Thanks for the input!

I will cut my loss and walk away from the Citi Hilton at the moment. According to my calculations I will end this round with 4 or 5 inquiries divided across the three agencies. I really hope to get both of these Chase cards without having to call the reconsideration line at all...or more than once. I'll keep you updated.

Planning to have my next round in March. Hope to go abroad during the summer and will need a no foreign fees card. In the meanwhile, I'll be canceling my two worthless BofA cards in December but keeping the Capital One due to account age.

With a lot of programs still on the table for me, I may aim for a non-Chase/non-Citi card in late December if a monster offer surfaces. Are those common? Has there ever been an end-of-year/x-mas specials?

how do you consolidate these miles into flights if they're spread out all over different services? Or is this a flip into cash only. I'm new to all this obviously

aaahhh so... This is the caveat. As I understand it you have the ability to spend 30k and pay it off in 6mo with out floating debt? You said gift cards, are you paying the debt back with the gift cards?

My job pays no where near enough to spend 30k in 2 years, let alone 6 mo.

I will do the following consolidations:

• BoA and BoH cards that award Hawaiian Airlines miles: will be converted to Hilton points.
• Amex MR points: likely to be converted to Delta points.
• Chase Ultimate Rewards points: likely to be converted to Continental/United points.

Other that that, I will generally use the points in the program they are earned.

See my responses in red.

Thanks so much for helping out this noob. ^
I saw the Treasury 1$ coin deal back when people were doing it, but i was fresh into bankruptcy and couldn't get a card.
Learned my lesson and pay off my CC ever time i get paid (weekly)
But i pay for everything with my Lufthansa Miles and More card. Those miles are not coming as fast as I would hope, and I've been trying to plan a round the world backpacking photo documentary.

The questions I brought up previously about points/miles being spread all over was the main concern I had to fund my documentary. Having all these cards is moot if I cant meet the minimum spending reqs, and the points are in places I dont use, like hotels or airlines i dont fly.

Indeed, I'm a longtime (slow and semi-steady) churner, but I second your philosophy. To me it's a waste of time to apply for a card here that gives me just $100 and nothing more, and another card there that just gives me $100 and nothing more (especially when it's from the same bank as cards I'm more interested in getting). It's also a waste for me to apply for a card which has an immediate annual fee, even if the offer is decent, on an airline where I have more miles/points than I'll be able to use for many years to come (and can't transfer out to something more useful).

I already have somewhat over 2 million miles (spread across 4 airlines in all 3 alliances, though most of that in oneworld), and well over 1 million hotel points spread across half a dozen hotel programs (because I keep going to places in the world where only one smaller hotel program has hotels and yet hotels cost a lot in cash!).

Also, the value of points/miles can vary tremendously (by a ratio of 1:10 or more) from one program or another, so IMHO it's rather misleading to total it all up and say "I earned x00,000 in my last churn". 500,000 in one program might be the same as just 60,000 in another program! So how in the world do you combine them into one number (if the goal is do anything more than just show off)?

In some programs that have cashback, 500,000 points simply $5000. Well, a year ago, I applied for one card (BA) that gave me 100k miles, and the way I'll use those (for an int'l longhaul business class trip) it's worth about $5000. Why bother applying for zillions of cards with small bonuses to add up to $5000, when judiciously applying for just one or two cards at the right time gets you the same value?

Award Wallet is a great place to keep track of "orphan" miles and points.
Originally, I was only interested in United/Starwood, but gradually over the years got sucked into just about every program due to some credit card deal that struck me at the moment.

Just because you don't "think" you will use a program, doesn't mean that you won't in the future. I look at these points and miles as an adjunct to my retirement accounts. If you just make a small purchase through a program's shopping portal or make a small transfer, most of these have no expiration.

In 1989 I took my only NWA flight (LAX-ORD-LAX). No NWA flights ever for spouse. Until a quick SMF-SLC-SMF trip in June 2011, neither of us had ever flown Delta, however we now have a combined Delta balance of 326,441 ! (all due to credit cards and shopping promos).

Every program has it's own niche. For me, Marriott was important because it was the only major chain hotel that I could book on points on Koh Samui (until recently) and the same for downtown Victoria BC.

You never know when you will use something in the future. Priority Club is great for New Zealand, UK, and smaller towns and cities in France, where there are no Starwoods, Hiltons, etc...

I agree not to sacrifice "better value" card applications for the lesser value ones, but if you do this the right way over time, you can come close to having it all.

Called the automated line at Chase to get more info on my pending applications.

They both said they are being reviewed, for the 11/2 card (Southwest) it said, approximate time: 2 weeks. For the 11/6 card (Marriott) it said, 7-10 days.

Anything that information could tell me? Strange timelines.

You shoulda been here for the US Mint gig. 30k in 2 years - heck, try 70k spend turnover in one day.

Float the Amazon.

It is the old question of whether it is better to fly fish with precision to catch that big lunker or bait cast with a worm and catch all the small fry that nibble. Trick question - the answer is you use dynamite and just empty the pond. Kaboom!

Pat, could you elaborate on this point? I'm considering the PC card and hesitant for now. But when I travel, I do like to stay at smaller/boutique hotels or even B&Bs. Are you saying that the PC points can be used at places like that? That's one of the (only) downsides I see to the big Hyatt/Marriott/SPG cards -- when you travel, you have to stay at big chain hotels. If the PC card opens up flexibility on that front it would be much more attractive to me...

My order of preference is generally Starwood, Hilton, PC, Marriott.

PCs still are major hotels, but they have more properties off of the beaten track. Although I'm not a big Holiday Inn fan, I generally like Crowne Plazas (in the absence of Starwoods, that is). The PC card gave me a free (or $60 cash and points) place to stay in places without major chains like Phi-Phi Island, Bruges, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Blois (Loire Valley-near Chambord), Heidelberg, Stonehenge, Astoria Oregon, etc... New Zealand only has a few Hiltons and NO Starwoods currently, since the Westin Auckland left. I have reservations at all of the PC properties in New Zealand in Feb. Also have upcoming stays at IC and Holiday Inn in Fiji.

The 60K PC card gives you Plat status for the year you attain it and the following year, so wait until Jan to do your 1st spend. Plat benefits have been pretty good and scored us a free room at the IC Le Grande Paris with a Eiffel Tower View. The IC Thalasso Bora Bora was also a great score.

With PC cash and points, you buy the points at $30 per 5,000 points when you make a cash and points reservation. If you cancel the reservation, the points you bought are deposited back into your account. So basically, you can stay in any 40,000 point Intercontinental for $240/night max (IC Paris Le Grande goes for $500+ and IC Thalasso is more like $800+/night).

The Plat status with the card is great. Purchasing Ambassador might be worth it if you are planning IC stays. I've had good luck at ICs with and without Ambassador.

My situation is similar and my thoughts are exactly the same!

my guess is Southwest was approved and Marriott denied.