How many credit cards do you apply for / currently hold? (for frequent flyer point churn and burn)

The Champagne Mile on 05/04/2016 - 20:35

For serious Frequent Flyer point collectors, how many credit cards do you have / do you apply for each year?

I'm a keen points collector (amassed enough QFF points to fly husband and I around the world in business last year), but generally only apply for 1-2 cards per year (usually targeting ultra generous sign on bonuses).

I have a good income, good credit rating and pay off in full each month - with many tempting sign on bonuses currently, I'm wondering if I should consider (within reason) upping my annual card applications - but would be good to get feedback from others in relation to considerations around this.

Financial

Comments

  • Davo1111 on 05/04/2016 - 20:40
    -1

    but generally only apply for 1-2 cards per year

    per year? wow

    I've done 2 cards in the last 10 years

  • CyberMurning on 05/04/2016 - 20:55
    -1

    Yeah good luck when you applying for new property mortgage and disclose honestly all your cc limits…

  • The Champagne Mile on 05/04/2016 - 20:57
    +2

    I generally apply for a new card every 6 to 9 months (As I mentioned, I pay off in full each month. My rule is only one at any given time, so I close off the previous one before I apply for the new one - I don't retain multiple cards). I have a good credit rating (I keep a close eye on my veda file, and I my rating us currently 765 which is 'very good'). I just refinanced my mortgage with Ubank in Feb, and they certainly didn't have any problems approving :)

  • Mad Max on 05/04/2016 - 21:16
    -1

    The cards that have ultra generous sign on bonuses generally also have a high annual fee. So the "free" points end up costing you something (assuming that you got the card only for the points, but you could have had another similar card with no annual fee).

    • dazweeja on 05/04/2016 - 21:55
      +4

      Which is why you go for the cards with the annual fee waived for the first year and then change cards before the first year is up, eg. ANZ FF Platinum with 50k QFF points or Black with 75K points.

      • The Champagne Mile on 06/04/2016 - 10:30

        @ Dazweeja, Yes, this is what I do.

        @ Maxi, Many cards have the first annual fee waived. And even paying $200 to $300 for a card with a points sign on bonus of 60,000 points or more is worth it IMO when I can use those points to, say fly business class in Cathay from ADL - HKG with only $90 in taxes (which would cost at least several thousand $$ when purchased outright).

        But this post isn't looking at the value proposition of c-card offerings (people will always have differing views on value) - I'm mainly interested in the activities of like-minded people around card churn and burn.

  • TheCutter on 05/04/2016 - 22:02
    +2

    Check out www.pointhacks.com.au - they review the best deals regularly

    • The Champagne Mile on 06/04/2016 - 10:31

      Thanks. I've been following Point Hacks for a number of years. Keith provides great info.

  • pantsparty on 06/04/2016 - 08:44
    +1

    I do the same thing. Probably apply for two or three a year. I also cancel the old one when I get a new one. My credit rating is also good. I feel like anymore than 3 or so would be excessive, and I feel bad telling the banks I want to cancel. What reason do you give them for cancelling?

    • The Champagne Mile on 06/04/2016 - 10:26

      I usually just tell them I've found a better points earn with another product - sometimes they try to give me the hard sell, but it's not too difficult.

  • ukulele on 06/04/2016 - 09:04
    +1

    Hey great post. I do similar however with balance transfers. I apply for a new card only every couple of years and was worrying how it would affect my credit rating, I probably don't need to worry. I keep the cash in my offset account basically as an ongoing interest free loan. It was due to expire in this month but I couldn't bear to hand it back to the bank so I did another one. However my method requires me to have minimum 2 cards at time, one to use and one which holds the balance transfer.

    • pantsparty on 06/04/2016 - 09:29

      When do you pay off the debt though? If you keep on transferring surely your debt is getting larger and larger?

      • ukulele on 06/04/2016 - 10:35

        I'll pay off the debt when they stop giving me credit cards or if it effects my ability to get a loan. Regarding the debt getting larger and larger, that depends on the person. On my active card I pay the balance off in full so I don't pay any interest there. On my balance xfer card I make the minimum repayments so the balance is actually getting less and less. When doing any of these "gaming" the system type crap you still need to be strict on yourself and live within your means.

        • nightelves on 06/04/2016 - 12:03

          Do both credit card need to have the same balance transfer limit for you to transfer everything across? i'm still trying to wrap my head around balance transfer and how it can save me money on my mortgage.

