mike2200

Do you have goal for the miles and points you are acquiring? If so then you should look for cards that take you to that end.

arsenalman

I am about to go on my first AOR. I was wondering if you could estimate how much your credit score dropped after the first round? And if it came back up slightly after a month?

arsenalman

Thanks - that sounds like a good offer. Will have to go through the manufactured spending forum to figure out how i can meet all the spending limits.
One question that i have is that i see people posting for their 2nd and 3rd churn in a year - but dont they already have most of the cards, so how can they multiply their points by accepting to cards that they already have?

Wisemas

I came across flyertalk late last year and had my first aor in early December and applying for and getting 7 cards. Yesterday I did my second AOR. I applied for and was approved for 5 cards after 2 phone calls. i got the Citi AAdvantage business card, 2 Southwest cards(companion pass!), the AMEX Premier rewards Gold(50k offer) and the MB Platinum Card for 50K points(I plan on buying a Mercedes in December). I think that is a pretty good haul for one day. Any suggestions on another offer to apply for today? Do you think 3 Chase cards in on cycle is pushing it?

TheMilesProfessor

I want to help and give my advice, but your list is quite hard to read. Can you order it by bank? That's how most of us think of credit cards

wcj

Read the last 5-10 pages of the AA personal cards thread as it appears that getting the two personal AA cards (at least the ones you have proposed)at one time is no longer possible. When I was looking at that thread, there are also rules on when you can get additional cards and I don't think you have waited sufficient time, although cant really tell.

Not sure on the chase cards. You just did one personal and one biz and now want two personal and one biz less than 90 days out. I would anticipate problems and recon time, if you have a shot. Others probably have more insight.

punjabi2

I am of course no expert, but one advise I got here was to take it slow with Chase. You dont want to be in their bad books. @ chase cards in one AOR is probably the max one should do, but hopefully experts will fill in.

r.brown

Something that pulls Transunion - Barclays US Airways Card (personal or business or both) or Barclays Arrival card?

Mile-a-holic

The beauty of the game is that new cards are introduced, and some cards (such as the AA) are churnable in certain timeframes. So, you want to focus your churn on cards:
1) that are going away (both you and your wife should get the USAir card)
2) that are currently known for churning (AA - 50k offer, see sticky)
3) "blockbuster" offers like the biz gold

Then, you can layer the others in. There are no hard/fast rules, it all depends on your credit.

This advice assumes that you are somewhat flexible in when/where/how for Europe, and are wlling to either plan ahead or plan late. If you want specific direct flights, then of course you'll want to target your apps by alliance!

Wisemas

Thanks. I added the Barclays US Air Card in December. Not sure they'll approve me for another.

happy9zz

@mike2200: My goal is saving points and miles for future vacation. I dont have any plan right now. I know miles and points are devaluation but I really dont have any plan right now. I just want to build my points and miles.

@arsenalman: my FICO scores from Equifax and Transunion are not posted yet. So I am not sure.

@TheMilesProfessor: thanks, I just make it order by bank.

TheMilesProfessor

Much better! Now I can see which cards are there/not there. I am going to name a few cards I personally went for and currently have.

Amex:

You don't yet have the Starwood Preferred Guest Card. It comes with 25k bonus after 5k spend and SPG points can be used for hotels or convert to miles at 20k -> 25k on many airline programs (just not United). The points are actually most lucrative when used for hotels.

After I got the 75k offer, I was able to upgrade to Plat Amex for an additional 25k bonus after 10k spend. The card comes with $450 annual fee, but you can get $200 airline credit per calendar year so you can make back $400. I went for this as having the Amex Gold card makes me ineligible for any signup bonus other than through upgrade.

Citi:

You may consider the Hilton HHonors Reserve card. It gives you two free weekend night certificates after spending $2500 and an additional free weekend night certificate after $7500 spending. You have a year to use them. The good thing about this card is the certificates will be valid categories 1-10 and are safe against the devaluation.

US Bank:

Is your US Airways Card Barclays?

US Bank has a FlexPerks Visa card. You earn 1 FlexPerks point per dollar and these can be redeemed for up to 2 cents each through their booking engine powered by travelocity. They give 2 points for certain categories such as gas and 3 points for charities (think Kiva!). I like these points a lot since it doesn't require you to find award space. Card comes with 17,500 point bonus after spending $1500.

Chase:

I like Chase Freedom even though it doesn't have a big bonus. No annual fee and it's pretty easy to maximize their quarterly rotating categories for 7500 Ultimate Rewards points each quarter. These transfer to your other Ultimate Rewards cards.

British Airways has an offer for 50,000 Avios after $1000 spending.

_____________

http://themilesprofessor.com

arsenalman

Thank you!! I am just getting ready to pull the trigger. Setting up the bluebird/AP accounts. Read probably 2-300 threads today to get familiar with it (Wish i had tried this a few months back with the OD had the VR going).

From what i have read, Citi cards are the hardest to use manufactured spending on, but i dont think the min spending is too high. As for going for trips, we are in no hurry. I would like to go whenever i could find flights etc, so in no hurry.

I just need to get comfortable on how to transfer points and which card i need to meet my ultimate goals. Soo many variables, going to start an excel sheet with a few macros to track everything.

Mile-a-holic

For Citi, consider prepaying things like cable or other bills (so you hit spend in required time) if your cash flow can absorb. I'm pretty cautious - I know folks get away with manufactured spend, but if you're in it for the long haul mixing in as much real spend as possible is best esp. in the early going.

I have a similar goal - fly to Europe in J (or F, I'm not picky). There's no one card, I rotate so that we have points in each alliance, plus flexiblity with Membership Rewards and SPG. We're flexible, so we can always get a trip planned. Once we've burned, I try to earn but now it's what cards we can get.

arsenalman

If i apply for this (and pay the 10k), will i be able to apply for another Amex card on my next churn?

Thank you