Any cards that are still churnable?
Dec 12, 2009 | 1:48 pm
#2
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Well, not 100% clear that the Citi churn is over. There are still mixed reports, but it's been much harder of late for sure. Fortunately I just pocketed a 30k bonus from an early November application 
But the BofA cards are still churnable along with the US Airways card from Barclays, at least in my own limited experience. No fee waivers currently that i'm aware of on the US card, and don't recall ever seeing a waiver on the BofA cards.
But the BofA cards are still churnable along with the US Airways card from Barclays, at least in my own limited experience. No fee waivers currently that i'm aware of on the US card, and don't recall ever seeing a waiver on the BofA cards.
Dec 12, 2009 | 2:05 pm
#3
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There's churnable and there's highly churnable.
Citi had 2 apps each 60+ days for many people, and some even threw in a Business card on a separate 90+ days cycle.
No one else that I know of has had that degree of churnability recently, so no else does now.
Some of the others may be churnable once a year or twice a year or something, but you'll have to research the churnability of each.
(You'd think that if BofA cards were highly churnable, you'd be seeing threads aplenty in Choice and Southwest forums about that, given how popular Choice->Southwest transfers seem to be any time someone finds a way to earn lots of Choice points fast. But I've never heard it mentioned there.)
Citi had 2 apps each 60+ days for many people, and some even threw in a Business card on a separate 90+ days cycle.
No one else that I know of has had that degree of churnability recently, so no else does now.
Some of the others may be churnable once a year or twice a year or something, but you'll have to research the churnability of each.
(You'd think that if BofA cards were highly churnable, you'd be seeing threads aplenty in Choice and Southwest forums about that, given how popular Choice->Southwest transfers seem to be any time someone finds a way to earn lots of Choice points fast. But I've never heard it mentioned there.)
Dec 12, 2009 | 2:11 pm
#4
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that's fair, i haven't HEAVILY churned the bofa cards. but i've probably gotten 8 or 10 alaska cards over the past 5 years. and i used to do the usairways card when it was bofa 3-4 times a year.
Dec 12, 2009 | 9:37 pm
#5
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What's the point to churn Alaska cards if I don't fly with them? Does it have any partners?
Dec 13, 2009 | 2:38 am
#9
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There's churnable and there's highly churnable.
Citi had 2 apps each 60+ days for many people, and some even threw in a Business card on a separate 90+ days cycle.
No one else that I know of has had that degree of churnability recently, so no else does now.
Some of the others may be churnable once a year or twice a year or something, but you'll have to research the churnability of each.
(You'd think that if BofA cards were highly churnable, you'd be seeing threads aplenty in Choice and Southwest forums about that, given how popular Choice->Southwest transfers seem to be any time someone finds a way to earn lots of Choice points fast. But I've never heard it mentioned there.)
Citi had 2 apps each 60+ days for many people, and some even threw in a Business card on a separate 90+ days cycle.
No one else that I know of has had that degree of churnability recently, so no else does now.
Some of the others may be churnable once a year or twice a year or something, but you'll have to research the churnability of each.
(You'd think that if BofA cards were highly churnable, you'd be seeing threads aplenty in Choice and Southwest forums about that, given how popular Choice->Southwest transfers seem to be any time someone finds a way to earn lots of Choice points fast. But I've never heard it mentioned there.)
Dec 13, 2009 | 9:34 am
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Dec 13, 2009 | 10:12 am
#11
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I believe there's still a fee waiver on the junior US card (5K bonus). Granted, that's not a good way to build up an account vs a 25K or 30K bonus, but free is always good, and 5K is just fine if you only need to top up for an award.
i'd just buy the miles under the current 100% bonus promo
5k isnt worth a hard pull on my credit, to me..
Dec 13, 2009 | 12:30 pm
#13
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Do you close the alaska/US Air cards before applying again or do you just apply for new ones to complement your existing cards?
Dec 13, 2009 | 3:20 pm
#14
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Elaborate?
Can someone please elaborate on
(1) the churnability of BofA cards, and
(2) whether US residents can churn Barclays cards?
When I poke around, the T&Cs of the BofA cards don't appear to allow churning. How does this work?
(1) the churnability of BofA cards, and
(2) whether US residents can churn Barclays cards?
When I poke around, the T&Cs of the BofA cards don't appear to allow churning. How does this work?
Dec 13, 2009 | 4:54 pm
#15
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This raises an excellent question: what is the minimum value for which one should consider incurring a hard pull?
Obviously, the answer won't be the same for everyone, e.g., someone getting ready to take out a mortgage/refinance ought to be much more conservative in most cases. And some hard pulls aren't reported across all 3 major CRAs. (For example, Barclay's seems not to report to Experian, in my experience.)
A few months ago, every hard pull carried a heavy opportunity cost: one fewer Citi AAdvantage cards. But with the apparent death of Citi AA churning, and Chase's new 1-card-every-6-months rule, the opportunity cost seems much lower.
So what's a sensible minimum threshhold benefit for pulling the app trigger? $150 (ballpark value of the current Amex MR 15K pts bonus, at 1c/pt)? $100 (CitiForward signup worth 11K TYP)?
Obviously, the answer won't be the same for everyone, e.g., someone getting ready to take out a mortgage/refinance ought to be much more conservative in most cases. And some hard pulls aren't reported across all 3 major CRAs. (For example, Barclay's seems not to report to Experian, in my experience.)
A few months ago, every hard pull carried a heavy opportunity cost: one fewer Citi AAdvantage cards. But with the apparent death of Citi AA churning, and Chase's new 1-card-every-6-months rule, the opportunity cost seems much lower.
So what's a sensible minimum threshhold benefit for pulling the app trigger? $150 (ballpark value of the current Amex MR 15K pts bonus, at 1c/pt)? $100 (CitiForward signup worth 11K TYP)?