Pruning

HanoiIG

Silver Member
I just recently made a list of the credit cards my wife and I have that have annual fees. I'm going to cancel many of the duplicates and also some that duplicate other cards.

I just cut Barclaycard AA. They didn't offer me anything but they did put the(fairly substantial) credit limit on to my other Barclay card so there's that.

Next step: evaluate Avianca Life Miles cards. Now that I have the bonuses, I don't see the purpose in retaining them. If I buy airfare(or even miles!) I can use AX Platinum for 5X, so why take 3X?
 
Same here. Recently, I cancelled 4 cards that were
a) unused and had annual fees
b) low limits and not worthwhile using it.
 

StealthyMSer

Level 2 Member
I usually try to not cancel cards since my credit report is still pretty young (think 2 years).

I'm sure you already know about trying to PC cards to ones with no AF if possible, but that's usually the first move I take.

The other thing you can do is call the retention department of the card you want to close and ask if you can get an offer to waive or offset the annual fee. I had my Annual fee waived on my amex gold recently for doing that.

Just recently got the Hilton Honors card, mostly for the $100 statement credit. I am not a big traveler myself but I have some vacations coming up with the family and could use the 75K points.
 

skanchur

New Member
I am a big proponent of proactively lowering CLs. It's interesting how this goes against the conventional wisdom in the Fico forums where everyone wants higher CLs. I always try to fly under the banks' risk radars, and be auto approved and minimizing the risk of shutdown.

As for the number of CCs, I mark on my calendar when to do a retention call but I end up cancelling most cards with AF anyways. They stay on your report for 7 years so I am not worried about Aaoa.
 

HanoiIG

Silver Member
I don't know. I am fairly new to the game. Apparently people apply, get the bonus and then cancel the card before paying a fee, then reapply and somehow the card companies are too stupid to figure it out or it is still a profit for them
 

skanchur

New Member
Credit cards companies are cracking down obviously. One in lifetime rules and 5/24 are just examples. Recently, the WSJ reported the use of a Customer lifetime value score for most big companies, and churning won't do any good for that score.
 

HanoiIG

Silver Member
I can't blame them. They have access to the same websites that we do. It's a business so why let people game them? I'm getting tired anyway. I still have to figure out when and how to use my Barclay points plus I have quite a few miles and points in different programs, like Hilton, IHG, Alaska, Avianca. I kind of like the points that are transferrable or even cash, like Propel.
 

cheetah641

New Member
I have read of people with Million of miles... how do you even get that? Why would someone go through the trouble of MS... for example you get 1 pt per dollar spent. 1 VGC will get you 500 miles, but it cost 150k miles! to have 1 round trip ticket... and churning 300 VGC or 150k is a lot of work.
 

HanoiIG

Silver Member
I definitely have over a million points and miles combined. some are from spend with 2x 3x or higher multipliers. Some are bonus for minimum spend. some are purchased(not often) when there is the 100-150% bonus. I agree that I can't see chasing 200-300 points. My time even retired is worth more than that.
 

SanDiego1K

Level 2 Member
I have read of people with Million of miles... how do you even get that? Why would someone go through the trouble of MS... for example you get 1 pt per dollar spent. 1 VGC will get you 500 miles, but it cost 150k miles! to have 1 round trip ticket... and churning 300 VGC or 150k is a lot of work.
Sign up bonuses are the low hanging fruit. I can get 75K on Citi AA cards. Do it two times and I've got the 150K that you mention.
 

lumangoy

New Member
I have read of people with Million of miles... how do you even get that? Why would someone go through the trouble of MS... for example you get 1 pt per dollar spent. 1 VGC will get you 500 miles, but it cost 150k miles! to have 1 round trip ticket... and churning 300 VGC or 150k is a lot of work.
when GCM had 2% cash back with a portal, I would buy 7.5k an order. Back then I was able to liquidate in 1 day, through MOs and BPs
 

LDODB

New Member
I have read of people with Million of miles... how do you even get that? Why would someone go through the trouble of MS... for example you get 1 pt per dollar spent. 1 VGC will get you 500 miles, but it cost 150k miles! to have 1 round trip ticket... and churning 300 VGC or 150k is a lot of work.
Besides cycling through all the SUB's and repeating the ones where you are able to there are also plenty of ways to get 3x and 5x per a dollar rather than just 1. It's surprisingly easy to rack up more than a million miles in less then a year.
 

Tricia

Level 2 Member
Hubby and I keep our Barclay AA cards and pay the fee, because I get 10,000 pts yearly for keeping each card. And it would cost me $79 per card to manufacture those points, plus my time.
 

LDODB

New Member
Hubby and I keep our Barclay AA cards and pay the fee, because I get 10,000 pts yearly for keeping each card. And it would cost me $79 per card to manufacture those points, plus my time.
Are you talking about the yearly 10% rebate ?
 

HanoiIG

Silver Member
Hubby and I keep our Barclay AA cards and pay the fee, because I get 10,000 pts yearly for keeping each card. And it would cost me $79 per card to manufacture those points, plus my time.
Isn't 10,000 points $100? so youu are making $21/year?
 

HanoiIG

Silver Member
I have heard that many banks are not permitting people to get a bonus, then cancel before the fee and reapply for another bonus. I've read a lot about AMEX, in particular, clawing back points that had already been awarded.
 

LDODB

New Member
I have heard that many banks are not permitting people to get a bonus, then cancel before the fee and reapply for another bonus. I've read a lot about AMEX, in particular, clawing back points that had already been awarded.
Citi is not nearly as strict. But again. Make sure you adhere to all terms of the offer you apply for and pay attention to all restrictions.
 

LDODB

New Member
Ah I didn't realize the old card just give you 10K a year. With all the citi options I'm not sure if its worth paying 79/year for 10K points.
 

HanoiIG

Silver Member
Well, it works for us. I am taking a break from applying for new cards.
Now that I made a detailed list of cards, credit limits, fees and dates, I can make more intelligent decisions. One question: do I need cards like Barclay Arrival, Citi Premiere which require 10K points to redeem so $5000 on Barclay and variable on Citi. I know Citi are transferrable but can use MR and/or UR which are easier to get(for me). There are fees and my limits are low, except $42K on Barclay, which perhaps I can put on a different card. With over 500K in unsecured credit plus 4 AX which are basically unlimited and FICO >825 it is not a huge concern.

Right now I'm pretty sure I will cancel airline cards, as we hardly ever fly US based carriers and can get miles on them in other ways. I'm slightly concerned about AX Platinum as the airline credit is difficult to use. Also, I could perhaps reapply and get a bonus if it comes to that.

Same with hotel cards since the vast majority of my stays are in Accor properties so Marriott and Hilton aren't terribly valuable and I can get some status from other cards.

I don't think I will do a lot of "churning," not because I have scruples, as it would be easy for them to stop it, but because I may run out of time before I run out of points/miles.
 
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