Credit Card Churning and Bonus Points Advice

• 

  serpserpserp on 04/04/2019 - 17:55

  +1

  I am looking to at least get 500k points by next year hopefully reach close to 1m by the end of next year!

  Very ambitious goal given the current climate. Probably only achievable if you have a spouse you can also enroll into the credit card churning.

  if anyone knows the amount of time to give between applications so not to affect my credit history too much.

  From what I understand it is really the amount of applications you make that affect your score. So if you apply for 10 cards in a year or 10 cards in a 3 month period it affects you the same way. If you want to reach your 500k+ goal in the next year and a bit, you are going to have to take a hit on your credit score. If you don't plan on taking out a new mortgage soon, it shouldn't be any skin off your nose so to speak.

  Good luck!

  • 

    asbindia on 04/04/2019 - 18:26

    I am looking to at least get 500k points by next year hopefully reach close to 1m by the end of next year!

    Very ambitious goal given the current climate. Probably only achievable if you have a spouse you can also enroll into the credit card churning.

    Hahaha yes it is! I already have achieved 120 hoping for another 90k on my Nab card

    From what I understand it is really the amount of applications you make that affect your score. So if you apply for 10 cards in a year or 10 cards in a 3 month period it affects you the same way. If you want to reach your 500k+ goal in the next year and a bit, you are going to have to take a hit on your credit score. If you don't plan on taking out a new mortgage soon, it shouldn't be any skin off your nose so to speak.

    I have a mortgage already which is why I am watching my spending and not booking anymore J tickets with Cash. I am fairly sure its the number of cards applied for in a period of time that can cause your score to go down as they see it as credit stress when you apply for too many cards at once

  • 

    1Kenobi on 04/04/2019 - 20:27

    Application in a fin year or cal year?

• 

  pHyR3 on 04/04/2019 - 18:52

  Here's a few you could look at

  ANZ Frequent Flyer Black 100k points for $425 minus $200 cashback fee

  Qantas 70k points for $149 in first year (final 30k for $300 more)

  ANZ Travel Card used to have a 80k bonus for $225 but don't think it's there anymore

  Amex also has a solid deal, but it's important to use the travel credit

• 

  isthisreallife22 on 04/04/2019 - 19:37

  I am going to lose my Frequent Flyer Status and was thinking of starting to bank up on my QF points

  Hold on… do you earn status from points bookings??? That hasn't been my experience

  • 

    asbindia on 04/04/2019 - 20:20

    Hold on… do you earn status from points bookings??? That hasn't been my experience

    Sorry I should have explained, I still want Priority Boarding, Lounge etc… so will use the points to fly J or F as I wont be a Plat anymore.

    Although you can earn SC's with VA by using points, all you need to do is click View All Fare Options and then you can either select to pay for a Getaway, Elevate or Freedom Fare using points. They do use more points than a regular award seat

• 

  Remorhaz on 04/04/2019 - 19:58

  +1

  I started churning my first card around 12 months ago and have accumulated over 500K QFF points since then. At the end of March 2018 my credit score was 816; since then I've applied for 7 QFF bonus cards and my current credit score is 819 (the lowest it dipped to was 767). I've obviously paid off my cards in full every time (and thats showing in my credit report (positive reporting)) and have closed 4 of those 7 cards

  • 

    isthisreallife22 on 04/04/2019 - 20:01

    Nice one. Any sense of what you've paid in annual fees to achieve that?

    • 

      Remorhaz on 04/04/2019 - 20:09

      The ANZ FF was free when I did it, as was the Westpac except for $50 qantas rewards fee, St George was $139, Bendigo and Qantas were both $149, NAB will be most expensive at $295

      • 

        asbindia on 04/04/2019 - 20:22

        hmmmmmm… that sounds good!!!

        What was the time span you applied between cards?

        • 

          Remorhaz on 05/04/2019 - 07:34

          +1

          @asbindia: Mar, Apr, May/Jun * 2, Oct, Jan, Mar - mostly it was waiting for a good signup deal (they do appear to be coming less frequently (& perhaps less generously) now) and ensuring I'd met previous cards purchase reqs and waiting for points to arrive before cancelling old card (because you probably want to lower your total credit capability before applying for more credit)

          Some are super fast with points - e.g. Qantas arrived inside the first month (before I'd even paid the bill I think) but some felt like they took the 90 days after meeting the spend

      • 

        knobbs on 04/04/2019 - 22:40

        What Bendigo card gives a singup bonus?

        • 

          fishball on 04/04/2019 - 23:30

          @knobbs: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/401167

          Expired now tho

      • 

        serpserpserp on 05/04/2019 - 09:23

        Nice, I could only do just under 200k in 9 months last year, but that was going for cards that had no fees. So effectively free 200k points I was happy with. Now I have to get use to the idea of paying for points!

• 

  djkelly69 on 05/04/2019 - 09:43

  If your wife works, get her to apply for cards when there is decent deal in her own name. Should speed things up a bit.

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  Some Guy on 05/04/2019 - 09:56

  If you're going to lose your QF Plat status, your chances of securing J or F reward tix diminishes accordingly. It's more of a lottery down the pecking order. 500k points won't go that far upfront, maybe one return trip to EUR for each, and you'll be up for big surcharges. I'd do all I could to not lose the status, in addition to the credit card churning.