Credit Card bonuses... how get enough for that business class seat in 6 months

[Hawaiidan]

There were a number of people who thought that some of the posts under "Using Oceania air" might benefit others. Go take a look at the last 6 post by myself, Paulchili and Rally Dave and you will be empowered.

 

Simply stated following a technique known as churning, which is totally above board and legal you can develop mileage account with United or Delta with 100,000 to 200,000 in less than a year, without flying and spending only $1100

 

So, if you need that 50,000 or 120,000 and want that Business international ticket.... well go look it up.

[Hawaiidan]

There is a little known technique known as "churning" . Presently Chase still permits it however as of August 2013 Citi prohibits it

 

Churning is where you do one of 2 things Get use and cancel the card and request a new one. or where you every 90 days apply for a new card. You can, presently request a new card ( there are presently 4 levels in Chase UAL one of which is an explorer card.

These cards carry a 30,000 mile each sign up. You can get an additional 5000 miles for adding a name to the card. and 10,000 if you charge 25,000 in 12 mos . If you are married, then you and your spouse each apply separately for a card and then place each others name on the card. Result for round 1 60,000 miles total plus 10,000 miles bonus. you can apply every 90 days of one of the cards each time repeating the process. At round 2 you get another 60,000 miles +10,000 At round 3 you get another 60,000 + 10,000

 

So together in 90 days, with just charging $1000 on the cards you will have 210,000 miles in 6 mos. AND, the 6000 in charges will earn you 6000 more miles !!! So now we are at 216,000 miles ! are you with me?

 

But wait, timing is everything .because if you charge $25,000 in 12 mos you get a 10,000 bonus for each card that you hit $25,000 with. Using you card for all you do : gas food, tax,cruise, air, vacation, clothes gum.. telephone, cable, water,electricity..... each of you picks one card to do the $25 k on ( $50,000 should be easy in a year for normal cost of living..

So now at the end of the first year you chave used the cards for $54,000 in charges ( paying it off in full each month)

This give you 20,000 miles bonus plus the 50,000 miles earned from the actual charges. So that is altogether another 70,000 miles

 

So 12 months from the start you are now sitting on 286,000 miles or 146,000 each... having only spent $54,000 in normal routine expenses. And this is if you do not fly one mile !!! Then each year still spending $50,000 in charges for your normaly do will continue to add 50,000 miles a year And it gets better and better as each year you get a renewal of 2000 to 5000 mile bonus per card. Using just 2000 per card ( and you have 6 remember between you two) that's another 12,000 miles a year

SO......24 months after getting the original cards you have 298,000 miles total. and If you charge a couple of cruises and air...you can add another 20,000 miles !!!!

 

You have to pay about $190 per year for the cards x 6 or $1140 a year.

Not bad to get almost $300,000 worth of miles doing nothing more than sitting around the house.

THe secret 1 brand credit card...no others... fly only UAL or star alliance and quit paying cash for anything.....

 

And I didn't even get into hotel cards such as Marriott where you can easily between 2 people 6 to 10 free stays a year !

 

Ball is in your court

[Hawaiidan]

Great and informative posts Dan. Churning is a GREAT way to get free air, hotels, cruises, etc. Yours is but one way to earn lots of points. While the UAL Cards have good features, there are other Chase cards that earn more points and are transferable to other airlines, hotels, etc. And they can be used in conjunction with each other to accumulate Ultimate Rewards Points with some of the cards requiring no annual fees. One advantage of Ultimate Rewards is many more airlines, hotels, etc. to transfer points than simply using the UAL cards which only transfer to UAL.

