1. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Marcus Apple Card portfolio will be moving to Chase with a deal inked yesterday. There’s a chance that current Apple Card holders banned by Chase may find their way back as part of the acquisition based on prior deals, but it’s definitely not a guarantee. (Thanks to mforch)
  2. The Nilson report for credit card purchase volume in 2024 by issuer was leaked on reddit yesterday. I believe the data to be dubiously accurate.

    Two questions: (1) Do you have a card from every issuer on the list? And (2), why not? If banned from Chase, see the previous item.
  3. Kroger has a 4x fuel points promotion on third party gift cards and fixed value Visa and Mastercards through Tuesday, January 20. As usual, Amazon and third party fuel gift cards are excluded from the promotion.

    In a Pepper-free, lame-Newegg world, market rates are surprisingly good for a January.
  4. Southwest has a fare sale for travel between January 26 and May 13 booked by tonight using promo code DREAMBIG. Yes, someone at Southwest dreamt of blackout dates, and yes they made that dream real.

Happy Thursday!

The Marcus-Chase card deal contract, with banana for scale.

There are lots of relatively obvious ways to scale your churning, like:

  • Multiple players
  • Multiple accounts
  • Multiple phone numbers

Let’s say that the fictitious FinTech, auspiciously named FinTechX, earns you $22 every time you move $1,000 through the platform. Let’s further assume that moving $1,000 takes you a couple of minutes each time, and that you’re limited to $1,000 per rolling 24 hours.

Great, you’ve found cheap money! But, watch out for things that will inevitably slow your earn, like:

  • Forgetting to load right when you can, pushing your next 24 hour window later and later
  • Fumbling through different profiles, possibly missing one in the process
  • Not spinning up even more accounts because it’s more hassle every day
  • Missing days altogether because you’re too busy

Automation fixes effectively all of those issues, and frees you up to do other things. Don’t ignore it! Quick, no-context options for (relatively) easy automation:

Happy Wednesday, and if you got booted from the ‘Kate Spade Portal Sadness’ Telegram group, please rejoin – it was a Telegram bug.

Another automation option, but it’s not cheap or easy.

  1. Expired free night certificates used to be worth 10,000 points for a category 1-4 certificate, or 20,000 points for a category 1-7 certificate if you called Hyatt right after expiration and asked, as long as those certificates were from the Hyatt program and not a partner like AA or Chase. That was nerfed, with the new values:

    – Category 1-4 expired certificate: 2,500 points
    – Category 1-7 expired certificate, 5,000 points

    It beats the devaluation points for Club Upgrade Award certificates for Globalists I guess.
  2. Chase Pay Yourself Back on the Sapphire Reserve Business card removed all bonus categories except for “Select Charities”, and the boost on that category dropped from 50% to 25%. #bonvoyed

    The personal Sapphire Reserve is unaffected. (Thanks to Chris)
  3. Staples stores have fee-free $200 Mastercard gift cards through Saturday, limit nine per transaction.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network cards.
  4. Stop & Shop, Giant, and Martins  have 10x points on Lowes gift cards through Thursday. Of course their little brother Giant Food is only 4x. Why? Because reasons.
  5. JetBlue has 26% off of base fares booked by tomorrow for travel between January 13 and February 28 using code GO26. Of course there are blackouts, and also all Fridays and Saturdays are #NOGO26. You can stack this with a Citi Merchant offer for $50 off of $200+ too.

    Did I hear you want discounted Mint or transatlantic, or worse, discounted Mint+transatlantic? JetBlue was quoted as saying “That’s a nah from me dawg. Just ask Giant Food.”

Have a nice Tuesday!

It’s not all sadness at Giant Food though, their seasonal section carries this beauty.

