I love credit cards so much!

[SouthFayetteFan]

@platamama and any others...I think this is actually a cool little discussion topic.

What is the most number of cards you've ever opened in a "short time span" (up to you to define) and what was the combined MSR you were working on...

• I once opened 5 cards in 6 days
• If you go back a few weeks that time I actually opened 7 cards in 1 month
• I think I had already hit the MSR on those other 2 cards so I probably had $7k in combined MSR open at once (the 7 cards was a total of $11k MSR).
• Some of these were fairly small MSRs so it wasn't that crazy (yes it felt odd to type that sentence as any "normal" person would say opening 7 credit cards in a month is insane).
• About 2 months prior to the "7 card month" I also had a "6 card month" with $8k in combined MSR
• If I look back I had one other 6 card month and one other 7 card month but both of those were mostly $500 MSRs on BofA cards and such

So what other crazy things have you guys done? I'm sure there's people that have way more than this lol. To the newer folks saying "What are you guys talking about"...imagine a time before the Chase 5/24 rule, before BoA cracked down, before the AMEX RAT existed, and when Chase Shutdowns were totally not a thing. Unfortunately these days it's much less common to see due to all the rules (although @platamama is doing some big things over there )

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

The first time we went together I invited him mostly because first I was exceedingly grateful for his help and his forum in helping me figure out how to do WDW the right way. It is not just rope drop it is the whole science of it. The trip I asked him was also a trip I took with just my oldest who was 9 at the time. It was basically a trip because I really wanted to use our AP’s again and my husband didn’t want to go and also because I had not completely figured out the hard core travel hacking I am doing now so flying 5 was a little much. I was honestly also a little worried because while it was only a 4 day/5 night trip no adult conversation for that long was daunting. Josh used to be a lot more active on the easyWDW forum then he is now so he kind of “knew” me.

At any rate, I had a couple of ADR’s scheduled and just emailed Josh and asked if he wanted to go. He picked Chef Mickey’s. I had a lot of fun although Ellie my oldest was a little put out mostly because she was worried people might think “that Josh guy” was her Daddy. For the trip last year I had seen a picture on of the castle that I really liked he had taken and asked if he could send me the picture in a better format. I then blew it up into a canvas wall hanging for our house (yes I am a Disney freak with Cinderella’s castle in a giant wall canvas going down to my basement). I felt a little guilty since it is such a good picture so I offered to buy him a meal again. It ended up being “breakfast, lunch, and dinner” because the 10:30 ADR took so long.

So absolutely if your wife will put up with it contact him and offer to buy him a meal so he can review it. My husband was fine with it mostly because he does not get it but does appreciate finding people who have the same interests as you do. Plus then I could yammer on about Disney with Josh instead of him. What are your dates in January? We are going then too (yes again). I will totally schedule something!



Yes those are my three cute girls who are growing up way too fast! That was just February 2017 and the cute toothless smile is history. Everyone enjoy your littles while you can!

I am just being paranoid about the fee on the Biz Plat. Because a higher fee would be my luck. Objectively should be okay though.

We're heading down the last week of January. I'm fairly certain my wife would think I'm insane if I bought a random blogger a meal, lol. But it's something I'll keep in mind for the future haha!

 

[platamama]

although @platamama is doing some big things over there

Ohhhh, I should clarify - this is 9 MSR for both me and DH combined. But since I do his applications for him, and carry around his cards, I'm counting those cards as MSR that I'm working on too. Thank goodness for spreadsheets; it was as I was adding more tabs to my MSR spreadsheet that I noticed how many there were.

TBH, I've never done anything crazy like 7 cards in a month! Wow.

I think right now is the nuttiest MSR time in my life. After this stretch I think I'm ready for a breather.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Ohhhh, I should clarify - this is 9 MSR for both me and DH combined. But since I do his applications for him, and carry around his cards, I'm counting those cards as MSR that I'm working on too. Thank goodness for spreadsheets; it was as I was adding more tabs to my MSR spreadsheet that I noticed how many there were.

