How much time does this take?
 

Hi everyone, I'm still very new to the flyertalk forum. Just want to thank everyone for their valuable insights and expertise on this subject.

I'm just getting started in the churning game. I'm hearing great things about the SPG Amex. There just seems to be so many offers on the table at any given time. Sure, some folks seem to wait for the big 100k offers when it comes to airlines, or what not. But all of this seems time consuming. I already find myself addicted to flyertalk.

How much time do you spend on flyertalk in order to get the most out of airline miles and hotel points?

We don't churn here - we recycle plastic.:p

Set your self a travel goal. See what lines will get you there. Then you figure what plastic needs recycling. You cannot go wrong with SPG unless you really need United or Continental miles.

Its all about goals - focus. And never use credit unless you can make a profit.

How much time does it take?? it's FUN!!

“Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life”

You can easily average a "wage" of $100/hour on credit card signups.

I'll take that.

haha of course, we recycle! we're happy to make the planet a better place ;) that's good advice about the travel goal. i'll be sure to keep that in mind.

i get the sense that flying to asia on points is something people seem to aspire to frequently. i guess my next move is to plot which airlines make that happen and the details of each award program, huh? thanks for the tip!

that's another good point. i never really thought of it like that. right now i'm still too new, and afraid to pull the trigger, so all this time is like research time for the moment.

Then there's the other half(?) of us who have to make lots of domestic trips to expensive places. I'd much rather drop 25k miles instead of $400+ in cash - and it's a real savings for me, because I would have to take those trips anyway.

Some of us dream a little smaller. :cool:

hey, dreaming around the 48 states is alright with me. Some people list all these countries they've been to and I've been to less states! I hear ya about the cross continent flights.

By the time you get authorized for your second credit card with a huge sign up bonus, you'll never look back. There is a hump of uncertainty to get over with that first card or two, but everything you need to know can be searched for or asked in Flyertalk.

In a couple months, ill be seeing posts from you asking how to hit spend requirements on the 300K miles worth of cards you just got approved on. ;)

I just signed up a few weeks ago after getting a sales pitch in ATL for the Delta Amex and googled to get more info on it.

Just got the Delta Gold Amex - 35k bonus miles + $75 credit for first purchase at delta
and AMEX PRG with 75k bonus. I now check the site every day for new info but it took me a few hours to apply, (I don't count waiting on the mailman for the cards to arrive) and know Im trying to meet the minimum spend for the Amex Gold.

haha one can only hope that i'll get 300k worth of miles in a few months! do you ever sign up for cards w/o knowing how to meet the spending bonus? or is it best to have a strategy in mind now that the mint is not cooperating?

Always know. If you panic to meet the requirement, you'll end up carrying a balance and paying interest. Or missing the requirement and losing the opportunity for the bonus for months or years.

Probably smart to start w/ your current spending habits. Just ask yourself what you normally charge monthly and go from there.

My wife and I went on our first big churn recently and almost got too ambitious applying for multiple cards, but it looks like we should be able to make the spending limits on all our cards just with our regular spending.

ah... good point. Paying interesting is not something I want to be doing on credit cards!

Thanks for your tale of caution! I will follow your advice and go with spending that matches my normal habits. It limits the number of cards though! haha. I need more cards with instant bonuses on first purchases :)