  1. Do this now: Register for Q1 5x rotating categories:

    – Chase Freedom and Freedom Flex: Dining, up to $1,500
    – Discover IT: Grocery, wholesale clubs, select streaming up to $1,500
    – Citi Dividend: Amazon, select streaming up to $1,500
    – US Bank Cash+: I choose utilities and electronics because reasons

    Chase had a few other categories that weren’t mentioning to, but clearly I do want to mention that I didn’t mention them.
  2. Do this now (if you have a Chase United card): Check for targeted spend offers. Most are an extra 2x, 2.5x, or 3x up for between $2,000 and $10,000 in spend.
  3. On Saturday, the British Airways shopping portal listed Kate Spade at 250 miles per dollar, and several other portals were in the 100+ miles per dollar range too. This triggered, in order:

    – A Kate Spade churner shopping spree (buying miles at 0.4 cents each is a steal; and oh yeah, you get a bag too)
    – A quick examination of Kate Spade return policies
    – Some happy P1 and P2 Kate Spade fans
    – Sadness, when the portals actually tracked at 2x-4x

    If you’re stuck holding both the literal and metaphorical bag, I’d suggest first opening a case with the portal, but know that it probably won’t go anywhere. Next, I’d reach out to Kate Spade directly, which also probably won’t go anywhere. Finally, either consider whether the miles are worth your time to pursue even further, or just return your purchase. If you want to chat with others about the issue, I’ve created a Telegram group for discussion, it’s open to all churners but meant to be specific to this issue, not a long lived general room.
  4. The Citi ThankYou Mastercard, which has been nominated as a MEAB Unsung Hero but is still stuck in committee, sent year long spend bonuses for the third year in a row. We saw:

    – $160 back on $2,000 spend at gas, grocery, or dining (monthly)
    – $150 back on $1,500 spend at gas, grocery or dining (monthly)
    – $120 back on $1,200 spend at gas, grocery or dining (monthly)
    – 5% back on up to $1,600 spend at lots of places with lots of merchant codes (monthly)

    A few notes: $160 * 12 months = $1,920, and you also earn ThankYou points. Also, unfortunately no you can’t apply for this card. (Thanks to Matt M, Michael, and K)
  5. The Citi AA Platinum Select Mastercard has a heightened bonus of 80,000 AAdvantage miles after $1,000 spend in three months. This offer is from inflight AA applications and requires a flight attendant code. Any six digit code starting with ’00’ should work.
  6. AirFrance / KLM’s promo awards for January includes:

    – Business: Orlando, Montreal, St. Martin
    – Premium Economy: Chicago, Seattle, and Mexico City
    – Economy: New York, Houston, Miami, Atlanta, and Las Vegas

    There are business class opportunities in my spot checks on some of the economy and premium economy cities too, but they’re sparse.

Happy Monday!

Pictured: The MEAB Unsung Hero committee in deep deliberation.

EDITOR’S NOTE: We have a bonus guest post today from Jim – it’d have been better if it came out before December 31 for the sake of some states estimated tax payment due dates, but an oversight on Matt’s part prevented that. Jim is a consummate networker turned churner and attacks problems in unique ways. Special thanks for the guest post!

For those of you searching for something to like about the Big Beautiful (for the Rich) Tax Bill, I may have something:

The bill increases the amount of state taxes you can deduct from $10,000 to $40,000.

This makes the easiest best manufactured spend play (overpaying your estimated taxes by credit card and getting a refund, manufacturing spend at a cost of 1.8%) even better if you can overpay your state income taxes, because you can reduce your Federal income tax by tens of thousands of deductible State income tax overpayments. (Granted it is a temporary reduction for your 2025 taxes as you will now have taxable income from your refund for your 2026 taxes.)

If you are in a non-income tax State, or if you already have $40,000 in State tax deductions, you can still get manufactured spend benefits by paying your estimated tax payments on your Federal Income tax, you just won’t get the tax benefits.

The timing: Overpay State estimated taxes for 2025 by their due date (the due date depends on your state), so they are deductible. If you missed this year, you can do it next year. Then, overpay your Federal estimated tax payments: before January 15, 2026 (last date you can make estimated tax payments). Finally, overpay 2025 Federal Income tax payments before April 15, 2026. In either event you should file as soon as you can to get your refund, preferably electronically, which is quicker.

