A Thanksgiving churning blogger tradition seems to involve writing about all the things you’re thankful for (I suppose if you’re going to be cliché in a conformist-rebel sort of way, that’s a home-run post). But we do things a bit differently around here, so instead of a regular “things I’m thankful for” post, I wanted to call out some of the churning blogger phrases that I’m, uhh – thankful isn’t the right word, deluged by:
“It’s mind boggling that”
“An ok deal”
“Nevertheless, it represents value”
“Nothing groundbreaking here”
“… and it may be for some folks”
“it should be worth it”
“SMOKING HOT!”
“Alive Again!”
“Final hours!”
“worth keeping your eye out”
“[company] is once again back with their lucrative offer”
– 75,000 miles after $4,000 spend in three months – 25,000 miles after $20,000 spend in 12 months – 1.5x on 1x spend through January 15, 2026 up to 20,000 miles
I think banks shouldn’t make you pull out a calculator for a sign-up bonus personally either, but welcome to #2025 again.
The Rove shopping portal, notable for its transferability to Lufthansa Miles & More, has a promotion through Black Friday for 4x-5x at giftcards.com.
If you’re not a member of Rove, use a friend’s referral link. If you don’t have a friend with Rove, reach out to me and I’ll send you a random churner’s link.
Giftcards.com has a $10 gift card with the purchase of $100+ in Visa gift cards with promo code VISABOGO. This code is appearing on most shopping portals, so it should stack with portal earning.
– You’ve still got a few days to earn if this is interesting to you – To decide if it’s interesting, would you trade 1.50-2.00 Avios for a Hyatt point?
Even with a big Hyatt balance, I’d generally still answer the second question with a definite “yuuup”.
Royal Air Maroc has a paid status match opportunity for non-US frequent flyer elites (that is, they’re not matching US airline status). Matches to Gold ($349) get oneworld Sapphire and to Platinum ($749) get oneworld Emerald status though the end of 2026.
Both will get you access to AA and Alaska lounges even when flying domestically with either airline. (Thanks to David)
There are two niche hotel promotions, register for either or both if there’s any chance of you staying with either program in the next quarter:
I’ve been told Best Western has some really nice properties, but I’ve personally yet to see one. I can confirm however that Preferred Hotels does have some really nice properties.
Happy Wednesday, safe travels!
The kind of quirk you should expect from the US Bank shopping portal.
In the Ten Commandments of Churning, of which I’ve yet to discover nine of the commandments, we discover an auspicious writing that’s particularly relevant in the last couple of weeks:
Terms and Conditions are only advisory unless you’re in legal mediation or in a court of law.
– The 10 commandments of churning, unpublished
Just because a particular bank tells you that they won’t award a sign-up bonus to prior customers doesn’t mean that they actually behave as written. Just because a credit card company says that they won’t award points if you buy a gift card doesn’t mean that you won’t see points when you buy a gift card.
Conversely, just because a crypto company says that you’re eligible for a sign-up bonus doesn’t mean they’ll pay it out unless you force their hand.
– It gives unlimited cash out at 1 cent per point (TBD on the E*Trade integration) – It gives a free authorized user Platinum card with its own lounge access – Historically it’s been semi-churnable
According to the T&Cs, eligible accounts include an individual E*Trade brokerage or bank account.
This card is available via referrals, but there’s restrictive referral language so the referrer may not get their referral bonus. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try though, T&Cs don’t always match reality.
The Synchrony Virgin Red Mastercard has a sign-up bonus of 60,000 miles and a $200 statement credit after $4,000 spend in three months. The bonus is available on the checkout page during a booking, whether or not you actually check out and pay . The card’s $99 annual fee is not waived the first year.
There was at one point a 75,000 point bonus, but 60,000 miles and $200 is better because you can transfer just about every currency to Virgin Atlantic, often with a transfer bonus. The card has other intrinsic value. (Thanks to DoC)
November and December historically offer the best spreads between retailer discount gift card cost and brokers’ buying prices. The best rates are going to be with private buyers and small brokers, not with the big guys, but for obvious reasons you’re not going to find private buyers and small brokers here. We can discuss major brokers that are open to (most) churners though. For weekend funzies, let’s review the brokers as if they were greek gods:
You’ve still got time to onboard with most of these for the holidays if you’re not already a member. Have a nice weekend, and may Olympus favor your manufactured spend.
(Bonus analogy) Dell’s order verification team: Cerebus for guarding the gates to hell.
Kroger has a bonus 1x fuel points promotion that stacks with its currently running 4x fuel points promotion for a total of 5x fuel points earning on One4All Ultimate cards through November 27.
“A quick update about your application. It looks like you’re not eligible for a bonus for a Chase Ink Business Cash credit card. This can happen if you currently have this card or have had it previously. Customers who are applying for a Chase Business card without an annual fee or who have held this card are also ineligible.”
The user had the option to continue without the bonus, no report on whether or not a hard pull occurred. #bonvoyed
SoFi accounts are churnable and Swagbucks has a referral bonus so use another player or a friend’s referral link.
The Citi ThankYou Mastercard, the card issued to replace Citi Shop Your Way Mastercards, sent out targeted offers over the weekend, continuing in its predecessor’s path:
– $75 off of $750+ in online spend through December 14 – $100 off of $1,000+ in online spend through December 14
You can’t currently apply for this card as far as I can tell, but there is hidden code on the dashboard with an application link. It’s probably vestigial, but there’s a 🤏 chance that you’ll be able to apply in the future.
American Express now requires social security numbers at application time for personal authorized user cards. I confirmed the news on my accounts, but I can tell you that they’re still not once in a lifetime. Also, business employee cards are still “same as it ever was, same as it ever was, … water dissolving, and water removing” though (sorry about the ear-worm).
Articles were everywhere because it was great content-monster food, but I’ll try and keep it as short as possible here so you don’t waste your time elsewhere:
Hilton added a new Diamond Reserve tier that requires $18,000 of qualifying spend at Hilton properties with 40 stays or 80 nights, there’s currently no other way into it. They also lowered the requirements for other tiers slightly, but credit card jockeys need not care. The benefits for the Diamond Reserve tier are lukewarm at best (automatic 4PM late checkout, a suite upgrade certificate, a concierge, and premium club access at the ~10 properties that offer it.)
(Side note: On October 7, I wrote “Hopefully the ratio of Rakuten points to Bilt Rewards will be 1:1, but given Richard Kerr’s involvement I wouldn’t call that a foregone conclusion. Go ahead Richard, prove me wrong.” Oops.)
Bilt is practicing death by a thousand cuts, and we may have reached the “one cut too many” threshold.
The Good and Bad
Let’s talk about the good of the Bilt credit card and Bilt Rewards program, both of which are made better together:
Hyatt, Alaska, and JAL are valuable transfer partners
Personally, I can handle two or even three of these negatives, but taken as a whole, I’m over the edge, this thing no longer makes sense. Stick a fork in it, it’s done.
The Exceptions
Your situation isn’t the same as mine, and you’re all adults so obviously you can make your own assessment. But, there are a few cases where Bilt might still make sense:
You’re shutdown by Chase and you want Hyatt points or United miles
You don’t care about a new account showing on your credit report
Maybe the unknown Cardless Bilt card family’s earning structure is better
You want to earn Bilt points on rent payments without other games
You have a Kerr-resistant loophole
Of course, you do you, and remember it’s good advice to not blindly listen to a rando on the internet, even on a Tuesday.
