Credit Card Churning For Miles Questions/Issues
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Chicago
Programs: Mileage Plus, Rapid Rewards
Posts: 949
Credit Card Churning For Miles Questions/Issues
I know that credit card "churning" for miles is a controversial topic on this forum, but just out of curiosity:
(1) How many miles have people accumulated through credit card churning, with what airlines over what period of time?
(2) Has anyone encountered problems securing good interest rates on morgage or vehicle purchases? I know that based on other threads that churning has a negligible effect on credit scores but are creditors turned off by customers who have opened and closed many credit card accounts in a short period of time in spite of having excellent credit scores?
Thanks for sharing!
(1) How many miles have people accumulated through credit card churning, with what airlines over what period of time?
(2) Has anyone encountered problems securing good interest rates on morgage or vehicle purchases? I know that based on other threads that churning has a negligible effect on credit scores but are creditors turned off by customers who have opened and closed many credit card accounts in a short period of time in spite of having excellent credit scores?
Thanks for sharing!
#2
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Miami
Programs: AA Platinum
Posts: 108
credit card churning
After receiving my new Amex SPG I discovered that my credit score dropped 8 points with nothing else changing. Perhaps this is applicable just to myself. Perhaps this is insignificant? But I would expect a much greater point drop per new credit card if multiple applications were submitted in a much shorter time frame. Consequently interest rates on loans and mortgages would change as well. I am going to monitor my credit score over the next few months.
#3
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Programs: AA,HP,MP,DL,SPG, MR
Posts: 2,092
I have gotten tons of miles by churning cards. I have gone through about 5 Citibank AA cards, three UA Visa cards, one US airways card and my credit score is 760. I am still in possession of 3 of the Citibank cards because when I went to cancel two I was offered miles to keep them. I have the Starwood Amex, one visa left from UA, a Macy's card, a Hilton card and the US Airways card. Apparently my credit has not been damaged by all the cards and I've gotten many, many miles. Of course, YMMV.
#4
Join Date: May 1998
Posts: 6,790
Originally Posted by centrum
After receiving my new Amex SPG I discovered that my credit score dropped 8 points with nothing else changing . . . .
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: DCA
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My middle score is 796, and it's that low only because of the low average age of my accounts (partially due to churn and partially just 'cause I'm still pretty young as far as these things go). Just got an outstanding mortgage rate and not a question was asked about my very long list of cards in my history...
We do know that
(1) generally more unused credit is good, since it pushes your utilization down (it shows you manage credit well -- you get credit and don't run it up)
(2) applications or 'hard pulls' can push down your credit for a short period of time (6 months) - the idea is that if you're applying for a bunch of credit you might be preparing to go on an irresponsible binge with it, or it might reflect something financially wrong
Here's something I don't know but wondered -- is there some length to the limit of a credit file? Would a file get split at some point because it's simply become too long? I guess not, probably a long shot, but it just occured to me?
We do know that
(1) generally more unused credit is good, since it pushes your utilization down (it shows you manage credit well -- you get credit and don't run it up)
(2) applications or 'hard pulls' can push down your credit for a short period of time (6 months) - the idea is that if you're applying for a bunch of credit you might be preparing to go on an irresponsible binge with it, or it might reflect something financially wrong
Here's something I don't know but wondered -- is there some length to the limit of a credit file? Would a file get split at some point because it's simply become too long? I guess not, probably a long shot, but it just occured to me?
#6
Join Date: May 2003
Location: CA
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold, HHonors Diamond
Posts: 2,879
Originally Posted by gleff
Here's something I don't know but wondered -- is there some length to the limit of a credit file? Would a file get split at some point because it's simply become too long? I guess not, probably a long shot, but it just occured to me?
#7
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 9
Originally Posted by deant
A credit report will not get split because it is too long. The "hard pulls" stay on your report for approximately 2 years. One interesting thing is that I use Experian and they allow you to modifiy the factors on your report to see what would happen if you had less hard pulls, no mortgage etc. I checked and the impact of churning cards is about 20 points on my score. Not a big deal.