The risk: I have been doing this for years to the tune of tens of thousands (last year ~$20,000 state refund, $55,000 federal refund), and I’ve talked to others into doing this. I have been reading ~20 points/miles blogs and in that time I’ve heard of 2 problems, which were both huge ($70,000 or so) overpayments and both of which resulted in delayed refunds. It’s unclear if this was due to overpaying or to other issues. However, as Matt says: “I am not a tax advisor and I am certainly not your tax advisor.”

And, although this is about as low of a risk of an American Express RAT attacks as it gets, nothing in manufactured spend has 0 risk. (Speaking of low RAT risk plays, you can buy a no-lifetime language (NLL) mailer that lets you open a Business Platinum and a Business Gold every 90 days and avoids American Express’s once in lifetime language. (It doesn’t t evade American Express’s limits of one card of the same type every 90 days and two cards of any type every 90 days though.)

If you’re looking for channels for mailers and don’t have access, you can reach out to me for help. Emailing me is also my incredibly high tech way to subscribe to my occasional People’s Points emails which are kind of like MEAB guest posts, but safer for those with coulrophobia.

– Jim

There’s no coulrophobia here.

EDITOR’S NOTE: If this message put your mail reader on the struggle bus, check the web version.

Introduction

It’s time for MEAB’s annual New Year tradition! Before we jump in to the regular short-form blog posts that litter the ground like losing tickets at the horse races, we’re starting with an annual MEAB tradition: Telling the story of 2025 through the historical lens of the rigorous academia of (checks notes, sighs): Animated GIFs.

Previous versions of the New Year’s special: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020

Churning in 2025: Broad Strokes

Churning in 2025: A summary.

Every churning group discussing 2025.

Not everything in 2025, was bad. For example, dining had its moments.

The American Express Business Platinum sign-up bonuses increased to 300,000 miles toward the moon Membership Rewards.

The Pepper (Moocho? Mucho? Moo-choo?) Saga

Pepper Rewards was a big part of churning last year.

We spent January and February conjuring points with increasingly ludicrous Pepper sales. Earning 80,000 Membership Rewards daily was child’s play.

The end of March hits and SideShowBob233 gets ready to redeem his stockpile of Pepper rewards. There’s a hiccup, but it’s probably temporary, right?

Waiting for Pepper points to be able to be redeemed in April.

Actively trying to get Pepper points redeemed in June.

July hits, still working on Pepper.

Finally autumn lands and the Pepper CEO shows us what the company’s real plans have been all along.

The Community

Everyone in travel hacking and churning is a little bit weird, and that’s ok. This year we’ve got a dedicated section to celebrate our churning personalties.

The elusive Danny describes his churning profits for 2025.

Chad at Automated Miles drops his Halloween episode.

Mojo interacts with the community in The Pepperdome™.

Carl trains his next batch of players for 2026.

Connor from Churning Life gets his Sunday morning AirPods delivery.

Vinh gets the wrath of FNBO.

Parts_Unknown- and C-MontgomeryChurns keep Redditors focused on churning.

The Points Guy trains its next intern.

LonelyCat’s team in action.

Riley writes another article at Chasing Cetaceans

Country_Boy expertly finds the punchline in an ocean of targets, and isn’t happy with just a single hit.

Richard Kerr reacts to appearing again on the little known turbo-nerd site run by a reclusive newbie, MEAB.

Woody Allen presents “SideShowBob233: A Churning Documentary”

MEAB’s P2 reacts to the feedback from this year’s guest post.

The Behaviors

A churner misunderstands what we meant by looping.

Churners find out that we’re probably losing our $50 Saks credits. We’ll never have to think about them again.

Citi responds to a churner’s KYC answers with an adverse action.

A singular churner escapes 2025 unharmed against all odds.

