One of the “endearing quirks” of churners is the uncanny ability to assign a (probably incorrect) cash value to non-cash instruments. For example, I’ll do it right now:
- What’s the value of a Hyatt point? 2.0 cents
- What about a Delta SkyMile? 1.1 cents, but only if you fly Delta and have a Delta credit card
- What’s about an AAdvantage mile that never gets redeemed? 0.0 cents
- Ok smart guy, what about a Bud Light in the Lufthansa First Class Terminal? -$46 per can, *waves hands* because something something opportunity cost
How about a hard credit pull? This could be a complex calculation involving things like the average credit card sign-up bonus value, the opportunity cost of minimum spend on a 2% card, the loss of a potential 5/24 slot, the small probability that it causes eyes to end up on your account, how much more an incremental sign-up bonus will increase your happiness, and the mental overhead of additional accounting.
But, I like to keep things simple to make it easy to decide if any particular deal is worth a hard pull:
I’d always trade $800 for a hard pull on my credit report (and yes, I’d trade $800,000,000 for one million pulls on my report, interested parties can reach out). The further below $800 I get, the less interesting a deal is for me.
So, my expectation value for a hard pull is $800.
What’s the point of this article? Great question and I’m not sure I know (exactly what you wanted to hear from a, uhh “trusted”, source), but it does serve as a measuring stick: it’s pretty easy to find credit cards that require a hard-pull and have a sign-up bonus or ongoing value worth at least $800. If you’re not getting that, perhaps question why and whether or not you should do something different.
Happy Thursday!
Other churner focused endearing quirks? Mismatched socks.