Canadian eh
Mar 9, 2009, 8:50 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: South Florida
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Canadian eh
I know mileage churning is something which exists in the States .Am in awe of those who do it well.Any idea how a Canadian can get in on this ?
Mar 10, 2009, 6:04 am
#3
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Location: Little dot in Asia
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Mar 10, 2009, 6:29 am
#4
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Duluth, GA
Programs: AAdvantage PLT, AA 2MM, Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,268
Reminds me of a joke a friend in Ottawa told me some time back:
Q: Why did the Canadian cross the road?
A: Because he saw an American do it on TV.
It took me a few moments to get it (duh!), but I've not spent much time in Canada.
Assuming you are interested in mileage running, you might be able to MR from Canadian airports into the US, but you'll need to factor in the extra time for clearing customs etc. Not sure about the economics of this, it depends on where you'd be starting from and which airline/alliance you're interested in. I would suggest moving this to "Mileage Run Discussion" in that case.
If on the other hand you are interested in churning (flipping?) credit cards to get miles then I have no suggestions, not knowing anything about Canadian CC's.
cheers,
benzguy80
Q: Why did the Canadian cross the road?
A: Because he saw an American do it on TV.
It took me a few moments to get it (duh!), but I've not spent much time in Canada.
Assuming you are interested in mileage running, you might be able to MR from Canadian airports into the US, but you'll need to factor in the extra time for clearing customs etc. Not sure about the economics of this, it depends on where you'd be starting from and which airline/alliance you're interested in. I would suggest moving this to "Mileage Run Discussion" in that case.
If on the other hand you are interested in churning (flipping?) credit cards to get miles then I have no suggestions, not knowing anything about Canadian CC's.
cheers,
benzguy80
Mar 10, 2009, 8:22 am
#5
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 642
What is churning?
If by churning you mean getting multiple credit cards just for the bonuses then I can tell you that in canada that it works fine. I have been through quite a few this past year, I just got rid of most of them because it was hard to keep track of them all. Additionally I think quite a few people swap their aeroplan credit cards yearly to get the aeroplan bonuses.
Mar 10, 2009, 12:31 pm
#6
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 12
I think you can switch back and forth between the CIBC Bank Aeroplan card at $120 per year, and their free card. Hope that helps.
Mar 10, 2009, 7:05 pm
#7
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Location: Toronto
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I live in Toronto and churn credit cards. I alternate between CIBC Aerogold, TD AA Visa, MBNA SPG MC and sometimes Amex Air Miles.
I also do mileage runs on UA out of Buffalo.
Now, what is your question?
Mar 12, 2009, 9:04 am
#8
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m.girl
Hey.M.girl,aer these cards fee free?Do you apply online ?What sort of freebies are you getting ?I read frualtravelguy and am just amazed at his success.I have a very good credit rating and have lots of cards but basically use them for Smith manouvre type stuff (low balance transfer rates .9% and such).I am a snow bird now so travel rewards are what I am after now.Any tips are greatly appreciated.
Mar 12, 2009, 9:13 am
#9
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: YYZ
Programs: SPG Plus, AC Elite
Posts: 264
I am looking for some MR too, tried to use farecompare site to search MR from BUF but the cpm was not so great, you would share tips on how you start it?
Mar 12, 2009, 12:30 pm
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Toronto
Programs: UA 1K, AC MM E75, Marriott LT Ti, IHG Dia Amb, Hyatt Glob
Posts: 15,521
Hey.M.girl,aer these cards fee free?Do you apply online ?What sort of freebies are you getting ?I read frualtravelguy and am just amazed at his success.I have a very good credit rating and have lots of cards but basically use them for Smith manouvre type stuff (low balance transfer rates .9% and such).I am a snow bird now so travel rewards are what I am after now.Any tips are greatly appreciated.
BUF-IAD-ORD-MLI-DEN-ONT-SFO-ORD-MDT-IAD-BUF for C$270
BUF-IAD-SFO-LAX-LAS-SFO-PIT-CLT-BUF for US$192
BUF-CLT-PHL-SAN-IAD-CLT-BUF for US$203
I usually just find a cheap destination to go to (I think there are good deals to SAN right now) and then use ITA to try to find the longest way to get there.
Here's one I had on hold for March 3, but did not end up purchasing it.
BUF-IAD-DEN-SFO-SEA-ORD-EWR-IAD-BUF for US$230
Last edited by margarita girl; Mar 12, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Mar 12, 2009, 3:59 pm
#11
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 143
if you live along or near the border its more economical to mr via US airports, and you this way you get to clear customs when you cross the border
Mar 12, 2009, 8:52 pm
#13
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Toronto
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Sorry, should have specified, I'm all Star Alliance. All trips on UA, with a few US code shares even though I try to minimize those! Who wants to pay $2 for a Coke? 
Mar 12, 2009, 9:30 pm
#14
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: somewhere in F, hopefully
Posts: 670
Mar 13, 2009, 1:18 pm
#15
Join Date: May 2005
Location: montreal canada
Programs: AA lifetime gold, BA, AC, CX, AS, DL, AF(gold), IHG(plt), SPG(gold), HHONORS, .
Posts: 358
Mbna -spg cc
The CIBC Aerogold and TD AA Visa both cost $120/yr, so only worthwhile if you get the sign up bonus as far as I'm concerned. Right now it's 15K AP miles with CIBC and 10K AA miles with TD. MBNA MC is free and you get 5K SPG points first time you use the card and 5K more points the first time you pay for a stay at an SPG hotel with your card. (And SPG points can be converted to AP miles at a 1.25 ratio if you earned some of your points through hotel stays.) However, I'm addicted to sign up bonuses, so I change cards every year! It takes me about an hour to change all my automatic charges from one card to the other.
I've done 3 MRs out of BUF.
BUF-IAD-ORD-MLI-DEN-ONT-SFO-ORD-MDT-IAD-BUF for C$270
BUF-IAD-SFO-LAX-LAS-SFO-PIT-CLT-BUF for US$192
BUF-CLT-PHL-SAN-IAD-CLT-BUF for US$203
I usually just find a cheap destination to go to (I think there are good deals to SAN right now) and then use ITA to try to find the longest way to get there.
Here's one I had on hold for March 3, but did not end up purchasing it.
BUF-IAD-DEN-SFO-SEA-ORD-EWR-IAD-BUF for US$230
I've done 3 MRs out of BUF.
BUF-IAD-ORD-MLI-DEN-ONT-SFO-ORD-MDT-IAD-BUF for C$270
BUF-IAD-SFO-LAX-LAS-SFO-PIT-CLT-BUF for US$192
BUF-CLT-PHL-SAN-IAD-CLT-BUF for US$203
I usually just find a cheap destination to go to (I think there are good deals to SAN right now) and then use ITA to try to find the longest way to get there.
Here's one I had on hold for March 3, but did not end up purchasing it.
BUF-IAD-DEN-SFO-SEA-ORD-EWR-IAD-BUF for US$230
I also have the MBNA - SPG CC. ( plus another 5 miles producing cc )
Re the MBNA card , How long do you wait between cancelling and reapplying for a new
card in order to be considered " a new applicant " ( and getting the initial bonuses :
5K first use and 5K first stay ).
Thanks
Michael