TBH, I've never done anything crazy like 7 cards in a month! Wow.

I think right now is the nuttiest MSR time in my life. After this stretch I think I'm ready for a breather.

I think that's fair. I'd count P1 and P2 cards in my totals too. It just so happens that my 6 card and 7 card stretches were all me though. That's when my wife was in her churning celibacy to get under 5/24, lol.

The other crazy thing is this was right when I became "ok" with biz cards so those were all personal cards except 1.
WOW - I just realized that it was also 13 cards in less than 4 months (12 personal, 1 biz) w/ $19k in MSR!!! My oh my were times were different then...

 

[wanderlust7]

How hard is it to figure out Ibotta? I more or less understand Swagbucks, Dosh, and RMN but I installed Shopkicks on my phone ages ago and have yet to use it.

I also do not use shopkicks even though I signed up long ago. I just don't get it. Ibotta is much easier, imo. I have shopped through their links and earned some pretty nice bonuses. I also check my receipts after going to Target, Costco, the grocery store, etc...about 50% of the time...and occasionally there is something I purchased that I get a small rebate for. I do best with the 'any brand' rebates. I have a friend who uses Ibotta and earns about $50/mo back because she goes through the Ibotta app and decides which brands to buy based on that. I never take the time for that sadly.

Agree it was fairly straightforward. I signed up for Boxed on the computer, but then had to download the app in order to go through Ibotta. Made sure to clear my cart just in case. The cashback went pending right away.

Since I had it, I tried it for our Walmart run. But like wendow, only after the fact. Got $0.75 (lol), but plus a first time $2 in store bonus.

 

[havaneselover]

Not sure if anyone answered yet, I’m way behind. Let me know what cuisine they like and where you’ll be staying, I can throw out a few ideas. Pizza should be a must for Chicago, right?

Not yet—would love some ideas. And yes on pizza we lived in Chicago from ‘97-01 and I preferred gioradono’s to uno’s or gino’s East back then but I’m up for anything.

 

[speedyfishy]

My highest MSR was 32.5k. Two Biz plats(10k each), two Biz Gold (5k each), and Citi AA Biz (2.5k).

That was only five cards between SO and I. This past month I have been working on two Blue Biz (3k each), two Southwest Biz(3k each), one Gold (2k), a Southwest Personal. But I’m hoping SO will get approved for a few more in the upcoming days.

 

[speedyfishy]

A lot of DISCHURNER links are expired. I tried every link for Hyatt and none were working. I’m going to apply for SO today. He most likely won’t get approved since I messed up his applications but if anyone wants to DM me on Reddit I’m Epicvader.

 

[WDWRook]

What are your goals with Marriott/SPG?

What's your overall strategy with Chase's 5/24 and Amex? What are the cards you plan to take up Chase's 5/24 slots, if not Marriott? Are you sure you'd rather not get Amex's SPG cards?

Effective 8/26/18, Marriott, Chase and Amex implemented new rules that effectively forces you to "choose a lane," i.e., go for Chase's Marriott cards to the exclusion of Amex's SPG cards for the next ~24 months, or go for Amex's SPG cards to the exclusion of Chase's Marriott cards for ~24 months.

See: New Restrictions Coming for Marriott and Starwood Credit Card Bonus Approval and Navigating Marriott’s Byzantine Credit Card Rules.

Several of us have written extensively debating between going the Chase Marriott route or Amex SPG route. There are so many pros and cons on both sides. The timing for a new Marriott or SPG card isn't the best right now either, because as you said the best offers (on all the Marriott and SPG cards) are at only 75k Marriott points now, when the SPG Biz and Lux cards were offering 100k Marriott points (albeit for a higher MSR) as recently as 10/31, and the Marriott Premier Plus had a 100k Marriott points introductory offer until back around July. Marriott and SPG card offers tend to go up and down, so I'd consider waiting for them to go back up.

