Originally Posted by
joer1212
(3) I never understood the draw of this one, even though a lot of people mention it.
You're basically borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. Unfortunately, once you've paid Paul, now you have to pay Peter, again. So, I don't see how people actually get somewhere with this method. Maybe I'm missing something.....
(4) This one is very similar to #3. Great, you've met the minimum spend for a credit card, for now. But, then, what do you do with 3k of Amex gift cards? You have to use them, which will take you away from from the spending requirement for your next app-o-rama in 3 months.
Sorry if I sound like I'm trying to be negative. I'm not. I'm only being pragmatic and rational.
You must meet spending requirements in X months for new cards. So you do shift the spending--as you say borrowing peter to pay Paul. In the process Peter pays you handsomely, and in a few months (or a year) you've used up the cards and all is well. You just need to float the cash for a few months, and pay yourself back as you use the gift cards.
Especially for someone in your situation 3 & 4 would be the only way you could hit some spending requirements. Don't be so negative about it--think of the payoff if you do this. You'd shift $3-$5k in spending forward for X months and net $1000 or more. You say you're into investing--think of that as a 20%-33% return on your money for 6 months of lending it to yourself. That's a 40%-66% annual ROI!