Not sure if this officially counts as manufactured spending but I got the Southwest Rapid Rewards card with a 50,000pt bonus, then the Chase Sapphire with 40,000pts which transfers directly to Southwest.
After that, my lady friend that lives in another state just decided to get the Southwest Rapid Rewards card to start racking up points. The only problem is she didn't have any big purchases coming up to hit the minimum spend limit required. I just received a medical bill from December to the tune of $1,500 so I put that on her card, and used venmo to transfer her the money to pay it off.
I figured it was a win win because the $ spent on her card will generate more points than it would if I put it on my card. :)
Anyone else use other people's large purchases and venmo to get bonus points?