Points and Miles

[Spamaven34]

One of my favorite hobbies is collecting and using points and miles for travel. From this hobby, I have been able travel around the world in luxury at little cost - something I could never afford on my own. While I travel for work (well at least I did), I get most of my points and miles from credit card “churning”. This is where you sign up for a new credit card to get the sign up bonus and then go on to the next card. My latest redemption was flying to Japan in business class both ways and staying at a 5-star hotel for 5 days. Does anyone else dabble in the points game?

[Jona]

I do! I've opened the AMEX Platinum in the past year, which given the signup bonus and perks it easily negates the fee for the first year. It's truly free money and benefits when you work it out.

[AmericanSwede]

I do points. I’m elite status on many hotels, airlines and car rentals now.

Be careful about churning. It negatively affects your credit score after awhile.

Also, if anyone is doing the gift card buying to score points, and then dumping the gift cards, that is actually against the terms and conditions and many people have had their points voided and frequent flier accounts closed.

[HJ1997]

I have a Capital One card that I pay for everything with to build up the miles. I have only been able to take advantage of the points once last year though.

[Jona]

I do points. I’m elite status on many hotels, airlines and car rentals now.

Be careful about churning. It negatively affects your credit score after awhile.

Also, if anyone is doing the gift card buying to score points, and then dumping the gift cards, that is actually against the terms and conditions and many people have had their points voided and frequent flier accounts closed.

AMEX was evil a few weeks ago- apparently they've been charging people who bought gift cards TWO YEARS AGO and got compensated via card benefits.

[Spamaven34]

I do! I've opened the AMEX Platinum in the past year, which given the signup bonus and perks it easily negates the fee for the first year. It's truly free money and benefits when you work it out.

Agreed! I like how they just added the perk last week of $20 wireless phone credit and $20 streaming credit per month ( US only). Especially since many of us will not be using the travel benefits for a while.

[Spamaven34]

I do points. I’m elite status on many hotels, airlines and car rentals now.

Be careful about churning. It negatively affects your credit score after awhile.

Also, if anyone is doing the gift card buying to score points, and then dumping the gift cards, that is actually against the terms and conditions and many people have had their points voided and frequent flier accounts closed.

Problem with elite status is that once you have it, you never want to lose it 

It can have an impact on your credit, though usually minimal impact on your credit score itself. Where you need to be careful is if you are applying for a mortgage or large loan as having too many lines of credits opened in a short amount of time can raise red flags. I halted all cards when I knew I would be buying a house in a year.

Amex is really bad with claw backs. As of now, Chase is much friendlier with buying giftcards. Only reason I buy them though is if, for example, I can get 5x points at drug stores, I buy giftcards there, and use them at retailers that do not (eg. Amazon).

[Spamaven34]

I have a Capital One card that I pay for everything with to build up the miles. I have only been able to take advantage of the points once last year though.

You might consider getting something like a Chase Sapphire card. The points are much more flexible and easier to use.

[Spamaven34]

I do points. I’m elite status on many hotels, airlines and car rentals now.

Be careful about churning. It negatively affects your credit score after awhile.

Also, if anyone is doing the gift card buying to score points, and then dumping the gift cards, that is actually against the terms and conditions and many people have had their points voided and frequent flier accounts closed.

AMEX was evil a few weeks ago- apparently they've been charging people who bought gift cards TWO YEARS AGO and got compensated via card benefits.

While I have been lucky and have not gotten claw backs from AMEX, it really does irk me when people play by the rules, even if it is a loop hole, and then Amex backpedals like that.

Though there are some examples, like with how AA recently locked and banned a ton of account holders, that I think the customers were being greedy and deserved what they got. They were getting like 20 of the same credit cards for the welcome bonus using invite codes for other people that they dug out of the trash.

[Jona]

I do points. I’m elite status on many hotels, airlines and car rentals now.

Be careful about churning. It negatively affects your credit score after awhile.

Also, if anyone is doing the gift card buying to score points, and then dumping the gift cards, that is actually against the terms and conditions and many people have had their points voided and frequent flier accounts closed.

AMEX was evil a few weeks ago- apparently they've been charging people who bought gift cards TWO YEARS AGO and got compensated via card benefits.

While I have been lucky and have not gotten claw backs from AMEX, it really does irk me when people play by the rules, even if it is a loop hole, and then Amex backpedals like that.

Though there are some examples, like with how AA recently locked and banned a ton of account holders, that I think the customers were being greedy and deserved what they got. They were getting like 20 of the same credit cards for the welcome bonus using invite codes for other people that they dug out of the trash.

Yeah once it reaches that level of ridiculousness it's almost fraudulent.