Thinking of cancelling my chase southwest card since I have sapphire card. Is there anything I need to do to make sure I don't screw up my rapid reward points when I cancel

Just make a SW purchase once every 24 months.

IrishTxAggie said:

---

Just make a SW purchase once every 24 months.

---

this isn't a very clear answer.
You need a qualifying activity once every 24 months in order to keep points from expiring.
Their website clearly spells it out. You don't have to have the chase card to have qualifying activity.

jaggiemaggie said:

---

Thinking of cancelling my chase southwest card since I have sapphire card. Is there anything I need to do to make sure I don't screw up my rapid reward points when I cancel

---

Here

https://www.southwest.com/rapidrewards/how-to-earn

Lots of dining partners.. I see burger king on there; so at the very least, once every 24 months if you go buy a drink at burger king, your rewards acct will remain active.

You need to sign up at the southwest dining website, then link your RR number and put in a credit card (You can put up to 5). Note: A card can only be a part of one dining program. So if you have a card say on your united dining and add it to the SW dining, it will remove it from United.

$1 spent at their dining partners gets you 3 RR points, pretty good deal.

I have been churning for about 3 years now and it has opened up the World for me. Just got back from a trip to Peru in which business class flights were booked using points along with three hotel nights. People think I am crazy when I tell them that I currently have 14 credit cards and have closed 6 others in that time. That is until I tell them my credit score is north of 800 and I have zero credit card debt.

Next year we have a round-the-world trip to Australia that we will be flying Singapore Suites there and Qantas business class back. All hotel nights will covered with points as well.

I dabbled in manufactured spending when the Post Office was still a viable option, but that has closed and I haven't had the need to try other avenues. I am currently exploiting the Citi American Airlines loophole, so I may try to get back into MS to cover those minimum spends.

Teach me your ways oh wise one.


But for real, could you summarize what you've done to be able to pull those trips off. I've done smaller trips (NYC, Charleston, etc).

I can provide more information tomorrow, but I have treated this as a hobby and have put a lot of hours into it. I spend a decent amount of time researching and perusing several churning and award travel websites. Churning is one thing, but maximizing your points through award travel is almost an entirely separate animal.

My churning has cooled the last year, but I am about to hit hard in Player 2 mode. Another benefit of being married is having another SSN to apply for card with.

Silky Johnston said:

---

I can provide more information tomorrow, but I have treated this as a hobby and have put a lot of hours into it. I spend a decent amount of time researching and perusing several churning and award travel websites. Churning is one thing, but maximizing your points through award travel is almost an entirely separate animal.

My churning has cooled the last year, but I am about to hit hard in Player 2 mode. Another benefit of being married is having another SSN to apply for card with.

---

I am the same way although not on the scale of yours yet. I want to churn to pay for trips I would otherwise not be able to do for just cash out my pocket.

Thanks. I shouldn't have a problem since I fly southwest pretty regularly. Just want to use my Chase Sapphire for travel then get SW cards again in 24 months....

Flyertalk.com forum has much info on CC for travel rewards.

irish pete ag06 said:

---

62strat said:

---

Diggity said:

---

62strat said:

---

Diggity said:

---

I think most people who churn also keep a pretty close eye on maximizing points and cash back.

Why wouldn't you?

---

Someone, with say a lower income who can't hit these sign up bonus spends, (some are $5k in 3 months), can still navigate the cards/categories to maximize points, and so may choose to only use that technique.

---

Check out the churning subreddit. There's a whole community of broke dicks who can't rub two nickels together getting these promos through manufacturered spend.

Also, if you're not eating out a lot, I assume you spend quite a bit on groceries, so there's no reason not to save $500 or so a year with a cash back card that favors groceries.

---

I've looked at a few websites on the manufactured spending.. personally, the most I've seen is the $5k/3month requirement, and we can hit that relatively easily, so haven't had a need to investigate further. But believe me, if I could figure out how to get my daycare and mortgage paid on a credit card with no fees, I would in a heartbeat. That's $50k a year.

As far as groceries, literally for the first time yesterday I saw a card that had I think 4x on restaurants and groceries, and it caught my attention. I had never seen that category before, only restaurants; although admittedly I don't pay too close attention to them.

---

Heavens to Betsy yes... If you figure that out please shoot me a PM.

---

In the credit card world, the merchant pays an interchange fee to accept card payments. That fee is split up between many parties, including the card issuer (the lending bank). That's how you, the cardholder, gets cash back.

Now, part of the reason a merchant pays the fee is guaranteed payment - they get paid whether you ever pay your credit card bill or not.

So a bank, who holds your mortgage has zero incentive to take card for mortgage payments. They don't need guaranteed payment- you don't play they take your casa.

I'm guessing the margins in day care are so thin they can't afford to pay the interchange. Or, since demand is so high, they can dictate the payment terms.

dmart90 said:

---

irish pete ag06 said:

---

62strat said:

---

Diggity said:

---

62strat said:

---

Diggity said:

---

I think most people who churn also keep a pretty close eye on maximizing points and cash back.

Why wouldn't you?

---

Someone, with say a lower income who can't hit these sign up bonus spends, (some are $5k in 3 months), can still navigate the cards/categories to maximize points, and so may choose to only use that technique.

---

Check out the churning subreddit. There's a whole community of broke dicks who can't rub two nickels together getting these promos through manufacturered spend.

Also, if you're not eating out a lot, I assume you spend quite a bit on groceries, so there's no reason not to save $500 or so a year with a cash back card that favors groceries.

---

I've looked at a few websites on the manufactured spending.. personally, the most I've seen is the $5k/3month requirement, and we can hit that relatively easily, so haven't had a need to investigate further. But believe me, if I could figure out how to get my daycare and mortgage paid on a credit card with no fees, I would in a heartbeat. That's $50k a year.

As far as groceries, literally for the first time yesterday I saw a card that had I think 4x on restaurants and groceries, and it caught my attention. I had never seen that category before, only restaurants; although admittedly I don't pay too close attention to them.

---

Heavens to Betsy yes... If you figure that out please shoot me a PM.

---

Now, part of the reason a merchant pays the fee is guaranteed payment - they get paid whether you ever pay your credit card bill or not.

So a bank, who holds your mortgage has zero incentive to take card for mortgage payments. They don't need guaranteed payment- you don't play they take your casa.

---

I think most of us know the difference between secured debt and unsecured debt. I wasn't questioning why my mortgage company won't take a card, just a hypothetical situation; if I ever find a loophole, even if it took some legwork on my part every month to do it, I'd be all in.