#9
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2001
Programs: DL GM, AA Gold, Hilton Diamond, Bonvoy Plat
Posts: 12,171
Originally Posted by gleff
My middle score is 796, and it's that low only because of the low average age of my accounts (partially due to churn and partially just 'cause I'm still pretty young as far as these things go). Just got an outstanding mortgage rate and not a question was asked about my very long list of cards in my history...
We do know that
(1) generally more unused credit is good, since it pushes your utilization down (it shows you manage credit well -- you get credit and don't run it up)
(2) applications or 'hard pulls' can push down your credit for a short period of time (6 months) - the idea is that if you're applying for a bunch of credit you might be preparing to go on an irresponsible binge with it, or it might reflect something financially wrong
Here's something I don't know but wondered -- is there some length to the limit of a credit file? Would a file get split at some point because it's simply become too long? I guess not, probably a long shot, but it just occured to me?
We do know that
(1) generally more unused credit is good, since it pushes your utilization down (it shows you manage credit well -- you get credit and don't run it up)
(2) applications or 'hard pulls' can push down your credit for a short period of time (6 months) - the idea is that if you're applying for a bunch of credit you might be preparing to go on an irresponsible binge with it, or it might reflect something financially wrong
Here's something I don't know but wondered -- is there some length to the limit of a credit file? Would a file get split at some point because it's simply become too long? I guess not, probably a long shot, but it just occured to me?
Individual payment history is kept for 81 months, on the 82nd month, the oldest is bumped off.
#10
Join Date: May 2006
Location: ORD
Programs: UA
Posts: 129
You can use www.privacymatters.com for daily soft pulls of all three credit reports. I got mine for $14.95 for the year.
Also, credit reports can indeed split. This is discussed in great length at www.creditboards.com
Also, credit reports can indeed split. This is discussed in great length at www.creditboards.com
#11
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2001
Programs: DL GM, AA Gold, Hilton Diamond, Bonvoy Plat
Posts: 12,171
Originally Posted by BSRdr
This isn't entirely true. You can actually drop hard inquiries off of a credit report by generating enough soft inquiries. You would need a service that will allow you daily soft pulls though.
#12
Join Date: May 2006
Location: ORD
Programs: UA
Posts: 129
Originally Posted by skofarrell
Nope. Again, from an Equifax point of view, hard inquires are kept seperate from the soft ones.
#13
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Join Date: Aug 2001
Programs: DL GM, AA Gold, Hilton Diamond, Bonvoy Plat
Posts: 12,171
Originally Posted by andol469
Experian does not remove hard Inq's because of soft pulls, but Equifax and Transunion most certainly do, from personal experience.
#14
Join Date: May 2006
Location: ORD
Programs: UA
Posts: 129
Originally Posted by skofarrell
I don't know what to tell you, I'm looking at my EQ report run last month, and there are 8 hard inquires in a seperate category. I see one that dates back to late 2004. The soft ones are underneath and there are a couple of dozen...
I'm using vague terms beause I don't want to get too much into specifics but this is well-documented on credit forums. A simple search on one of those sites for "bump" would probably turn up many results with better detail.
#15
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Boston
Programs: AA Gold/1MM
Posts: 114
I've gone thru 4 AA credit cards ( 3 mastercard + one Amex), 2 NWA visa, 1 starwoods, 1 delta, 2 US airways, 2 United, 1 Mariott in the past 1.5 years. I have not really worried too much about the score dipping (have not checked since I'm reassured by others on this board) since I bought a house 1 year ago and won't be buying a car for a while. I think the total mileage earned is 150,000 miles.
My wife has gone thru 3 AA credit cars, 1 delta, 1 US airways, 1 Delta.
My wife has gone thru 3 AA credit cars, 1 delta, 1 US airways, 1 Delta.