Author Topic: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?  (Read 16343 times)

Erica/NWEdible

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Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« on: October 17, 2015, 09:57:42 AM »
Some (many) fantastic person (people) on this forum knows a shit-ton about optimizing credit card reward miles for travel. I even recall a footer line that's like: "I will teach you the miles game" or similar.

Searched forum, got bogged down in results.

So....all Mustachian cc rewards hackers with blogs/etc., will you please raise your hand so I can go suck up your knowledge like a shop vac?

Thank you in advance!

bacchi

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #1 on: October 17, 2015, 10:11:45 AM »
That's probably milesdividendmd. He runs a class on CC/travel hacking.

Before starting, you need a goal. I'm currently saving for business class flights to SE Asia.

CowboyAndIndian

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #2 on: October 17, 2015, 10:15:43 AM »
That's probably milesdividendmd. He runs a class on CC/travel hacking.
...

Yup, he has an online class starting soon I think

http://www.travelmiles101.com/travel-rewards-course-registration


stlbrah

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #3 on: October 17, 2015, 11:56:01 AM »
I just signed up for that, it said it was free. Is it going to be ad supported, or am I going to get a request for a credit card later?

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #4 on: October 17, 2015, 12:23:06 PM »
+4

Brad at Richmond savers runs it with him, IIRC.

Art of Non-Conformity is worth having in an RSS feed for updates to offers. There are probably other blogs too. I'm not a cc churner but once you learn the basics through a course like that there's also the need to keep up with new offers, changes to existing ones, and basically constant optimization to get the most hacks/$

Left

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #5 on: October 17, 2015, 12:30:16 PM »
Thanks for class link, I joined it

Erica/NWEdible

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #6 on: October 17, 2015, 02:42:39 PM »
Milesdividendmd - yup he's the miles master I was thinking of.

Feel like a tool for not remembering. Thanks guys!!

Erica/NWEdible

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #7 on: October 17, 2015, 02:45:31 PM »
+4

Brad at Richmond savers runs it with him, IIRC.

Art of Non-Conformity is worth having in an RSS feed for updates to offers. There are probably other blogs too. I'm not a cc churner but once you learn the basics through a course like that there's also the need to keep up with new offers, changes to existing ones, and basically constant optimization to get the most hacks/$

Thank you! Will subscribe. Goal: get the miles to allow lengthy homeschool trips abroad. Better start now!

geekette

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #8 on: October 17, 2015, 04:19:34 PM »
I just signed up for that, it said it was free. Is it going to be ad supported, or am I going to get a request for a credit card later?
It's free.  They have links for credit cards, and some are affiliate links, I believe.  The knowledge is good!

dess1313

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #9 on: October 17, 2015, 05:48:43 PM »
Is there a version for canadians out there?

milesdividendmd

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #10 on: October 17, 2015, 10:40:50 PM »
I'm the guilty party.

The course is monthly, so the next one starts November 1. All are welcome.

It's 100% free. We make our money from affiliate links if you are nice enough to sign up for cards through our cards page, but we only include the best available offers regardless of whether or not they are ours. (Sadly, many aren't!)

Our goal is to get you up to speed with all of the tools necessary to collect millions of miles within 30 days. And the feedback has been amazing.

No Canadian course yet, and many of the offers are U.S. specific, but the strategy should be fairly applicable on a philosophical level, and there are Canadian bloggers to fill in the missing pieces for Canadians.

Feel free to ask any questions here or PM me if you like.

Richmond Savers

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #11 on: October 18, 2015, 09:58:25 AM »
+4

Brad at Richmond savers runs it with him, IIRC.

Art of Non-Conformity is worth having in an RSS feed for updates to offers. There are probably other blogs too. I'm not a cc churner but once you learn the basics through a course like that there's also the need to keep up with new offers, changes to existing ones, and basically constant optimization to get the most hacks/$

Absolutely remembered correctly -- thanks!

Alexi and I have helped hundreds of Mustachians get started with travel rewards, so if you have even a passing interest in learning the basics of earning and redeeming credit card rewards points, definitely sign up.  The course is free, and it's a go at your own pace thing with no time commitment.  A nice easy way to get started :)

dess1313

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #12 on: October 18, 2015, 10:27:19 AM »
I'm the guilty party.

The course is monthly, so the next one starts November 1. All are welcome.

It's 100% free. We make our money from affiliate links if you are nice enough to sign up for cards through our cards page, but we only include the best available offers regardless of whether or not they are ours. (Sadly, many aren't!)

