I tie my MS spending with money making opportunities at local office supply stores. Ink recycling, rebates + coupons makes each transaction a slight money maker. Then apply that to MS and it's a break even proposition for me.

Me too! :cool:
I dont value Hotel points as much as Airline points. Personally I would never transfer UR points to Hyatt.
Usually I spend the least amount of time at hotels. I am all for the destination and any 4 star hotel will do. Priceline has been fun and effective to me. Never felt any different and always got nice rooms.

And usually a business class fare will do.

Sometimes we dwell on the tangible but the intangible can be more valuable too: a surprise vacation with a loved one, a free ticket for a friend, even a ticket to help a stranger go to a funeral.

But different strokes....

Ink recycling - hasn't that kinda gone the way of metal recycling?:p So hard to live green when your plastic can't profitably buy their plastic at a decent profit margin....

You must be the best and most original poster here! :cool:

All of my MS is to make a profit....

I use USbank cash+, Amex blue cash preferred, Citi thankyou preferred and other cards to buy large amounts of VR and MP at drug stores/gas stations. I probably net ~$800/month at my current rate

If those are your only expenses that's just asking for a fr or SAR.

Assuming a net of 4% on those 3 cards, that's approx $20K of monthly spend spread among 3 card issuers. That doesn't look particularly high-risk to me.
Also, it's yet to be established conclusively that mixing in some regular spending mitigates the risk (although it most likely doesn't hurt).

When I first got in to MS about 3 years ago (long before it had a name) I did so exclusively as a means to meet the min. spend requirements on new cards for the wife and I. The fact I also earned fuel points was a bonus that basically negated any true cost for me.

Over the last year, I have ramped up my MS significantly due to short term offers on the AMEX BCP and Citi TY Pref. This has shifted my focus from points accumulation to cash savings, either directly with the BCP card or by converting the TY points to gift cards that we use in lieu of cash. Yes, more time is required (I'd estimate I probably spend 5-6 hours each month on MS) but the payoff has been substantial enough (roughly $1k monthly) for me to believe it's worth it.

Once these limited offers lapse, I will most likely revert to my previous method of more limited MS solely as a basis to meet min. spend. While I do value SPG or UR points at greater than 1 cpp, for me the spread is simply not great enough to justify the work. Same thing w/ a 2% cash back card.

Yes and substancially.

Positive operating margin on MS this year varies between 0.3cpm and 0.4cpm depending on the month.

And this is not accounting for the intrinsic value of miles. (obviously)
^