By our standards, 2015 was a disappointing year for earning miles and points. Between Marge & myself, we were approved for 9 credit cards in 2015. In terms of bonuses, that means we earned 450,000 miles and points combined. For us, this is less than we earned in 2012, 2013 or 2014.
But by a normal human’s standards, 450,000 is hella points! If you had a credit card offering a generous 2x on all purchases, you would still have to spend $225,000 to earn that many points. What I mean to say is, bonuses are where it’s at when it comes to accumulating frequent flyer miles and hotel points. We churn credit cards because it takes little effort and it enables us to take insanely extravagant and frequent vacations we would never be able to take otherwise.
We’ve ended up with so many cancelled credit cards over the years, I’ve started to find creative uses for them. Don’t spend money on a dough scraper. A cancelled credit card works just as well! Here I am dividing up dough for chocolate babkas yesterday.
If you’re wondering how credit card churning works, today I’m going to line out for you exactly which cards we’ve applied for over the years and when. It’s a method that can seem daunting to beginners: Apply in batches on one day called an “app-o-rama”, and make those batches no sooner than three months apart. You should only apply for one card per bank at a time (although in some circumstances, you can do more than one per bank), and make sure you can meet the minimum spending requirement to get the bonus! Then after 11 months, cancel the card unless the benefits outweigh the annual fee.
So if you’re curious about how we schedule all of these applications, this is how we do it:
Norm’s Credit Cards
| Card | Bonus | Minimum Spend | Annual Fee, 1st Yr | Date Applied |
| US Air Mastercard Platinum | 40,000 | $0 | $100 for 10k miles | 7/24/2011 |
| Delta Gold Personal | 45,000 | $3,000 | Waived | 12/17/2011 |
| Southwest Personal Plus | 50,000 | $0 | $69 | 3/17/2012 |
| Citi Thank You Premier | 50,000 | $2,500 | Waived | 4/25/2012 |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 35,000 | $1,000 | $79 | 6/6/2012 |
| Hawaiian Airlines Signature | 35,000 | $1,000 | $79 | 6/6/2012 |
| AAdvantage Personal Amex | 50,000 | $3,000 | Waived | 9/26/2012 |
| AAdvantage Personal Visa | 50,000 | $3,000 | Waived | 9/26/2012 |
| IHG (Priority Club) Visa | 80,000 | $0 | $49 for free night | 9/26/2012 |
| Hilton HHonors Signature | 50,000 | $1,500 | Waived | 1/4/2013 |
| Hilton HHonors Signature | 50,000 | $1,500 | Waived | 1/4/2013 |
| Southwest Business Plus | 50,000 | $2,000 | $69 | 1/4/2013 |
| US Air Mastercard Premiere | 40,000 | $0 | Waived | 1/4/2013 |
| Alaska Airlines Visa | 25,000 | $0 | $75 | 1/4/2013 |
| AAdvantage Personal MC | 30,000 | $750 | Waived | 4/12/2013 |
| Hilton HHonors Amex | 50,000 | $750 | Waived | 4/12/2013 |
| Chase Ink Bold | 60,000 | $5,000 | Waived | 4/12/2013 |
| Hilton HHonors Reserve | 2 free nights | $2,500 | $95 | 8/26/2013 |
| Chase Hyatt | 2 free nights | $1,000 | $75 | 8/26/2013 |
| SPG Preferred Personal | 30,000 | $5,000 | Waived | 8/26/2013 |
| Lufthansa Miles & More | 50,000 | $5,000 | $79 | 12/6/2013 |
| AAdvantage Business MC | 50,000 | $3,000 | Waived | 12/6/2013 |
| Chase Freedom | 20,000 | $500 | None | 12/6/2013 |
| AAdvantage Executive MC | 100,000 | $10,000 | $250 | 3/13/2014 |
| AAdvantage Executive MC | 100,000 | $10,000 | $250 | 3/25/2014 |
| Hilton HHonors Signature | 40,000 | $1,000 | Waived | 7/30/2014 |
| United Explorer Visa | 50,000 | $2,000 | Waived | 7/30/2014 |
| Alaska Airlines Personal | 25,000 | $1,000 | $75 ($100 credit) | 7/30/2014 |
| Alaska Airlines Business | 25,000 | $0 | $75 | 7/30/2014 |