Our goal is to get you up to speed with all of the tools necessary to collect millions of miles within 30 days. And the feedback has been amazing.

No Canadian course yet, and many of the offers are U.S. specific, but the strategy should be fairly applicable on a philosophical level, and there are Canadian bloggers to fill in the missing pieces for Canadians.

Feel free to ask any questions here or PM me if you like.


thanks!  i will.  have already signed up for a few ones up here with bonuses mostly cash back, one travel option.  hoping to see a few more.  the one i used the most just decided to change their policies as of january next year and it will suck for the average girl like me

Erica/NWEdible

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #13 on: October 18, 2015, 11:22:23 AM »
Absolutely remembered correctly -- thanks!

Alexi and I have helped hundreds of Mustachians get started with travel rewards, so if you have even a passing interest in learning the basics of earning and redeeming credit card rewards points, definitely sign up.  The course is free, and it's a go at your own pace thing with no time commitment.  A nice easy way to get started :)

I'm signed up and looking forward to it - thank you both!

Lady Fordragon

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #14 on: October 18, 2015, 11:38:01 AM »
I just signed up for the course as well.  I just started doing some cc churning this year and look forward to learning some more tips. :-)

milesdividendmd

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Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #15 on: October 18, 2015, 11:43:54 AM »
Great that you guys are signing up.

There are lots of changes of Late to the Miles game, so now is a great time to get started.

If you are a family who travels anyway this is an easy way to kick another 10K a year of savings pretax into your retirement accounts.
« Last Edit: October 18, 2015, 12:30:53 PM by milesdividendmd »

Frugal Convert

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #16 on: October 18, 2015, 12:50:32 PM »
I just signed up as well.  Thanks for posting.  I'm trying to get a family of four to England, free place to stay when we get there but the flights have always been the issue.

crazy jane

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #17 on: October 18, 2015, 01:27:52 PM »
I took the course in August. It was excellent. Be patient with the lessons. It's a lot to absorb. As a result of the class, my husband an I will be flying and staying for free on at least six trips over the next year. Thanks Travel Miles 101!!

Riff

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #18 on: October 18, 2015, 01:46:55 PM »
I just signed up too.  Need to make our travels more affordable!

milesdividendmd

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #19 on: October 18, 2015, 01:54:49 PM »
Frugal convert, England flights and lodging are easy given enough time to plan.

Crazy Jane thanks!

Riff, try almost free!

Left

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #20 on: October 18, 2015, 08:19:54 PM »
Great that you guys are signing up.

There are lots of changes of Late to the Miles game, so now is a great time to get started.
miles, will you be including spg's change to include boingo? yes, i know people dont like the $99 annual fee on here, but for reasons of my own, i am paying the fee and yes it went up :( but i kind of like the boingo partnership. if travelling a lot, it is really useful and it works on time warner cables hotspots too. even without travelling and staying local, i use it for the "free" internet enough to cover the data costs in lue of phone bill. a few months of this testing, i might cut data plan on phone even more. if i lived downtown, i could even use boingo as fulltime internet and not buy it. that said, i will be switching to google fiber for free internet anyways, tired of att and they finally moving into my area
« Last Edit: October 18, 2015, 08:21:42 PM by eyem »

milesdividendmd

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #21 on: October 18, 2015, 09:40:55 PM »

Great that you guys are signing up.

There are lots of changes of Late to the Miles game, so now is a great time to get started.
miles, will you be including spg's change to include boingo? yes, i know people dont like the $99 annual fee on here, but for reasons of my own, i am paying the fee and yes it went up :( but i kind of like the boingo partnership. if travelling a lot, it is really useful and it works on time warner cables hotspots too. even without travelling and staying local, i use it for the "free" internet enough to cover the data costs in lue of phone bill. a few months of this testing, i might cut data plan on phone even more. if i lived downtown, i could even use boingo as fulltime internet and not buy it. that said, i will be switching to google fiber for free internet anyways, tired of att and they finally moving into my area

Eyem,

That's a great question.

We focus primarily on accruing big miles bonuses with credit card apps and manufactured spending, but the cc fringe benefits can be great great too.

I've made great use of the free boingo and in flight gogo internet services that come with my Amex platinum card. My favorite perk probably is the free upgrade at enterprise car rentals.

So the short answer is no we don't include that aspect of the Miles game in the course, but we do have an active forum to pool all such common wisdom/experiences.