My goal is simple. I'll be staying in hotels a bit more often, so why not try and get some points and some free stays. I don't have anything specific or special planned beyond that. There is no reason for me saying Marriott vs SPG, other than ignorance of SPG's options. I'm not really in a hurry either, other than I have a couple short one night stays I need to book soon.

BTW. All of my other cards are Chase branded cards. I'm at like 2/24 so I have room to go. I have no Amex cards currently. But, I have been thinking to get the Delta Amex just because the local airport is a Delta hub and Delta is often the only nonstop flight option.

 

[WVMomof3]

A lot of DISCHURNER links are expired. I tried every link for Hyatt and none were working. I’m going to apply for SO today. He most likely won’t get approved since I messed up his applications but if anyone wants to DM me on Reddit I’m Epicvader.

I tried to fix mine but it is saying the same thing. They are not expired just system is down or something.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

New DL no lifetime language offers out! A fam member was targeted for one of these offers. They just closed a DL card & didn’t show as targeted through DoC’s link however the 70k + $50 statement credit showed on the DL homepage after they logged in. (I tried using their link and it said it wasn’t available to me.) https://www.doctorofcredit.com/ymmv...es-200-statement-credit-no-lifetime-language/

For our Newbies: A key thing in this game is cancel any AF cards you aren’t going to get your AF back on. I almost violated that. DL was my first Amex and I decided I would keep it- what if I wanted to use the dollar value of my remaining miles for a flight? (I’ve yet to do that, have no plans to do that & have no DL flights coming up.) Luckily, this new offer is out and a slew of people seem to be targeted this time. Enough to give me the kick that I needed to let my first Amex go (obviously my attachment was emotional and not logical- I haven’t even had the biz gold yet) to set up the chance to churn it. Don’t become attached!

if I cancel and later on want it back in my portfolio (the free baggage is a perk since DTW is a Delta area), I can always reapply, it's just the "sign on" bonus might not be applicable, right?

 

[speedyfishy]

I tried to fix mine but it is saying the same thing. They are not expired just system is down or something.

Ahhh, ok I’ll hold off for a bit.

 

[1st*toright]

My goal is simple. I'll be staying in hotels a bit more often, so why not try and get some points and some free stays. I don't have anything specific or special planned beyond that. There is no reason for me saying Marriott vs SPG, other than ignorance of SPG's options. I'm not really in a hurry either, other than I have a couple short one night stays I need to book soon.

BTW. All of my other cards are Chase branded cards. I'm at like 2/24 so I have room to go. I have no Amex cards currently. But, I have been thinking to get the Delta Amex just because the local airport is a Delta hub and Delta is often the only nonstop flight option.

Good news for you - SPG and Marriott have merged their programs, so you would really be picking both Marriott and SPG if you go down that path. So you can go with the chase Marriott cards or the Amex SPG cards, and both will earn you points you can use at all of their properties, and you will earn points at a higher rate at any of their properties when you use the card.

 

[Natgridenergy]

Sometimes procrastination pays off. The Santander checking account $225 offer has been on my list to open, but with waiting to see if I got approved for the Alaska Biz card so I could use the CC funding towards MSR just hadn't opened it yet. After seeing the new offer for $300 now that DoC posted, with all the same terms, I decided to apply tonight. (https://www.doctorofcredit.com/santander-300-checking-bonus-nh-ma-ri-ct-de-ny-nj-or-pa-only/)
It's pending, bleh.

That was a crazy app though, I haven't been asked about how much money goes in and out of my accounts in years... I didn't even think they asked that anymore! And then they ask, 'Do you anticipate using ACH transactions', or something like that... um yeah, isn't that required for the bonus you're offering? I think I will, thank you very much. The worst part of the app is when they ask you your occupation - it's a text field but it's not really. If your occupation isn't part of their predefined list, it gets wiped out without any clue you are supposed to be searching for a matching occupation. That took several tries to figure out that's what was going on.

