121–130 of 184 posts
I seem to have missed something, in that I don't get one moment of the story; given: in April 2011, he received a certified letter from United, cheerily informing him that because he had taken advantage of the system his frequent-flyer account was permanently suspended. He was banned from flying, he recalls the letter saying, unless he paid the company $4,755 — the amount it claimed as losses through Schlappig's tech…
I spend more time than I should in the churning/FF communities (all of which are centered around FlyerTalk). It's fun. Ben's blog is one of the few I follow, most aren't that great. Frequent Miler is a solid resource, as is Wandering Aramean, but nothing beats being active on FlyerTalk itself. In the last five years I've managed to earn and spend about 1.5 million miles and points, with maybe 50k airline miles from a…
Good to see another FT'er on HN. I've earned/burned about the same volume of points as you and can attest that this hobby is awesome, with some caveats. For the beginners out there: 1. Be sure to read as much about earning miles as redeeming them. Both sides are equally important and redeeming is actually getting much more difficult. 2. Don't let the newbie blogs lure you into hitting credit cards too hard. Banks are…
It also helps to have a passport that lets you do that.
I don't follow. The hobby is really only possible for Americans and American passports are easy to travel.
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Good to see another FT'er on HN. I've earned/burned about the same volume of points as you and can attest that this hobby is awesome, with some caveats. For the beginners out there: 1. Be sure to read as much about earning miles as redeeming them. Both sides are equally important and redeeming is actually getting much more difficult. 2. Don't let the newbie blogs lure you into hitting credit cards too hard. Banks are…
Could you give someone who has ABSOLUTELY no idea (even after reading your comment) about any of this what it is you do to hack the system?
You can open a lot of those credit cards.
Redeeming those miles for international first/business class is a good value (some disagree but that's my use).
Really basic example: Citi routinely has 50k mile bonuses for their American Airlines cards. Round-trip business class US->Japan is 100k miles. Therefore, open two Citi AA cards and you can redeem for a free(ish) business class ticket to Tokyo.
It can get a lot more complicated but that's the gist. Understanding the alliances, the non-alliance partnerships, all the transfer arrangements. Taxes and fees. Routing rules. Flexible point currencies. Knowing how to work around deficiencies and bugs in the airlines' own systems. All that takes time to learn.
At the moment I'm sketching a trip that includes Etihad's new first class apartment, Qatar business class and Singapore's first class suite. Time in Dubai, Bali, Singapore and Tokyo. Four airline tickets, points from three airlines and multiple credit cards, banks and flexible point programs, plus numerous hotel point redemptions along the way. All told around 600k points.
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In your early days, yes, you can take a hit from churning, but after a year or so your credit should stabilize (assuming you never miss a payment). I've been churning for a few years and my FICO is around 780.
And do you just never close the cards either?
OTOH cards with no fee get tossed in a drawer. I have 5 no-fee Citi Hilton cards just sitting in my file cabinet.
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If you're in that situation, you're probably best off earning one of the flexible currencies like Chase's Ultimate Rewards or Amex's Membership Rewards. You can redeem for a statement balance or transfer to one of their partners. If you do just want cashback, Fidelity has a straight-up 2% cashback card.
I actually use the Chase Sapphire Rewards card but I should probably look into the Fidelity as most of my points seem to end up getting shifted into Amazon anyway. It's a little complicated because of the minimum to get to 2% but it's probably a better deal than my free Chase Amazon card in any case. Thanks!
Anyone else find this "hobby" somewhere between low-grade morally questionable and a completely banal use of above-average problem-solving skills? Upper middle class man-children with disposable income can, I'm sure you're surprised to find out, game overenthusiastic corporate behemoths?
I'm curious as to what the morality argument actually is, as this isn't the first comment to espouse that view. What do you find morally questionable about churning? It's game in which banks and airlines write the rules and reserve the right to change them unilaterally.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Good to see another FT'er on HN. I've earned/burned about the same volume of points as you and can attest that this hobby is awesome, with some caveats. For the beginners out there: 1. Be sure to read as much about earning miles as redeeming them. Both sides are equally important and redeeming is actually getting much more difficult. 2. Don't let the newbie blogs lure you into hitting credit cards too hard. Banks are…
Could you give someone who has ABSOLUTELY no idea (even after reading your comment) about any of this what it is you do to hack the system?
Anyone else find this "hobby" somewhere between low-grade morally questionable and a completely banal use of above-average problem-solving skills? Upper middle class man-children with disposable income can, I'm sure you're surprised to find out, game overenthusiastic corporate behemoths?
I do find the "mileage runs" a bit odd. You spend a day or two just flying and hanging out at airports? I guess it's all cost/benefit, but that would be a little to much for me.
That said, whatever floats you boat. Looks like a lot of people are really maximizing the points programs. Good for them!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm curious as to what the morality argument actually is, as this isn't the first comment to espouse that view. What do you find morally questionable about churning? It's game in which banks and airlines write the rules and reserve the right to change them unilaterally.
I think the issue here is more one of externalities. We all know that fuel prices are not at the true cost which prices in all the pollution, geopolitical turmoil, military interventions, global warming, government subsidies etc, and that fuel is one of the largest costs airlines have. So when this guy and his followers hop on planes and fly millions of miles, often for no reason other than to game some tiny loophole…