 

There are websites such as Dan's Deals and The Frugal Travel Guy to name two sites that provide great recommendations and rate the various cards and the promotions. With the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, you get double points for travel (hotels, cruises, rental cars, etc.) and every year get a 7% bonus. Lots of specials come out to improve these bonuses. Then there are several different Chase Ink cards that are for businesses but, simply provide a name for your business and good to go. They pay double points for gas and 5 times value for purchases at Business supply stores like Staples and Office Depot. They also pay 5 times spent for internet and cell phones and those are monthly charges most of us have and all of these easily pay the annual fees and more. Chase Freedom and Chase Sapphire have no annual fees and points can be all moved into the Ultimate Rewards Program which under the Sapphire Preferred have much better redemption features. Ultimate Rewards also allows you to get a check in the mail for the value of the points. True the cash is at $.01/point but, think of a cruise at $20,000 and that is $200 cash and if you spend say $300/month on internet or cell, that would be a check every year for $180 per year ($300 X 5 X 12 = 18000 points) Simply setting up auto payments and nothing else would net you $85 per year after paying the $95 card fee.

 

It's free money as long as you always pay your bill on time and in full. Great programs and there are many others. Choose the cards that work for you.

__________________

Dave

[kiawahdon]

Credit rating agencies have a real hate on for churning cards and people with a half-a-dozen cards. Does wonders to lower your rating and FICO.

[DOJO466]

Credit rating agencies have a real hate on for churning cards and people with a half-a-dozen cards. Does wonders to lower your rating and FICO.

I agree. With a FICO lower score, things like Insurance (property, car etc) go up by quite a lot, not to mention having higher interest rates for car, house loans.

[Hawaiidan]

Credit rating agencies have a real hate on for churning cards and people with a half-a-dozen cards. Does wonders to lower your rating and FICO.

 

I have 4 cc cards and my wife 4 cards, all with zero balance; and they average $20 to $30K limit per card...... so $200K in open credit

All charges are paid in full end of the month or due date... some times earlier. We charge everything and anything spending less than $50 cash a month.

 

As to lower your credit score.... well:rolleyes:

 

I just got a credit report from FIC0 and they really dinged me..... 6 points down from 850 to 844. and my wife is 849. That 1 whole point.!!!!:eek: for her....

 

Just keep telling yourself how bad it is ...... in the mean time I just booked a first class bed to Honk Kong for $6.00.

[rallydave]

Credit rating agencies have a real hate on for churning cards and people with a half-a-dozen cards. Does wonders to lower your rating and FICO.

 

As Dan said, not necessarily true. There are techniques that some of the people and others I mentioned in the other post Dan so nicely provided that avoid much if any drop in credit such as only getting new cards every six months or signing up for cards thru targeted marketing with received invitations that don't institute a hard pull. Also keeping your owed to credit limit percentage on the low side and for sure paying all of your bills in full avoiding any interest payments.

 

Been churning for several years now and while my FICO score isn't as good as Dan's, it was 822 last time I went in and had a real FICO score pulled. DW and I are both considered Excellent Credit Risks and we have a lot more than 6 cards.

 

Not a bit worried and watch which cards I do get and the value they bring before applying. Never been denied a card and never had my rating or FICO below 800. It does really work but, if you will have trouble sleeping by doing this, for sure don't and don't abuse the system or you might have issues. Read up on the systems from those who blog on the web and see how it works and how to avoid credit issues.

[titong]

There is a little known technique known as "churning" . Presently Chase still permits it however as of August 2013 Citi prohibits it

 

Churning is where you do one of 2 things Get use and cancel the card and request a new one. or where you every 90 days apply for a new card. You can, presently request a new card ( there are presently 4 levels in Chase UAL one of which is an explorer card.

These cards carry a 30,000 mile each sign up. You can get an additional 5000 miles for adding a name to the card. and 10,000 if you charge 25,000 in 12 mos . If you are married, then you and your spouse each apply separately for a card and then place each others name on the card. Result for round 1 60,000 miles total plus 10,000 miles bonus. you can apply every 90 days of one of the cards each time repeating the process. At round 2 you get another 60,000 miles +10,000 At round 3 you get another 60,000 + 10,000

 

So together in 90 days, with just charging $1000 on the cards you will have 210,000 miles in 6 mos. AND, the 6000 in charges will earn you 6000 more miles !!! So now we are at 216,000 miles ! are you with me?