Left

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #22 on: October 19, 2015, 05:08:17 AM »
got a link to the forums? i didnt see it on the miles101 site
also do you do manufactured spending to get money back on the amex deals? i want to learn more about it to get money back on the annual fee and if i can get points too, great. most recently, i did the $25 spend on amazon and got $15 back plus getting 25 spg points. hard to find ones i like since most of them i do t use. i used the $5 back on $15 spent at walmart too
« Last Edit: October 19, 2015, 05:12:29 AM by eyem »

PencilThinStache

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #23 on: October 19, 2015, 06:42:13 AM »

I've made great use of the free boingo and in flight gogo internet services that come with my Amex platinum card. My favorite perk probably is the free upgrade at enterprise car rentals.

Do you mean w/AmEx Platinum business? I have the Amex platinum, and no gogo in-flight, just boingo. I think Platinum business has gogo.

milesdividendmd

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #24 on: October 19, 2015, 07:45:06 AM »
Yup, it's the business version. You get 10 gogo passes per year.

milesdividendmd

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #25 on: October 19, 2015, 07:49:44 AM »

got a link to the forums? i didnt see it on the miles101 site
also do you do manufactured spending to get money back on the amex deals? i want to learn more about it to get money back on the annual fee and if i can get points too, great. most recently, i did the $25 spend on amazon and got $15 back plus getting 25 spg points. hard to find ones i like since most of them i do t use. i used the $5 back on $15 spent at walmart too

The forum is open only to graduates at this point.

The MS that we cover in the course is really for the purposes of meeting spending requirements for bonuses.

Our target audience is the consumer looking to get started in the miles game. But we love having knowledgable people go through the course as well to share their wisdom with the group. 

Murse

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #26 on: October 19, 2015, 12:16:32 PM »

got a link to the forums? i didnt see it on the miles101 site
also do you do manufactured spending to get money back on the amex deals? i want to learn more about it to get money back on the annual fee and if i can get points too, great. most recently, i did the $25 spend on amazon and got $15 back plus getting 25 spg points. hard to find ones i like since most of them i do t use. i used the $5 back on $15 spent at walmart too

The forum is open only to graduates at this point.

The MS that we cover in the course is really for the purposes of meeting spending requirements for bonuses.

Our target audience is the consumer looking to get started in the miles game. But we love having knowledgable people go through the course as well to share their wisdom with the group.

What are the requirements such as credit score and income? I am sure my income will be fine but unsure of my credit score (700ish according to credit karma.)

Richmond Savers

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #27 on: October 19, 2015, 12:41:08 PM »

got a link to the forums? i didnt see it on the miles101 site
also do you do manufactured spending to get money back on the amex deals? i want to learn more about it to get money back on the annual fee and if i can get points too, great. most recently, i did the $25 spend on amazon and got $15 back plus getting 25 spg points. hard to find ones i like since most of them i do t use. i used the $5 back on $15 spent at walmart too

The forum is open only to graduates at this point.

The MS that we cover in the course is really for the purposes of meeting spending requirements for bonuses.

Our target audience is the consumer looking to get started in the miles game. But we love having knowledgable people go through the course as well to share their wisdom with the group.

What are the requirements such as credit score and income? I am sure my income will be fine but unsure of my credit score (700ish according to credit karma.)

In general you are going to need a 700+ credit score to get approved for any of the premium travel rewards credit cards.  While that's not a hard and fast rule, a 700 is the minimum I'd suggest to even consider this strategy.

Credit Karma used to (and may still) give the average approved credit score for each card and they were often in the 700-740 range for the cards in question.

milesdividendmd

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #28 on: October 19, 2015, 04:53:10 PM »


got a link to the forums? i didnt see it on the miles101 site
also do you do manufactured spending to get money back on the amex deals? i want to learn more about it to get money back on the annual fee and if i can get points too, great. most recently, i did the $25 spend on amazon and got $15 back plus getting 25 spg points. hard to find ones i like since most of them i do t use. i used the $5 back on $15 spent at walmart too

The forum is open only to graduates at this point.

The MS that we cover in the course is really for the purposes of meeting spending requirements for bonuses.

Our target audience is the consumer looking to get started in the miles game. But we love having knowledgable people go through the course as well to share their wisdom with the group.

What are the requirements such as credit score and income? I am sure my income will be fine but unsure of my credit score (700ish according to credit karma.)

In general you are going to need a 700+ credit score to get approved for any of the premium travel rewards credit cards.  While that's not a hard and fast rule, a 700 is the minimum I'd suggest to even consider this strategy.

