newbie...first time card churning.
Sep 11, 2012 | 12:46 am
#16
Join Date: Feb 2011
Programs: All of them
Posts: 214
In the meantime I plan for whatever offer strikes my fancy so I'll have miles and points to plan spontaneous trips.
You would be well advised to start slow and establish good, long term relationships with the major banks so that you'll be able to take advantage of CC offers for years to come.
Sep 13, 2012 | 12:54 pm
#17
Moderator: Travel Buzz
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Sunny San Diego
Posts: 3,177
good info
^
This is such excellent advice. I'm a noob myself and it some times seems like the churning is just a reward unto itself. As an obsessive personality, I can see the fun of just doing it because you can, like Micheal Douglas in the movie Wallstreet.
I have been forced to digest all this new FT knowledge because I'm wrapping up a mortgage loan right now, and I think this was great. It forced me to wait. A few weeks ago I would have just rushed pell mell into my first churn. This bit of down time has forced me to evaluate my goals-- where do I want to go? With how many people? Where would I like to stay? How organized will I be to track and negotiate/cancel/pay my various new credit card bills that will result from the churning? How will it effect the ease in which I can get my taxes filed (I have loved the Citi and Chase yearly summaries)? After reading a thread from someone who missed a bill and had a 60 day late-- I realize that one organizational mistake can ruin this party for a long long time.
You are so right, Deltame... the offers will still be there. No need to rush into anything.
OP, you call yourself a newbie, so I suggest the following: if your credit history is short then it does not hurt to wait for a while (at least until you get comfortable) before applying for other credit card(s). Use this time to
(1) study the threads in this forum (and miles buzz forum), not just for best sign-on bonus cards alone but also understand you could target separate credit cards for sign-on bonus, credit cards to put spend on, and credit cards to keep b/c certain benefits (that you can use)
(2) get a better idea on your spending habits (categories and amount of regular spend that you can put on credit cards)
(3) clarify your travel preferences (e.g., coach or business/first class air travel, domestic or international, budget or comfort or high end hotel etc.)
(4) devise one or two travel goals (destination, departure city/airline preference if any, etc.)
The credit card offers will be there (at least the UA mileage explorer card offer will still be around, say for the next 3-6 months) when you are ready. If you anticipate significant credit card spend in the next few months, then I would consider jump start the process and do a quick study to get ready; otherwise take your time to learn and become knowledgeable (at least towards self-insight w.r.t. what you want to accomplish).
(1) study the threads in this forum (and miles buzz forum), not just for best sign-on bonus cards alone but also understand you could target separate credit cards for sign-on bonus, credit cards to put spend on, and credit cards to keep b/c certain benefits (that you can use)
(2) get a better idea on your spending habits (categories and amount of regular spend that you can put on credit cards)
(3) clarify your travel preferences (e.g., coach or business/first class air travel, domestic or international, budget or comfort or high end hotel etc.)
(4) devise one or two travel goals (destination, departure city/airline preference if any, etc.)
The credit card offers will be there (at least the UA mileage explorer card offer will still be around, say for the next 3-6 months) when you are ready. If you anticipate significant credit card spend in the next few months, then I would consider jump start the process and do a quick study to get ready; otherwise take your time to learn and become knowledgeable (at least towards self-insight w.r.t. what you want to accomplish).
I have been forced to digest all this new FT knowledge because I'm wrapping up a mortgage loan right now, and I think this was great. It forced me to wait. A few weeks ago I would have just rushed pell mell into my first churn. This bit of down time has forced me to evaluate my goals-- where do I want to go? With how many people? Where would I like to stay? How organized will I be to track and negotiate/cancel/pay my various new credit card bills that will result from the churning? How will it effect the ease in which I can get my taxes filed (I have loved the Citi and Chase yearly summaries)? After reading a thread from someone who missed a bill and had a 60 day late-- I realize that one organizational mistake can ruin this party for a long long time.
You are so right, Deltame... the offers will still be there. No need to rush into anything.