 

But wait, timing is everything .because if you charge $25,000 in 12 mos you get a 10,000 bonus for each card that you hit $25,000 with. Using you card for all you do : gas food, tax,cruise, air, vacation, clothes gum.. telephone, cable, water,electricity..... each of you picks one card to do the $25 k on ( $50,000 should be easy in a year for normal cost of living..

So now at the end of the first year you chave used the cards for $54,000 in charges ( paying it off in full each month)

This give you 20,000 miles bonus plus the 50,000 miles earned from the actual charges. So that is altogether another 70,000 miles

 

So 12 months from the start you are now sitting on 286,000 miles or 146,000 each... having only spent $54,000 in normal routine expenses. And this is if you do not fly one mile !!! Then each year still spending $50,000 in charges for your normaly do will continue to add 50,000 miles a year And it gets better and better as each year you get a renewal of 2000 to 5000 mile bonus per card. Using just 2000 per card ( and you have 6 remember between you two) that's another 12,000 miles a year

SO......24 months after getting the original cards you have 298,000 miles total. and If you charge a couple of cruises and air...you can add another 20,000 miles !!!!

 

You have to pay about $190 per year for the cards x 6 or $1140 a year.

Not bad to get almost $300,000 worth of miles doing nothing more than sitting around the house.

THe secret 1 brand credit card...no others... fly only UAL or star alliance and quit paying cash for anything.....

 

And I didn't even get into hotel cards such as Marriott where you can easily between 2 people 6 to 10 free stays a year !

 

Ball is in your court

 

Hawaiidan, thank you. Very useful post. I thought about quoting your post and posting it on the Crystal forum website. However, I don't know if you would object. However, I cruise Crystal a lot and Oceania some. Would you post your post on the Crystal forum as well? If not do you object if I post your very valuable post on the Crystal cruise critic forum?

Edited November 23, 2013 by titong

[DOJO466]

As Dan said, not necessarily true. There are techniques that some of the people and others I mentioned in the other post Dan so nicely provided that avoid much if any drop in credit such as only getting new cards every six months or signing up for cards thru targeted marketing with received invitations that don't institute a hard pull. Also keeping your owed to credit limit percentage on the low side and for sure paying all of your bills in full avoiding any interest payments.

 

Been churning for several years now and while my FICO score isn't as good as Dan's, it was 822 last time I went in and had a real FICO score pulled. DW and I are both considered Excellent Credit Risks and we have a lot more than 6 cards.

 

Not a bit worried and watch which cards I do get and the value they bring before applying. Never been denied a card and never had my rating or FICO below 800. It does really work but, if you will have trouble sleeping by doing this, for sure don't and don't abuse the system or you might have issues. Read up on the systems from those who blog on the web and see how it works and how to avoid credit issues.

Thanks for posting this. I stand corrected. I will do more research. Perhaps an Australia/New Zealand/French Poly trip in business class is in my future.

[Hawaiidan]

Hawaiidan, thank you. Very useful post. I thought about quoting your post and posting it on the Crystal forum website. However, I don't know if you would object. However, I cruise Crystal a lot and Oceania some. Would you post your post on the Crystal forum as well? If not do you object if I post your very valuable post on the Crystal cruise critic forum?

 

 

This is not rocket science. It is not a scam or illegal . It is a method where a regular guy or gal, with a little planning and thought, doing nothing more than normal behavior, can be getting $5000 to $12,000 in free air fare .... Once you start your seed stock of 300,000 miles it just starts to build:D

I mad a math error at the end of 24 months your total should be 366,000 miles 183,000 each

 

And Oh... I just bought a new car and was given 1.99% for 72 mos... so do not buy the myth that it will hurt you..... that's an urban legend worthy of an elvis sighting

 

THanks for your kind words...............

