Claim OwnershipChurning Life Podcast
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© 2024 Connor
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Listen to learn more about different aspects of the churning life, including buying groups, gift card reselling, credit cards, redemptions, and more! Feel free to head over to churninglife.com to sign up to the deal alerts mailing list and Patreon.com/ChurningLife for exclusive details related to topics on the show.
20 Episodes
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In this episode I talk with Logan from Aligned Incentives about how he started his gift card brokerage and how it operates today.To join the free Slack group, head over to churninglife.com.
Business is continuing to go well with Best Buy with laptops and this month I was able to buy Playstation Portals for the first time. I did have a few issues with packages not getting delivered and I had my first missing items case with Amazon. I also recap my experience with the Bank of America business checking bonus and how I eventually got it to post.To join the free Slack group, head over to churninglife.com.
A recap of our week-long trip in Miami and St Croix, USVI, where we had a really fun experience. I also discuss the latest Wyndham/Vacasa and Hyatt devaluations and what's next after Best Buy. To join the free Slack group and sign up for the mailing list, head over to churninglife.com.
This month I didn't sign up for any new credit cards, but instead put a lot of effort into figuring out how to order from Best Buy and had good success with dropshipping Echo Dots. I also spent a lot of time at the Apple store on the Apple Vision Pros, which turned out to be profitable for me despite not being as good as we had expected.To join the free Slack group and sign up for the mailing list, head over to churninglife.com.
I start with a deep dive into what happened with the crypto collapse and the bankruptcy of "crypto lending" platforms, then discuss what we can learn from them and how to think about the risk with churning-related activities. To join the free Slack group and sign up for the mailing list, head over to churninglife.com.
Amex continues to be very strong and will put me in a great position for the first half of 2024. It was another decent month for Amazon and I'm looking ahead to scale up WM & BB spend. I also discuss the Apple Vision Pro release and what's going on with Paypal Bill Pay.
A recap of my recent trip to St. Anton, Austria to go skiing with my brother. The skiing was awesome and it was a really fun trip!Flights:PDX-SFO-FRA-INN on UA/LH/EN for 90k Aeroplan + $94.ZRH-LHR-LAX-PDX on BA/AA/AA for 57.5k AA miles + $102.Hotel:Omaela Apartments: $1,300 for 4 nights. Skiing:$243 for a lift ticket for 3 days (not per day).
This was the highest intensity month I have had to date, with a lot of great deals to wrap up the end of the year. The main ones were AirPods from Verizon and Capital One Shopping Portal referrals, but there were some other gift card deals mixed in as well as the usual Amazon BG stuff.
Recapping our 2-week trip to India, including Delhi, Rajasthan, and Goa. We faced a lot of unexpected challenges during the trip but overall had a great time!Award Flights:PDX-YVR-DEL on AI Y/J/F for 55k/90k/117k Aeroplan.PDX-SFO-EWR-DEL on UA J for 80k United Miles (in both directions).GOI-DOH-SFO on QR J for 80k Avios.Award Hotels:Hilton Jaipur for 20k HH/nt (upgraded to Diamond floor w/Gold status).Alila Diwa Goa for 9k Hyatt/nt (upgraded to Junior Suite with Explorist status).Club at Alila Diwa for 15k Hyatt/nt.
A short month for me since I was out for the last two weeks, but I still made use of some decent deals for BGs and GC reselling. I got another batch of BoA Alaska Business cards and discuss the plans for my new Citi AA Business card.Send me an email if you are looking for a link to the private Slack.
This episode covers a couple of trips that I went on over the past few months and some general award travel advice on how to plan your trip to Europe this summer. If you are interested in a churning meetup in Portland, I've linked a quick google form if you want to give any input:https://forms.gle/rnk7wecYiAbWshya9
This is a slightly different episode from the content I've been putting out lately - I do a deep dive into the Joinsave brokerage "bonus" and discuss some general finance stuff that is mostly unrelated to churning but that I think is important for everyone to know.Update 1/5/24: They have nerfed the referral sign-up offer to a $1k match for a $1k deposit and a $5k match for a $5k deposit. I have removed my referral link since I don't think this offer is still worth doing.
This month had it's ups and downs for me. Another round of Amazon devices and Prime Day were great for buying groups, but I had a disappointing round of applications with US Bank. Towards the end of the month, I accepted some targeted offers for Amex 99x AUs for the first time, which I am really excited about. This episode also has a bank bonus section for the first time as I pick up some low hanging fruit.
Today I talk about an MS method that involves using bill pay services to liquidate gift cards or to put spend on cashback debit cards. In the second section I talk about some discussions that people have involving taxes (disclaimer: not tax advice). See this IRS ruling for more info: https://casetext.com/case/anikeev-v-commr
I had a fun experience with gaming the AA shopping portal that ultimately didn't work. I also discuss my plans for how to get back into the game with Best Buy and Walmart and general strategies to stay prepared.
The new iPhone 15 was a fun reselling opportunity, although it ended rather quickly. In September I got a a new round of Amex NLLs and stacked these with the 20k/4k employee card bonuses for some hefty profits. I also spent a lot of time on the phone with BoA for some business card applications and feel like I learned a lot from the process.
1Recapping the major trips we have had so far this year! Below is a summary of the flights and hotels:Belize:
PDX-SEA-BZE/BZE-SEA-PDX on AS Y with companion fare for $750 pp.
San Pedro: Paradise Villas - 5 nights for $645 w/Airbnb GC.
San Ignacio: Villa Cayo - 3 nights for $390.
AQ Car Rental Belize - 3 days for $175.
Vietnam:
PDX-DFW-DOH-SGN on AA/QR J for 175k MR pp with biz plat.
Fusion Suites Saigon - 2 nights for $168.
Little Riverside Hoi An - 2 nights for $314.
Taiwan:
TPE-SFO on CI J for 88k KLM.
ICN-HNL-PDX on HA J/Y for 95k HA.
Sea Monkey Diving Homestay - 4 nights + 2 PADI Open Water I for $1100.
A Mei Yi B&B (阿美姨民宿) - 2 nights for $170.
August had a big sale on Amazon devices that was great for buying groups with retailers including Target, Staples, and Kohl's. Credit card bonuses included a 100k CIP + referral along with a solid batch of Amex employee card offers.
A rundown on the Kroger fuel points ecosystem, a discussion of churning ethics, and some churning and churning-adjacent stories where things got out of hand.
July's highlights include summaries of Amazon, Costco, and US Bank.
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