Happy

Please do some homework before you go out to do what you conjure up to do (and no, has nothing to do with cop comes to get you, that hardly happens).

randiboy

Very agreed. Less of a hobby and more of a part time job

knopfler

They would not officially tell me the reason, but it was likely due to the fact that I was depositing a fairly large amount of MO's into a Chase checking account on a regular basis. I did not MS a lot on my Chase cards. They first sent me a notice they were shutting my checking account down and gave me about a month's notice. Then shortly after that they shut down all of my credit cards and all new Chase applications for the next 12 months or so were rejected. I was eventually able to get approved for a CSR card. As for the United card, you should be fine. Especially if you start slow and build your way up. As for if they care about MS'ing the minimum spend...not sure but I always try to hit the minimum spend requirement with non-MS spending on any new card from any issuer, just to be safe. If you must MS it, start slow, vary your purchase amounts. Space them out. Mix in as much non-MS spending as you can. If you are wanting to get United miles, you can also get cards that earn ultimate rewards points, which can be transferred to United. I also pick up a substantial amount of United miles on the MileagePlusX app on my phone.

ne0ven0m

I'm still relatively new to all this. I've been churning for over a year. I've gotten 14 cards in that time. Only in the last few months have I really started to ramp up MS to maybe a few grand a month (vs. maybe just a few hundred for something like CF 5% only). Most importantly, I LOVE doing this stuff. I love planning out a route map for GC/MO purchases. I love spreadsheets with bank account openings and closings. I love keeping tabs on every dollar of net fees and gains I lose from every aspect of what I do.

OP, from reading what you've told us, you're not ready for MS. You need to learn and read more, which leads to better planning. You also need to ask yourself if you can sustain the things you listed for any period of time beyond a week or two (emotionally speaking, mental prep-wise, as well as just practical aspects like time and geography).

Statman

Maybe get a better job that pays more so you don't have to spend hours at Walmart, Walgreens, etc. buying gift cards and money orders?

stormpelt

Why so negative? Maybe I should just win the lottery too? Other people MS 50-100k+ a month, I just don't want my kids taken away if I get detained while with my kids for "suspicious money activity" aka MSing with money orders.

Statman

I didn't mean to be Debbie Downer, but in your own words, you have small kids and a large family. Is it really worth all that time and effort (and possible risk) to try and play the MS game at the levels you are talking about?

It's one thing to buy a few $500 gift cards to meet the spend requirement - it is an entirely different thing altogether buying 50k-100k of gift cards and/or money orders per month. All it takes it one suspicious employee to call the cops on you.

Again, if you want to risk it, then by all means go for it and enjoy your yearly vacation to your home country, but if I were in your shoes (which I am not), I wouldn't risk it at those levels.

However and as always YMMV.

lumangoy

Good luck finding a grocery store that will sell you 5-10k in one transaction!

StartinSanDiego

First, the 50+ K a month group is smaller than you think.

For regular, smaller scale MS, arrest is not eminent, nor would your kids get taken away. What is far, far more likely is that you will wear yourself out by dragging your little children around, trying to achieve the goal of MSing to get a large family traveling regularly. There are many hitches and bumps in the big-time MSer road. First, most people start small. Buy one or two gift cards, go liquidate them. Do it every day for a week. See what happens-- do they sell them to you? Are your locations MS friendly? How much of a hassle was it with the kids? How much time/gas/worry/effort did you spend for how many points? At the end of the week, you'll have an idea of what it's like. Then you can ask yourself if the trade off to do this MS thing is worth the payoff. Or would you be better off spending that time with your kids now, maybe at the park instead of a Walmart line. @wahooflyer is doing it with a toddler, and at a fairly good pace. The people who run into trouble are very large scale MSers, and, it's very rare to have anything but decreased opportunity to MS easily. Next in the trouble pyramid is a bank shut down. There's no cops lurking around ready to take your kids.
You don't have to go big. Do what works, what's comfortable, and, very importantly, using no more money than you can afford to float for 3-6 months, in case something goes wrong. If you said you wanted to run a marathon, most people would expect that you've gotten far past jogging around the block. Jog around the block first. Nobody's saying you can't get your family traveling for extremely reduced costs. Right now you have yourself, a toddler and a lap child. 2 paid r/t tickets is all you need at the moment. The big family doesn't even exist yet. You should be able to get home with 2-3 well chosen credit card sign ups. It's a much easier method. Good luck!

cashcyclone

Start here
https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/wi...tured_spending

ChrisFlyer66

Based on the data points I've seen, it should be okay to MS for the minimum spend on the United card. There is a Chase shutdown dedicated thread in the Chase forum. Most of the shutdowns reported there are for applying for too many credit cards, or for activity in Chase bank accounts (such as depositing MO). YMMV of course.

grrizzli

Detained? Come on. When I was applying for a concealed carry permit I had to write a cover letter to my local police department explaining why I needed one. Since I live in the area with practically no violent crime and stringent gun control laws, I had to come up with some reason. Alluding to MS and being in possession of thousands of dollars in cash and cash equivalents was the way to go: afraid of being a robbery target. The secretary in the PD who processed my application reasonably interpreted the activity as some sort of "couponing" and in due time I got my permit with no restrictions. That's how it works.

devastitis

TheUrbanite

I wouldn't rule anything out to be honest - in the UK it has been known for people to be dawn raided and have their home turned upside down as a direct result of innocent MS - and that's probably not something you want happening with young children around.

LondonElite

Really? Whether US or UK, can you explain? I understand if you are doing this to launder money, or more easily move large amounts of money, and get flagged by a bank or cc company, but otherwise this has never crossed my radar screen.