[pacheco18]

Rather than listen to any of us, I suggest anyone interest in this issue subscribe to The Points Guy. http://www.pointsguy.com

 

He has a newsletter (weekly and daily), a fabulous website, and he is the guru of credit card "churning." He will alert you to the best deals as they come out and give you expert tips on how to maximize the value of your points.

[Hawaiidan]

Thanks for posting this. I stand corrected. I will do more research. Perhaps an Australia/New Zealand/French Poly trip in business class is in my future.

 

Actualy, its only 24,000 miles more for First Class.... in a 747... If your planning 24 months in advance.... you can score that easy.... or grab 1 more card !!! for a cool 35,000 miles:D

 

I see an intelligent guy like you much more comfy in First... Free First rather than $14,500.00:o

 

Your only risk to FICO is if you cancel your cards.... let em ride.

[Hawaiidan]

Its a cool $21,245 rt to Sydney First class. 160,000 miles each way regular but only 80,000 miles saver Business in 67,500 each way.

 

So, is it worth about 2 hours of your time over 18 months to score a

21 grand ticket? :D

 

"Oh, steward, more dom perigon if you please".

[Mjflowers]

What if the major airlines up their mileage requirements? 20k to 40k per business and first, more difficult to book, blackouts, etc. Seems one may beat the system for a while, but within time, the company will prevail.

I suppose I can always spend more money to get more points.

[Hawaiidan]

What if the major airlines up their mileage requirements? 20k to 40k per business and first, more difficult to book, blackouts, etc. Seems one may beat the system for a while, but within time, the company will prevail.

I suppose I can always spend more money to get more points.

 

The entire premise of earning miles is that the sucker...you . wiii spend their miles at the very chance. Seldom will few wait to build for the future

 

No the company will prosper on the greed of the low achievers.

 

Example flying La to Hawaii is 40,000 miles retail cost $700. Miles coat to you using miles is $1400 or you loose$700 when you get a free ticket The wise man will save 80,000 miles for an international business ticket worth $4000. But few do that

Whereas one for looses $1400 for 2 tickets in coach another will save $2600 for the same ticket

 

a total difference of $3300. depending on how you spend

[Paulchili]

Deleted

Edited November 24, 2013 by Paulchili

[Paulchili]

What if the major airlines up their mileage requirements? 20k to 40k per business and first, more difficult to book, blackouts, etc. Seems one may beat the system for a while, but within time, the company will prevail.

I suppose I can always spend more money to get more points.

 

One does not collect miles as an investment for future or retirement - it's not an IRA or gold You collect them and use them as soon as you can. Changes in the program are inevitable over time - that way you are not caught with huge miles balances that have been devalued overnight.

I agree with both Dan and Dave about FICO. I had 7 different Chase cards all at once (and many other Citi, Amex cards, etc) and my score has not budged significantly one way or another over the years.

As a result of this effort and planning, we have never traveled below business on long haul flights in the last 10 years ( and we do travel frequently) and have never paid for these tickets - all obtained with miles. The more time you invest in learning about this, the more you will get in return. This applies to hotel programs as well as airlines.

Alas, the really good old days of earning and burning and churning are behind us but there are some options still out there.

Good luck and happy trails :)

[pacheco18]

One does not collect miles as an investment for future or retirement - it's not an IRA or gold You collect them and use them as soon as you can. Changes in the program are inevitable over time - that way you are not caught with huge miles balances that have been devalued overnight.

I agree with both Dan and Dave about FICO. I had 7 different Chase cards all at once (and many other Citi, Amex cards, etc) and my score has not budged significantly one way or another over the years.

As a result of this effort and planning, we have never traveled below business on long haul flights in the last 10 years ( and we do travel frequently) and have never paid for these tickets - all obtained with miles. The more time you invest in learning about this, the more you will get in return. This applies to hotel programs as well as airlines.

Alas, the really good old days of earning and burning and churning are behind us but there are some options still out there.

