Savor card is 4% on dining/entertainment and $500 sign up bonus.

LOYAL AG said:

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These threads are always interesting to me. The amount of effort some folks put into maximizing rewards baffles me. Obviously that's your call and if you think you get ahead that way then great, I'm happy for you.

Citibank Double Cash for me. 1% when you buy, 1% when you pay. Pay it off every month. We spend about $4000 a month on day to day stuff so we get about $80/month in cash that i can do what I want with. Doesn't get any easier than that and for all the work that goes into maximizing points my personal observation has been that the redemption rates of points is always a moving target that seems to only deteriorate.

I also have a Chase Marriott card I use to fund my business. what I've noticed recently is that Marriott is increasing the number of points it takes to get a night at a hotel. Meanwhile I'm still getting the same points I've always gotten for the things I buy. It's not enough for me to change my habits yet but it's interesting to note.

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You bring up a good point about simplicity. You can take the "Chase Trifecta" and only get two of the cards where 1 point is equivalent to 1 cent.

1) Saphire Reserve: 3X on Travel and Dining with 50% bonus when redeemed through their portal for a total of 4.5% cash value.
2) Chase Freedom Unlimited: 1.5X on everything with 50% bonus through portal for 2.25% cash value.

This skips out on the rotating category card (Freedom) that offers 5X back up to a certain dollar amount per quarter because it's too much of a hassle. Simplicity definitely has value!

LOYAL AG said:

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IrishTxAggie said:

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I pay for a vacation a year that would easily cost me $5k or more with credit card churning and points from my travel.

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Interesting, thank you for that. I quick search on churning reveals this:

Quote:

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The gist of the 5/24 rule is this: If you have opened 5 or more new credit cards in the past 24 months (from any issuing bank), you will not be approved for a new credit card from Chase. ... Small business credit cards do not count towards your 5 cards.

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Do you churn that frequently and if so have you encountered that problem? It seems obvious the card issuers don't want you to do what you're doing so it makes sense that they would seek to prevent it. After I responded to this thread I looked at a card that said it would only pay out the "new card" bonus every 48 months. how do rules like that impact this?

Thanks again. It's probably more work that I want to put it right now but it's interesting nonetheless. I may prove myself wrong.

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$80 free a month is great, but you are missing out on a whole lot more value by using the same card year after year.

I'm with IrishTx.. I'm relatively new to churning, but I feel we are getting several thousand $ a year of benefits. I churn with my SS and my wife's, so we have potentially 10 cards per 24 months, which is a buttload of sign up points, and can easily cover our vacations.

Currently sitting on 300k marriott points after just redeeming 200k for a December HI trip (5 nights are valued at $3500, only using 4 nights of points), 150k SW points w/ 1 companion pass, 130k united points. We both got pre tsa reimbursed, we have gold status at marriott, lounge access with amex marriott. Basically every year, one of us can get a signup bonus for each of those 3, keeping those point balances high.

We will use companion pass 3-4 times this year, round trip to FL, round trip to HI and myself a few times RT to dallas and wichita, plus a one way home from CA. This is a family of 4.

We rarely use more than 1 card at any one time. We are usually trying to fulfill a min. spend for sign up bonus, so that is card we both use. Then continue to use it until I sign one of us up for another card. All my cards except for 2 are at home in my nightstand. I only keep 2 in my 'wallet' phone. but I have all the cards' info in my excel budget file, so if I'm say at work buying a United flight, I can have that card's info available to me to use it.

Over the 2 years of doing it, I've decided to stick with those 3 brands and not deal with generic cards like chase ink, sapphire, or what have you, but everyone's goals are different. I want a lot of points with brands I'm loyal to, and that's what I'm getting.

LOYAL AG said:

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IrishTxAggie said:

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I pay for a vacation a year that would easily cost me $5k or more with credit card churning and points from my travel.

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Interesting, thank you for that. I quick search on churning reveals this:

Quote:

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The gist of the 5/24 rule is this: If you have opened 5 or more new credit cards in the past 24 months (from any issuing bank), you will not be approved for a new credit card from Chase. ... Small business credit cards do not count towards your 5 cards.