On the plus side, if I get approved I've got 500 UR coming at me on my CSR. First time I've got a fraud alert on it. I cleared it from both the text and email and then tried again and seems to be no problems... just gotta wait for someone to review it and hope a handful of Chex inquiries over the last 6 months isn't too much.

I just did this app and funded 500 with CFU. Where are you transferring from to meet the 1k DD minimum?

 

[1st*toright]

Sometimes procrastination pays off. The Santander checking account $225 offer has been on my list to open, but with waiting to see if I got approved for the Alaska Biz card so I could use the CC funding towards MSR just hadn't opened it yet. After seeing the new offer for $300 now that DoC posted, with all the same terms, I decided to apply tonight. (https://www.doctorofcredit.com/santander-300-checking-bonus-nh-ma-ri-ct-de-ny-nj-or-pa-only/)
It's pending, bleh.

That was a crazy app though, I haven't been asked about how much money goes in and out of my accounts in years... I didn't even think they asked that anymore! And then they ask, 'Do you anticipate using ACH transactions', or something like that... um yeah, isn't that required for the bonus you're offering? I think I will, thank you very much. The worst part of the app is when they ask you your occupation - it's a text field but it's not really. If your occupation isn't part of their predefined list, it gets wiped out without any clue you are supposed to be searching for a matching occupation. That took several tries to figure out that's what was going on.

Thanks for the heads up on the process. I think we are going to open an account there too. DH's job is commission based, and every once in a while people want to pay cash (pity the fools). The company reduces his paycheck by any cash that he collects, and he keeps the money. We thought it was so weird when it first happened, and expected it to be a rare occurrence, but he probably gets a cash transaction every week or two. We pretty much never use cash (obviously), and our current banks are all online only, so we could either spend the cash (and give up the credit card points? NEVER) or we need to open an account with a bank that has a local branch so we can put the cash in the bank. Santander looks like the winner (for the next few months at least) because of this bonus.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Anyone want to refer me to boxed? Seems like the $15 off is from being referred.

 

[Judique]

@Judique

Marriott Premier free night posted today! So two days behind schedule, instead of 12/1 - 12/1 it's 12/3-12/3. But, the 15 nights posted at the same time, we're Platinum!!

Congrats! I'm not seeing anything yet but my anniversary isn't until 12/25.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Anyone want to refer me to boxed? Seems like the $15 off is from being referred.

FYI - we are not allowed to share referrals on the DISboards. It is a rule of the budget board.

On a separate note, you might be interested in joining DISchurners (that's our reddit group where we talk CC churning) I'll PM you about it.

 

[Alexle2007]

Transferred the 25k into my Discover account. Now to await the $200 bonus. I guess it's time to open an account for DH so I can move that 25k to his account for the bonus.

 

[striker1064]

Thanks for the heads up on the process. I think we are going to open an account there too. DH's job is commission based, and every once in a while people want to pay cash (pity the fools). The company reduces his paycheck by any cash that he collects, and he keeps the money. We thought it was so weird when it first happened, and expected it to be a rare occurrence, but he probably gets a cash transaction every week or two. We pretty much never use cash (obviously), and our current banks are all online only, so we could either spend the cash (and give up the credit card points? NEVER) or we need to open an account with a bank that has a local branch so we can put the cash in the bank. Santander looks like the winner (for the next few months at least) because of this bonus.

Santander is pretty good. You have to read the terms to see how long it takes to get the bonus (around 90 days I think), but they post like clockwork after that period. Really easy. The account just requires some kind of activity once per month to waive the fee.

Transferred the 25k into my Discover account. Now to await the $200 bonus. I guess it's time to open an account for DH so I can move that 25k to his account for the bonus.

You'll probably see it in the next day or two. Discover pays super fast.