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

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Agreed, this makes for much easier, and safer, flying!

As for Disney naps, we had luck with a travel sound machine inside the stroller, seat reclined flat, big shade extended (city mini stroller) and a muslin blanket draped over. DH would set up the baby and just walk for 2hrs (trying for quieter areas). DH loves just walking the parks, so worked out perfectly.
I actually can’t wait to take the baby to Disney. Since we go so often it’ll be fun to just walk around and really take everything in. The baby will be born right before summer so it’ll have to be early mornings or at night
 
For those wondering if we're experiencing a slow-down in activity here on the thread... The r/churning daily discussion thread is discussing the same issue today.

Duff, A moderator over there shared this:
In the last year, we haven't had much positive news to comment on - no new earth-shattering card introductions, no major program mergers, stuff like that. What has been newsworthy is all negative - 1099s for referrals (which mostly only affects vets), Amex self-refer clawbacks, Serve shutdown, etc. Without new things to comment on, it's all just generally variations on the same questions like "If my P2 is an AU on my CSP can they get a CSP bonus for themselves?". Less novel content leads to fewer contents. And people are more likely to downvote because we have much better search tools now than we did a couple years ago - if you can't use the tools provided here, how good at this hobby are you going to be? And searching eliminates questions because people found their answer by searching.

Churning is definitely in a lull right now. We're in an era of simple strategies for those still playing the game. We are over 3 years removed from the introduction of the CSR and 2 1/2+ years since the 100k bonus went away. This was a major "needle mover" for churning. It attracted many new people to the game. I'd venture to guess that since that time we have seen more people fall away from this hobby than join it. Reasons for why I'd think that:
  • Concern over credit score and myths that churning hurts it: It was nice to earn a few bonuses but being a "real churner" is scary to many people
  • Fees and Interest: We all assume nobody is paying any fees or interest in the game but the truth of the matter is that some people are not paying their cards off in full every month. It's possible that there are even some among our group here that are incurring these "costs of the game" and just masking it to play along.
  • Lack of Organization: Churning typically requires a high degree of organization. You have to keep track of when you signed up for cards, the MSR, did the bonus post, multiple payment dates, etc. It would be interesting to know the average shelf life of a churner. They always say the average career of an NFL player is less than 3 years. I wonder if the same might be true of churners?
  • Scarcity of Opportunity: going along with my last bullet point, I also wonder if people hit 5/24, run into an Amex popup or 2 and just start to think this isn't worth the hassle anymore.
  • Perhaps one more reason is what Duff spoke to: a generally negative news cycle. Perhaps the plethora of bad news events has just resonated with people and they just don’t find churning to be worth it any more with so many rules and issues.
So a fun discussion topic for US here today: Do you think CC Churning is in a lull? Do you agree with my reasons? Do you have any other reasons? And why are YOU still here and any other thoughts?

EDIT: Should I take the lack of responses to this in the first 20 minutes as an indication that our thread is dying too? 🤣 🤣 🤣
EDIT2: I've been told my discussion topic is not "fun" so I will strike that word, LOL!
 
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Also depends on the ship - we have cruised many times and rarely spend much time sitting by the pool. We love playing trivia, sports competitions, table tennis, hitting the gym and spa. With the right ship there is usually something to do throughout the day.
There are def other things to do and I enjoy sunning by the pool the most. But I don’t think any of them are super conducive with an infant
 
Has anyone applied for or have experience with the US Bank Business Cash Rewards card? I’m going to need new MSR soon and from a quick look it seems like a decent option. I have 2 US Bank cards and a checking account (from a prior promo of course). $500 bonus after $4500.

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/u-s-bank-business-cash-rewards-500-sign-up-bonus/

I just got done with this one about a month or so ago. At first they gave me a Credit limit of $500. I Called and asked if they could raise that. They did another hard pull and then raised it to $4500. Much easier meeting spend that way...
 


I ended up applying and received the 7-10 day message. I requested to be notified via email so we’ll see what they say. I have a feeling IF I get approved it will be for a very very low credit limit.

Datapoint: they pulled Trans Union for me.
I put in to be notified by email as well but never got an email
 
For those wondering if we're experiencing a slow-down in activity here on the thread... The r/churning daily discussion thread is discussing the same issue today.