        • ukulele on 06/04/2016 - 12:26
          +1

          @nightelves:

          Best way to think of it is this way:

          Start with a citibank cheque to self. Plenty of posts about that here. Say they give you a limit of 20k, from memory they allow a cheque to self amount of 80% of that, say 16k. I think citibank offer 12 months interest free.

          1) When you get the card, shred it.
          2) Deposit the 16k into your mortgage.
          3) Pay the minimum amount per month on the credit card which is 2% of the outstanding balance.

          So you essentially get a 16K loan interest free for 12 months, minus of course the 2% every month.

          4) Finally at the end of the 12 months you can pay the outstanding balance fully then cancel the card and be done with it.
          4) Or if you want to keep "gaming" the system you can apply for another card and do a balance transfer to make the citibank card have a 0 balance, rinse repeat as it were. You must call and cancel the citibank card tho, a 0 balance doesn't cancel it.

          For reference I have done this 3 times over the past few years, which means I essentially got a 15k odd loan for "free" over the last few years plus the next 20 months.

          Doing this does come at a mental cost though; you must be strict. It is so easy to look at your mortage and go, oh damn i've got XX,XXX in the offset, why not take a holiday? You could also take the 16k and put it on black :)

        • nightelves on 06/04/2016 - 12:29

          @ukulele:

          So ukulele it only works with Citibank cc and nothing else. another thing is the 2% payment each months just you reducing your credit limit down?

    • The Champagne Mile on 06/04/2016 - 10:34

      @ Ukulele, if you're concerned about your credit rating, I'd suggest investing in a subscription to Veda alerts - I think mine costs around $60 a year. It provides me with an email every time my credit rating is checked, and allows me to monitor my credit score monthly. I find it provides me with piece of mind for people who are generating activity on their credit file every so often. Otherwise, you can also write in with ID to request your credit file for free (but note this won't provide you with the monthly score tracking or email alert when activity detected).

      • strikerzebra on 06/04/2016 - 12:33

        Can't you check your credit score for free with the sites like getcreditscore.com.au

        • The Champagne Mile on 06/04/2016 - 14:52
          +2

          I'm not a big fan of getcreditscore.com.au Currently it's showing my Veda score as 705, but within Veda's system, it's 765. The email spam from SocietyOne is painful. And at the end of the day, I like the automatic Veda alert to any credit file activity and to get see the overall picture (number of apps etc). But I can fully understand that many people would not choose to pay an annual fee for this.

  • CheapskateQueen on 06/04/2016 - 19:42
    +3

    Between 2014 and 2015 i did 5 cards and refinanced my mortgage. Credit score took a beating but since positive reporting is in place now, it's been repairing nicely. Just did my first for 2016 lol thanks Amex for the free flight!

  • DealzEddy123 on 07/04/2016 - 08:47

    Ive done around four in the past 12 months and refinanced my mortgage twice in three years…

    now I'm unable to even get a Vodafone phone plan due to bad credit score. Thankfully Ill be out of country for a bit letting it revert to normal.

  • jacktator on 26/10/2018 - 16:56

    5 in the past 3 months

  • tess1988 on 27/10/2018 - 15:09

    this year
    citibank platinum rewards $0 first year 100,000 bonus points after $3,000 spend(+ 3000 points for $3000 spend), then another $1,400 holiday spend in QLD nets me 104,400 citibank points worth $450, that saves me some of my holiday.
    Bank of melbourne 50,000 qantas points and westpac 60,000 qantas points which had annual fees $99 & $50 for total $149 but will we getting itunes cards from the qantas store to cover the annual fee and most likely will be using the remaining qantas points(around 80,000 i think) for flights from melbourne to sydney or maybe melbourne to gold coast next year or maybe even a hotel via qantas site.

    or i could use the points for $400 worth of gift cards for the next iPhone or apple watch next year, better then nothing seeing i have to pay council rates/car rego and whatever bills that come in the 3 month minimum spend plus whatever money i would of spend anyway.

  • twofoursix on 28/10/2018 - 09:36

    Hello,

    I have recently started this point collection CC process. But struggling with keep up minimum spend as most of my payments are GOVT bills, Rates & INS none of these payments qualify for points. Can someone confirm that if i buy VISA/MC gift cards and use the same cards to pay my CC through Aust Post on due date? Would this work OR someone ever tried this before?

    Thanks for helping me out…..

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join