Constant credit card turnover for points

[andye]

Many threads within this section

Australian Frequent Flyer

Tips, Tricks & Chat for the Australian Frequent Flyer

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Good luck. I would offer the advice not to get carried away within your cash flow abilities-some of the spend targets may mean you end up bringing forward expenses. Also some cards are funny about business spend on personal cards

 

[Ztaj]

Many threads within this section

Australian Frequent Flyer

Tips, Tricks & Chat for the Australian Frequent Flyer

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Good luck. I would offer the advice not to get carried away within your cash flow abilities-some of the spend targets may mean you end up bringing forward expenses. Also some cards are funny about business spend on personal cards

Thanks for that, really appreciate it.

Warnings noted. Intend to start out gently.
cheers!

 

[http_x92]

Basically churning CCs is the most successful way to rack up points quickly if you dont get rejected for CCs, and to get to benefits like Points Club or Points Club Plus (SCs earned on classic reward flights is the biggest benefit).

 

[JackMiles]

The majority of cards have a waiting period which varies between products. Due diligence required

Some companies have that waiting period on all their products, others allow bonuses for their different brands e.g I have received bonuses for Qantas Premier while holding Virgin Money despite them both being run by Citi

Some cards offer referral bonuses and you may be able perform a duet with a spouse/partner to enhance earning

Thanks to you too, andye. For some reason your reply didn't show up earlier when I saw Dr Ralph's.

 

[CaptainCurtis]

The most difficult part of churning is to manufacture the minimum spend at the earliest possible time when you are due for a card(s) again.

This is easily overcome by booking a hotel stay with Expedia and using the 'pay upfront' option on a fully refundable booking. Not all hotels offer this, but there are certainly a few.

Once you receive the points, cancel the booking and wait for the refund to be credited to your account. Then there's no problem closing the card and requesting a cheque for the credit balance or a transfer to another nominated bank account.

 

[CaptJCool]

This is easily overcome by booking a hotel stay with Expedia and using the 'pay upfront' option on a fully refundable booking. Not all hotels offer this, but there are certainly a few.

Once you receive the points, cancel the booking and wait for the refund to be credited to your account. Then there's no problem closing the card and requesting a cheque for the credit balance or a transfer to another nominated bank account.

Or wouldn’t you be able to just short-pay so The credit is absorbed against the spending ? after all, at some point, there is a bill to pay....

Or are they able to “ask for the points back?”
From my experience of this type of situation, ($4,500 refund) the points were not clawed back. but it did offset the spending to that date and then it was Rather a case of no further points until the remaining credit was exhausted.

 

[Canberradaddy]

I have reached a million QF points, with most coming from churning. However, it gets much harder once you retire. Super income is not counted so, according the the credit card companies, I am effectively existing on zero income.

 

[woodyren]

I have reached a million QF points, with most coming from churning. However, it gets much harder once you retire. Super income is not counted so, according the the credit card companies, I am effectively existing on zero income.

I'm heading in that direction now. I thought super income was counted as I occasionally add the small amount of super I draw to my current earnings which are still enough on their own to get the cards I apply for.

Next year once I resume travelling my earnings will drop by more than 50% and I thought increasing my super draw down would boost total earnings up sufficiently for the next churning cycle of top shelf card bonuses.

Plan B is just to throttle back to next level cards offering around 75,000 pt bonuses and only requiring 30K or so of income.

Are you absolutely sure super income is not counted?

 

[timmy1234]

I have been churning cards for 3 years or so. St George and its associate bankss (Melbourne bank etc),have rejected me because of a busy file. I on a avg churn 7 cards a year. To add the mrs... accumulating more points is great.
I have found ANZ and Amex the easiest to deal with. But everyone case would be different. I have been with Amex nearly 18 years (churned them too). You get your bonus points quickly. However there are cases you will need to hang on to a card. I am breaking my churning rule with the Amex Plat charge card cause it allows me a credit limit of 100k and I have big expenses coming. Hence I will hold on it for more than a year.
Always lookout for a referral bonus with your partner i.e. I refer my Mrs and my Mrs refers me. This works with Amex.

 

[Dr Ralph]

I have reached a million QF points, with most coming from churning. However, it gets much harder once you retire. Super income is not counted so, according the the credit card companies, I am effectively existing on zero income.

I'm heading in that direction now. I thought super income was counted as I occasionally add the small amount of super I draw to my current earnings which are still enough on their own to get the cards I apply for.


Are you absolutely sure super income is not counted?

There have been a number of other threads which discussed the experiences of retired people and credit card churning. From memory, it was that things were harder but not impossible.

And, depending upon the form it took, super income could definitely be counted towards applications. In fact, I've seen it as a separate category in at least one recent appliction that I made (I can't recall exactly which one it was - but it would have been AMEX or ANZ).