Duff, A moderator over there shared this:
In the last year, we haven't had much positive news to comment on - no new earth-shattering card introductions, no major program mergers, stuff like that. What has been newsworthy is all negative - 1099s for referrals (which mostly only affects vets), Amex self-refer clawbacks, Serve shutdown, etc. Without new things to comment on, it's all just generally variations on the same questions like "If my P2 is an AU on my CSP can they get a CSP bonus for themselves?". Less novel content leads to fewer contents. And people are more likely to downvote because we have much better search tools now than we did a couple years ago - if you can't use the tools provided here, how good at this hobby are you going to be? And searching eliminates questions because people found their answer by searching.

Churning is definitely in a lull right now. We're in an era of simple strategies for those still playing the game. We are over 3 years removed from the introduction of the CSR and 2 1/2+ years since the 100k bonus went away. This was a major "needle mover" for churning. It attracted many new people to the game. I'd venture to guess that since that time we have seen more people fall away from this hobby than join it. Reasons for why I'd think that:
  • Concern over credit score and myths that churning hurts it: It was nice to earn a few bonuses but being a "real churner" is scary to many people
  • Fees and Interest: We all assume nobody is paying any fees or interest in the game but the truth of the matter is that some people are not paying their cards off in full every month. It's possible that there are even some among our group here that are incurring these "costs of the game" and just masking it to play along.
  • Lack of Organization: Churning typically requires a high degree of organization. You have to keep track of when you signed up for cards, the MSR, did the bonus post, multiple payment dates, etc. It would be interesting to know the average shelf life of a churner. They always say the average career of an NFL player is less than 3 years. I wonder if the same might be true of churners?
  • Scarcity of Opportunity: going along with my last bullet point, I also wonder if people hit 5/24, run into an Amex popup or 2 and just start to think this isn't worth the hassle anymore.
  • Perhaps one more reason is what Duff spoke to: a generally negative news cycle. Perhaps the plethora of bad news events has just resonated with people and they just don’t find churning to be worth it any more with so many rules and issues.
So a fun discussion topic for US here today: Do you think CC Churning is in a lull? Do you agree with my reasons? Do you have any other reasons? And why are YOU still here and any other thoughts?

EDIT: Should I take the lack of responses to this in the first 20 minutes as an indication that our thread is dying too? 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣


I'll jump in (slow day at work here). I agree it is much slower for the reasons you have described. I too really started getting into it with the CSR 100,000 points bonus and found this thread and have been going ever since. I am still here because I love to travel but in the past we were lucky to go on 1 trip a year and really had to save up for that. Have 3 trips this year and 4 planned for next year - all on points. Would love to do more but for some reason I only get so much vacation time.... And everyone here is so nice and will let you know if your plan for new cards is a good plan or not. Very honest people and fun.
 
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Darn, of course today I can now see that Marriott offer on DHs Platinum but not his Brilliant, or even using the trick to add it
 
@SouthFayetteFan
I think its in a lull even from this summer when I started reading just based on r/churning post count. I actually think a huge reason is just because people are quickly coming more protective of churning tips after waves of restrictions like the clawbacks and killing the airline gcs ect.
I wonder if anyone will get excited with the Green relaunch whenever that happens haha
 
For those wondering if we're experiencing a slow-down in activity here on the thread... The r/churning daily discussion thread is discussing the same issue today.

Duff, A moderator over there shared this:
In the last year, we haven't had much positive news to comment on - no new earth-shattering card introductions, no major program mergers, stuff like that. What has been newsworthy is all negative - 1099s for referrals (which mostly only affects vets), Amex self-refer clawbacks, Serve shutdown, etc. Without new things to comment on, it's all just generally variations on the same questions like "If my P2 is an AU on my CSP can they get a CSP bonus for themselves?". Less novel content leads to fewer contents. And people are more likely to downvote because we have much better search tools now than we did a couple years ago - if you can't use the tools provided here, how good at this hobby are you going to be? And searching eliminates questions because people found their answer by searching.

Churning is definitely in a lull right now. We're in an era of simple strategies for those still playing the game. We are over 3 years removed from the introduction of the CSR and 2 1/2+ years since the 100k bonus went away. This was a major "needle mover" for churning. It attracted many new people to the game. I'd venture to guess that since that time we have seen more people fall away from this hobby than join it. Reasons for why I'd think that:
  • Concern over credit score and myths that churning hurts it: It was nice to earn a few bonuses but being a "real churner" is scary to many people
  • Fees and Interest: We all assume nobody is paying any fees or interest in the game but the truth of the matter is that some people are not paying their cards off in full every month. It's possible that there are even some among our group here that are incurring these "costs of the game" and just masking it to play along.
  • Lack of Organization: Churning typically requires a high degree of organization. You have to keep track of when you signed up for cards, the MSR, did the bonus post, multiple payment dates, etc. It would be interesting to know the average shelf life of a churner. They always say the average career of an NFL player is less than 3 years. I wonder if the same might be true of churners?
  • Scarcity of Opportunity: going along with my last bullet point, I also wonder if people hit 5/24, run into an Amex popup or 2 and just start to think this isn't worth the hassle anymore.
  • Perhaps one more reason is what Duff spoke to: a generally negative news cycle. Perhaps the plethora of bad news events has just resonated with people and they just don’t find churning to be worth it any more with so many rules and issues.
So a fun discussion topic for US here today: Do you think CC Churning is in a lull? Do you agree with my reasons? Do you have any other reasons? And why are YOU still here and any other thoughts?

