Introduce yourself here!

Bendy838

New Member
Hi everyone! I started game a few years ago when I got into consulting. No longer a consultant, but still try to travel often. A lot harder now that I don't have an expense account for it ;)

Hope to learn a lot more here, but also to give more than I take. Thanks!
 

daveinla

Level 2 Member
Hey guys! I started this game in 2012 when I had a large purchase and someone told me to split the cost between multiple new credit cards. I applied for 5 cards and was approved for all, then used the points for my honeymoon the next year!
 
Hi all started with ms about 3 years ago. Rarely do any ms anymore do almost all reselling now. Been reselling for little over a year now. Hope to learn some more to continue to improve by profits.
 

mathlete

Level 2 Member
I've been collecting miles and points for about ten years. I just dabble in MS compared to many, but I think I need to start upping my game for the new world we're in.
 

hooha23

Level 2 Member
Hi everyone!

<lays on therapist's couch>

I got into the churning game from being a slickdeals junkie (same username) and a reddit lurker r/frugal, r/churning, r/financialindependence, r/flipping, etc. Basically all things money saving/making I have an interest in.

I have always been more into MS than churning (I churned my fair share of coins with the US mint; looking back to college, I think this was my MS "hook"). The first half of this year I have been doing MS and churning, far more than I ever have. All those wasted opportunities!

I also dabble in RA and general flipping (ebay, amazon, FB groups, CL, etc). Nothing big, but pays for some of my toys.

I have a problem with earning points and then NOT spending them. Because I wait for the best possible deal to spend them on. A personal habit that dies hard.

I am a CPA by profession.

I am a member of the Who Dat Nation!
 

Bonnieji

New Member
Hi, This is Bonnieji from Sonoma County in California. I've been collecting miles and enjoying more travel for the last 2 years. We're in the process of buying a new home so I've slowed down to not create any red flags on my credit report but I like keeping up with what's happening. I'm excited to have discovered this site!
 

Calgary88

New Member
Hello everyone,

My name is Calgary88, my homebase Calgary Canada. I also started my journey from FT as well dated back to 2009. I am a very budget traveler and I am also very close to my retirement. Looking forward to discuss new ideas and learn new travel related stuffs.

Have a nice day!
 

Johnwmaher

New Member
Hello all! My name is John and I live in Los Angeles, CA. I've been involved in the miles and points game for the last 4 years. I started out pretty heavy on the churning side but I have moved more into MS this past year. I love finding new and creative ways to generate more points and I can't wait to meet with more like minded people.
 

DanG

New Member
My name is Dan and I live north of Boston by about 40 minutes. Very recently into the points game (had my first child and looking to still be able to travel like I used to, and "free" luxury points/travel is alot of fun.) Low key ticket reselling for my MS is typical for me.
 

Cynthia

New Member
Hello! I'm Cynthia and I live outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. I stumbled upon miles and points in 2012 after researching how to save money on Disney. Since then we've taken quite a few awesome trips subsidized by miles and points, including taking my kids to French Polynesia for a month to visit my mother's family this summer. I don't necessarily strive for the most luxurious redemptions, but I do love to use miles and points to spend time at fun places with family--even if it's at a Holiday Inn Express at Yellowstone:) My youngest is going into school this year so I'm looking to use my extra time to up my miles and points game.
 

huveu

New Member
Hello everyone! I'm huveu. I recently started learning about churning and MS. I've always been interested in credit and thought I was doing ok in the points game. However, through all my reading in the last few days it turns out I was wrong! Wasting my UR points in airfare instead of transferring to airlines, not maximizing categories, and not knowing about MS.

I really hope to learn more and contribute to this community :)
 

Forty Too

New Member
Hey everyone! I recently heard about this forum, so I'm looking forward to learning and contributing to this community. I'm somewhat involved in /r/churning, but I'm more of an expert on the burning side than the earning side (hope to change that!), and love trying out new airlines and products.
 

LOR82950

New Member
Hi Matt, I'm Lorence. I'm fresh out of college, and love traveling more than anything, and I'm breaking into the MS game. I look forward to learning from this community and contributing ideas myself.
 

dockers

Level 2 Member
What's up y'all? I'm from Georgia and currently live in Atlanta. Been active on Reddit and a local Telegram group for 9+ month, and looking to step up my game.