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Do you churn that frequently and if so have you encountered that problem? It seems obvious the card issuers don't want you to do what you're doing so it makes sense that they would seek to prevent it. After I responded to this thread I looked at a card that said it would only pay out the "new card" bonus every 48 months. how do rules like that impact this?

Thanks again. It's probably more work that I want to put it right now but it's interesting nonetheless. I may prove myself wrong.

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Like most things it often just boils down to whether or not the extra funds are worth the extra amount of time you spent researching/monitoring it.

I do find it interesting though how people (not you, just overall observation) will often scoff at those churning to get an extra 5% of value are some of the same people who will dedicate time to trying to get their credit score to 800+ when anything over 720 or so is negligible as far as rates and maybe impacts 2-3 purchases in a lifetime for people?

Totally agree. I am amazed at how many Amazon Prime members I've talked to don't know about the Amazon card. You get 5% back on EVERY purchase on Amazon. Absolutely no reason for not using one. For us, 5% really adds up in a hurry.

txaggie79 said:

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Totally agree. I am amazed at how many Amazon Prime members I've talked to don't know about the Amazon card. You get 5% back on EVERY purchase on Amazon. Absolutely no reason for not using one. For us, 5% really adds up in a hurry.

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Target redcard does 5% off as well (not cash back, it's just 5% off total bill, similar to a coupon at register) and it gives you free shipping with no min spend. We shop a lot more at target than at amazon, it's basically our weekly grocery run, and I find I often am buying xmas gifts from target. It's also nice to have a place to return a purchase in store, which I've done a few dozen times in a few years. Amazon, until recently with the Kohl's partnership, often required purchaser to pay return shipping, so if there was any chance of a return (like buying clothes or an item I'm uncertain on), I'd use Target.

You surely aren't getting the 5% off on the gift cards right?

Gift cards are usually not included in offers like that.

Aggie09Derek said:

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You surely aren't getting the 5% off on the gift cards right?

Gift cards are usually not included in offers like that.

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Yes, you get 5% off all gift cards, except target gift cards. It can be used on top of any clearance, discounts, or coupons you are using, on just about everything in store except pharmacy, target gift cards, and optical, and a few other specific things.
https://www.target.com/c/redcard/-/N-4tfyn#RCHP_redcardbenefits

You can also stack it on top of their 5% discount of subscribe and save online orders, giving you ~9% off.

I get 5% off alcohol too, since CO sells alcohol in stores now

So theoretically you should buy all Amex gift cards and use on everything else if getting 5% off (better than 2-4% on most cards).

I haven't done it yet, but that's what people do at grocery stores with the ABP. Hit your $6k at the grocery store, get your $360 cash back less the $99/yr fee gives you a nice $261. Then you've still got it for 3% on gasoline.

Basic example of why people are involved with credit card churning. This assumes someone is staying within the 5/24 level (5 cards in 24 months max)...there are plenty that go way way above that.

A good average card has about 50,000 points/miles for a bonus if you spend lets say $3,000 in the first 3 months. 50,000 points/miles is about $500 (although it can be more if you maximize your options...or the Chase Sapphire Reserve where your points are worth an extra 50%....but lets ignore that here.

Assuming 1 point per dollar spent (which is super conservative). The $3,000 you spend to get the bonus is worth 3,000 points...so about $30.

So each card at a minimum is worth $530.

5/24 means you can get a new card every 5ish month...which is what I do.

So in 2 years: 5 cards x $530 per card = $2,650 (or $1,325 per year). And its not like you need to spend crazy money to get it. ($3,000 per card to get the minimum spend bonus x 5 cards = $15,000 over 2 full years)

2% cash back is great and super easy but the bonuses are where the real money is at. Its not for everyone. If you make a ton of money, $1,325/yr might not be worth the time. (although its minimal extra time after you get into it....applying for a card takes 30 seconds.)

does the 5/24 churn affect credit score much?

...which is tied to car/house insurance, etc...

This x 1000!

I've always hovered around 780 and after about 2 years of churning (4-5 new cards, a few canceled already) I'm up to 810 so it's increased mine.

I still have my 10 year old Usaa cards. I don't use them, but keep them open for longevity.

My situation is a little different from most of the board. I am a rising senior at A&M with no credit history. I'd like to get a card so that I can build credit to help with big purchases when I graduate. I understand all of the basic principles of not accruing interest and paying the card off every billing cycle. Does anyone know what the best cards are for someone in my situation?

