I love credit cards so much! v2.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[SouthFayetteFan]

So here is a general sort of question for the experts!

What do you find to be the most challenging thing about churning?

Making MSR?
Keeping track of which card to use under which circumstances? (I currently have only 3 in my possession and it's quite a change for me so that's already a challenge)
Opening/closing cards at the most beneficial rate to avoid difficulties with opening new ones?
Something else I haven't thought of?

I find that for many people the most challenging things are:

1) Figuring out their strategy/next steps after those first few “no-brainer” cards: it’s easy to get a CIP, a SW CP and do a MDD - once you’re past that though it takes some thought. AND it’s very hard to get good advice at that point because most situations can start to get very specific.
2) Balancing MSR and category spend and making the most efficient choices. Additional complexity comes when you add Amex to the equation and you are attempting to appease the RAT with everyday spend.

 

[amalone1013]

Good news, I could cancel my flight online! No talking to people!

Now to figure out how I want to apply travel credits to the next three trips...

We've got 2 CSR credits, one immediately and one renewing 9/15, a $300 Starriott credit from the Brilliant card renewing 8/27, and $500 on my Arrival Plus...

 

[amalone1013]

WWYD? Booking Dolphin with AA miles... 27k miles needed for booking, can do DHs account which has 48k currently, or mine that has 122k... am hoping to replenish both accounts eventually.

ETA: Booking Dolphin is 1.6cpp this way. I'm shocked!

 

[tink1970]

So here is a general sort of question for the experts!

What do you find to be the most challenging thing about churning?

Making MSR?
Keeping track of which card to use under which circumstances? (I currently have only 3 in my possession and it's quite a change for me so that's already a challenge)
Opening/closing cards at the most beneficial rate to avoid difficulties with opening new ones?
Something else I haven't thought of?

I think for me it's pacing and velocity of cards-I've noticed I usually get 2 or 3 in a short period of time versus spacing them out AND then have to make the 3 MSRs. I've gotten better since I'm working hard to get under 5/24 and I suspect trying to keep Chase happy might be the solution to my pacing issues after 12/1/19

 

[GlamMistress]

@alryan I'm so sorry for your loss.

 

[bernina]

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[tink1970]

Can anyone see a downside or something I need to be aware of for this itinerary and AA in general? Is the layover long enough?

I am super conservative with layover times and having been stranded at ORD I'd suggest that your connection time is tight. That said, would love to hear what Chicago peeps think! @CyndiLouWho ?

 

[PolyRob]

No they don’t need their own account. My employee cards don’t even show up on an account. I can only see the main cardholder’s account, if that makes sense

Ok, thank you!

 

[kmc8826]

So here is a general sort of question for the experts!

What do you find to be the most challenging thing about churning?

Making MSR?
Keeping track of which card to use under which circumstances? (I currently have only 3 in my possession and it's quite a change for me so that's already a challenge)
Opening/closing cards at the most beneficial rate to avoid difficulties with opening new ones?
Something else I haven't thought of?

Slowing down churning is hard for me. DH and I have talked about it and we need to STOP SPENDING SO MUCH MONEY! I get a new card because I want the points and he is often like “ready, set, go let’s spend.” We need to slow down...although relatively young he can retire now with a pension. But if he seriously wants to do that we need to just slow our spending ways. That means for us slowing down on new cards.

Personally my other part that is hard is Amex. DH has 5 cards. I have 8. Trying to put spend on all of them are exhausting. To the extent that if I had it to do over I would probably not get some of them. (Especially the green since that is the one they did the clawback on). I am still at the point of not wanting to be done with them completely since they have the contract with Delta and for better or worse that is our airline of choice.

 

[DisneyMandC]

@ten6mom can't find your original post, but I'll play along.

Toughest for me isn't on your list- FOMO!! Too many cards I want, not enough time/dollars to go around lol. Although it is getting easier now that I'm using Serve.

While I'm not spending more money, I do find myself rushing to meet MSRs and maybe buying ahead of time, but not at the expense of spending more. Like we were way over budget last month, BUT I stocked up on things like pet food gift cards, etc. at a discount so that it will be cheaper for us down the road. I was into things like couponing before I got into churning (still mildly do that) so I've always kind of done this, it's just on a bigger scale now haha. But overall I have to say churning has really saved us money.