My favorite redemption this year was for a long weekend trip to Denver earlier this year w my gf. I'm glad she's open to playing the game, as she's still under 5/24, and we snatched up a CP for us in April :)
 

ROB BLACK

Level 2 Member
Hello fro NOLA (msy) Hobby has moved me upfront on multiple trips. Have exhausted almost all bonus sign ups. Time to expand and looking forward to getting active in the forum.
 

Keeton

Level 2 Member
Hey there everyone, I'm hayes. I'm originally from Pittsburgh but transplanted to Boulder, CO in pursuit of a career. I've been actively involved with Ms for roughly a year. I've met all my goals through a few online crowdfunding platforms but want to continue to expand my MS. I could use any other ideas yinz have as well!
 

Owen

New Member
Hi Everyone,
I am Owen. I recently moved to Richmond, VA and just started the churning game a few months ago. I have found it to be very rewarding for the amount of work I put in, especially since my wife is in grad school and we don't have much money available for travel. My goal in joining this forum is to stay up to date with the latest churning and manufactured spending strategies. I currently leverage Serve but I realize that my account will inevitably be shut down.
 

ilia

Level 2 Member
Hi I'm Ilia and have dabbled here and there with Credit Card / Bank Account bonuses over the years. Would really like to learn more about MS and churning. Inspired (like many if I had to venture a guess) by the recent Chase Saphire Reserve card.

PS
Really interested to learn more about the mysterious 2nd level as well!
 

Kiwii_xan

New Member
Hello! I'm new here, obviously. A friend of mine said this was a good community to be a part of. My name is Kiwii, and it is nice to meet you all!
 

Sumit Talwar

New Member
Hi! My name is Sumit. I am glad to have found this forum. I am relatively newbie but 4 new credit cards in last 2 months and hundreds of miles got me excited. I want to explore further.
Matt! looking forward to graduate to level 2 soon :)
 

ToothMiles

Level 2 Member
Hi,
I'm Dj aka ToothMiles. Originally from India then moved to Canada & now settled in Augusta GA (Masters Golf) after attending NYUCD. I've doing MS & CC for 18 months and want to take it to next level.
See ya !!
 

strikeone92

New Member
Hi everyone - excited to join this forum. Been collecting points since I graduated college last year. In the MD/DC/VA area.

Looking forward to continuing to learn through these forums!
 

J18

Level 2 Member
Hi, I'm Jimmy. I've been reading forums for a year now and looking for alternatives to collecting points, miles or cash back. Hoping to learn from the community and one day, fly business or first class.
 

mtnAVman

Level 2 Member
Hi everyone - I've been collecting points for a few years but have recently been working to make a more intentional effort at this. I have a goal to make it to the next status level with Delta using my Amex Delta card and have some spending to make up before the end of the year. I hope some of what I learn from this community will help with the effort!
 

knaveconwy

Level 2 Member
I might as well introduce myself since I've been posting for a while. I've been following various churning communities for a while (/r/churning and flyertalk) but have only recently started to start participating online. We like free travel, and our current goals are flights to Hawaii and possibly business class international travel.
 

baffld

Level 2 Member
Hi Everybody! Very happy to have found this site. Look forward to becoming more active on it. I live in Madison, WI now and have traveled in (too infrequent) spurts around the US, Canada, Australia and Western/Northern Europe. Have a number of the predictable travel/points credit cards & rewards programs, but am always on the lookout for better ideas & ways to improve their use.
 
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Cmonman76

Level 2 Member
Hello Saverocity. Happy New Year from rural Illinois.

After reading the blogs here for the last year plus I figured it's time I join in on the forums. I have been collecting points and miles for a couple years. First big victory was getting a SW companion pass in late 2015 through a combination of one sign up bonus and 70,000 points through the shopping portal, At the time it seemed portals paid out way more than they do today and portals also paid out on Sears gift cards. Between 2015 and 2016 I've accumulated about 1.5 million miles between my wife and I.

My wife and I love to travel and take our 3 kids along when possible. I have booked over 30 plane tickets just with points. Many weekend trips to Florida (Clearwater and Key West are out favorites). And this past November was the big kahuna so far with a trip to Japan. We booked first class JAL from ORD-NRT and Singapore first class NRT-LAX coming back. (then squeezed back into SW for the LAX-STL trip home). Using all free nights we stayed at the Westin Tokyo, Hyatt Regency Kyoto, Park Hyatt Tokyo and the Conrad Tokyo. It was the trip of a lifetime but with points and miles I sure hope to do it again.
Our sights are set on Bora Bora in two years for our 20th wedding anniversary.