Costco finds its way into dining and other churning games.

A churner realizes he’ll need to reenter the workforce after the US Bank Altitude Reserve devaluation.

The entire information content of a certain cash-back debit card’s WhatsApp group.

The Card Companies and FinTechs

The Mesa Homeowners card in one act.

Synchrony Bank finally learns what the floosies are up to.

Citi finally had its way with the Barclays AA relationship.

PayPal Bill Pay has a nuclear meltdown, our favorite targets crumble.

Hilton enhanced its elite levels, aiming squarely at existing Diamond members.

We unsuccessfully tried to navigate Kasheesh’s terms and conditions, trying to get anything – literally anything – to work.

Citi’s algorithms chased Strata Elite cardholders with 4506-C requests.

Citi reacted to a Wall Street Journal public shaming over Strata Elite applications.

Airlines and Hotels

US airlines and hotels collectively said “we may not have started the race to the bottom, but damnit, we’re going to win it!”

A Concierge Key elite asks an AA gate agent about being added to the standby list.

Marriott Bonvoy recognizes a Gold elite collecting 500 points at check-in.

Southwest prepares for, and executes, its transformation plans for 2025.

Southwest realizes that it’s funner when paid bags get lost.

JetBlue added JAL as a partner, and you could book into JAL business and first paid fare buckets with miles.

Less than a year later, JetBlue and JAL breakup.

Travel hackers react after Blit [Blit]adds JAL as a transfer partner.

Travel hackers then react after Capital One added JAL as a transfer partner too.

Alaska Atmos became particularly useful for ultra short haul.

MEAB

I guess we couldn’t have GIFs without MEAB, so let’s round out the year with the community and MEAB:

Affiliate bloggers react to yet another MEAB post.

Affiliate and non-affiliate bloggers alike react to a MEAB post about nervous ticks.

Professor MEAB presents at a meetup.

Then MEAB isn’t seen in the wild again, though a music video dropped on December 15, 2025.

And finally on January 1, 2026, MEAB makes a grand reappearance to an empty stadium with every single one of the site’s adoring fans.

Happy New Year!

2026: A Preview

EDITOR’S NOTE: Matt is on vacation until at or around January 1, 2026. Until then we have guest posts, today’s post is brought to you by Matt’s longest churning buddy and all around super-guy, Tyler. Special thanks for the post!

Brokers help us leverage our spending game. From gift cards, gold, rakes for SideShowBob, UR points, MR transfers, iPads, Amex offers, buyer’s groups and more, brokers serve as a conduit to buy/sell goods and services. There are dozens, probably hundreds, of brokers who are seasoned veterans with resources, connections, and forums that can help bridge us to more opportunities and a larger network. They are valuable to us in our spend game.

There are plenty of elements when considering which broker to work with.  I present the Broker Point Factor Analysis (BPFA), a proven method (not really) that allows you to evaluate brokers that will guarantee (no actual guarantee) your path to financial success (probably not).  It is a basic point factor analysis method that assigns points based on identified factors.

So how do we use the BPFA? It is a highly scientific model that you must have an IQ greater than your local average city temperature in July. I vacationed to northern Wisconsin to improve my chances when I studied this model. A few components of this model:

  • BPFA factors are subjective, so consider factors that are important to you when building your BPFA.
  • Points are given based on how each broker is rated in the Broker Point Factor (BPF).
  • Total up your points and see which broker best aligns with your factors.

The certified MEAB Business Analyst has put together an example using two hypothetical brokers: Jim and Dwight. *I hope there aren’t brokers who go by this name, there is no correlation intended. File a complaint with the MEAB Fairness Officer if you feel violated. I think his name is Toby, I can’t remember. Below is the analysis:

BPF: Costs, fees and rates – clear, competitive, based on market conditions. 

Broker Jim: Jim posts rates that are competitive, perhaps not always the highest. They post in a consistent format that makes it easy to digest and aren’t afraid to share any hidden costs or fees. 