Good luck and happy trails :)

 

Like Paul, we have not paid for an overseas airline ticket in the past 6 years and we make a minimum of 3 overseas trips in business class every year. That said, you cannot learn about the nuances and "tricks" of this process on these boards. Make thepointsguy your guru. You will get a true education about both flights and free hotel stays.

[Hawaiidan]

One does not collect miles as an investment for future or retirement - it's not an IRA or gold You collect them and use them as soon as you can. Changes in the program are inevitable over time - that way you are not caught with huge miles balances that have been devalued overnight.

I agree with both Dan and Dave about FICO. I had 7 different Chase cards all at once (and many other Citi, Amex cards, etc) and my score has not budged significantly one way or another over the years.

As a result of this effort and planning, we have never traveled below business on long haul flights in the last 10 years ( and we do travel frequently) and have never paid for these tickets - all obtained with miles. The more time you invest in learning about this, the more you will get in return. This applies to hotel programs as well as airlines.

Alas, the really good old days of earning and burning and churning are behind us but there are some options still out there.

Good luck and happy trails :)

 

The common refrain I hear is " well if it was that easy why doesn't everybody do it" I hear the same about the stock market too..

 

Fact of the matter less than 17% of Americans are in mileage programs and or investors . THe vast majority 83% to be exact sit on the fence and think that they would never be able to do this or that. Oh I do not travel that much, or I don't spend that much... or its too difficult.

 

They create" what if's "and doom scenarios daily... You know, it is too good to be true it isn't. Or just wait something bad will happen. And you know if you wait long enough the chances are good maybe something will. I have been doing this for over 20 years... and nothing has yet to surface.

However, in the meantime they could have made a fortune in free travel and had experiences of a lifetime.... this is not chump change . In the last decade I have received well over $100,000 in flights rooms and cruises all through my normal, routine, average household spending...and I am not rich just average middle income!! If I can you can too...

Dave, Larine,Paul and I and our partners have been enjoying the pleasures of free travel for many many years.... Isn't it time you did too?

[Silver Sweethearts]

The common refrain I hear is " well if it was that easy why doesn't everybody do it" I hear the same about the stock market too..

 

Fact of the matter less than 17% of Americans are in mileage programs and or investors . THe vast majority 83% to be exact sit on the fence and think that they would never be able to do this or that. Oh I do not travel that much, or I don't spend that much... or its too difficult.

 

They create" what if's "and doom scenarios daily... You know, it is too good to be true it isn't. Or just wait something bad will happen. And you know if you wait long enough the chances are good maybe something will. I have been doing this for over 20 years... and nothing has yet to surface.

However, in the meantime they could have made a fortune in free travel and had experiences of a lifetime.... this is not chump change . In the last decade I have received well over $100,000 in flights rooms and cruises all through my normal, routine, average household spending...and I am not rich just average middle income!! If I can you can too...

Dave, Larine,Paul and I and our partners have been enjoying the pleasures of free travel for many many years.... Isn't it time you did too?

 

You sound like an infomercial.

[Hawaiidan]

You sound like an infomercial.

 

I get frustrated with all the nay say and dooms day folks....

 

Only thing in my infomercials I am not selling anything but knowledge....:o

[Silver Sweethearts]

I get frustrated with all the nay say and dooms day folks....

 

Only thing in my infomercials I am not selling anything but knowledge....:o

 

So you aren't really Kingfish...

[atlantic cruiser]

Hi Dan,

 

What you have accomplished is amazing. I had no idea this was possible. But if you cancel a card don't you lose the points? Do you have any idea if these would work in Canada. I would love to learn more. I feel very frustrated with how little I get in rewards from the Canadian bank credit card I have. I always pay off the balance every month but am very uneducated in what to look for. The cancelling and reapplying still boggles my mind. How does your mileage account stay intact if you have cancelled the card?!!!! Thanks for more insight. I really am so not aware of all of this.

