Preacher7

Welcome to the Canadian blogosphere! As a Canadian working in the US, this points double dipper will love keeping up with you!

yerffej201

Yay Vancouverite bloggers!

flyertalker00156

@pointshogger @duberville

It is nice to read a blog which is not just focused on credit cards

pointshogger

Thanks a lot! It's also great that you have a blog that can facilitate redeeming airlines (especially the complicated Aeroplan) points.

durberville

Thank you!

If anybody has any suggestions, wanting to link-up, or just to say hello, please send me a message! I'm a little out of my depths, and I'm trying really hard to generate unique content, and would love to make compadres in the community.

YOWgary

Still relatively new to the world of churn, wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction? Goal is to generate miles for Aeroplan Mini-RTW travel and/or to upgrade Cathay tickets on transpac flights.

Currently have the following (all Canadian).

- Amex Plat (used whenever possible) - got in Nov 2013
- Amex Gold (not used) - Got in April 2014
- TD Visa Infinite First Class (daily use - for places that don't take Amex) - had for years.

Income is about $80K, credit is in good shape.

Current plans are:

- Keep the Amex Plat until just before it renews, as it earns MR faster than the Gold based on my spending patterns.

- Drop the Amex Gold so I can churn it in December

- Transition the TD Infinite to the TD Aeroplan Infinite.

Questions:

- Am I better off dropping the Plat now, and keeping the Gold? Not sure if I'd churn the Plat based on the high fees and disappearing Cathay status, but if I renewed in December, use the 2014 and 2015 travel credits, it's basically buying 60,000 MR and hotel status for $299.

- Any reason not to switch TD cards?

- If I cancel either Amex card now, can I even churn it in December?

- Any other products I'm overlooking?

Thanks folks!

jerryhung

I'm surprised you didn't get the AMEX Aeroplan Gold yet? 30K Aeroplan, FYF, with a referral link signup


As for other 2 AMEX cards, I think only you know the answer to which AMEX to cancel and churn after 6 months

Just make sure you CAN use up the 2014 $200 if you cancel AMEX Plat and sign up again. I'd simply wait till 2015 to re-apply


As for TD, is your TD FC free (with All-inclusive $5K minimum account)? Mine is so I keep it forever for ExpediaForTD 4.5% return
I simply applied for a new TD Aeroplan Infinite (15K, FYF, 2-for-1 short-haul)

Don't think there are other hot CC deals around as most offers have died (BMO/CIBC/TD/AMEX Biz Gold)

ml262

I book quite a fair amount of travel domestically and I always book direct on the airline's website.

Now that I think about it I can get much more by booking through portals like TDrewards Expedia page and still collect the status/award miles I would have received when booking direct.

How do you book your travel to maximize points? Thanks in advance.

microcosm

those of you that are familiar with cc scores for churning in canada, tell me whats the impact of having like 10 newly added accounts (mostly cc's) added at once, worst case scenario to my understanding is it reduces avg age but even then how "bad" is it to have so many new accounts for say in consideration of future cc applications.

lastly im not worried about overstretching my credit, so how long should I keep these cc's before cancelling them, im thinking like 6 months because id like to do new apps after that period

pointshogger

If you are looking to book Cathay Pacific points, you can either transfer your American Express Membership Reward to Asia Miles to use on Cathay Pacific or to British Airways, which is a Oneworld partner.

Aeroplan is more for Star Alliance partners. So it depends on which is your preference.

pointshogger

It's more of a matter of preference. What type of points do you want to earn? What type of points will be most useful to you? I think it might be useful to work backwards and determine what type of goals you want to achieve first, then decide what's the best strategy.

NotJustDreaming

Hey YVRGary,

I was considering the Amex Platinum but the Gold suits me better. And I'm surprised that it's not more versatile for others.....

Two points for each dollar spent at drug, grocery and gas stores. After travel, my biggest expense is food. And I can pretty much fit the rest of my spending into stores that the above three have gift cards for. So I continue to earn two points for stores like LCBO, Beer Store, Toys R Us, Home Depot, Home hardware, Aeropostale, good restaurant choice, etc etc. Admittedly I have to be organized enough to anticipate those spending categories and often miss out because I don't have a gift card. But I try. And just use the next best card if I don't have a gift card.it only stings a bit.

So if I were you, only knowing what you just said, I'd keep the platinum until renewal, since you've got it already. Use the gold card on gas, grocery and drug purchases. Experiment with the gift cards on the gold card and see if it earns you double points for the rest of your spending. And continue to use the platinum for purchases that are not covered. At the very least you could do your gas, grocery and drug purchases on the Amex Gold and everything else on the Platinum.

I agree about the Amex Aeroplan. It's an easy 30k. I haven't paid an annual fee yet. I think it's worth a few extra cc apps to earn the equivalent points. But I am starting to yearn for the status. I'm sure I can be easily swayed with some perks!

NotJustDreaming

Hey jerryhung,

I've had the TD Travel Infinite Visa for years when I finally discovered how to properly have travel insurance coverage..... With one of many cc's of course. But who knew?

It's no fee with my $5,000 minimum account. As well as a TD US Visa and a no fee US dollar account. And the free cheques. So I feel I get value.

But... Now that I've discovered the all the other cards that have great coverage, do you think right off the top that the TD First Class would be better then the Travel Infinite? We don't really use it for much anymore but keep it active since it's one of two we've had for years. More detail please?

NotJustDreaming

I'm trying to max the 2-4-1 short hauls. But aside from coming up with 'new' travel that I wasn't really planning, I keep coming to the conclusion that I should let them expire.

I'm in Ontario with three three kids. Three short hauls in two adult accounts. Connections to hubs like Atlanta or Boston are just as or better with Avios.

I was considering a trip from YOW to Thunder Bay or maybe drive to YUL and head to the east coast. But those are the best new travels that I could come up with. AC doesn't go to to Nunavut anymore. The only Manitoba destination is Winnipeg. AC taxes just suck out all the initial enthusiasm for the 2-4-1. If I had domestic plans, they'd be great though.

What are your plans for TD 2-4-1? Or your opinion of the value? Thanks all!

flyertalker00156

YUL-ORD is a good one