Broker Dwight: Dwight routinely under prices to competitors, sometimes a decent amount. Terms can seem vague and when questioned, it might be ambiguous.  

Points: Jim – 1  Dwight – 0 

MEAB Business Analyst rationale: We all want top dollar for our products, and brokers also want the highest margin. Some are smaller with more spread, others are larger with more overhead that need more volume. 

BPF: Ease of use – easy UI/submission process, simplicity. Do they limit cap, speed of deal posting and action. Spreadsheets, websites, forms, links that are intuitive.

Broker Jim: Jim has a nicely dedicated format for his deals. His deals go through email/channels in an efficient format that is also mobile friendly. Jim is always one of the first to put out deals and prices. Jim rarely has flaws in his process, and when we see a deal from Jim, we intuitively know the format and what to do.

Broker Dwight: Dwight has a few different inconsistent methods he uses, which can leave users a bit lost. He sometimes uses Telegram, or WhatsApp, or slack, or email, all of which have different functionality and user preferences that can feel discombobulated. Sometimes dates are wrong, there are typos, and it feels a bit sloppy.

Points: Jim – 3  Dwight – 1

MEAB Business Analyst rationale: Larger brokers have more systems and people in place to navigate ease of use. Though, some have an overengineered process that may not align with what you find easy. Nothing should feel overengineered, and more steps can lead to errors.

BPF: Liquidity, reliability, execution speed:  Fast, on-time, consistent payments. Can weather market fluctuations or issues with end users. 

Broker Jim: Jim pays fast. Like, REALLY fast. Sometimes you panic because funds hit your account before you are expecting. 

Broker Dwight: Dwight has reasonable payout periods. Though, he consistently needs to be reminded once he is past his date. In addition, he has had end user payment issues that delay payment processing. Payments come from various sources and time periods vary, so it is hard to track. 

Points: Jim – 8  Dwight –  -2 

MEAB Business Analyst rationale: Payment delays aren’t usually a big deal as long as it is communicated. More concerning, payment delays may be a result of the broker not having enough money. This can be a potential sign for if something goes wrong, the broker may not have the funds for a period that makes you feel uneasy. 

BPF: Customer Service: Type of support and assistance in all phases of transaction: before, during, and after transactions.

Broker Jim: Is active in his community. He responds to people’s questions publicly when asked, and also responds to private DMs. During initial contact, he is friendly and transparent with new members. He is timely, courteous, and has a knack for doing the right thing.

Broker Dwight: *crickets*

Points: Jim – 2  Dwight – 0 

MEAB Business Analyst rationale: It is easy to be a good broker when things run smooth, though customer service should be top priority. 

BPF: Conflict management: How they navigate problems, disputes and errors. Identifies, addresses, and resolves disagreements in a constructive way that minimizes negative outcomes and maximizes positive ones. 

Broker Jim: is direct in his communication and timely. If there are errors, you are notified immediacy, know what is wrong, and what to do. He offers to support you (not hand hold) with words of guidance as he brokers see more conflicts than buyers do. 

Broker Dwight: Immediately puts blame on his customers. Blames them for errors, makes assumptions, and is belittling to customers in a snarky way. 

Points: Jim – 3  Dwight – 0

MEAB Business Analyst rationale: It isn’t about eliminating conflict, sh!t happens, yet it’s about managing it in a way that leads to growth and better outcomes in the future. “It isn’t what you say, it is how you say it.”

BPF: Terms: What are risks for each party, and do they hold all parties to terms within reason. Clear, defined, yet not overly engineered or heavily unfavorable for one party over another.

Broker Jim: Has terms that are reasonable and even has a clause that protects buyers from fraud. There is a limit on when to submit, how long risk is for products (cards, fuel points, bookings, etc.).  

Broker Dwight: has very long risk periods for his buyers. Essentially makes them accountable no matter what. They almost seem intentionally vague. In addition, he randomly posts updated rules in his forums and channels while not updating his primary terms.  

