Originally Posted by jimbiggs

I got the same card last year with the same credit limit. I only had to spend $15K to get both bonuses. I don't know about minimizing shut down risk. I just charged $4,900 (plus annual fee). Then I paid off the card. I waited for the balance to zero out. Then I charged another $4,900. I paid off the balance and waited for it to zero out again, and so on. The whole process took about a month. After I earned the bonus, I had to wait for the statement closing date for the miles to get transferred to my rewards account. Then it took a couple of weeks before they actually posted on the rewards account. Then it took a few more weeks before the companion pass showed up in my account online.