Almost time for my next app-o-rama

This month I will be attempting my most ambitious app-o-rama since I have begun this "game."

In my last mini app-o-rama in January, I applied and was approved for two new credit cards. This time I hope to get four new cards. Note: if you plan to attempt this, I recommend a credit score at or above 750 and you should always pay off your credit card bills in full on time every month.

Here's a chart I made with what cards I have previously applied for (the red row means the card is closed) and what I plan to apply for this month:

Chase Hyatt
I will be applying using a link from a targeted email I got with the first year fee waived. For those interested in this card, but don't have such an email--I have read that if you go through the Hyatt website as though you're making a reservation, you should see an offer on bottom of the page where you enter guest information for the credit card with a $50 statement credit after your first purchase. You don't actually have to complete the reservation booking. This brings the net fee down to $25.
I paid the fee for the Chase Southwest card last year and it is now up for renewal. I will not be keeping this card, however, I wanted to wait and apply for the Hyatt card first. This is in case I am denied for the Hyatt initially I would call the reconsideration line and ask to close the Southwest card and transfer the credit line. If I am instantly approved, I will still call in and close my Southwest card. I do expect to be approved for the Hyatt card either way.

Barclays US Air
I will be applying with a link from Flyertalk. Barclays is notoriously finicky about approvals especially for people who frequently open new accounts. However, this is the first Barclays card I have ever had, so I hope to be instantly approved. I don't fly on US Airways too often, but since they have purchased American Airlines, these may be AA miles in the near future and this card will no longer be available.

Citi AA Business
I will be applying with a link from Flyertalk. I don't think I should have trouble getting this card. However, I am a bit sad to have missed out on the 50,000 miles that was available up until very recently.

Club Carlson Business (US Bank)
Like Barclays, US Bank is finicky about approvals. They have also been known to approve applicants for a lesser card than they applied for. That's why I am applying for the business instead of the personal version because there is no lesser business version. I will be applying through the public link on Club Carlson's website. Unfortunately, the fee is not waived, but I am willing to pay because 85,000 miles is pretty good and the card has a number of good benefits such as 5 points per dollar on all purchases and if you redeem two or more award nights, the last night is free. I doubt I will be instantly approved as I may have to call in and provide some information on my business.

In conclusion, if I am approved for all four cards, the spending requirement would be $6,500 in three months. I could never do this just from my day-to-day purchases, but thanks to some manufactured spend, I should I have no problem. I will report back with my results as well as how I hope to use these miles and points.

Said goodbye to my CSP

I signed up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa last year back when Chase was offering 50,000 points for spending $3,000 in three months (current offer is 40,000 points).

This is a wonderful card—not only is cool-looking thanks to the metal inside—it has benefits like no foreign transaction fees and the ability to transfer points directly to airline/hotel programs, including United, Southwest, British Airways, Hyatt, Priority Club and Marriott. The card gives double points on all travel and dining purchases and there’s a 7 percent annual points dividend on all new points earned on purchases throughout the year – even points that have been redeemed.

Why did I say goodbye? Well, the card’s $95 annual fee was coming due soon (it was waived the first year) and I just didn’t feel I used the card enough to justify paying that. In fact, I hadn’t made a purchase on it in six months.

I seriously considered paying the fee to keep it, however, back in November, I signed up for the Chase Ink Bold business credit card, which has a lot of overlapping benefits, including no foreign transaction fees and direct transfer to other reward programs. Now, you do need some sort of legitimate business to open this card (even small operations like freelance writing or selling on Amazon or eBay).

The Ink card also has some pretty awesome 5X categories, including at office supply stores and on cellular phone, landline, internet and cable TV (on the first $50,000 spent annually). Then there are 2X points per $1 on the first $50,000 spent annually at gas stations and for hotel accommodations when purchased directly with the hotel. This card is also $95 per year, but the first year is free.

Now I could have downgraded my card to the no fee regular Chase Sapphire card, however, I had read reports of some folks getting a bonus for both the Preferred Visa and MasterCard, so I wanted to give myself the opportunity to possibly open the MasterCard later this year. So I opted to cancel completely. I didn’t attempt a retention offer the way I did with Citibank, I simply requested to close my card and transfer the credit line to another one of my existing Chase cards.

My hope in transferring the credit line was that my credit score wouldn’t take a hit (sometimes cancelling a card can lower your credit score because it can increase your debt to credit ratio, even if you pay it off monthly). Also, I wanted some potential leverage in opening additional Chase cards. If given a low limit on a new card, Chase allows you to transfer some the limit from your existing cards.

So, while I’m sad to have said goodbye to my CSP, I hope we’ll meet again in the future.

"I'm considering canceling my card because of the annual fee"

Not my actual card--in case you were wondering

So just about a year ago, I got into the whole points/miles and credit card churning game. The first card I opened was the Citibank AAdvantage Gold Visa using a targeted offer that I got in the mail. Well, this card has a $50 annual fee and that fee was coming due soon, so it was time to give a call to the good old Citibank retention department to see if they would waive it. Of course, I was perfectly willing to follow through on the cancellation should they have declined as I haven't been using the card much.

