[I stumbled upon this and am not currently using this method, just an observation.]

It appears that one of my credit cards did not process any auto-payment this period because they accepted statement credits as payment for the previous statement balance since the credits exceeded the previous month's balance. BTW, these credits were for purchases made in the current statement period, I could understand if these credits were from a few months ago, but they are for recent transactions so I'm shocked it would count as a payment.

So, would it be possible to avoid any payment for a few months by returning large amounts?

For example if my monthly average purchases is $1,000:

Month........Purchase amount...Return amount...Statement Balance
1..............$1,000.........................$0.. ................$1,000
2..............$2,000...................$1,000.... ..............$2,000
3..............$3,000...................$2,000.... ..............$3,000
4..............$4,000...................$3,000.... ..............$4,000

Just PM me the name of the bank and I'll tell you whether it will work or not.

I am always amazed at the stuff FT'ers go through to chase and maximize benefits

Some of us have less money and/or more time than others.

It is very important, though, to keep track of time/reward ratios and compare to your hourly rate. Spreadsheets are an FT'ers second best friend, after Smisek.

Thanks for the smiley. It seems that I wasn't clear in the first post.

This is not some scheme that I spent time dreaming up or figured out as a way to rip-off the credit card companies.

I was checking my monthly credit card statement and was baffled why the statement balance was double what it regularly is, and then noticed that there was no auto-payment for the previous statement amount. That is when I did some figuring and guessed that it was because of some large credits during this month that this method might work.

Same here, I was not chasing points when I discovered this awhile back. I booked an airline ticket on CO website and even though I cancelled within the 24 hours, the charge hit my card a few days later and the credit came through a week or so after. The CC company did not process an auto pay (for the full balance) on the due data as the credit was more than the billed amount. I panicked as I thought there was some screw up, but the bank assuered me all was ok - even confirmed in an e-mail. Shamefully I must admit that as a true FT'er and FW'er I have taken advantage of this loop hole subsequently.