 

[mamathompson]

I think toughest for me so far is what @SouthFayetteFan said about knowing what moves to make. I feel completely lost most of the time still. The second hardest part is keeping up with so many cards with spend on them.
ETA: third would be just how many points I need for redemptions with my size family. I wouldn't trade that for anything but DH and I do dream about how few points we will need to travel when it's just us two someday

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

There is a new model of the original Switch coming as well. This box is all red and looks noticeably different than the original Switch. This version has a better battery life. I don't know exactly when these will hit shelves, but it will be soon and if you're buying one, this is the one to get. It should be the same $299.99 price as the original console.

I will keep my eye out for the new model---thank you

You would go to "Customer Service" and then "Missing Cashback Claims" and then you choose which store based on a list of stores you clicked on. It's pretty easy! And I'm glad I had to look at my account to remember how to do that, because I noticed I have $75 payable!

So simple, yay!

So here is a general sort of question for the experts!

What do you find to be the most challenging thing about churning?

Making MSR?
Keeping track of which card to use under which circumstances? (I currently have only 3 in my possession and it's quite a change for me so that's already a challenge)
Opening/closing cards at the most beneficial rate to avoid difficulties with opening new ones?
Something else I haven't thought of?

For me, it's FOMO (like @DisneyMandC ) while trying to stick to The Plan I get distracted by the Shiny Amex and AAall the other cards, when I have to stick to building our UR levels for next year.

 

[Andysol]

So here is a general sort of question for the experts!

What do you find to be the most challenging thing about churning?

Making MSR?
Keeping track of which card to use under which circumstances? (I currently have only 3 in my possession and it's quite a change for me so that's already a challenge)
Opening/closing cards at the most beneficial rate to avoid difficulties with opening new ones?
Something else I haven't thought of?

I think it goes in stages for me. The organization, canceling cards, keeping up to date, etc was never challenging for my type A, hyper organized/OCD personality.

But I do find myself tapering off here and there. Waiting 2 weeks to apply for another citi card when I could have applied, etc. Just not “pulling the trigger” as efficiently as I should.

As far as general pitfalls and the most important thing I tell anyone starting out: you cannot change your spending habits. The natural inclination is spend = points. Points = good. Therefore, spend = good. It’s a tough thing to fight as it’s subconscious, but crucial.

Interesting observation regarding my challenge:
I find this hobby like a drug sometimes. We get highs when we get approvals. But when you start out, you have so much “supply” to catch that high and it can come as fast and furious as you’d like it to. Then, once you exhaust Chase, BoA, Barclays, US Bank, etc; the approvals get harder to find. And the more of an addict you are, the bigger the high you need... but we can’t find it or not as often as we’d like.
That’s my biggest challenge, getting high like I used too.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I am super conservative with layover times and having been stranded at ORD I'd suggest that your connection time is tight. That said, would love to hear what Chicago peeps think! @CyndiLouWho ?

@bernina Obviously I have not connected in Chicago because I live here, but an hour & 15 minutes does not seem long enough. I would look to see which terminals that flight usually arrives/departs from. OHare is huge and going from a domestic terminal to international is usually quite a distance. Heck, even one end of a terminal to the other is a haul. OHare does tend to have delays. Flying to Costa Rica, our flight to Miami was delayed and we missed our connecting flight, so spent 8 hours in Miami waiting for the next one, so I’m pretty conservative. I’d give it at least 2 hours but others may have more experience connecting thru ORD.

 

[Tikitoi]

Oo the "good one" then. Hm, in P1 mode I'd probably go for it if a 3k in AmEx spend isn't a problem. I'll cross fingers for you

Thank you. Definitely appreciate your expert advice. I've been working on my Chase spend esp with the 5x's and CIC. But I guess what could be tempting about this card is to transfer the mr to JetBlue.

 

[bernina]

[.

 

[afan]

Got a new title on the way back from MK. She was a fun bus driver too.

 

[ten6mom]

Off topic but I can see, from being on this thread, that I am gonna have to visit WDW at some point. I've only ever been to DL (more times than I can count) and TDL once!

 

[Haley R]

Off topic but I can see, from being on this thread, that I am gonna have to visit WDW at some point. I've only ever been to DL (more times than I can count) and TDL once!

I'm the exact opposite lol. I've been to WDW many times and TDR once, but never been to DL.

 

[DrFacilier]

@alryan I am so sorry for your loss. The picture you posted is very moving and I can see that she was a special person. My sincerest condolences.