EDIT: Should I take the lack of responses to this in the first 20 minutes as an indication that our thread is dying too? 🤣 🤣 🤣
Ummm....that is not a fun topic...let’s talk favorite cocktails....I am currently enjoying a lovely Passionfruit Margarita at CF thanks to my Plat (which I am on the fence whether I am keeping or not.)
 

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Needing some tips for an upcoming WDW Delta package......after speaking to a Delta CSR supervisor, I have been told that if I cancel my package, the tix included WILL be cancelled. There is no way to "pop them out". The rub here, is that I DID pay insurance on the trip, BUT....I KNOW I did NOT pay insurance on the park ticket portion of the trip. The original CSR told me that the insurance could NOT be applied to the tickets, only the hotel and airfare. So, if I DID cancel, I fear that the voucher would only be for the flights/hotel and the outlay for the tickets would be lost. Which would NOT be cool since the tickets were the biggest chunk of the package to begin with!

After reading several data points here, it seems that the best course of action is to just throw away the flight (cheap) and two nights at hotel. (My original goal was to get a voucher for the hotel and flights, and KEEP the tickets for use at a later TBD date.) Since that no longer seems possible, does anyone know if I need to check in online for the "flight" (that I will be "flying" on) or the hotel stay (that I will be "staying" in)? If I DO check in for the hotel, it won't trigger the park tickets, correct?
 
Scarcity of Opportunity: going along with my last bullet point, I also wonder if people hit 5/24, run into an Amex popup or 2 and just start to think this isn't worth the hassle anymore.

This is me--I am waiting to be under 5/24 so no new personal cards for me now. I'm stalled on biz cards because I have 5 AmEx credit cards and either can't cancel (b/c less than one year) or am holding (b/c keeper cards). I'd love to get another biz card but I already have the good non-Chase/non-AmEx ones (e.g., Barclays).

In a few months I have a bunch of cards hitting the 2-year mark, so I'll be under 5/24 and can get a CIP plus maybe even a new personal card or two. But for now I'm definitely in a lull. I do hope our thread isn't dying!
 
This is me--I am waiting to be under 5/24 so no new personal cards for me now. I'm stalled on biz cards because I have 5 AmEx credit cards and either can't cancel (b/c less than one year) or am holding (b/c keeper cards). I'd love to get another biz card but I already have the good non-Chase/non-AmEx ones (e.g., Barclays).

In a few months I have a bunch of cards hitting the 2-year mark, so I'll be under 5/24 and can get a CIP plus maybe even a new personal card or two. But for now I'm definitely in a lull. I do hope our thread isn't dying!
I don't think our thread will die because of the community aspect we have here. I bet if churning completely died tomorrow (i.e. so many rules were put in that it was impossible to churn more than 1 card a year) this group would still continue to exist because we just all like chatting about travel...and babies...and cars...and pop tarts...and whole bunch of other topics! r/churning doesn't have a community feel to it, that's for sure.
 
Not sure if you were asking me or @PolyRob but for me it was preference only. We were originally flying back on a Friday and needed to stay until Saturday so we could attend the AP Preview. They said it was a one time courtesy to waive the change fee.
Yeah, my change was because JetBlue adjusted it's itinerary that day. It was between 60 and 120 minutes so I was within the no fee modification period. I was just happy at how fast and effortlessly I got it adjusted. No special exceptions were made.

Screen Shot 2019-10-21 at 12.22.00 PM.png

https://www.jetblue.com/travel-agents/schedule-change
 
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There are def other things to do and I enjoy sunning by the pool the most. But I don’t think any of them are super conducive with an infant

Fair point - we took a break from cruising until our youngest was 4yo. On the other hand......when I have seen infants on cruiseships, seems they are invariably sleeping....maybe the natural motion of the ship is soothing. I think cruising with an infant would be infinitely easier than with a toddler that always wants to be on the move.
 
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