Post automatically merged: Nov 1, 2021

have rejected me because of a busy file. I on a avg churn 7 cards a year.

Never been an issue for me. The number of past accounts, in my experience, isn't the issue. It's how many you currently have open and the total credit limit you currently have access to.

 

[CaptainCurtis]

Or wouldn’t you be able to just short-pay so The credit is absorbed against the spending ? after all, at some point, there is a bill to pay....

Or are they able to “ask for the points back?”
From my experience of this type of situation, ($4,500 refund) the points were not clawed back. but it did offset the spending to that date and then it was Rather a case of no further points until the remaining credit was exhausted.

I generally churn cards for the sign-on bonus, so I don't use these cards for regular spending. In my case, there's an initial bill to pay, but then a credit (normally a month or two later) for the same amount. The only bill to pay is for the annual fee. But yes, if your intention is to keep the card for a little while, you definitely can have the credit absorbed by regular spending.

As long as the points have hit your Qantas account, there is no way (at least that I'm aware of) for a bank to reclaim the points or any legal basis for them to ask for the points back.

 

[Mr H]

This is easily overcome by booking a hotel stay with Expedia and using the 'pay upfront' option on a fully refundable booking. Not all hotels offer this, but there are certainly a few.

Once you receive the points, cancel the booking and wait for the refund to be credited to your account. Then there's no problem closing the card and requesting a cheque for the credit balance or a transfer to another nominated bank account.

I wish I could like this a million times. It has just solved my biggest headache.

 

[Scarletlab]

Dr Ralph I am curious as to whether having positively geared investment properties with high income And good repayment history effects getting cards? I was recently declined an Amex after cancelling multiple cards so was very surprised.

 

[Dr Ralph]

As long as the points have hit your Qantas account, there is no way (at least that I'm aware of) for a bank to reclaim the points or any legal basis for them to ask for the points back.

This isn't correct.

Post automatically merged: Nov 1, 2021

Dr Ralph I am curious as to whether having positively geared investment properties with high income And good repayment history effects getting cards? I was recently declined an Amex after cancelling multiple cards so was very surprised.

PAYE income is really what banks want to see. They find it difficult to understand other forms of income.

I can't see the positively geared properties having an impact as long as you have the PAYE income.

AMEX, in my experience, is one of the few who decline customers.

 

[CaptainCurtis]

This isn't correct.

Which part is incorect? It has certainly been my experience after 25+ churns.

E.g. ANZ FF Black card criteria below for the points - it requires a 'purchase' to receive the points. Makes no explicit mention (that I can find anywhere, although I haven't read through the T&Cs in detail because I've never had a problem) to the points being recoverable in the event that a purchase is later refunded.

 

[zoomaloid2000]

As someone else mentioned above, the exclusion periods often mean you can't take advantage of the best deals as they come up, but otherwise I used to churn them as often as I could. Make the most of it whilst you can; once you are retired most lenders will not even consider you for a card unless you have a much larger income than you need if you are working.

 

[Scarletlab]

This isn't correct.

Post automatically merged: Nov 1, 2021

PAYE income is really what banks want to see. They find it difficult to understand other forms of income.

I can't see the positively geared properties having an impact as long as you have the PAYE income.

AMEX, in my experience, is one of the few who decline customers.

Thanks. Over $150,000 but self employed. Maybe they just did not like me. They did previously. Will try elsewhere! Had closed a few cards but maybe they still registered as open.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Which part is incorect? It has certainly been my experience after 25+ churns.

E.g. ANZ FF Black card criteria below for the points - it requires a 'purchase' to receive the points. Makes no explicit mention (that I can find anywhere, although I haven't read through the T&Cs in detail because I've never had a problem) to the points being recoverable in the event that a purchase is later refunded.
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Points can be claimed back. It's both legally possible and I've seen it occur. Once points are in your QF account does not mean that they cannot be taken back.

 

[CaptainCurtis]

Points can be claimed back. It's both legally possible and I've seen it occur. Once points are in your QF account does not mean that they cannot be taken back.

I stand corrected!

Are you able to share any more details on the circumstances in which you've seen it occur, as I've genuinely never heard of it happening. I understand (and agree) that points can be taken back (e.g. by Qantas, my original post wasn't suggesting otherwise), but had just never heard it being done directly by a bank.

 

[Mr H]

I stand corrected!

Are you able to share any more details on the circumstances in which you've seen it occur, as I've genuinely never heard of it happening. I understand (and agree) that points can be taken back (e.g. by Qantas, my original post wasn't suggesting otherwise), but had just never heard it being done directly by a bank.

I believe Virgin Wines will claim back points for returned wines.