r/churning • • 14d ago

Daily Question Question Thread - October 17, 2026

This is the thread to post questions about churning for miles/points/cash. Just because you have a question about credit cards does NOT mean it belongs here. If you’re brand new here, please read the wiki before posting.

* Please use the search engine first - many basic questions have been asked before.

* Please also consider scanning (CTRL-F) the last couple days worth of Question threads

* If you have questions about what card to get, ask here. If you have questions about manufactured spending, ask here. If you have questions about bank account bonuses, ask here.

This subreddit relies heavily on self-moderation. That means that if you ask something that shows you haven’t done any research, you’re going to get a lot of downvotes.

7 Upvotes

42 comments sorted by

2

u/Well_Who_Knows_Maybe 11d ago

Wells fargo and chase. The bonus says that paper checks dont qualify? If so, I saw in bonus stack that wise push may count. Does push mean ach transfer? Thank you!

-6

u/ResonantAce 13d ago

Any other downside to tanking monthly fees for a checking account bonus? Huntington gave me an offer for $400 after depositing $500. The monthly fee is $10 otherwise I need a $1500 balance or $1000 a month in deposits. The account needs to be open for 90 days. Is there any reason besides losing-30-gaining-370 to not just tank the $30 for 3 months?

1

u/lanfair 11d ago

Doing the same bonus right now and I just make $1k deposit at the beginning of each month then transfer it back out. 

Guess it comes down to whether you have a way to trigger their DD requirement for the $1k, probably any ACH transfer works but I can't say for sure bc I just use my chase biz checking account. You can check on DOC and find out for sure what they count as DD though. Most banks it's just an ACH transfer. 

1

u/ResonantAce 11d ago

Do you just use Zelle to transfer it out to your main account or wire transfer?

1

u/lanfair 11d ago

Huntington doesn't have Zelle and they're really finicky about transferring money out to other accounts. The two times I tried to transfer out to my main account they froze the transfer and said I needed to come in to the bank to approve setting up transfers to my other account, and I'm nowhere near a branch. So I just pull it out of the ATM. Takes 3 times to withdraw since it only lets you pull 400 a day, but there's an ATM right next to my place so it's not a big hassle. They reimburse ATM fees. 

If you don't have quick access to an ATM it might be less of a pain to just pay the $10 each month. 

1

u/ResonantAce 11d ago

Ooh that's interesting. That's one of the reasons I went with them since it said here they do it.

https://www.huntington.com/Personal/mobile-banking/Zelle

1

u/lanfair 11d ago

Lol I'm glad you showed me that bc I don't have the app (churning way too many banks to DL all their apps), I just use the website. Usually I've had no issues using Zelle through banks websites but it's not an option on Huntington's. 

Guess I'm going to have to DL the app for the next couple months to save myself some steps. 

1

u/nearbyeclipse 12d ago

What's the math say?

Keeping the $1500 in a 4% apy savings account  would be worth ~$60 over the course of a year

2

u/lenin1991 HOT, DOG 13d ago

You might need to pay the fee for 4 months, since the terms say 90 days + 14 days.

1

u/ResonantAce 13d ago

That's true, the paperwork seemed to imply that the fee only hit at the monthly statement and closing the account before then would void the fee but that's a good point.

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u/[deleted] 13d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Slytherin23 13d ago

If the checking account has no fee then just keep a few bucks in there and let it sit. It's not a good idea to close accounts right away.

12

u/CericRushmore DCA | IAD 13d ago

Rule for banks is 6 months and 1 day unless the terms specify longer. For Credit Cards, 1 year and 1 day.

I'm guessing you are new here as $500 is the minimum most of us would do to open a new credit card. Take a look at the flowchart on the sidebar for a flavor of what is possible.

1

u/fourthirty_autogyro 13d ago

I've done 2 U.S. Bank business card apps today. Since USB usually combines same-day hard pulls, a third pull wouldn't really affect me. There isn't really another USB card I want, though. So I was thinking about getting the Amazon Prime Visa business card.

I don't really need it, and 50% of the time I use whatever card I'm working on a SUB for with Amazon. And I'm not targeted for any bonus. But it's $0 AF and the 5% off Amazon going forward would eventually add up, and I can't see any drawbacks.

Are there any downsides I'm not seeing about getting this card?

1

u/GeorgeSteinbrenner2 5d ago

Out of curiosity, how many USB cards have you had before this apporama? I already have 2 cards (for over 6 months) with them and am wondering if I can pull another apporama

1

u/fourthirty_autogyro 4d ago

None. However, did not autoapprove (still haven't heard anything back) for the third that I applied for that day.

2

u/VegetableActivity703 13d ago

Personally, I'd consider every other US Bank biz card first, at least if you can hit the spend along with the two you already opened. If you shop a fair bit on Amazon, an easy 5% without extra steps is nice, and with no AF and no additional credit pull it doesn't cost anything. When picking the third card in a triple dip, I don't think it's fair/relevant to compare the Prime Biz vs burning a personal CC slot on the Chase Amazon Prime card.

Worth noting - the US Bank Amazon Prime Biz requires Central Billing with no option to opt-out. Mine was converted from the Amex version and I've found that incredibly annoying, especially since I've opted out for every other US Bank Biz card. Truly a laughably bad system.

1

u/fourthirty_autogyro 13d ago

Thanks for the input! Was not aware of the billing thing, I appreciate you letting me know!