Credit Karma used to (and may still) give the average approved credit score for each card and they were often in the 700-740 range for the cards in question.

+1

And one of the things that often surprises people about travel hacking credit scores tend to go up not down overtime.

For someone with a 700 score I would recommend starting slowly with maybe a 2 card churn and to follow your score closely.

Left

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #29 on: October 19, 2015, 06:31:19 PM »
That's what I don't get, why would it go down? Sure you get a pull for maybe 5-10 points.... not that bad, you recover that in about a few months...

maybe if you closed it right away but hold it and make sure you don't carry debt on it and it wouldnt matter much. Sure opening 10 cards might drop you 100 points, take 12 months to get back...

Not sure if it is rule but if your score is good, ie good habits of keeping debt down and paying it off, I get about 5-10 points a month back to my normal score. It's like medicine, you determine your normal and as you move away from it, your habits will return it back to normal, homeostasis... sure I'm not at 850 because I'm missing something, but I can get back up in 800s after churning given enough time
« Last Edit: October 19, 2015, 06:33:18 PM by eyem »

milesdividendmd

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #30 on: October 19, 2015, 07:17:12 PM »
It's actually even better than non-harmful.

The hard Credit pools pull down your score from 2 to 5 points for about 30 days. But the increased credit line increases your score indefinitely and much more dramatically by lowering your credit utilization ratio.

Anecdotally my score has gone from the 760s to the 810's over the past 2 to 3 years during which time I've opened over 40 cards.

lielec11

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #31 on: October 19, 2015, 08:16:02 PM »
It's actually even better than non-harmful.

The hard Credit pools pull down your score from 2 to 5 points for about 30 days. But the increased credit line increases your score indefinitely and much more dramatically by lowering your credit utilization ratio.

Anecdotally my score has gone from the 760s to the 810's over the past 2 to 3 years during which time I've opened over 40 cards.

This is one aspect of cc churning I find hard to comprehend. When you sign up for these bonuses, is the goal to close the card as soon as you reach our goal (thereby keeping your "average age of account" higher"), or do you keep them open for awhile? What if the card charges a fee after a year, clearly you don't want to be charged for that so what's the deal?

If you can't tell, I need the class (and just signed up!)

milesdividendmd

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #32 on: October 19, 2015, 08:36:12 PM »
Lielec,

Glad you joined!

In general when the fee comes due I either downgrade to a fee free card or move the credit line to another card with the same bank.  Sometimes I just close it down.

But closing it down doesn't remove the card from your account for 7 years!  Despite your inevitable decrease in average age of credit, the credit utilization ratio is a bigger deal, and your score tends to go up.

No guarantees, of course, but that is the reported norm and my personal experience.

Richmond Savers

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #33 on: October 20, 2015, 11:02:12 AM »
I took the course in August. It was excellent. Be patient with the lessons. It's a lot to absorb. As a result of the class, my husband an I will be flying and staying for free on at least six trips over the next year. Thanks Travel Miles 101!!

Jane -- that is amazing, so happy to hear about your success!  It is a lot to take in, no question about it :)  But it's fairly easy once you digest it all and start taking action, right? 

I like to think of the course as the 80/20 look at travel hacking.  You can get everything you need just from reading some lessons and watching some videos and that will unquestionably get you 100% of the way towards a few nearly free trips per year.

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #34 on: October 21, 2015, 06:46:21 AM »
Quote
thereby keeping your "average age of account" higher"
I posted this before on another thread...

but you can close cards without closing accounts.... This way you keep an "old" account, without the card fee.

I have accounts with most of the major companies but only have 3 cards, the rest are empty accounts but they are "holding" the age

lielec11

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #35 on: October 21, 2015, 06:47:25 AM »
Quote
thereby keeping your "average age of account" higher"
I posted this before on another thread...

but you can close cards without closing accounts.... This way you keep an "old" account, without the card fee.

I have accounts with most of the major companies but only have 3 cards, the rest are empty accounts but they are "holding" the age

Interesting I never knew this was possible, thanks for the tip!

Melissa

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #36 on: October 22, 2015, 11:27:14 AM »
Erica, thanks for starting this thread....I was searching for this exact thing a couple of weeks ago.  I'm signed up for the class as well.

