r/churning 3d ago

Daily Question Question Thread - August 29, 2026

This is the thread to post questions about churning for miles/points/cash. Just because you have a question about credit cards does NOT mean it belongs here. If you’re brand new here, please read the wiki before posting.

* Please use the search engine first - many basic questions have been asked before.

* Please also consider scanning (CTRL-F) the last couple days worth of Question threads

* If you have questions about what card to get, ask here. If you have questions about manufactured spending, ask here. If you have questions about bank account bonuses, ask here.

This subreddit relies heavily on self-moderation. That means that if you ask something that shows you haven’t done any research, you’re going to get a lot of downvotes.

8 Upvotes

22 comments sorted by

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u/PortofinoBoatRace 3d ago

Should I open the AAdvantage platinum card now before the 80k offer ends if I currently sit at 3/24 and highly value companion pass which I plan to go for in Oct/nov. Opened my latest card in June 2026 with the other two cards in Jan and March 2025. I can hit the spend requirements but I don’t want the AA card and my overall velocity to prevent me from get approved by Chase for the SW Business and personal cards.

1

u/rickayyy 2d ago

I think it's worth it because you're only gonna be at 5/24 for a month or two. The two cards you opened in 2025 will both drop off in January and March of 2027 so even if you opened both the AA and SW cards over the next 2-3 months, you'd be right back where you are today in six months time.

2

u/CobaltSunsets IAD | PHL 3d ago

I’d personally hold out for in-flight 80K/$1K MSR to return.

0

u/PortofinoBoatRace 3d ago

Instead of the 80k/$3.5k MSR offer that still technically exists?

1

u/CobaltSunsets IAD | PHL 3d ago

Opportunity cost is $3.5K in spend that could have gone to a different SUB.

-3

u/PortofinoBoatRace 3d ago

Yeah I see what you mean. It looks like public 80k points offer is going away. Do you think it’ll come back by Jan/feb?

3

u/nearbyeclipse 3d ago

I threw my rune sticks and it said possibly

1

u/cardmaster1987 3d ago

I always try to prioritize the Chase 5/24 rule first, just because they are the ones with the most restriction on applications because of it. That being said if your off cycle on chase already the AA 80k is pretty good, personally the 1k vs 3.5k is not much difference over 3 months, I can't realistically get THAT many cards anyways so i'm looking at the 80k more than the MSR with a minor difference.

-4

u/Diligent_Board_172 3d ago

Hi. Does anyone know if purchasing GCs with the amex business reserve will count towards the minimum spend of $20k? i'm thinking of applying for the card, but i'm not sure that i have $20k in expenses for the next 6 months

2

u/mets2016 JFK 3d ago

Generally closed loop is fine; open loop GCs make clawbacks highly likely

-4

u/walterwilter 3d ago

Hi All, I’m looking to buy a round trip flight from SF-Taiwan (or Hong Kong) in the next few months and I was hoping to find a new cc with signup points that could help with that. I currently have Chase so won’t qualify for that and also don’t qualify for Capital One as I had that card a year ago. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

2

u/RTW34 3d ago

Please answer the questions in What card Wednesday and post there to get a recommendation

0

u/walterwilter 3d ago

Thanks. Just posted in that thread. I think

-18

u/oif_vet 3d ago

My family of 3 is looking to fly United Polaris next summer and we want a quick way to grab some points to do so. I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve with about 885,000 Ultimate Rewards Points and 1,350 MileagePlus miles. My spouse does not use a credit card at all, so we are looking for the best sign-up bonus with the intent of using it to drive down the cost of the United flights. Credit score, annual fees, and minimum spend ability are non-issues. Almost all household spending and subscriptions are currently put on my Chase Sapphire Reserve and most rewards categories are maxed out by the end of the year.

We fly about six times a year. We live near a non-hub airport and while we do tend to book United flights, we are not necessarily loyal to them. Our choice of airline is typically based on itinerary to avoid multi-stop layovers or ridiculous red-eyes.

* Chase Sapphire Reserve - 100,000 Ultimate Rewards sign-up bonus @ $795/yr

Do-able, but seems pointless since all other rewards would be duplicated.

* Amex Platinum - 175,000 sign-up bonus @ $895/yr

Quite a hefty spending requirement and I don't think we'd get much value from the other benefits offered. Centurion Lounge access would be nice, but we're rarely in an airport with one and guest access isn't great.

* Capital One Venture X - 75,000 sign-up bonus @ $395/yr

Rewards heavily overlap with the existing Chase card so I'm not sure we'd get any additional benefit from it.

* United Club Card - 80,000 miles sign-up bonus @ $695/yr

This is the card we are leaning towards. Mostly because if we shift our travel to be loyal to United, then we benefit from the 6x+5x miles on booked United flights and free checked bags. Lounge access is nice but the airport we end up in rarely have them or our layovers are typically too short to enjoy them.

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Side Note: Spouse a small amount of 1099 stuff on the side so technically a business card could be on the table but not sure if that is attainable.

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Should we go with the United card or are there other options we should look into or reconsider? We are mainly looking to just get the bonus and drop the card at the end of the year, but could be convinced to keep it if we can adjust our spend to maximize rewards and justify the fee.

-8

u/RoxannDebris 3d ago

Hi! Any banks that don't have a deposit requirement/allow deposits from any source? I'm expecting a refund deposit payment from my school for overpayment. I've done some googling already but am a bit unclear on whether a refund would count.

3

u/Discover_it_Student PIT | NON 3d ago

There's a few that explicitly allow any ACH (USAA, Citi, NFCU) and there are many that say they only accept legit DD but actually accept most ACH transfers (US Bank, Regions, etc.).

A good heuristic is to look at this list: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/knowledge-base/list-methods-banks-count-direct-deposits

and check which ones accept regular transfers from personal deposit accounts as DD (e.g. push from Ally Savings). Make sure to check recent data points as well.

-1

u/RoxannDebris 3d ago

Thank you. This is really helpful!

-2

u/harlisondavidly 3d ago

is the refund being sent via an ACH transfer? if so, you probably would qualify as a "deposit" since it's not a personal payment platform like Zelle or Venmo. Just make sure whatever the amount is from the refund, meets the minimum deposit requirements to qualify for the bonus. That's what I'd try for.

0

u/RoxannDebris 3d ago

Yes it is an ACH transfer. Thanks!

-8

u/[deleted] 3d ago

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