Episode 25: Back To The Basics Part 1

This is a beginner focused episode and is part one of a two part series: Part one is focused on the making money side of churning and part two will be more geared towards points and award travel. Topics include a rundown of the credit card issuers to start churning sign-up bonuses with, some basic methods for manufactured spending, and the types of skills that a churner should develop.

Amex:

• Can hold up to 5 credit cards at a time.
• Can hold up to 10 charge (pay over time) cards at a time.
• Maximum of 2 credit card approvals every 90 days (2/90). No restriction on charge cards.
• Only one approval per product every 90 days (1/90). Upgrades and downgrades don't count.
• Must keep a card open for 12 months to avoid clawback of the sign-up bonus.

Chase:

• You can't get approved for any credit card if you have had more than 4 personal card approvals in the last 24 months - stay at less than 5 (5/24). 
• There's no hard limit, but there tends to be a max of 3-4 ink business cards before they won't approve any more.

US Bank:

• Applications made on the same day will only have one hard pull (most of the time).
• LLCs can help scale duplicate applications.

Bank of America:

• Applications within 30 days will only have one hard pull.
• LLCs can help scale duplicate applications.

Amazon:

• Accounts need to be well-seasoned (6-12 months is ideal).
• Up to 3 accounts can make the same order with the same credit card every 7 days.
• One prime account can add one additional household member account and up to 6 teen accounts that share prime benefits (teens must still be seasoned).
• Address jig is not required, but if you don't jig then you can't get a refund for lost items.

Walmart:

• Accounts need to be somewhat seasoned.
• It helps to avoid changing payment methods prior to making large orders.
• Limits reset overnight (usually limited to two orders per day of the same product).
• Hard to get a refund for missing items.

Best Buy:

• No seasoning required.
• Once a credit card has had a canceled order, that card will no longer work.
• Limits reset every 24 hours.
• Very hard to buy apple products and streaming sticks.
• Hard to get a refund for missing items.