Thanks for the info. This is one of the options I have looked into. Have you heard of the Discover It Student Chrome Card? Would there be an advantage to doing the secured card over that one?

For me I generally just go after large sign up bonuses and don't worry about the day to day spending as much. Chase has tightened up in the last year or so but I am stocked up on points. Have 400k Chase URs, 100K cap1 points, 120K southwest points, 125K marriott points, 50K delta points, and a little bit of cash back sitting on one of my AMEX cards.

Need to find the next sign up to go after. I should have grabbed the 70K Delta offer recently but missed that one. Maybe grab 80K more chase points on the Ink business card next.

My credit score has gone up since starting with the credit card game. (740 to 800) I was scared to cancel credit cards a couple years ago but now I cancel cards all the time right before getting hit with annual fees.

I use an AMEX platinum, Citi double cash MC, and Costco Visa. I'm chucking at AggieFrog's paranoia. I set mine to autopay the statement balance on the due date, and I don't look into them much beyond that. I do spend an embarrassing amount, oh well.

AMEX: I travel a lot domestically and internationally, the AMEX is a great fit for that. I use all of the airline fee credit, all of the Uber benefit, and I use the Centurion lounge often. I use the card for very large purchases, $15K and up. Points accrue fast when you buy airline tickets with it.

Citi double cash: super easy 2% and my go to day to day card. The only annoying thing is that the limit is lower than I would like and it's impossible to get Citi to raise it by much eat time they're willing to. I've had instances where I've had to zero it out twice in a billing cycle because of this. I've never successfully used the price rewind so can't comment on that aspect.

Costco: I only got it because I need a visa for the times when it's the only thing accepted. It happens in Northern Europe a lot. I use it for gas, restaurants, Costco, and travel where it's a better deal than the Amex. I use the rewards to buy electronics from Costco.

$30,000 Millionaire said:

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Costco: I only got it because I need a visa for the times when it's the only thing accepted. It happens in Northern Europe a lot. I use it for gas, restaurants, Costco, and travel where it's a better deal than the Amex. I use the rewards to buy electronics from Costco.

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My parents have Costco Visas. I have no clue what my Dad puts on his credit card, but he got $500 back last year. Which I think bus crazy, but maybe he really isn't spending that much.

Costco Visa 4% gas & 3% travel/restaurants can add up.

I just tried to assign a $ value to all of my points and estimated it had a $ value of ~$8,000+.... I have found that, similar to how I view spending my cold hard cash, I am also frugal when it comes to spending my points. My wife will always say "oh but its free, we used points" but in my mind there is a very real opportunity cost associated with using the points.

I suppose if **** hits the fan in my house and we blow through our emergency fund I could fall back on being able to convert most of my points into either statement credits or gift cards to use and/or sell. This of course is extremely unlikely.

My co-worker who is also a churner always laughs at me as he generally gets the points but then finds ways to use them relatively quickly (mainly travel he otherwise probably wouldn't be able to afford).

I guess the biggest risk I run holding onto all of these is the programs further devaluing the point system. Cap1 recently changed a lot of their gift card partners from 10,000/$100 (points/$) to 12,500/$100 as an example.

Anybody have the Amazon card? We're already Prime members and spend a stupid amount on Amazon, so getting the 5% back seems like a no-brainer. The card has some terrible reviews though. Not sure if I'm missing something.

I have the Amazon store card
Ended up buying most Xmas gifts last year with the 5% back throughout the year

AggieDan04 said:

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Anybody have the Amazon card? We're already Prime members and spend a stupid amount on Amazon, so getting the 5% back seems like a no-brainer. The card has some terrible reviews though. Not sure if I'm missing something.

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Yes. Only card we use. Not sure why it would have bad reviews.

As much money as I spend on Amazon that's an interesting card to investigate.

I use the Chase Southwest on everything except Restaurants/Bars which i used Uber (4% CB) - any idea how i can improve?

TheBiggerEvent said:

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I use the Chase Southwest on everything except Restaurants/Bars which i used Uber (4% CB) - any idea how i can improve?

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Wait for another crazy offer to come up and then use it for a handful of months, get reward, then cancel the card before the annual fee hits the next year.