A trip back to France is on the horizon. It would be awesome to travel hack enough points for at least one plane ticket


I am also reading Travel the World on $50 a Day by Matt Kepnes. It's been interesting....I like how he breaks it down by region to help you score the best deals

alexrcraig

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #37 on: October 22, 2015, 02:26:16 PM »
Some (many) fantastic person (people) on this forum knows a shit-ton about optimizing credit card reward miles for travel. I even recall a footer line that's like: "I will teach you the miles game" or similar.

Searched forum, got bogged down in results.

So....all Mustachian cc rewards hackers with blogs/etc., will you please raise your hand so I can go suck up your knowledge like a shop vac?

Thank you in advance!

I am surprised nobody referred to him yet, but Chris Guillebeau

http://chrisguillebeau.com/

He has traveled to almost every single country I think by using fly miles. He has some traditional methods like getting this card and just using to get miles and some non-traditional methods like buy this card make a $3,000 purchase on a Camera and then sell the camera and pay off the credit card. Do that over and over again.

He some off the wall things that I would never do, but I certainly thing he has mastered gaming the system.

captainawesome

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #38 on: October 23, 2015, 10:26:50 AM »
Is anyone else getting an error when trying to sign up? Does this indicate that the 01 Nov class is full, if so no big deal, I'll wait for the next one. Thanks!

milesdividendmd

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #39 on: October 23, 2015, 10:57:05 AM »
Captainawesome, it's not full we'll get you in. Would you mind pming me your email address?

Richmond Savers

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #40 on: October 23, 2015, 11:03:59 AM »
Is anyone else getting an error when trying to sign up? Does this indicate that the 01 Nov class is full, if so no big deal, I'll wait for the next one. Thanks!

Sorry about the error message -- we are definitely not full!  PM either of us with your email address and we'll get you in the course ASAP. 

It would be really helpful if you can tell me what error message you're getting, so I can try to fix it.    Thanks!

I do know about 1% of web browsers (some versions of IE) give a 404 error and unfortunately we cannot fix that with the software we're use.  If that's what you're getting, you could try a different browser and it almost certainly will work...

winostache

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #41 on: October 23, 2015, 12:27:00 PM »
Love this thread!  I work with a lot of business travelers who collect travel points the old fashion way and go on some pretty cool vacations.  Since my positions is relatively stationary, I have been considering the more creative methods of acquiring points, but I am afraid of the impact to my credit score (I'm likely buying a house in the next 1-2 years).

Just signed up for the course, though, to push through those fears and potential misconceptions.

Richmond Savers

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #42 on: October 24, 2015, 10:58:13 AM »
Love this thread!  I work with a lot of business travelers who collect travel points the old fashion way and go on some pretty cool vacations.  Since my positions is relatively stationary, I have been considering the more creative methods of acquiring points, but I am afraid of the impact to my credit score (I'm likely buying a house in the next 1-2 years).

Just signed up for the course, though, to push through those fears and potential misconceptions.

Glad you joined!  This is a nice stress-free way to learn the basics (and then some) of travel hacking and I'm confident you'll enjoy it. 

If you are buying a house in the next 1-2 years then this likely isn't the right time to dive into it with full force, but it's always a good time to learn. Depending on your personal preference you could likely open up 1-2 cards just to get your base of points started and then take a hiatus. 

In my experience there is very little negative impact to your credit rating, but my risk tolerance would be low if I was getting a mortgage in 12-24 months (and I'd want to avoid some underwriter asking why I opened X new credit cards in the last year).  You always have to do what you're comfortable with and what works for your life of course!

milesdividendmd

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #43 on: October 24, 2015, 12:26:23 PM »

Love this thread!  I work with a lot of business travelers who collect travel points the old fashion way and go on some pretty cool vacations.  Since my positions is relatively stationary, I have been considering the more creative methods of acquiring points, but I am afraid of the impact to my credit score (I'm likely buying a house in the next 1-2 years).

Just signed up for the course, though, to push through those fears and potential misconceptions.

Glad you joined!  This is a nice stress-free way to learn the basics (and then some) of travel hacking and I'm confident you'll enjoy it. 

If you are buying a house in the next 1-2 years then this likely isn't the right time to dive into it with full force, but it's always a good time to learn. Depending on your personal preference you could likely open up 1-2 cards just to get your base of points started and then take a hiatus. 

In my experience there is very little negative impact to your credit rating, but my risk tolerance would be low if I was getting a mortgage in 12-24 months (and I'd want to avoid some underwriter asking why I opened X new credit cards in the last year).  You always have to do what you're comfortable with and what works for your life of course!

