Originally Posted by
pinniped
Well, you could churn to some extent regardless of your specific strategy. I mean, it doesn't have to be either-or.
The pursuit of lifetime status is certainly a reason to focus on genuine AA miles (as opposed to other Oneworld miles). For me, it'd somewhat depend on how close I was and how much incremental activity I'd need to do to get AA Gold 1MM. If you're already sitting in the 850k-900k range, then I'd say lock that up for sure, as you can probably do it with a modest opportunity cost. Farther away and you start to ask how much Gold status is really worth...
We're quite a ways away on Gold 1MM, so it might not make sense, unless I find my business travel increasing significantly (as an academic it's always a possibility).
Churning: I think I definitely need to do more research into what is churnable. I get the sense that the AA Citi cards aren't anymore.
Originally Posted by
footypjman
A little off-topic, but have you looked into opening a Citibank checking account to snag the additional 23k AA miles thru their current promotion?
As for topic, I am a self-professed newbie, but I have to "second" the suggestions for an AMEX SWP card -- it has been a nice addition to the Citi Bus and Citi Personal cards with 75k bonuses that I got (though I just achieved minimum charges and am waiting for 75k bonus miles from business card to post)
Yes, I did the checking account for myself and I plan on doing the current offer for DH.
Originally Posted by
JerryFu
I don't mean to pry too much about finances...but I opened a bankdirect account earlier this year, and basically parked my emergency fund there...it's nowhere near $200k, but whatever funds you can park there helps build up the mileage account, right?
You get 100 miles for every $1000...and with interest rates being what they are right now, the return is about as much as you could get anywhere else.
Jerry: That is certainly a good point. Currently we park all liquid savings in ING (I LOVE their online setup). I'll look into the BankDirect more and consider moving some of the money over there. Every little bit counts, right?
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I'm going to park myself over on Frugal travel Guy's site a little more...since he seems to do a LOT of churning. Perhaps his strategy would be better for me, since in the end my priority is free travel for our trips.
We're averaging 3 cruises per year (which involves airfare to get to wherever the cruise is) and one land-based vacation in Europe...with miscellaneous trips in the US.
I wonder what this plan would look like to the seasoned veterans:
1. Call Citi retention on all cards (we're about 2 months out) and see what they'll do. If no good offer, then shut them down. If a good offer, then just do the minimum required to attain retention bonus).
2. Sign-up for Citi checking for DH.
3. Possible sign-ups for Citi business (AA) - DH immediately, but I have to wait the 60 (or is it 90) days to reapply.
4. Attain SPG for use as the everyday card.
5. Amex? United/Continental since I have 50K miles there already? Just grab them and meet the minimum spend and close.