I was pretty excited to be doing a credit card churn on a plane somewhere over the atlantic… oh, the novelty!
This credit card churn was a little bit premature, but I was very keen to get the Chase Amtrak card, which had all of a sudden disappeared from Chase’s website. Doctor of Credit posted a couple working links to the application. This card was initially pending, but was approved almost two weeks after applying without calling in. The signup bonus for this card was only 12,000 Amtrak points, though I have heard reports of people sending a direct message to Chase and having them match a recent 18,000 point offer. There is no annual fee on this card.
I also applied for a Chase Ink business card, but as of now that card is still pending, I’m not overly optimistic of it being approved at this point, but that’s okay.
I always add the Alaska Airlines cards to my applications. Usually I just apply for the personal card, but in this case I applied for both the personal and business card. The personal card was immediately approved, while the business card was initially pending. The business card was approved about a week later without calling in. For these two Alaska Airlines cards issued through Bank of America, I will earn 50,000 Alaska Miles + $100 for a total of $150.
I had also had plans to apply for the American Express SPG Personal card and the Citi Thank-You Premier card, but the internet started acting up a bit and I decided to finish my applications on the ground. Fast-forward a few hours when I got off my 14-hour flight, had to change terminals at ORD, and wanted to grab a bite to eat, flew to New York, took a taxi downtown, and then caught up with a friend I hadn’t seen in almost 4-years, and, no surprise here, I forgot to finish my credit card churn.
On one hand, kind of a bummer, and definitely a n00b move, but on the other, the Amtrak card was really what I was going after in this application cycle, and that card was approved. So all in all, I can’t be too upset about the turn in events!
![Russia – Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Velicky Novgorod [VIDEO]](https://carolinelupini.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/russia-500x383.jpg)
![The Dead Sea – Don’t Miss It! [VIDEO]](https://carolinelupini.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Screen-Shot-2018-03-11-at-1.44.10-PM-500x383.png)
I initially signed up for the Amtrak 12K offer but then was successfully matched to the 18K offer through a secure message. You do have to make a bit more spending ($1K vs. $500)
That’s what I’m planning to do now that I have the card in my possession!
Why not just apply the next day? I think the growing consensus in this hobby is that your 2nd app can see your 1st app and your 3rd app can see both your 1st and 2nd app in real time, so the multiple applications within minutes of each other doesn’t really help anymore.
That was something I had thought of, but since the main purpose was to get the Amtrak card, and I had put in my application for that card, I decided it wasn’t a bit deal. I was spending the weekend with a friend I hadn’t seen in almost four years, and already had a few things I had to get done, like take my passport to the Russian Consulate so I could get my visa, and I didn’t want to be running errands the whole time I had to visit with her.
What is your typical credit churning cycle? You also mentioned Alaska, how often do you apply for Alaska card in a year and do you cancel your previous Alaska card(s)?
I used to be on a solid every 3 month churning cycle, then kind of let it go to four, and now I would say I do 2 or 3 churns a year but they are less regular. It’s more like if there is a great offer or a card I really want, I will go for it, but at this point it is easy for me to manufacture the points/miles I need and I also have a pretty good stock pile.
I didn’t really get into the Alaska cards until about a year ago, and since then I have applied for four cards… three personal and one business. My first Alaska card I downgraded after a few months because it was my only BoA card at that time, and my second card is still open. I will try to transfer the credit lines of those cards to my new cards and close them out in the coming months just so I have less open accounts to keep track of.
I think you’ll have to call for the Chase Ink card. They want to hear a little bit about your business. Nothing terrible though.
In the past when I’ve called about the Ink cards I think they take too close of a look at my credit inquiries… I’ve always been denied when I’ve called except for my first Ink card whereas if I just wait I’ve had more success getting the cards approved.