Agreed,  getting a low interest rate mortgage is simply too big of a deal to mess with.

But I think you will get a lot of value from the course, even now.

I can probably get you prepared so that once you're approved you can put all of your closing costs on credit card!

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #44 on: October 24, 2015, 01:46:46 PM »
hm... Just wondering, but do you guys talk about getting miles/points without actually using credit cards?

I'm wondering because I get emails from starwood, and it sounds like I can make hotel runs on cheap deals to get points just by being a member. No different than signing up for airline accounts and just claiming the miles that you fly.

I understand that this would be a lot slower, but wondering if you've figured out a way to game the system without credit card bonuses. I mean something like this
http://gizmodo.com/how-an-engineer-earned-1-25-million-air-miles-by-buying-1339646546

It seems like the majority of points hack that I read about online are all based around credit card sign on bonuses...

edit: Or even just "bank" with them...
http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/earnMiles/financial-business.jsp
I might just park my emergency fund with them and "earn" miles instead of the pitiful interest, I could probably just deposit $50k and let it sit there and earn 5k miles/month with me doing nothing, but I still get more investing it so I would just keep money in stocks until I'm FI, then I might revisit this to try out
« Last Edit: October 24, 2015, 02:05:22 PM by eyem »

milesdividendmd

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #45 on: October 24, 2015, 01:59:48 PM »
hm... Just wondering, but do you guys talk about getting miles/points without actually using credit cards?

I'm wondering because I get emails from starwood, and it sounds like I can make hotel runs on cheap deals to get points just by being a member. No different than signing up for airline accounts and just claiming the miles that you fly.

I understand that this would be a lot slower, but wondering if you've figured out a way to game the system without credit card bonuses. I mean something like this
http://gizmodo.com/how-an-engineer-earned-1-25-million-air-miles-by-buying-1339646546

It seems like the majority of points hack that I read about online are all based around credit card sign on bonuses...

edit: Or even just "bank" with them...
http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/earnMiles/financial-business.jsp
I might just park my emergency fund with them and "earn" miles instead of the pitiful interest

Manufactured spending can be used to pile up points with simple credit card spending, no credit card apps, and we do teach you many manufactured spending techniques in the course.

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #46 on: October 24, 2015, 02:04:26 PM »
Manufactured spending is what I'm looking for mostly from the class.

but it still involves a credit card :S, just asking if you have a portion of class without involving credit cards, churning or not.

milesdividendmd

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #47 on: October 24, 2015, 02:16:11 PM »

Manufactured spending is what I'm looking for mostly from the class.

but it still involves a credit card :S, just asking if you have a portion of class without involving credit cards, churning or not.

I think what you are referring to is mileage runs/mattress runs. We do not cover that aspect of the Miles game  but some of our graduates do and they share their wisdom on our forum.

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #48 on: October 26, 2015, 07:17:15 AM »
hm... Just wondering, but do you guys talk about getting miles/points without actually using credit cards?

I'm wondering because I get emails from starwood, and it sounds like I can make hotel runs on cheap deals to get points just by being a member. No different than signing up for airline accounts and just claiming the miles that you fly.

I understand that this would be a lot slower, but wondering if you've figured out a way to game the system without credit card bonuses. I mean something like this
http://gizmodo.com/how-an-engineer-earned-1-25-million-air-miles-by-buying-1339646546

It seems like the majority of points hack that I read about online are all based around credit card sign on bonuses...

edit: Or even just "bank" with them...
http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/earnMiles/financial-business.jsp
I might just park my emergency fund with them and "earn" miles instead of the pitiful interest, I could probably just deposit $50k and let it sit there and earn 5k miles/month with me doing nothing, but I still get more investing it so I would just keep money in stocks until I'm FI, then I might revisit this to try out

This is all great stuff that just adds to the general travel hacking knowledge-base, but my thought has always been that they seem to be too few and far between for any huge focus of the course to be on these strategies. 

That said, we definitely pay attention to them and like Alexi said, they are mentioned in the forum we have active for graduates of the Travel Miles 101 course. 

We mostly focus on how to best earn miles with credit cards and strategies on how to cohesively plan a trip and redeem miles and how to find 'sweet spot' redemptions. 

Easye418

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Re: Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?
« Reply #49 on: October 26, 2015, 07:51:27 AM »
Following this thread for the future.... I have the revolving bills necessary to collect travel points, just want to sell my house and buy my new home before I start screwing around with my credit score.