[rallydave]

Hi Dan,

 

What you have accomplished is amazing. I had no idea this was possible. But if you cancel a card don't you lose the points? Do you have any idea if these would work in Canada. I would love to learn more. I feel very frustrated with how little I get in rewards from the Canadian bank credit card I have. I always pay off the balance every month but am very uneducated in what to look for. The cancelling and reapplying still boggles my mind. How does your mileage account stay intact if you have cancelled the card?!!!! Thanks for more insight. I really am so not aware of all of this.

 

Not Dan but, will provide you some info as I understand things and give you some options that may or may not suit you and others.

 

Believe Dan keeps his miles while cancelling and reapplying for new UAL cards since the way these cards work is that monthly, the earned miles are deposited in his UAL Frequent Flyer Account as there is no Chase Account for the miles earned on a specific airline.

 

That being said, I also provided advice concerning various Chase cards which in my opinion work better than being forced to put all of your miles in one airlines account. That's fine if you want your earnings to totally go toward flights on one specific airline. As United is the dominant airline in Hawaii, this works fine for him and may or may not work fine for you and others.

 

With Chase Ultimate Rewards, you do need to maintain the account that the points reside in but, that needs to be only one account since the points are transferable without charge from any other account that earns Ultimate Awards. The points can be transferred into several different airlines including UAL as well as car rental companies, hotels, restaurants, merchandise and cash at 1 point per $.01 which isn't as bad as it seems but, not as good as flights. While the UAL card is 1 point per $.01 same as Chase except for flights on UAL which I believe are double, depending on the UAL card, you can get double points for travel, gasoline, and others depending on the card and 5X for internet access, cable TV, and business supply stores such as Staples and Office Depot.

 

This is NOT a one size fits all so choose the approach that fits what you are trying to earn and what you spend your money on. What's good for one person isn't good for another. Reading the blogs of some of the points experts will help you decide which cards get and which cards to keep or cancel and then repurchase.

 

Hope this helps explain and as others have correctly stated, we're not the experts, there are many out there and they are easy to find and don't charge anything for their advice.

[Hawaiidan]

Not Dan but, will provide you some info as I understand things and give you some options that may or may not suit you and others.

 

Believe Dan keeps his miles while cancelling and reapplying for new UAL cards since the way these cards work is that monthly, the earned miles are deposited in his UAL Frequent Flyer Account as there is no Chase Account for the miles earned on a specific airline.

 

That being said, I also provided advice concerning various Chase cards which in my opinion work better than being forced to put all of your miles in one airlines account. That's fine if you want your earnings to totally go toward flights on one specific airline. As United is the dominant airline in Hawaii, this works fine for him and may or may not work fine for you and others.

 

With Chase Ultimate Rewards, you do need to maintain the account that the points reside in but, that needs to be only one account since the points are transferable without charge from any other account that earns Ultimate Awards. The points can be transferred into several different airlines including UAL as well as car rental companies, hotels, restaurants, merchandise and cash at 1 point per $.01 which isn't as bad as it seems but, not as good as flights. While the UAL card is 1 point per $.01 same as Chase except for flights on UAL which I believe are double, depending on the UAL card, you can get double points for travel, gasoline, and others depending on the card and 5X for internet access, cable TV, and business supply stores such as Staples and Office Depot.

 

This is NOT a one size fits all so choose the approach that fits what you are trying to earn and what you spend your money on. What's good for one person isn't good for another. Reading the blogs of some of the points experts will help you decide which cards get and which cards to keep or cancel and then repurchase.

 

Hope this helps explain and as others have correctly stated, we're not the experts, there are many out there and they are easy to find and don't charge anything for their advice.

 

I do not cancel my cards. the 4 I have I rotate according to need to keep them current. I do not cancel because canceling a card does hurt you your credit. And I have not even begun with Marriott credit cards.

The reason I choose UAL is because I already had 500,000 miles in the bank and Marriott 200,000 points. That's my zero start... and I have built on that foundation. Too UAL serves my location better than another. I could do better in other programs perhaps but I am doing just fine for my goal.

 

and Hey silversweetie... ... " Life is tough.... its even tougher if your dumb" . John Wayne