I love this game and the opportunity that points and miles gives us to see the world for cheap.
 

GetawaysRus

Level 2 Member
Hi to all,

I'm GetawaysRus. I got into this game in 2004 when my wife and I purchased a Marriott timeshare. I wanted to maximize the value of my timeshare purchase, so I needed to learn the ins and outs of the Marriott system. This got us into the world of traveling using airline miles and reward points. And from there, I found FlyerTalk (active member since 2007 - I'm at about 1000 posts), TUG (the Timeshare Users Group), and later Travel Codex (since Jan 2015). I participate under the same name on all 3 of those forums. At Travel Codex, I participated at their "restricted" level in the "restricted forums." I have learned a tremendous amount from these web forums.

Sadly, Travel Codex just announced that it will be shutting down, so you may see a bunch of us jumping over here.

My wife and I travel usually twice per year. One trip is domestic (USA), and the other trip is international. We've had some great vacations and wonderful memories. Using our travel reward accounts allow us to travel in a style that I could not otherwise afford.

Our next trip will be to the Galapagos in May 2017. This has been on our travel "to do" list for several years, and we are looking forward to it, but it is a very costly destination. I was able to pick up our flight (in Business class) to Quito using United miles and also a few extra hotel days at the JW Marriott in Quito using a combination of Marriott points and Marriott e-certificates. Our Galapagos cruise package is with Celebrity, but it looks like I've got enough U.R. points to cover my wife's half of the package cost. And our return flights back home (in Business class) were also "purchased" using our award points.

I'm just starting to work on plans for 2018 international travel. The current idea, if I can pull this off: Thailand (Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket), Cambodia (Siem Rep), and Singapore.
 

Jean

Level 2 Member
Hi,
My name is Jean..I am a retired school administrator. I have a champagne taste on a beer budget so collecting points has helped me travel! I enjoy traveling with my husband and adult children so this hobby has helped us travel more!

I too was active on Travel Codex for a while and sad to see that forum leaving. I have been on flyertalk for a long time, but haven't posted much due to the nasty comments people make. Mostly I just read what I need. I love the idea of having dialog with people in a non-threatening way. (Sometimes I ask stupid questions haha. ). I hope to contribute in a meaningful way.

Cheers!
 
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Matt

Administrator
Staff member
Hi,
My name is Jean..I am a retired school administrator. I have a champagne taste on a beer budget so collecting points has helped me travel! I enjoy traveling with my husband and adult children so this hobby has helped us travel more!

I too was active on Travel Codex for a while and sad to see that forum leaving. I have been on flyertalk for a long time, but haven't posted much due to the nasty comments people make. Mostly I just read what I need. I love the idea of having dialog with people in a non-threatening way. (Sometimes I ask stupid questions haha. ). I hope to contribute in a meaningful way.

Cheers!
Welcome Jean! (and the other TC refugees) we'd be happy to have you here, and look forward to seeing you around.
 

smittytabb

Moderator
Staff member
Where are you in Illinois? I live downstate as well.

Hello Saverocity. Happy New Year from rural Illinois.

After reading the blogs here for the last year plus I figured it's time I join in on the forums. I have been collecting points and miles for a couple years. First big victory was getting a SW companion pass in late 2015 through a combination of one sign up bonus and 70,000 points through the shopping portal, At the time it seemed portals paid out way more than they do today and portals also paid out on Sears gift cards. Between 2015 and 2016 I've accumulated about 1.5 million miles between my wife and I.

My wife and I love to travel and take our 3 kids along when possible. I have booked over 30 plane tickets just with points. Many weekend trips to Florida (Clearwater and Key West are out favorites). And this past November was the big kahuna so far with a trip to Japan. We booked first class JAL from ORD-NRT and Singapore first class NRT-LAX coming back. (then squeezed back into SW for the LAX-STL trip home). Using all free nights we stayed at the Westin Tokyo, Hyatt Regency Kyoto, Park Hyatt Tokyo and the Conrad Tokyo. It was the trip of a lifetime but with points and miles I sure hope to do it again.
Our sights are set on Bora Bora in two years for our 20th wedding anniversary.

I love this game and the opportunity that points and miles gives us to see the world for cheap.
 
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