| Southwest Personal Premier | 50,000 | $2,000 | $99 | 11/7/2014 |
| AAdvantage Platinum MC | 50,000 | $3,000 | Waived | 4/10/2015 |
| Chase Ink Plus | 50,000 | $5,000 | Waived | 4/10/2015 |
| Southwest Personal Plus | 40,000 | $1,000 | $69 | 11/11/2015 |
| Delta Gold Business | 50,000 | $2,000 | Waived | 11/11/2015 |
| Barclay Arrival | 40,000 | $3,000 | Waived | 11/11/2015 |
| AAdvantage Business Visa | 50,000 | $3,000 | Waived | 11/11/2015 |
| 36 Cards | 1,610,000 | $1,487 |
Marge’s Credit Cards
| Card | Bonus | Minimum Spend | Annual Fee, 1st Yr | Date Applied |
| US Air Mastercard Platinum | 40,000 | $0 | $100 for 10k miles | 7/24/2011 |
| Southwest Plus Personal | 50,000 | $0 | $69 | 3/23/2012 |
| Delta Gold Personal | 35,000 | $3,000 | Waived | 6/5/2012 |
| AAdvantage Platinum Visa | 50,000 | $3,000 | Waived | 7/10/2012 |
| IHG (Priority Club) Visa | 80,000 | $0 | $49 for free night | 10/24/2012 |
| Alaska Airlines Personal Visa | 25,000 | $0 | $75 | 10/24/2012 |
| Hilton HHonors Amex | 50,000 | $750 | Waived | 2/1/2013 |
| US Air Mastercard Premiere | 40,000 | $0 | Waived | 2/1/2013 |
| Hawaiian Airlines Visa | 35,000 | $1,000 | $79 | 2/1/2013 |
| Hawaiian Airlines Visa | 35,000 | $1,000 | $79 | 2/1/2013 |
| Hilton HHonors Signature Visa | 40,000 | $1,000 | Waived | 2/1/2013 |
| United Explorer Visa | 55,000 | $1,000 | Waived | 2/1/2013 |
| Chase Hyatt | 2 Nights | $1,000 | $75 | 7/26/2013 |
| AAdvantage Platinum Select MC | 50,000 | $3,000 | Waived | 7/26/2013 |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred | 45,000 | $3,000 | Waived | 11/3/2013 |
| Alaska Airlines Business Visa | 25,000 | $0 | $75 | 2/5/2014 |
| Southwest Premiere Personal | 50,000 | $2,000 | $99 | 2/5/2014 |
| AAdvantage World Citi Business | 50,000 | $3,000 | Waived | 2/5/2014 |
| Alaska Airlines Personal Visa | 25,000 | $0 | $75 | 5/23/2014 |
| Chase Ink Bold | 60,000 | $5,000 | Waived | 5/23/2014 |
| Delta Gold Business | 50,000 | $1,000 | Waived | 9/7/2014 |
| Delta Gold Personal | 50,000 | $1,000 | Waived | 9/7/2014 |
| Marriott Rewards Visa Signature | 70,000 | $1,000 | Waived | 9/7/2014 |
| Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve | 2 nights | $2,500 | $95 | 9/7/2014 |
| Chase Ink Plus | 50,000 | $5,000 | Waived | 12/19/2014 |
| Hilton HHonors Signature Visa | 40,000 | $1,000 | Waived | 12/19/2014 |
| Club Carlson Premiere Visa | 85,000 | $2,500 | $75 | 12/19/2014 |
| British Airways Visa | 50,000 | $2,000 | Waived | 9/9/2015 |
| Hawaiian Airlines Personal | 35,000 | $1,000 | $89 | 9/9/2015 |
| AAdvantage Business Visa | 50,000 | $3,000 | Waived | 1/30/2016 |
| Alaska Airlines Business | 25,000 | $0 | $75 | 1/30/2016 |
| Barclays Arrival | 40,000 | $3,000 | Waived | 1/30/2016 |
| 32 cards | 1,385,000 | $1,109 |
Add those up and we’ve been approved for 68 cards for 2,995,000 in bonus miles and points!
(Let’s just say 3 million for short.)
How much regular spending would you have to do to earn that many miles? Let’s just say, many many more dollars than you and I will ever see. Behold the power of the sign-on bonus!
That doesn’t even count the free hotel nights (8). And yes, we have spent $2,596 in annual fees over the past five years to get those miles. But think of how far $2,596 will get you on a normal vacation. I could see a family of four dropping that much on a single trip to Disney World. Three million points will get you much, much farther.
How much farther? Well, you know we’ve been to Japan, Switzerland, Peru and yes, even Florida, using miles, but on Wednesday I’ll be publishing our complete list of award redemptions and you’ll see just how many of those miles we’ve spent. Here’s a preview: We’re earning them faster than we can spend them.