Disney and SW for years between DH and I. Used to love those $200 disney gift cards they'd give. I'd use the Disney card for most everything and cash out a lot of Disney Rewards dollars every year. I started reading this thread from the first day, as I too "love credit cards." I am a professional lurker. I think the whole CSR thing started around that time but I was never comfortable with the annual fee, so opened the CSP for DH instead. Freedom the next month. And continued on from there. I'm 4/24 after opening our first CSR for myself (to redeem for disney hotels, we all know how that worked out) and just opened the CIP. 2 week notice for a week, approved today. DH is 5/24 after opening IHG a few weeks ago. We also have several amex biz cards and a good stash of marriott and hilton points.
Within the last year, points are paying for a weekend (flights) to FL in Jan for DH and I, 5 nights (flights and hotel) to Disney in April for DH and I, and so far 5 flights and 7 hotel nights in CA in June. I have enough points for the 4 additional hotel nights and the rental car but I'm holding off for now because I have a job interview tomorrow and if that goes well, depending on when I start, I might cancel the June trip to negotiate keeping the rest of the trips. Everything booked is refundable. So now I'm focusing on rebuilding my stashes, and starting another 5K MSR, but at least it's not amex...

 

[GZanta77]

My churning story......... I guess I've been at it for about 7 years, always in 2 player mode. I'm from the UK so finding a cheaper way to get home for visits was my main focus hence Chase BA, BoA Virgin and Citi AA cards were my early focus and we ran through a few of those when the bonuses were really good. We kinda moved on from the to the JetBlue, Southwest, Hilton and Marriott cards. Chase UR's and Amex MR's never really caught my attention, although I had a sapphire and appreciated the ability to top off my BA or Virgin accounts when needed. I guess we steadily plodded along, averaging about 4 new cards year between us.

At the end of 2017 we started to plan our Disney vacation and I stumbled upon this thread - that was GAME CHANGER No.1 - then y'all educated me that I could get business cards - GAME CHANGER No.2. Up to that point I thought I had been doing pretty well at duping the credit card companies into giving me lots of free stuff with our 4 or maybe 5 new cards each year. Yep - I thought I was some kind of genius at this game and I was happy. Then I came here and discovered new possibilities, experienced FOMO galore and I wanted more!!

So 2018 has yielded 13 new cards, inc 7 business cards. This enabled me to save over $7,000 on our summer trip to WDW and USO. In a couple weeks time, my 73 year old mother will be coming to visit for Christmas - I asked her if there was anything in the USA she would really like to see. She said, and I quote 'I would have liked to see Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, but I have accepted that isn't going to happen now because you and the girls (my sisters) have already been there.' So I put the power of churning to work and in just over 2 weeks I will take her to Vegas for a few days, flying first class on AA, Hotel, scenic flight over the Grand Canyon and a cirque show - all paid for with points. Bucket list items checked and I am one happy son to be able to do that for her.

So in summary, I want to thank everyone here for empowering me to make this happen. This year will probably be unique in my churning career, but it has been a lot of fun.

 

[Calfan]

I finally got an email saying i trigger a Chase Offer. bought an amazon gc at Office Depot. says to wait another 7-14 days for statement to post.

this was after 8 days since purchase... chase offer is slooooow.

This gives me hope. Thanks! So far, I'm not at all impressed with the Chase offers. I've gotten very used to the Amex offers, and those seem to work so much more smoothly (and consistently post within a couple of days after the charge goes from pending to posted). The Offer tab completely disappeared from my Chase app today for all cards. I wanted to see if the Starbucks offer I used on my United Club card was showing as pending or used or something, since I don't see a statement credit in my account, and the charge has now gone from pending to posted. Guess I will keep waiting (im)patiently. Definitely not going to use another Chase offer until I see how this one works out.

I'm not an expert on this but I don't think you can use 2 cards at once to get 4 people in. You'll probably have to use 4 of your Hilton passes, if that is possible. This came up in the past and I think this was the answer.

