Sometimes TPOL doesn’t read the terms and conditions but the ball still bounces his way. For example, I received the Hilton Surpass offer twice from Amex despite their Stone Age rule about offers available once in a lifetime. Sometimes I don’t read the terms and I deservedly get nothing. (see Delta Amex platinum) This cavalier [stupid] way of doing business is what gets me into trouble with visa requirements at the airport. Excited by the offer or the trip, I don’t do the fundamental research to ensure that things go smoothly.

When it comes to the churn rules, despite the occasional oversight, I know what I am doing. Don’t apply for an Alaska card on a Tuesday. Don’t sneeze while on a recon call with Barclays. And don’t yell, “Yeah baby I’m a ducking churner!” when they approve your card over the phone. In all seriousness, I’ve done well for myself with the slow and steady approach of applying for cards over the years.

Cue the Citi Gold Checking account.

When I saw the offer for Citi Gold Checking, I was a little hesitant to fund the account with a credit card. I had never done it before and was scared that somehow I could not access my funds to pay off the credit card that I had used. That did not end up being a problem. $32,000 later, I had opened an account and paid off my Alaska Airlines card with no issue.

The issue was carelessness in analyzing the offers for opening the Citi account. Either I could have 50k TY points or I could have 50k AA miles. From reading the blogs, I was told that the 50k AA offer could trigger a 1099. I was also aware that AA would be devaluing its miles in March. Concurrently, it seemed like every blogger had elected to take the TY points even though there were some troubling restrictions that were mentioned. One was that the points would expire within 60 days of closing the checking account, something that possibly could be prevented by simply downgrading the account. The other which was casually stated was the lack of transferability to TY partners.

For me that should have been the ultimate red flag. If I can’t transfer my TY points to SQ or Virgin, then what good are they for me? I do not care for 1.6 cents per TY point refund for a revenue flight. I get greater value using my wizard skills to book premium class tickets for round the world trips. Still, like a true imbecile, I figured that I could get around the transfer restriction and move my TY checking account points to my Prestige card and then transfer those to wherever.

Wrong.

Although combining TY points is allowed, the origination of these points do not disappear just because they are put into one account. The Prestige points have its own policies and expiration date and the Citi Checking points have its as well. This means there is no way to transfer the TY checking account points to a TY partner.

Stuck, I tried to accept that I was stupid and that nothing could be done. Maybe I could use this as a teaching moment so that next time I would pay more attention and trust my instincts instead of listening to the masses. Instead, I did something else impulsively which could either rectify the situation or backfire again: I called Citi and closed my checking account. They said that I had not received the bonus so I was welcome to apply again for the AA bonus.

Now I am waiting for this closure to be processed before attempting to do so. Here’s why this strategy may be worse than anything I have done up to this point. First, Citi may say that I am ineligible to reopen the account despite what the agent said. Second, the AA offer may not be available by the time I am able to reapply. Third, I have read that this is a churnable offer so I could’ve gone for the AA bonus next year.

Once again, I did no research so I have no idea how this will turn out. I may have just given away free money or I may have fixed what I thought was unfixable. At the very least, I did receive 32k Alaska miles.

The takeaway from all this is the following:

1. Do your own research. Read the rules yourself and then cross-reference trusted blogs.
2. Pick what offer works for you not what works for everyone else.
3. Admit when you are stupid and do your best to fix it.

Can it be anymore obvious? Go ahead and tell me your thoughts. I can handle it.

Yours in smart times and in dumb,

TPOL

In 5 years the TPOL family is going to be completely legitimate.

I was supposed to go from a points millionaire to a real millionaire. The idea was that the points hustle would provide for an opulent lifestyle while I sorted out my own entrepreneurial aspirations. (see my published book on entrepreneurship) While I’m making progress launching my own cloud international legal consulting practice and I just became Google AdWords certified, a necessary tool to become omnipresent, I have not forsaken the points game because I’d rather fly first for free than pay for peasant.

With the news of Chase ruining our lives with this cleverly named 5/24 rule, the race is on to get rich or die tryin’ to survive on points rations. The bad news of 2015 continues on into 2016. From Chase putting the kibosh on churning to SPG merging with Marriott, a lose lose for all SPG members (regardless of what Marriott’s CEO says) TPOL had to do something he never thought he would have to do, apply for the Marriott card.

Let me tell you why: First, the offer has never been better. It’s 80k Marriott points + $7500 points after spending 3k in 3 months with an annual fee of $85 that is not waived. That’s essentially 90k Marriott points that can get you two nights free at a Category 9 hotel. With a trip to South of France in August, I am looking to make a reservation at the JW Cannes. Second, maybe something magical will happen with the co-branded credit card for those that have SPG and Marriott.

Since Chase is essentially saying that my credit will be no good with them after April, I am being more aggressive than ever. On the recon call, I decided to cancel the Hyatt card in the hopes that I can get the bonus again before the end of days. I may even apply for the United Business and something else just because.

Maybe the 5 year plan was a bit ambitious.

Don’t ask me about my business Kay.

Look more bad news! Chase gutted the UR churning program by restricting clients from applying for UR earning cards if they have had more than 5 new accounts in 24 months. Most of us have 5 new accounts before we wake up for breakfast. Now it is being reported on Al Jazeera that they are going to enforce this rule on all applications.

Like my Serve analysis suggested, the only workaround is to have more spouses. Alternatively, I may hit up nursing homes in my neighborhood in the hopes that my new friends will not only allow me to churn on their SS# but also be kind enough to leave me an inheritance. Maybe they’ll even agree to open a Serve card.

TPOL has never cried wolf on the demise of the points hustle and continues to find a way to travel for free in luxury despite the devaluations, Dodd-Frank regulations, and the greatest, most beautiful wall built by Donald Trump. This year I already have epic (a word I do not use casually) trips planned. I probably have enough in the tank to replicate part of my adventures next year. But what happens in 2018 if this trend continues? Will we all be flying peasant class to Orlando and renting cars to get to Tampa for the sake of evaluating whether Busch Gardens is a better value than Universal?

Today, I also read a post about how Citi has shut down clients’ accounts who have plundered that booty by applying for obscene amounts of cards and manufacturing the duck out of them. They may be out of the game permanently but it does beg the question if we were we being too cautious this whole time? Given the new points landscape, should we have been applying for Citi Exec cards then cancelling them as soon as the bonus hit only to do the same thing again and again? I don’t believe so for two reasons: First, the handful of times that I have tried this blatant approach, I was rejected. (see Alaska Airlines) Second, like the economy, the points hustle is cyclical. Terrible offers today can turn into great opportunities tomorrow depending on the desperation of the banks. Right now Chase is riding high and Jamie Dimon is loving life. He doesn’t need our business.

Going forward, TPOL has to be more prudent about which cards he applies for, which offers he selects (note: it’s looking like I was completely stupid for taking the TY points over AA for the Citi Checking), and how he redeems the points (Etihad Apartments versus Etihad business). Barring travel sponsorship which is long overdue, this conservative strategy will be the only way TPOL’s blog survives.