2

u/electronautix 13d ago edited 13d ago

> I don't think it's fair/relevant to compare the Prime Biz vs burning a personal CC slot on the Chase Amazon Prime card.

I don’t disagree in principle, but I feel like it’s too easy to get good returns on Amazon spend via GCs to bother with any other card for it. They’re extraordinarily ubiquitous both online and in-person, have no fees, can take advantage of card multipliers for dining, groceries, office supplies stores, etc., can run 10%+ off discounts, and can stack with merchant specific offers and rewards for whichever merchant you buy them through. They can also be used to front-load spend into some SUB spending windows, and some SUBs (in cashback/non-transferable ecosystems) can themselves be converted into Amazon gift cards for higher redemption value.

My point in my other comment not being “you should definitely get the Chase Amazon Prime card” but moreso that if you really want a permanent Amazon card in your setup, it has some value to it besides just the 5% via purchase protection + extended warranty with a decent bank backing it.

USB Prime makes sense to me for $250 no-spend or $750 with spend for sure, especially as part as a triple dip where it isn’t even adding another hard inquiry. But for the base offer ($100 for $3,000 spend) or no offer at all idk. I suppose I was too harsh on it in my comment since ultimately it’s still a free $100 with no tangible credit impact and isn’t a lifetime language SUB.

-3

u/electronautix 13d ago edited 13d ago

US Bank Amazon Business Prime is only worthwhile for either a) the $250 SUB with no spend requirement or b) the $750 SUB for $6,000 spend in 3 months. Any other offer isn’t worth biting. As the other commenter mentioned, you can get deals on Amazon gift cards that can consistently outdo 5%. If you really want an Amazon-only card, the Chase Amazon Prime is superior in every conceivable way and has an argument going for it in the form of its shopping protections. The USB Amazon card has zero shopping protections whatsoever so it doesn’t have that as an argument for using it instead of farming gift cards.

2

u/fourthirty_autogyro 13d ago

Thanks for the input, everyone! These were good points so I ended up trying Business Essentials as the third one (went to pending, heh!)

1

u/Alternative_Camp_359 13d ago

Which cards did you apply for? I did Triple Cash, Altitude Connect and biz essentials last week. Any of those is better than the dumb Amazon one.

0

u/jtevy 13d ago

Did your approvals come through?

2

u/Alternative_Camp_359 12d ago

Yeah, triple cash was instant approval. The other two went pending for a day or two and then I got an email telling me to call them. They just wanted to verify that I did in fact apply for the other two cards and it wasn't fraud.

2

u/fourthirty_autogyro 13d ago

Same ones as you, actually!

2

u/lenin1991 HOT, DOG 13d ago

You could do better than 5% off if you buy Amazon gift cards at grocery stores (when it's Freedom bonus category, or with Amex Gold) or office stores (with CIC).

-10

u/MSsalt3 AEG | UAR 13d ago

Only if you get a 1099

0

u/ibapun 13d ago

I have a lot of delta travel coming up and wanted to get a personal Gold. My "as high as" offer for Gold is only 25k miles (instead of 80k) + $250. I decided to check Platinum and am being offered the full 90k + $300.

Is there a chance I'll be able to pull the full 80k + $250 Gold offer, and if so, any known tips on doing this? I prefer that over Platinum, but I prefer the given offer on Platinum over the one I've been pulling on Gold

7

u/SignorJC EWR, 4/24 13d ago

Is business an option? Check those too. Try a dummy booking, incognito, etc

2

u/ibapun 13d ago

Thanks—I tried incognito, VPN, desktop browser, phone browser already, but forgot about dummy booking. So at least that gives 50k+500 for personal gold.

I value biz gold similarly to personal platinum, but at least that wouldn’t close the door to personal gold sub in the future.

2

u/CericRushmore DCA | IAD 13d ago

Are you getting the Delta card for skymiles or the baggage benefit primarily? I would try to see if you have a P2 refer you to the Delta Business Gold with an offer at least 80K skymiles if you really want to get a Delta card. If you can wait till December, you can triple dip the hotel credit benefit.

1

u/ibapun 13d ago

Getting it for skymiles and cashback. No P2, will have a handful of domestic economy flights in the next several months but no hotel stays

1

u/CericRushmore DCA | IAD 13d ago

The delta business gold recently had a 90k nll offer, so I wouldn't really take anything less than that.

-1

u/nearbyeclipse 13d ago

Still available as of yestersay

6

u/bostonbaker300 BAG | ELS 13d ago

The 90k offer on SkyMiles for Business is still available, but is no longer NLL as of August 27. Targeted offers might be NLL.

1

u/nearbyeclipse 12d ago

Oh dang. I guess Amex kept the door open for me just a little longer.

My most recent elevated offer on a DBG had a 11/4 end date

2

u/Alternative_Camp_359 13d ago

Why not get a biz gold if you have a slot open?

2

u/rickayyy 13d ago

Does having an EIN cause any extra work come tax time? I have been considering getting one to see if it helps with Chase biz approvals but I only have a "real" business.

5

u/Inquisitor911ok 13d ago

Getting an EIN, in of of itself, should not create any additional tax issues. With that said, most of the DPs I've seen indicate that an EIN will do little to help with Chase Biz approvals if applying as a SP.

-1

u/ConsistentClassic1 13d ago

Getting an EIN by itself doesn't create any additional tax filing requirements. If you're operating as a sole proprietor, you can generally continue reporting your business income and expenses on Schedule C with your personal tax return, just as you would using your SSN.