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What is Churning?
Nowadays, Churning means maximizing credit card and travel rewards. Historically, Churning was the process of signing up for credit cards to obtain signup bonuses in the form of points, miles, or direct cashback and subsequently canceling the credit card.
Churning Guide
When churning, there are 3 paths to focus on: 1) Chase suite of credit cards, 2) travel rewards, and 3) cashback. Most people and people new to Churning typically pursue the Chase suite of cards first because Chase has stricter limits on how many new cards you can be approved for. The most important restriction is known as “5/24”, meaning that Chase will deny your credit card application if you have 5 new personal credit cards approved from ANY lender (Chase, Bank of America, Citi, etc.) within the last 24 months.
Chase Suite of Cards Path Order of Priority
- Chase personal cards
- Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve
- United Quest, Explorer and/or Club
- World of Hyatt
- Aeroplan
- Southwest Priority or Plus
- Maybe Marriott Boundless
- IHG Premier
- British Airways / Aer Lingus / Iberia
- Freedom Flex or Unlimited
Chase business cards:
- Ink Cash, Unlimited and/or Preferred
- United Business
- Hyatt Business
- SW Business Premier and/or Performance (see * below for timing)
Note: The recommended time between your Chase card applications should be 3 months or longer.
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