So I called 800-444-2568 and after giving my account number and verifying my info I say, "I'm considering canceling my card because of the annual fee, and I wanted to see if there was anything you could do about the fee before I cancel it."

The CSR says they'd hate to lose me as a customer. "Well, I can't waive the fee, but I do have an offer you might like." She then offers me a $50 statement credit and a bonus of 750 miles (basically 2x miles) in any or every month that I spend $750 for the next 16 months.

I tell her that does sound pretty good, but I was wondering if there were any other offers.

She says yes, one more, but it's not as good--$50 statement credit for making five purchases in the next three months.

I agree that the first offer is better, confirm that I'm taking it and we're all set!

Basically, while a $50 statement credit isn't exactly waiving the fee as per Citibank, it's close enough for me. The CSR said the credit may take 1-2 billing cycles to post, so I should pay the fee when it's due. As for the bonus miles, I don't use this card much anymore, however, I may be able to shift some spending to it during the months I'm not trying to meet a minimum spend on another card.

First mini app-o-rama...two approvals 130,000 points

Today marks the first time I have applied for more than one credit card at one time. Last year I conservatively began my journey into credit card churning for frequent flyer miles and hotel points, earning 230,000 miles/points in sign-up bonuses for opening up a total of five credit cards for the year (January, March, May, August and November). It was my initial intention to wait until February for my next "churn," but a great offer popped up and I decided not to wait.

First, I saw this post on slickdeals about a 100,000-point sign-up offer for the American Express Platinum card, and then I followed up for more information on flyertalk. Well, the $450 annual fee (not waived) for the Amex Platinum seemed a bit steep to me and I didn't think I'd really take advantage of all of the card's perks. 100,000 Amex points (great for transferring to hotel and airline programs) was tempting, but ultimately, I decided to go with the Premier Rewards Gold for 50,000 points and the first year $175 fee waived. Of course, I will cancel the card before year two rolls around. I do have to spend $1,000 in three months, which should be no trouble. This regular public offer for the PRG is 25,000 points, so this is double the points, which is why I jumped on it. The card's benefits include:

• 3 points per $ on airfare
• 2 points per $ on gas and groceries
• 1 point per $ on all other purchases
• Get an additional 15,000 points for spending $30,000 in one year
• Other Amex benefits such as roadside assistance, car rental loss & damage insurance, travel accident insurance, extended warranty

Unfortunately, I'm seeing reports on slickdeals and flyertalk the Amex offer might be dead, so that's precisely why it's important to jump on good deals quickly.

Then, I pulled the trigger on the 80,000-point Priority Club Select Visa using a link from flyertalk. Again, this bonus requires spending $1,000 in three months. I was a little surprised to get instant approval for this since I have a fair number of Chase cards, but I guess the odds were in my favor today. The annual fee of $49 is waived for the first year, but many think this card is worth keeping beyond the first year because you get a free night every year, which can be worth a lot more than $49 if you choose a top-dollar property. Other benefits include:

• 5 points per $ spent at IHG hotels
• 2 points per $ spent on gas,groceries and restaurants
• 1 point per $ on everything else
• 10% points rebate on any redemptions
• No foreign transaction fees
• Platinum elite status

I am looking forward to some free/cheap hotel stays in Europe this year with my 130,000 points!

The dreaded ‘pending review’ screen

If you read my post the other day, you’ll know I was excited about applying for the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) American Express card since the signup bonus was just bumped from 25,000 to 30,000 points for a limited time.

Well, after I filled out the application and submitted it, I got the dreaded “your application is pending further review” message. In these days of instant online approval, pending review seems like one step away from a denial. I’m still pretty new to the “game,” so I have yet to be denied, but it is definitely a fear.

But there was no need to despair or even wait 14 days for a letter in the mail as instructed. On the advice of The Points Guy, I waited about 15 minutes and then checked my application status online.

And, just like that, I was approved! The six-month clock (20,000 additional points for $5,000 spend in six months) starts ticking from the date of approval, so I’m ready to get my card and start using it. Unfortunately, it takes 7-10 days to receive it in the mail.

If I my application status had still said “pending,” my next move would have been to call the Amex reconsideration line at 1-800-582-6471 to see if there was anything they or I could do to speed my application approval along, but thankfully that was unnecessary. But keep that advice in your back pocket if you need it.

To think, before I started “churning,” I never even knew credit card reconsideration lines existed.

I forgot to mention in my post the other day that Amex allows existing cardmembers to refer new cardmembers to the SPG card for a 5,000-point bonus. So if you have currently have a card, be sure to refer your friends and family. You’ll get an extra 5,000 Starpoints. And if you are looking to get a card, ask your friends or family if they want to refer you so they can get 5,000 points.

Is credit card churning going mainstream?

Last week, I came across this article on MSN: http://money.msn.com/credit-cards/a-little-known-way-to-fly-for-free-usnews.aspx

At first I thought, oh no, my new "hobby" is going mainstream since MSN is reporting on it. Luckily, most of the comments (aside from the spam) are from Negative Nancys who are either anti-credit card or doubt that you can redeem miles for free flights. Hopefully, the banks will keep the deals coming, knowing that only a small percentage of people maximize the benefits.

I'll be posting more about soon about how I am redeeming the miles and points I have accumulated. Stay tuned!