Points: Jim – 4  Dwight – 1

MEAB Business Analyst rationale: Of course we need rules, this isn’t Nam. focusing on the intent and spirit of the rules more important. In addition, one should always be able to find a brokers terms easily. When in doubt, always ask a brokers terms. Don’t be afraid to constructively suggest changes to terms that are equitable and reasonable.

BPF: Communication: Timely, clear, reasonable in all methods: 1:1 conversations, through chat, to their channels and audience. 

Broker Jim:  has an innate ability to nearly know all of his buyers. He isn’t overly goofy, has fun when appropriate yet still has a business oriented demeanor. When you message Jim, he responds promptly. When a question comes up on a deal he posted, he responds timely or his other buyers chime in to help. 

Broker Dwight: doesn’t engage much. He posts deals and allows his channel to become overwhelmed with fodder. At times, he even contradicts himself with his own guidelines. His brevity at times leave much to be desired.

Points: Jim –  5 Dwight – 2

MEAB Business Analyst rationale: A predictable broker is a good broker. Predictability follows a regular, reliable pattern that makes future events or actions easier to foresee. They anticipate problems before they happen and are clear in their interactions.

Total Points Jim: 26 points, Dwight: 2

The point is obvious: work with brokers that have a value proposition that aligns with yours. I don’t think there are inherently ‘good’ or ‘bad’ brokers. There are brokers that have different modalities by which they operate. If something feels off with a broker, it probably is. Diversify your business among different brokers. Work towards a win-win with your brokers. Treat them with respect and they will return the favor. In conclusion, there are multiple factors that should be considered when utilizing a broker. So do as Kenny Rogers says: know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk away, and know when to run.

– Tyler

Pictured: Tyler’s broker decision tree.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Matt is on vacation until at or around January 1, 2026. Until then we have guest posts, today’s post is brought to you by John from Bank Account Bonus Central, his second of the season. Special thanks for the post!

Recently, Matt posted on one random Tuesday talking about the 10 Commandments of Churning.

I’ve been a participant in Churning Adventures since 2017 and a tour guide on Churning Adventures since I started my YouTube Channel in 2020. I decided to round out these 10 Commandments in no particular order:

  1. Understand the“Golden Rule”which is, He who has the Gold makes the rules… the one who pays out is the one who decides which hoops you need to jump through to get paid, and how to interpret words like “new customer.”
  2. Understand that YES banks and pretty much everywhere else pay you NOT to be loyal to them but to be a NEW or repeat NEW customer.
  3. Understand that once you get approved for a bonus, there will be another offer that will be either better or worse than what you signed up for.
  4. Understand that pigs get fed and hogs get slaughtered… taking too much advantage will get you shut down. These are to be kept as badges of honor, bragging rights, and data points.
  5. Keep accurate records of when you open and close your accounts, and for ANYTHING you sell to buyer groups, a lack of doing this WILL come back to haunt you!Speaking of buyer groups or plans to meet minimum spend,  Always have a backup plan, as things can and WILL change rather quickly with methods of spending.
  6. Understand there will always be Karens who make up rules just because they want to and don’t always understand the rules…. that’s why self checkout was created.
  7. Always be probing to see whatopportunities there are that are not advertised, and understand that Terms and Conditions are only advisory unless you’re in legal mediation or in a court of law.This is why BBB and CFPB exist.
  8. Understand that YES, there are a whole bunch of acronyms involved if you choose to get involved in this fun and profitable game. BAU is what you always want…
  9. Jump on the best deals as they get nerfed rather quickly. Take full advantage of Venture Capital, as those are the easiest deals to get approved for, and they may not always last.
  10. Subscribe to sites like Bank Account Bonus Central and MEAB to learn of opportunities and mindsets required to be successful.

For a more entertaining video version of these commandments. See this video here: https://youtu.be/VpFQHGq0gXg

– John

Next time: The surprising math behind the 10 wings of churning.