I have actually done this multiple times. Once I removed DH as an AU from my CSR, I'm the only one left with cards that come with PP. I have PP memberships from my CSR and my Amex Plat. I have shown both cards to get 4 of us into a PP lounge and think I have also done the same at a PP restaurant.

 

[wendow]

In a couple weeks time, my 73 year old mother will be coming to visit for Christmas - I asked her if there was anything in the USA she would really like to see. She said, and I quote 'I would have liked to see Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, but I have accepted that isn't going to happen now because you and the girls (my sisters) have already been there.' So I put the power of churning to work and in just over 2 weeks I will take her to Vegas for a few days, flying first class on AA, Hotel, scenic flight over the Grand Canyon and a cirque show - all paid for with points. Bucket list items checked and I am one happy son to be able to do that for her.

Love this!!! Son of the Year award goes to you! That's so awesome that you are doing this for your 'Mum'

 

[DisneyMandC]

In a couple weeks time, my 73 year old mother will be coming to visit for Christmas - I asked her if there was anything in the USA she would really like to see. She said, and I quote 'I would have liked to see Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, but I have accepted that isn't going to happen now because you and the girls (my sisters) have already been there.' So I put the power of churning to work and in just over 2 weeks I will take her to Vegas for a few days, flying first class on AA, Hotel, scenic flight over the Grand Canyon and a cirque show - all paid for with points. Bucket list items checked and I am one happy son to be able to do that for her.

The best kind of churning story! I'm taking my mom to NYC in two weeks since she's always wanted to go at Christmas. We were also able to pay flights and hotel for my in-laws to travel to FL for treatment for my FIL. Those trips are definitely at the top of my highlight reel.

 

[havaneselover]

Doc posted an update on Dosh's new procedures. I'm only at $19 and wish I could cash out.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Is anybody following the whole "American Express Pre-Approval Referral Offers" thing circulating on DoC and r/churning?
More Info: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/american-express-pre-approval-referral-offers-no-lifetime-language/

Did anybody receive these? I started a thread on DISchurners where these can be discussed and supported...
https://www.reddit.com/r/DISchurners/comments/a1k69r/american_express_preapproval_referral_offers/

 

[mmmears]

Just to make sure, are we talking about the same Palace - The New York Palace? I've never stayed there, but I've always read it's one of the premier/flagship luxury hotels.

https://www.lottenypalace.com/

Yes that's the one. We stayed there once when we had a layover on the way to Europe and spent a fun day there with DD, letting her choose where we went and what we did. Then another trip to NY looking at colleges (less fun LOL), part of a longer trip to the East Coast that was mostly college tours. I haven't stayed anywhere else in NYC, since I kept booking it since it felt familiar. The cost (when I looked it up last week) was about 1/2 the price of the Hyatt! I chose it the first time partly because DD was younger and had seen it on TV (early Gossip Girl episodes) and it was her trip, and partly because it was pretty much the cheapest hotel in NY that I could book through FHR.

 

[elgerber]

Is anybody following the whole "American Express Pre-Approval Referral Offers" thing circulating on DoC and r/churning?
More Info: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/american-express-pre-approval-referral-offers-no-lifetime-language/

Did anybody receive these? I started a thread on DISchurners where these can be discussed and supported...
https://www.reddit.com/r/DISchurners/comments/a1k69r/american_express_preapproval_referral_offers/

Ha my email is for Hilton, I'm thinking that isn't so valuable LOL.

 

[mmmears]

Is anybody following the whole "American Express Pre-Approval Referral Offers" thing circulating on DoC and r/churning?
More Info: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/american-express-pre-approval-referral-offers-no-lifetime-language/

Did anybody receive these? I started a thread on DISchurners where these can be discussed and supported...
https://www.reddit.com/r/DISchurners/comments/a1k69r/american_express_preapproval_referral_offers/

DH got this by email yesterday. I'll take a peek at the post.